tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26675233121293416342024-03-13T23:41:35.237-04:00askgoodjoanGoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-71220884081010242902014-05-14T20:19:00.000-04:002014-05-14T20:21:33.501-04:00Rendering tallow for soapAs discussed in my previous post, I've been making soap from scratch lately. A lot of soap! I kept coming across recipes for soaps using tallow, or rendered beef fat as a main ingredient. It's inexpensive and makes for a very hard bar of soap. It's also high in stearic acid, which is a key player in shaving soaps. Hubby likes to shave using shaving soap and a brush and in the past I'd made him shaving soap with a melt and pour base, adding clay to help the razor glide better. I wanted to see if making a cold precess soap with tallow would be an improvement.<br />
<br />
That meant I had to make some tallow!<br />
<br />
I started with a big bag of fat scraps from the market. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iNcAf2JRwVg/U3P57NuK6WI/AAAAAAAABCo/tHcvfD0_jZg/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iNcAf2JRwVg/U3P57NuK6WI/AAAAAAAABCo/tHcvfD0_jZg/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
I started to try to trim the little bits, separating the meat from the fat, but quickly decided that was a phenomenal waste of my time! I had no plans for the microscopic bits of meat I was trimming off, except to give the dog a happy treat, and it was going to take hours! Instead, I just dumped the whole mess into my crock pot. You can see that the crock pot is nearly full of scraps.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBCFRfJxKV4/U3P5_dYtBMI/AAAAAAAABDg/jISmQi3RFME/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBCFRfJxKV4/U3P5_dYtBMI/AAAAAAAABDg/jISmQi3RFME/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just starting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I put the lid on, turned it on and walked away. Actually, I went to bed, then got up, ran some errands, took the kids out and about, and generally forgot this was cooking.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JCEetB5L7dw/U3P5_1hlRVI/AAAAAAAABDs/fEqD_kPcJVA/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JCEetB5L7dw/U3P5_1hlRVI/AAAAAAAABDs/fEqD_kPcJVA/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">starting to cook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the 12+ hour mark, it had reduced significantly, but there was still a fair bit of fat stuck to the meat.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pdAxK8-zqZI/U3P6Aed1z5I/AAAAAAAABD4/_ka6l7y_B7Y/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pdAxK8-zqZI/U3P6Aed1z5I/AAAAAAAABD4/_ka6l7y_B7Y/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12 hours 47 minutes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So I left it to cook for a little while longer. I had read that some people had to open the windows because of the bad smell, especially when rendering suet, which is the fat from around the kidneys, but this fat was from all over the cow and instead of smelling awful, smelled like roast beef! I felt a little bad for hubby. He was working from home and subjected to this smell all day with no hot roast beef dinner at the end!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoqbp3r7jWE/U3P6A6NfJZI/AAAAAAAABD8/OBA6djoHGP4/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoqbp3r7jWE/U3P6A6NfJZI/AAAAAAAABD8/OBA6djoHGP4/s1600/photo+5.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12:47</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At about 16 hours it's almost done.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-8131BDud0/U3P6BHZDffI/AAAAAAAABEA/0AMt1-RdKR8/s1600/photo+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-8131BDud0/U3P6BHZDffI/AAAAAAAABEA/0AMt1-RdKR8/s1600/photo+6.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">16 hours 35 minutes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are still some big pieces that are holding some fat. If I'd been free, this might have been an ok time to dump and drain this, but I was busy so I left it a while longer!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-28fzgVivb2M/U3P6BiSi_1I/AAAAAAAABEI/N_5XL6sVnQ8/s1600/photo+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-28fzgVivb2M/U3P6BiSi_1I/AAAAAAAABEI/N_5XL6sVnQ8/s1600/photo+7.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">16:35</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here we go, 18 hours, 21 minutes. This is about as done as it's going to get! At this point the bits of meat in the pot started to turn a dark brown and I worried that leaving it any longer might start to overheat the oil.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--D9uSFP3rYw/U3P8qKYwvYI/AAAAAAAABEw/bTt-k1tyjFM/s1600/photo7pt5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--D9uSFP3rYw/U3P8qKYwvYI/AAAAAAAABEw/bTt-k1tyjFM/s1600/photo7pt5.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 hours 21 minutes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
