If your plants are looking kind of pale and maybe on the verge of yellow, try adding iron to their soil! (I can relate, being prone to anemia...) I sometimes take the old SOS pad from my kitchen sink counter as it starts deteriorating and take bits of it to put in the plants that need it most--rhody bushes like it; so does your lawn. Even house plants! When you buy them new, they're nice and deep green; you take them home and all your others look sad. I think iron deficiency is one of their biggest problems!
Around here, you tear apart an SOS pad outside and it disappears completely within the first couple of rainstorms.
Do you start new plants from the old ones? I have spider plants and philodendron-type plants and various things, and often if I just put the little offspring or a leaf from the old plant into a little jar or vase over my sink, in about a week I have a new plant start. (I've even put a little wisp of SOS in the jar there!)
So I hope you have some fun with the little things I've learned along the way.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
From my time in the Produce Shop
Back around the time that I was married (and that's 23 years almost), I worked in a mom-and-pop produce store near Portland, Oregon. The place was owned by Italians, especially a very proud owner named Frank, who did appearances on a local tv show from time to time with advice about produce. I learned a lot, but I had four passionately opinionated and not-always-in-agreement Italian bosses, which was quite an experience! I could be setting up the tomatoes, and each one would come by with a different way of doing it right. Kind of funny, looking back. It was a good experience, overall.
Which brings me to tomatoes...I bet you keep yours in your fridge, don't you? "Of course, where else would I keep them?" Actually, this is one of the more revolutionary things I learned there. Tomatoes keep better and firmer out on the counter; in the fridge they turn watery. Sure, they do spoil eventually in either place, but if you like firm tomatoes, keep them at room temperature.
Bananas can be kept in the fridge if you want them firmer longer. The peels will turn ugly, but you're not eating the peel anyway! Apples and oranges should be refrigerated, but I like mine on the counter, because we forget they exist, in the fridge.
Onions and potatoes should be kept at room temperature in the dark, but not together because one makes the other sprout, I'm not sure which one. I keep them both in my pantry, but not next to each other. If potatoes see too much light, they turn green-tinged, and the greenness can cause stomach aches. If you just peel it off, it's fine underneath though.
Cantaloupe and other melons should give slightly at the blossom end. Honeydew melon should be waxy-feeling on the outside. Watermelon should sound rather hollow. (I bought one one time, though, because it sounded so hollow--and it was! The thing had rotted inside. Don't go for TOO hollow!)
Broccoli is best if it's kind of stiff, not wiggly, and if it has a kind of purple hue on its buds; the buds shouldn't be open and there should be no yellowness anywhere. It keeps best on ice. If they don't have it cold, don't buy it.
That's the most significant and memorable stuff I learned in the produce shop. Hope it's useful to you!
Which brings me to tomatoes...I bet you keep yours in your fridge, don't you? "Of course, where else would I keep them?" Actually, this is one of the more revolutionary things I learned there. Tomatoes keep better and firmer out on the counter; in the fridge they turn watery. Sure, they do spoil eventually in either place, but if you like firm tomatoes, keep them at room temperature.
Bananas can be kept in the fridge if you want them firmer longer. The peels will turn ugly, but you're not eating the peel anyway! Apples and oranges should be refrigerated, but I like mine on the counter, because we forget they exist, in the fridge.
Onions and potatoes should be kept at room temperature in the dark, but not together because one makes the other sprout, I'm not sure which one. I keep them both in my pantry, but not next to each other. If potatoes see too much light, they turn green-tinged, and the greenness can cause stomach aches. If you just peel it off, it's fine underneath though.
Cantaloupe and other melons should give slightly at the blossom end. Honeydew melon should be waxy-feeling on the outside. Watermelon should sound rather hollow. (I bought one one time, though, because it sounded so hollow--and it was! The thing had rotted inside. Don't go for TOO hollow!)
