I had a cold a few weeks ago and my nose was completely stuffed up one of the days. I was cooking up a big pot of something that day and got busy working on something else in the kitchen while it was simmering.

About 30 minutes later, Jesse arrived home from work and about choked when he walked in the door. He gave me a funny look and then looked at the stove and gasped, “How can you not smell that awful burning smell?!”

Then we both started laughing because we realized that I couldn’t smell a thing. Which was good — since the kitchen now reeked of burnt smell. But it would have never smelled like that had I been able to smell since my nose would have alerted me quite awhile before to turn the burner off.

At any rate, we aired the house out and have been working on trying to redeem the burned pot ever since. We’ve soaked it, scrubbed it, scraped it, run it through the dishwasher, and soaked it some more.

And it’s still a mess.

Anyone have some amazing tricks and tips for getting stubborn burned-on gunk off a pot? Let me in on your secrets in the comments and you’ll be my hero. Thanks so much!

Want to do a little something for those who were devastated by the tornadoes yesterday? Here’s something that everyone can do — even if you don’t have any extra money to give.

Head over to the Box Tops for Education Facebook Page and claim 5 free BoxTops for the Plaza Towers Elementary School (one of the schools that was destroyed by the tornado). Just enter zip code 73160 and choose Plaza Towers School.

Also, be sure to sign up for the Box Tops 4 Education email newsletter to be eligible for a free product sample every month.

Thanks, Family Savings!