There's not much left in the pot, just oil and browned bits of meat. The white bits that still look like fat are cartilage and aren't going to render out any more.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdGA2K9GK_I/U3P57rvG_TI/AAAAAAAABCs/Wwc44wWTPz0/s1600/photo+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdGA2K9GK_I/U3P57rvG_TI/AAAAAAAABCs/Wwc44wWTPz0/s1600/photo+10.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18:21</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You can see how the level has dropped to about half the crock pot.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--8GnK1Xnzb0/U3P57yeziHI/AAAAAAAABCw/462YwqztpJQ/s1600/photo+11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--8GnK1Xnzb0/U3P57yeziHI/AAAAAAAABCw/462YwqztpJQ/s1600/photo+11.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">done!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I poured the whole mess into a strainer lined with cheese cloth and let it drain into a pot.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m3yrcSPXJ_8/U3P58MblHzI/AAAAAAAABDI/5a8NMyWvZnE/s1600/photo+12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m3yrcSPXJ_8/U3P58MblHzI/AAAAAAAABDI/5a8NMyWvZnE/s1600/photo+12.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my dog loves me so much right now</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After letting it drain by itself for a while, I folded up the cloth and gave it a squeeze.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v59iJJR9M0M/U3P58snndhI/AAAAAAAABDA/XLWfuA7ouKQ/s1600/photo+13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v59iJJR9M0M/U3P58snndhI/AAAAAAAABDA/XLWfuA7ouKQ/s1600/photo+13.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">squeeze</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I put it between two plates, tipped it sideways, and gave it a gentle press to force out any remaining oil in the meat scraps. I will probably skip this step next time. I dirtied two plates and get very little oil out.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LciB7spsvq0/U3P5829UF6I/AAAAAAAABDE/i40ebxxBgJQ/s1600/photo+14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LciB7spsvq0/U3P5829UF6I/AAAAAAAABDE/i40ebxxBgJQ/s1600/photo+14.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
I was left with a pot full of a clear golden liquid that had a very slight roast beefy smell.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OIy37UqR4w/U3P5-BtjnTI/AAAAAAAABDM/wtf2yxN17O8/s1600/photo+15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OIy37UqR4w/U3P5-BtjnTI/AAAAAAAABDM/wtf2yxN17O8/s1600/photo+15.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">clear, rendered, beef fat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I transferred this to a couple of containers on the scale to see how much was left. You should make sure your containers are heat tolerant or risk melting them like I did! The big container was fine,. The little storage container began to buckle and warp. Luckily, I just wanted to measure it and could pour it into another container after quickly snapping a picture!<br />
<br />
About 5 and a half pounds of fat trimmings left about 2 and a half pounds of tallow.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Z12aOBYRCY/U3P5-vy254I/AAAAAAAABDY/aFS0HEKRqpU/s1600/photo+16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Z12aOBYRCY/U3P5-vy254I/AAAAAAAABDY/aFS0HEKRqpU/s1600/photo+16.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 and a half pounds of tallow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the great things about tallow is that so long as you keep it tightly sealed, it can sit on the shelf for months! Mine didn't last nearly that long! Up first was a batch of lemon poppyseed hand soap! This is it, fresh out of the mold. Once saponified, there is absolutely no trace of the beefy smell. Just the natural smell of fresh soap, and in this case, some lemon essential oil!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_b_3ndYZiM/U3P5-8_0PsI/AAAAAAAABDo/QMmxMKqM47M/s1600/photo+17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_b_3ndYZiM/U3P5-8_0PsI/AAAAAAAABDo/QMmxMKqM47M/s1600/photo+17.