Broccoli is best if it's kind of stiff, not wiggly, and if it has a kind of purple hue on its buds; the buds shouldn't be open and there should be no yellowness anywhere. It keeps best on ice. If they don't have it cold, don't buy it.
That's the most significant and memorable stuff I learned in the produce shop. Hope it's useful to you!
Rags and things to wash with
I don't use all that many cleansers that often around our house. I do have them on hand and use them if needed, but often-times all that is required is a hot wet rag. I cut up some of my older towels into eighths, and they make great rags. Don't buy handi-wipes or any of those pre-soaped things unless you don't mind spending the money. I'm too frugal for that. We use rags mostly, and I bleach them in the wash and keep them in buckets--one under the kitchen sink, one in the laundry room and one in an upstairs bathroom. Once it's part of your life it's no hassle at all.
When I use a rag, I start with cleaning the cleanest surface first (or that where cleanliness is most crucial) so that the rag isn't soiled beyond further use immediately. As it gets dirtier, I use it in less honorable places--such as the sliding door tracks or the front door threshhold. After it's maxed out I throw it in the wash.
For example, in the bathroom (here's a place that I like to use a cleanser--my favorite is Soft Scrub), I start with the sink fixtures, then the sink counter, then the sink itself; then the top of the toilet tank, then the seat, then the base. I use clean ones for the floor. I definitely don't take a rag from the bathroom and use it anywhere else--it goes straight to the wash.
In the kitchen, dishrags (which aren't the torn towels; they are specifically for the kitchen) get washed when they've been idle too long (such as a few hours) or if they're too dirty, whichever comes first. I remember visiting a friend when my son was a baby, and needing a washcloth for his face--and she referred me to the cloth in her sink. The thing was slippery and smelly and I could hardly fathom the thought--it must have been in there for days! A little bleach in the wash, and frequent washing, makes these things clean and pleasant. For the floor anywhere, including the kitchen, I don't use my kitchen dishrags--I use the towel rags for that.
Paper towels are too expensive for me to use them very often. I use them where they work better than cloth, such as picking up eggwhites or sopping grease from a pan.
I've told people that cellulose sponges are machine washable, and they won't believe me. But when I was growing up, my mom did it all the time--and they'll go through the dryer too. They end up kind of shrunken and dry, but they work just fine when water is added!
As far as kitchen dish brushes, I put them in the dishwasher along with all the dishes, and they come out much cleaner than they seem after just regular dishwater. I've heard of people running various scrub brushes through the dishwasher too, all together in a special wash, but I've never done it.
That's all I can think of now on the subject of rags and things to clean with. I hope it helps somewhat. Forgive me if I insulted your intelligence! Some of this took some thinking through once I was on my own because I learned it...the hard way, on my own.
When I use a rag, I start with cleaning the cleanest surface first (or that where cleanliness is most crucial) so that the rag isn't soiled beyond further use immediately. As it gets dirtier, I use it in less honorable places--such as the sliding door tracks or the front door threshhold. After it's maxed out I throw it in the wash.
For example, in the bathroom (here's a place that I like to use a cleanser--my favorite is Soft Scrub), I start with the sink fixtures, then the sink counter, then the sink itself; then the top of the toilet tank, then the seat, then the base. I use clean ones for the floor. I definitely don't take a rag from the bathroom and use it anywhere else--it goes straight to the wash.
In the kitchen, dishrags (which aren't the torn towels; they are specifically for the kitchen) get washed when they've been idle too long (such as a few hours) or if they're too dirty, whichever comes first. I remember visiting a friend when my son was a baby, and needing a washcloth for his face--and she referred me to the cloth in her sink. The thing was slippery and smelly and I could hardly fathom the thought--it must have been in there for days! A little bleach in the wash, and frequent washing, makes these things clean and pleasant. For the floor anywhere, including the kitchen, I don't use my kitchen dishrags--I use the towel rags for that.
Paper towels are too expensive for me to use them very often. I use them where they work better than cloth, such as picking up eggwhites or sopping grease from a pan.