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lemon poppyseed soap loaf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is it cut and cured for a few weeks. This bar also has coconut oil, castor oil and and olive oil, in a goats milk base. The poppy seeds and lemon peel granules make it scrubby. It's a great soap for the kitchen.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-taWKHcNS3G0/U3QBO_r1smI/AAAAAAAABE8/26Vn7GHo970/s1600/photo+18.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lemon poppyseed goats milk soap bar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Here's the shaving soap! I used a 3 inch cylindrical mold to make pucks of this soap. This is a cedar and lime scented tallow shaving soap with French green clay added for slip. It also has shea butter, avocado oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil and castor oil. I am eager for it to fully cure so I can see how it lathers!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-btDiDY35Yo0/U3QBOkk89qI/AAAAAAAABE4/YW3cJEnXB-o/s1600/photo+19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-btDiDY35Yo0/U3QBOkk89qI/AAAAAAAABE4/YW3cJEnXB-o/s1600/photo+19.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cedar and lime shaving soap with green clay.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the end, I paid $3.23 for the fat scraps and ended up with about 42 ounces of tallow. That's $0.0769 per ounce. Let's call it $0.08. That's nearly a third the price of my next cheapest ingredients, coconut and olive oil, which are both around $0.25/oz. So far, I am impressed with these soaps. They are much harder than my other soaps, which should make them last longer. There's no weird smells and they lather nicely!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-71487957819357592832014-04-28T00:38:00.000-04:002014-04-30T09:17:02.445-04:00Mint Chocolate body scrubOver the past few years, my husband has been making an effort to reduce the amount of "chemical" in his life. I know, I know, I already teased him about the word chemicals. Everything is chemicals. We know that, but I also know what he means. He's been eating more locally grown, organic produce and grass fed meat. He's switched to toothpaste with fewer hard to pronounce ingredients. Things like that.<br />
<br />
In an effort to help him know what's in the products he's using, I started making soap at home, from scratch. With the help of some lye calculators and a lot of internet help with recipes, troubleshooting and moral support, I've made several bars of soap that have all been well received in our house. This post, however, is not about soap! I currently have 2 tabletops covered with soap curing until it's ready to use so the last thing I needed was another batch of soap! That didn't stop me from perusing pintrest for new, interesting recipes while waiting for my kid at play rehearsal.<br />
<br />
Recipes for soap tend to get mixed in with recipes for lip balms and lotions and other DIY bath and beauty products. One immediately caught my eye! A chocolate mint sugar body scrub! Girl scout cookie season is over and we are sad to see our thin mints leave but now we can just bathe in them instead of eat them!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-golGOe4XJHY/U13Vkdgv1BI/AAAAAAAABBs/j0nMm1_fbCU/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-golGOe4XJHY/U13Vkdgv1BI/AAAAAAAABBs/j0nMm1_fbCU/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
The original post and recipe is from <a href="http://www.henryhappened.com/chocolate-scrub.html" target="_blank">Henry Happened</a> and her photos are so much more creative and awesome looking than mine! <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iEt9_0_F8wc/U13VkRn_3FI/AAAAAAAABBo/71L2KoDOwGM/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iEt9_0_F8wc/U13VkRn_3FI/AAAAAAAABBo/71L2KoDOwGM/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not her picture, just my sad camera photo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I mixed up a batch. I made a few modifications, one being that I used half sunflower and half olive oil because I didn't have almond oil, and the other was using a plastic bag instead of a mixing bowl to contain all the thin-minty goodness. At first, the mixture didn't seem all that interesting and I wondered if I had missed some critical part of the recipe (which is hard, because the recipe is really simple but crazier things have happened!) I smushed it around to get it all mixed well, then added the oil and peppermint EO. That's when magic happened! The color changed and the texture changed and it started to look yummy! When I opened the bag, the smell was fabulous! I poured it into a plastic container I had hanging about. I might have used some nail polish remover to scrub off the name of the gelati company but anyone that read this blog knows I'm not in it for that much effort! :)<br />