I've told people that cellulose sponges are machine washable, and they won't believe me. But when I was growing up, my mom did it all the time--and they'll go through the dryer too. They end up kind of shrunken and dry, but they work just fine when water is added!
As far as kitchen dish brushes, I put them in the dishwasher along with all the dishes, and they come out much cleaner than they seem after just regular dishwater. I've heard of people running various scrub brushes through the dishwasher too, all together in a special wash, but I've never done it.
That's all I can think of now on the subject of rags and things to clean with. I hope it helps somewhat. Forgive me if I insulted your intelligence! Some of this took some thinking through once I was on my own because I learned it...the hard way, on my own.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Just some pointers on laundry
I have found a number of helps in doing laundry that I think would be good to share. I can't cover how to treat every situation; I have a couple of books I keep in my laundry room for those more obscure problems.
First, hopefully you know to categorize clothes into white, medium, dark, and delicate clothes. White can be washed in hot water (more costly but it's more sanitizing too); medium, dark and delicate can be washed in cold water. If you keep them categorized, though, the colors of the darker ones won't make the others look dingy. The delicate ones need to be washed at a more gentle setting.
If you have a stain that has gone through the wash and the dryer without being treated, usually people think it can't be gotten out. I use Zout--it almost always works. Does that sound like a commercial or what?! Still, it's true.
For everyday spot cleaning, a few years back I learned that if you take a new empty spray bottle and fill it 1/4 full with liquid laundry detergent, 1/4 with ammonia, 1/4 with vinegar, and the rest with water, it makes a great laundry pretreating spray, and it's sure cheaper than any other laundry treatment! (I buy white vinegar by the gallon--it's only about $2 or $3; ammonia in the largest bottle I've found, about 1/2 gallon; and liquid detergent, whatever is cheapest.)
If you have stinky clothes, spray them with vinegar. You would think that would make it worse, but it helps get it out. If the whole wash is bad, just put 1/4 c. or so of vinegar in with the laundry soap. Vinegar is also good on grass and coffee stains.
Never mix ammonia and bleach--they can let off a potentially deadly gas.
Also, I buy the very cheapest powdered laundry detergent. If you need perfumes and blueing and all the silly stuff they put in the other, you could add them separately, but if you don't need them and all you need is to get the clothes clean, plain cheap detergent is good. It's also better for those who are sensitive to the strong perfumes. Even with my newer washer and dryer, I use the cheap powder though they "recommend" a certain costly type of Tide liquid detergent that's supposed to foam less. Only one time I had a problem; the washer just shut down and wouldn't go. By the time the repairman came out it worked fine--because the powder had clumped in the passageway and then dissolved. If you have that problem, just add water and wait, and try again later.
Another thing--I rarely use as much detergent as they imply you need. I replace the scoop that comes with the detergent with a smaller scoop. Repairmen will tell you that you don't need so much.
With white clothes, I add just a little bit of bleach with each wash and give it an extra rinse to avoid there being residue. You certainly don't need as much bleach as they say on the bottle! Too much wears out the clothes and makes them scratchy.
And there you are. Do I sound authoritative? I'm not. I just have learned this stuff through time. Happy laundering!
First, hopefully you know to categorize clothes into white, medium, dark, and delicate clothes. White can be washed in hot water (more costly but it's more sanitizing too); medium, dark and delicate can be washed in cold water. If you keep them categorized, though, the colors of the darker ones won't make the others look dingy. The delicate ones need to be washed at a more gentle setting.
If you have a stain that has gone through the wash and the dryer without being treated, usually people think it can't be gotten out. I use Zout--it almost always works. Does that sound like a commercial or what?! Still, it's true.
For everyday spot cleaning, a few years back I learned that if you take a new empty spray bottle and fill it 1/4 full with liquid laundry detergent, 1/4 with ammonia, 1/4 with vinegar, and the rest with water, it makes a great laundry pretreating spray, and it's sure cheaper than any other laundry treatment! (I buy white vinegar by the gallon--it's only about $2 or $3; ammonia in the largest bottle I've found, about 1/2 gallon; and liquid detergent, whatever is cheapest.)