<br />
The result is a delightful mixture of chocolate and mint and just enough oil to hold it together and make it easy to handle. I brought the jar up to my daughter who opened it, smelled it and ran to the shower to try it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzpY8-yLyfI/U13Vj0lv33I/AAAAAAAABBk/4ZBKyVn7zaM/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzpY8-yLyfI/U13Vj0lv33I/AAAAAAAABBk/4ZBKyVn7zaM/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
She emerged a little while later freshly scrubbed and raving about how she felt like she just covered herself in chocolate scented lotion. Her skin is soft but not greasy and while the smell was great in the shower, it's not overpowering on her skin. I have a feeling she's not going to surrender this and I may have to make another batch for MY shower!<br />
<br />
For the full recipe, and much prettier pictures, please go to <a href="http://www.henryhappened.com/chocolate-scrub.html" target="_blank">Henry Happened</a>! If you're missing your thin mints, this is a way to get them back, at least in spirit, until next year! If you do try it, be careful! It can make the tub slippery! Use appropriate caution if your tub or shower gets slippery!<br />
<br />
And check back soon for stories of soap and playing chemist in the kitchen!<br />
<br />
<br />GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-53659082195711545692014-03-19T00:52:00.000-04:002014-03-19T01:30:43.734-04:00The sewing machineA while back I was doing some sewing, making a few baby gifts for some friends. My daughter was intrigued. I don't haul out the sewing machine often, so watching me sew was novel to her. She wanted to learn, so I set her up with some scraps and got her started on a small project. Of course, this made her want to use my machine while I was still busy with my own projects which was making everything take longer. We needed a solution. <br />
<br />
A few days later, I happened upon a battered bit of furniture at a local thrift shop. I recognized the cabinet immediately. Singer never had much variation in their sewing machine furniture! I peeked inside and found a well loved, and long neglected sewing machine with no power cord. It was a "Fashion Mate 362" an amazing workhorse of a machine. Fashion Mates are often used in schools for Home Ec because they are affordable and easy to use, as well as extremely durable. What better machine for teaching a kid how to sew than a machine that is used all over to teach kids how to sew? In it's sad state, the thrift shop only wanted a few dollars for it. Knowing old singers are nearly indestructible, I put it through its paces, moved all the knobs and dials, found only one sticking but was fairly sure I could fix it, and if the internal electronics were still good, all it would need is a foot pedal/power cord! If the electronics were shot, I was only out a few dollars and I got a fixer-upper table instead!<br />
<br />
I snatched it right up!<br />
<br />
<br />
The machine itself showed a lot of wear, scuffed paint from heavy use, but it was also really grimy. I imagine it belonged to someone that sewed a lot, thus the worn spots, then it stopped being useful, was moved into a kitchen and used as decoration. Cooking grease settled on all the surfaces of the machine hidden inside, and the top of the cabinet was used to hold plants. Plants that were over watered and damaged the lid.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-516sUp7bXR4/UykHJD7FjqI/AAAAAAAAA7g/7TLr7MXEToY/s1600/IMG_2122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-516sUp7bXR4/UykHJD7FjqI/AAAAAAAAA7g/7TLr7MXEToY/s1600/IMG_2122.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't look too bad at first glance, but it was literally TACKY with grime!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogKnAHHG3nU/UykHJahLNnI/AAAAAAAAA7o/f4HiSySUYCc/s1600/IMG_2123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogKnAHHG3nU/UykHJahLNnI/AAAAAAAAA7o/f4HiSySUYCc/s1600/IMG_2123.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A helpful date stamp covered with a blob of grease. 1978!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OT43Xjkhqhc/UykHMRS23hI/AAAAAAAAA8g/9pV8ptrBmHU/s1600/IMG_2132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OT43Xjkhqhc/UykHMRS23hI/AAAAAAAAA8g/9pV8ptrBmHU/s1600/IMG_2132.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sticky brown-orange goo in all the crevices!