If you have stinky clothes, spray them with vinegar. You would think that would make it worse, but it helps get it out. If the whole wash is bad, just put 1/4 c. or so of vinegar in with the laundry soap. Vinegar is also good on grass and coffee stains.
Never mix ammonia and bleach--they can let off a potentially deadly gas.
Also, I buy the very cheapest powdered laundry detergent. If you need perfumes and blueing and all the silly stuff they put in the other, you could add them separately, but if you don't need them and all you need is to get the clothes clean, plain cheap detergent is good. It's also better for those who are sensitive to the strong perfumes. Even with my newer washer and dryer, I use the cheap powder though they "recommend" a certain costly type of Tide liquid detergent that's supposed to foam less. Only one time I had a problem; the washer just shut down and wouldn't go. By the time the repairman came out it worked fine--because the powder had clumped in the passageway and then dissolved. If you have that problem, just add water and wait, and try again later.
Another thing--I rarely use as much detergent as they imply you need. I replace the scoop that comes with the detergent with a smaller scoop. Repairmen will tell you that you don't need so much.
With white clothes, I add just a little bit of bleach with each wash and give it an extra rinse to avoid there being residue. You certainly don't need as much bleach as they say on the bottle! Too much wears out the clothes and makes them scratchy.
And there you are. Do I sound authoritative? I'm not. I just have learned this stuff through time. Happy laundering!
Monday, April 10, 2006
My Favorite Cooking Website
One of my favorite websites for cooking is allrecipes.com. They have innumerable recipes in an easy-to-find format. There are some neat little features to use here: Top Tens, Hall of Fame, Most Popular; Meatless Main Dishes (less ratings); Cooking Light Five-Star Recipes (not many ratings, but Cooking Light's name is behind them); and various for particular nutritional needs.
You can search for something specific by the name of the recipe or by ingredients you have on hand. It might come up with 10 or 50 different recipes based on your entry. You can narrow these down by looking at the ratings for the recipe. How many people have commented on that recipe? How many stars does it have? If you find one that is extremely tried and true, it's a sure bet (you must see their Hall of Fame page!). Read your chosen recipe's comments and you might find some very helpful advice. Then you can adapt the recipe to suit your tastes and improve on it based on others' experience. You can change how many the recipe is supposed to serve, and it will change quantities of ingredients to accommodate.
I tried entering "Easter" for a search today. It came up with Easter recipe collections; various recipes that seem appropriate for Easter dinner; and Easter leftover recipes. There are Top 10 Easter Recipes; Easter Recipe of the Day; even Easter recipes from the Middle East. You can find Easter Advice too.
Then I tried "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake" and it came up with 16 recipe results. (Here's something I have found in times past: making this cake with a mix is indiscernable from making it from scratch!)
You can search by the person who submitted your favorite recipe or by who does the most informative commenting. Each recipe has nutritional information. You can also search by nutritional need.
They have Top Ten recipes for various categories. These tend to be their most recent set of favorite recipes.
When I find a recipe, I copy it and then go to Microsoft Word and paste it by going to "Edit", "Paste Special", and "Unformatted Text." Then I get all the wording without all the format, and I can more easily delete any unwanted clutter and format it according to what I want. I have different documents for different types of recipes, sort of like sections in a cookbook.
I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. It's a wonderful website for everyday, and with a holiday coming such as Easter, it's a big help! So happy recipe searching!
You can search for something specific by the name of the recipe or by ingredients you have on hand. It might come up with 10 or 50 different recipes based on your entry. You can narrow these down by looking at the ratings for the recipe. How many people have commented on that recipe? How many stars does it have? If you find one that is extremely tried and true, it's a sure bet (you must see their Hall of Fame page!). Read your chosen recipe's comments and you might find some very helpful advice. Then you can adapt the recipe to suit your tastes and improve on it based on others' experience. You can change how many the recipe is supposed to serve, and it will change quantities of ingredients to accommodate.
I tried entering "Easter" for a search today. It came up with Easter recipe collections; various recipes that seem appropriate for Easter dinner; and Easter leftover recipes. There are Top 10 Easter Recipes; Easter Recipe of the Day; even Easter recipes from the Middle East. You can find Easter Advice too.
Then I tried "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake" and it came up with 16 recipe results. (Here's something I have found in times past: making this cake with a mix is indiscernable from making it from scratch!)
You can search by the person who submitted your favorite recipe or by who does the most informative commenting. Each recipe has nutritional information. You can also search by nutritional need.
They have Top Ten recipes for various categories. These tend to be their most recent set of favorite recipes.
When I find a recipe, I copy it and then go to Microsoft Word and paste it by going to "Edit", "Paste Special", and "Unformatted Text." Then I get all the wording without all the format, and I can more easily delete any unwanted clutter and format it according to what I want. I have different documents for different types of recipes, sort of like sections in a cookbook.
I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. It's a wonderful website for everyday, and with a holiday coming such as Easter, it's a big help! So happy recipe searching!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
An Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe
This is a recipe that I have used since I was a kid. I got it from page 92 of my mom's I Hate to Cook Book, by Peg Bracken. The page is all dusted with cocoa powder, and the book opens right to it, because it's the only recipe in the book that we ever used. The original recipe had you mix it in the pan, but dry ingredients could get lost in the corners. Any kid can make this; it's heart-healthy in that it has no eggs; it also has no milk; and it's moist and tastes great. I remember taking the batter home from a 4-H demonstration, and my mom was ready to throw it out thinking it would be no good any more. I suggested that we at least try baking it--and it turned out just fine! And it doubles well.
Cockeyed Cake
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
3 Tbsp. cocoa (I often use more)
1 tsp. soda
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. cold water
Mix dry ingredients well. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla and cold water; stir well with a spoon until smooth. Bake in 9 X 9" pan 350 30 min. This can be doubled-or make in a pitcher and pour into cupcake tins. Just about foolproof.
Frosting: When you frost a cake, don't use that stuff from the store. It's so much cheaper, and easy, to make frosting at home! Some powdered sugar, butter, a little milk, and some vanilla--add cocoa powder for chocolate flavor. Only add the milk a tablespoon at a time or you'll have an ocean of frosting before you know it. If it's too thin add more sugar or cocoa powder.
Cockeyed Cake
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
3 Tbsp. cocoa (I often use more)
1 tsp. soda
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. cold water
Mix dry ingredients well. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla and cold water; stir well with a spoon until smooth. Bake in 9 X 9" pan 350 30 min. This can be doubled-or make in a pitcher and pour into cupcake tins. Just about foolproof.
Frosting: When you frost a cake, don't use that stuff from the store. It's so much cheaper, and easy, to make frosting at home! Some powdered sugar, butter, a little milk, and some vanilla--add cocoa powder for chocolate flavor. Only add the milk a tablespoon at a time or you'll have an ocean of frosting before you know it. If it's too thin add more sugar or cocoa powder.
Binders can be Sanity Savers!
I'm going to be deceptive in this post and perhaps in many of them: I'm going to sound like I'm really organized. I'm not; I have just found certain sanity-savers that help me to not go completely bonkers in the midst of my chaos! One of the things I have learned about homemaking, the first thing that comes to mind that I'd like to share, is the usefulness of binders. I have binders for many purposes:
One small binder (1/2") for each month of the year, with ideas for special holidays and birthday reminders; what to do around the house and in the garden that month; menu ideas for the month, based on what is in season; and some homeschooling ideas for that month as well, or any magazine articles that might be so seasonal. I don't use these binders continually, but they're helpful if I have a lot going on, such as Easter coming, and can just pull out a shopping list for it. For big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving I have a separate binder for each of them too.