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vqJAhNCq2ik/UykHKOteGLI/AAAAAAAAA7w/ak97YnIiUD0/s1600/IMG_2126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vqJAhNCq2ik/UykHKOteGLI/AAAAAAAAA7w/ak97YnIiUD0/s1600/IMG_2126.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bobbin case, before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I started by taking the machine out of the cabinet and taking off the covers. Then I began to clean all the grimy bits. Not wanting to damage the paint, or the metal, I started with some soapy water. That didn't clean much. Then I moved to windex, which worked a little better. Dilute fabuloso came next and what that didn't remove got a cotton swap soaked in scrubbing bubbles! That worked incredibly well at removing the tacky film all over the outside of the machine. Inside any mechanical parts that weren't lubricated joints also got a touch of scrubbing bubbles. Moving parts got repeated applications of sewing machine oil and a lot of scrubbing with cotton swabs to soften and remove the old, built up, dried up oil.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5SUUBNfcJFU/UykHJUNPhcI/AAAAAAAAA7k/-0HhQu0gRSQ/s1600/IMG_2124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5SUUBNfcJFU/UykHJUNPhcI/AAAAAAAAA7k/-0HhQu0gRSQ/s1600/IMG_2124.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">interior, top, before. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The middle selector, that shifts the needle position, was the one that wouldn't move. This was the one place I did hit up a moving joint with scrubbing bubbles after oiling it didn't work. I knew I was risking damaging the machine but it was not fully functional the way it was. It was a risk I was willing to take and it seems to have paid off. after the joint was freed up, it was oiled thoroughly. The selector now slides easily.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kBl6WMvteiQ/UykHLLWJD0I/AAAAAAAAA8U/w60L-7L7c9I/s1600/IMG_2129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kBl6WMvteiQ/UykHLLWJD0I/AAAAAAAAA8U/w60L-7L7c9I/s1600/IMG_2129.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">side view, before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2WergKP7J8Y/UykHLvrVniI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/hOoWK-AVjLs/s1600/IMG_2130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2WergKP7J8Y/UykHLvrVniI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/hOoWK-AVjLs/s1600/IMG_2130.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of plug area, before</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6b2C36L6NA/UykHMtfYtJI/AAAAAAAAA8k/a_6LqFwL24k/s1600/IMG_2133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6b2C36L6NA/UykHMtfYtJI/AAAAAAAAA8k/a_6LqFwL24k/s1600/IMG_2133.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom, before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kfgHVx4aeLE/UykHMybd-EI/AAAAAAAAA8o/4ZHnz-yApxc/s1600/IMG_2135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kfgHVx4aeLE/UykHMybd-EI/AAAAAAAAA8o/4ZHnz-yApxc/s1600/IMG_2135.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back, with case removed and light folded out, during cleaning</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dK8rTAE554M/UykHNtMKw7I/AAAAAAAAA80/u3aJLuUUG68/s1600/IMG_2136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dK8rTAE554M/UykHNtMKw7I/AAAAAAAAA80/u3aJLuUUG68/s1600/IMG_2136.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Presser foot side, during</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I learned to sew on my grandmother's old Singer. She'd bought it new in the 60s! It had a fancy new interchangeable plastic gear system that allowed one to change the stitch patterns. What my 1990s era Singer does with the turn of a knob (and current machines do with the press of a button) hers did with a 'simple' flip of a panel, unscrewing of a knob, removal of the old gear wheel, installation of the new one, putting the knob back on and closing the lid, then adjusting all the stitch lengths and needle positions to fit the new stitch. It was cutting edge! This model skip the bells and whistles and opts for straight and zig zag stitches only.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q1fNPYGkJD8/UykHN8PHQ8I/AAAAAAAAA9E/KgUvAH6mSDI/s1600/IMG_2137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q1fNPYGkJD8/UykHN8PHQ8I/AAAAAAAAA9E/KgUvAH6mSDI/s1600/IMG_2137.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pressure adjustment dial, during</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_WRPnWTIh9k/UykHOBBaLUI/AAAAAAAAA88/jhmk4BKV4Xc/s1600/IMG_2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_WRPnWTIh9k/UykHOBBaLUI/AAAAAAAAA88/jhmk4BKV4Xc/s1600/IMG_2138.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bobbin case, after, still needs to be reassembled</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHph4MF4QC4/UykHOrwON5I/AAAAAAAAA9I/yqQuzay9KTk/s1600/IMG_2140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHph4MF4QC4/UykHOrwON5I/AAAAAAAAA9I/yqQuzay9KTk/s1600/IMG_2140.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So Much Cleaner!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8fk_5L_tfTA/UykHOwwnbiI/AAAAAAAAA9U/wF22vYsJVXc/s1600/IMG_2148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8fk_5L_tfTA/UykHOwwnbiI/AAAAAAAAA9U/wF22vYsJVXc/s1600/IMG_2148.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I must have used a hundred cotton swabs! This one is getting the grime out of the dial ridges.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bJ_k_umsND8/UykHPmk6HzI/AAAAAAAAA9g/VMBleyyK5cs/s1600/IMG_2149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bJ_k_umsND8/UykHPmk6HzI/AAAAAAAAA9g/VMBleyyK5cs/s1600/IMG_2149.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nastiness had settled into every corner, even around the lettering!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qiMIA5uHklA/UykHP_IG9SI/AAAAAAAAA9o/yEJf7tVYFgQ/s1600/IMG_2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qiMIA5uHklA/UykHP_IG9SI/AAAAAAAAA9o/yEJf7tVYFgQ/s1600/IMG_2151.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a screw from the top, one half is clean, the other is not. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sINFJ0R873o/UykHSGEtzTI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/SkMlba7zHZ4/s1600/IMG_2161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sINFJ0R873o/UykHSGEtzTI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/SkMlba7zHZ4/s1600/IMG_2161.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halfway done cleaning the ridges on the release wheel! Can you tell where I stopped?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NeOt2tDh7D8/UykHQum8blI/AAAAAAAAA9w/f5g38fFbss8/s1600/IMG_2152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NeOt2tDh7D8/UykHQum8blI/AAAAAAAAA9w/f5g38fFbss8/s1600/IMG_2152.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming back together!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O84obOQgdnE/UykHRR55P4I/AAAAAAAAA98/yD8ekMq9T-M/s1600/IMG_2155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O84obOQgdnE/UykHRR55P4I/AAAAAAAAA98/yD8ekMq9T-M/s1600/IMG_2155.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clean!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j3G4kI0b3oo/UykHRs6D89I/AAAAAAAAA-A/LhBuXtSz_hA/s1600/IMG_2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j3G4kI0b3oo/UykHRs6D89I/AAAAAAAAA-A/LhBuXtSz_hA/s1600/IMG_2157.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time had worn the silver paint off the letters on the front of the machine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiHhY8PufLU/UykHR8oXvOI/AAAAAAAAA-c/jLHXeAgne9g/s1600/IMG_2159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiHhY8PufLU/UykHR8oXvOI/AAAAAAAAA-c/jLHXeAgne9g/s1600/IMG_2159.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A silver sharpie soon made it right again!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gg6QBKwVv68/UykHQyEOeZI/AAAAAAAAA94/BIrmootQ7MU/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gg6QBKwVv68/UykHQyEOeZI/AAAAAAAAA94/BIrmootQ7MU/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling better!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The cabinet was another project by itself! It was water marked, the finish worn off in places, the veneer
peeling. I knew it wasn't worth trying to save the natural look, but I
also knew my daughter would love something super original and quirky!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LX3-5rvtpw/UykHSix_D0I/AAAAAAAAA-g/WPXtl9t4mbw/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1LX3-5rvtpw/UykHSix_D0I/AAAAAAAAA-g/WPXtl9t4mbw/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With machine removed, prior to repainting.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qywZQ4vfNrQ/UykHTc3UHvI/AAAAAAAAA-s/kU0rBLPMxC4/s1600/IMG_2164.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qywZQ4vfNrQ/UykHTc3UHvI/AAAAAAAAA-s/kU0rBLPMxC4/s1600/IMG_2164.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't mind the dust. I forgot I hadn't taken any before pictures after I had started sanding it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was a thin bit of cardboard under the machine but it had been damaged and was just hanging off by one side. I removed it. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ9qKTz2gVo/UykHTrHGkNI/AAAAAAAAA-0/-uSldzaqBWI/s1600/IMG_2166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ9qKTz2gVo/UykHTrHGkNI/AAAAAAAAA-0/-uSldzaqBWI/s1600/IMG_2166.