One binder has menu ideas: weeks of family-liked recipes, and corresponding shopping lists; actually I think there are seventeen sets, some more favored than others. I'm actually better at using it for looking up our favorite recipes in it than following it for a week at a time, but it's nice to know I could do it. It's good to have a week of ultra-familiar ultra-easy recipes so that if you're down and sick, the family can figure out what to make without so much of your help, and without buying much fast food.
For homeschooling, some years I have found it helpful to make a binder for each student with enough dividers for each week of the school year. Then the assignments for each week go within that divider. This year I started but found that for whatever reason it wasn't working. I might still apply it next year. It's best if you can get a lot of it done before the school year starts. You can also put a list in the front of books you have that you want to use, and books and videos that you want to check out of the library--sort them by date wanted, or by author so they're easier to look up.
I also have a binder for appliance warranties, sorted alphabetically by what the appliance is called, such as under T for toaster; but you could probably sort by brand. In that binder, too, I've had a list of what things use what size batteries; also make a list of what locks have what combinations (marking each lock with a different number) and keep that in the binder.
Also a home-improvement binder with pictures and articles about improvements I would like to make, names of contractors, and advice about home improvements and working with contractors. You can make a list by room of what you need done there, and what to the house overall, and what to the outside of the house and what to the yard. Most of this is dreamland, but if we hit the big time, we're ready!
Also a plants-in-our-yard binder, with information on any plants we buy or packets from seeds we plant. I've also made a grid with information about seeds that I might plant each spring, so that I can look up specifics on that plant by column. It's on the computer so I can sort by planting date, alphabetically, or by other instructions.
I know I have some other ideas, but as they come to mind, I'll post them for you to see. Actually, any full file folder you have that gets disorderly and you want to refer to regularly might be a good candidate for a binder instead.
One small binder (1/2") for each month of the year, with ideas for special holidays and birthday reminders; what to do around the house and in the garden that month; menu ideas for the month, based on what is in season; and some homeschooling ideas for that month as well, or any magazine articles that might be so seasonal. I don't use these binders continually, but they're helpful if I have a lot going on, such as Easter coming, and can just pull out a shopping list for it. For big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving I have a separate binder for each of them too.
One binder has menu ideas: weeks of family-liked recipes, and corresponding shopping lists; actually I think there are seventeen sets, some more favored than others. I'm actually better at using it for looking up our favorite recipes in it than following it for a week at a time, but it's nice to know I could do it. It's good to have a week of ultra-familiar ultra-easy recipes so that if you're down and sick, the family can figure out what to make without so much of your help, and without buying much fast food.
For homeschooling, some years I have found it helpful to make a binder for each student with enough dividers for each week of the school year. Then the assignments for each week go within that divider. This year I started but found that for whatever reason it wasn't working. I might still apply it next year. It's best if you can get a lot of it done before the school year starts. You can also put a list in the front of books you have that you want to use, and books and videos that you want to check out of the library--sort them by date wanted, or by author so they're easier to look up.
I also have a binder for appliance warranties, sorted alphabetically by what the appliance is called, such as under T for toaster; but you could probably sort by brand. In that binder, too, I've had a list of what things use what size batteries; also make a list of what locks have what combinations (marking each lock with a different number) and keep that in the binder.
Also a home-improvement binder with pictures and articles about improvements I would like to make, names of contractors, and advice about home improvements and working with contractors. You can make a list by room of what you need done there, and what to the house overall, and what to the outside of the house and what to the yard. Most of this is dreamland, but if we hit the big time, we're ready!
Also a plants-in-our-yard binder, with information on any plants we buy or packets from seeds we plant. I've also made a grid with information about seeds that I might plant each spring, so that I can look up specifics on that plant by column. It's on the computer so I can sort by planting date, alphabetically, or by other instructions.
I know I have some other ideas, but as they come to mind, I'll post them for you to see. Actually, any full file folder you have that gets disorderly and you want to refer to regularly might be a good candidate for a binder instead.
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