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">after a good sanding, with cracks and chipped veneer filled.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e_oU1N5fYzg/UykHTxg5UTI/AAAAAAAAA-4/h7XyA0ovUlA/s1600/IMG_2167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e_oU1N5fYzg/UykHTxg5UTI/AAAAAAAAA-4/h7XyA0ovUlA/s1600/IMG_2167.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 coats of gray primer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CV87i677k0Q/UykHVZcDLYI/AAAAAAAAA_c/QXy2_bA-qb4/s1600/IMG_2211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CV87i677k0Q/UykHVZcDLYI/AAAAAAAAA_c/QXy2_bA-qb4/s1600/IMG_2211.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then MANY coats of purple!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DaDPr8IKYkM/UykHV742rWI/AAAAAAAAA_k/B3MGFXdSf1E/s1600/IMG_2212.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DaDPr8IKYkM/UykHV742rWI/AAAAAAAAA_k/B3MGFXdSf1E/s1600/IMG_2212.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the hinges back on, it still folds nicely into it's cabinet!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6VbPVlivR3c/UykHU7lsQrI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/cueXi3ts7DQ/s1600/IMG_2210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6VbPVlivR3c/UykHU7lsQrI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/cueXi3ts7DQ/s1600/IMG_2210.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the machine back in place.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We looked at replacing the old decorative hardware with something newer
but my daughter liked the old handle. We cleaned and polished it up and
put it back on. It's quite scuffed up but it's not obvious unless you
are up close. At some point I'd like to add a small wire basket to the underside of the cabinet to hold the control pedal. I guess that is what the old cardboard bottom was for!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SAxrDgk3Vgo/UykHUkRyXdI/AAAAAAAAA_M/npvy7GCMg1w/s1600/IMG_2209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SAxrDgk3Vgo/UykHUkRyXdI/AAAAAAAAA_M/npvy7GCMg1w/s1600/IMG_2209.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With it's new foot control.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0FdVkL0p1dU/UykHWEHLKDI/AAAAAAAAA_o/vvR2IhI1oNk/s1600/IMG_2219.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0FdVkL0p1dU/UykHWEHLKDI/AAAAAAAAA_o/vvR2IhI1oNk/s1600/IMG_2219.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard at work on some pajama bottoms!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z9RFCSWbQ70/UykHUROq-JI/AAAAAAAAA_E/IpPgph4ICJY/s1600/IMG_2200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z9RFCSWbQ70/UykHUROq-JI/AAAAAAAAA_E/IpPgph4ICJY/s1600/IMG_2200.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed<a href="http://www.eldrbarry.net/im/meg/simpbear.pdf" target="_blank"> teddy bear</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The teddy bear is a free pattern from www.eldrbarry.net (<a href="http://www.eldrbarry.net/im/meg/simpbear.pdf">www.eldrbarry.net/im/meg/simpbear.pdf</a>)<br />
I have no affiliation with the site, I just love the bear pattern. It's simple but still still has more character than most simple bear patterns online! I love that his little face isn't flat or just drawn on.<br />
<br />
In the end, my super cheap machine wasn't all that cheap.<br />
We paid about $14 for the machine and the cabinet.<br />
The bottle of sewing machine oil was around $5<br />
The foot control I found at a local sewing machine repair shop, it was $35<br />
It will eventually need a new belt, which runs about $10 <br />
About $40 on primer and paint. ($10/can, 4 cans)<br />
The sandpaper I had on hand but would run $10 if bought new (less if you did it by hand, I used a hand sander with pre-cut velcro refills.)<br />
<br />
Various soaps, solvents and cotton swabs were in my house, as well as the Brasso used to clean the decorative cabinet parts. Brasso is about $4, the other stuff can be found at the dollar store.<br />
I easily put 8 hours of my time into cleaning the machine, possibly longer!<br />
The cabinet took several weeks but most of that was letting the paint dry well between coats. My actual investment was probably 4 hours.<br />
All for a sewing machine that runs $14 on ebay! Maybe $30 if you can find one with the cabinet.<br />
<br />
I don't really care what it cost though. it was fun to fix it up and my daughter loves the crazy color, and that it is all hers! Down the road, if she wants to refinish it again, it wasn't that hard. I'd happily help her again. I love that we can both sew at the same time! I also love that she was as involved in the process as she wanted to be. She wasn't there for every moment of it, but I think she knows more about how a sewing machine works than most people now! If it gets jammed up in the future, she can probably fix it herself!<br />
<br />
I think it's a little funny that the photos show the slow progression of day and night, as well as various kids sitting with me, watching, keeping me company, sometimes abandoning me altogether!<br />
<br />
So that's the story of our thrift shop sewing machine. What projects have you been working on?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0FdVkL0p1dU/UykHWEHLKDI/AAAAAAAAA_o/vvR2IhI1oNk/s1600/IMG_2219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-75223724917039746482013-09-19T00:35:00.000-04:002013-09-19T01:01:47.581-04:00From the archives: Doggy Disposal<b>Dear GoodJoan, </b><br />
<br />
<b>Is it appropriate to dispose of a dead pet (too large to flush) in your
town trash pickup? We don't have a dead pet, just one of those burning
questions! ;)</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
If you're dealing with something small, like a gerbil or a parakeet, you
can probably wrap it in paper or a trash bag and put it in your household trash and no
one would know or care. Something larger, like a cat or dog would be harder to
disguise as regular trash. Many landfills will accept dead animals as
household solid waste, but your local trash pick up may not want to
handle them. A phone call to your garbage service is in order.
Some have certain rules for disposal of what may be a bio-hazard. Things
like diapers and kitty litter, in my town, have to be double bagged and
kept out of the regular trash.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAwSSS9nVzw/UjqAwC9oJHI/AAAAAAAAA1s/6U0BSrxt_k0/s1600/313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAwSSS9nVzw/UjqAwC9oJHI/AAAAAAAAA1s/6U0BSrxt_k0/s200/313.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAwSSS9nVzw/UjqAwC9oJHI/AAAAAAAAA1s/6U0BSrxt_k0/s1600/313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8dvHbLGNDI/UjqBfGgthzI/AAAAAAAAA2M/WqBr8LrGJqg/s200/785.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
If the animal is something small, like a
hamster, chances are the pet owner is a child and in that case a proper
funeral is in order! There should always be a procession and a burial
followed by short stories about how the pet was well loved. If someone
can find black veiling, all the better! Be sure to cover the grave with
a few heavy rocks to keep other animals from disturbing Zippy's eternal
slumber! Even if the owner is a grown up, many people chose to bury
their pets nearby, in a favorite spot or have them cremated and sprinkle
the ashes in the pet's favorite place.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TGw5D21xblk/UjqBGfkXU4I/AAAAAAAAA2E/urxG3eamIss/s1600/229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TGw5D21xblk/UjqBGfkXU4I/AAAAAAAAA2E/urxG3eamIss/s200/229.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddy aims to be the favorite.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If the animal in question is
road kill, you can call your town public works division or animal
shelter and ask them to remove the animal from the road. If you are a
Good Samaritan and notice an animal that is likely someone's pet, call the
humane society first and report the animal and it's description, as best
you can give. (ie "flat" is not helpful, but "a black and white with a
pink collar" could rule out many lost pets for an owner that was
searching.) A worried pet owner may not like the news that fluffy was
found in the road, but knowing for sure what happened is better than
wondering and driving to shelters all over hoping to find her. Even if
it's not a pet, and something less pleasant like a skunk or a possum,
the people who live and drive near it will be glad that it's picked up
promptly.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rhftqkZ5lmw/UjqA3rZdi1I/AAAAAAAAA10/M0Yp-E_1YFU/s1600/166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rhftqkZ5lmw/UjqA3rZdi1I/AAAAAAAAA10/M0Yp-E_1YFU/s200/166.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boomer pretends to be roadkill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If the critter is larger and not as easily dropped in the trash you have
a few options. You can wrap the body up and drive it to your local
landfill yourself and pay whatever the fee is for the trunk full you're
toting. You can call and ask your local trash pick up and possibly pay a
service charge for removal of the animal. You can take the animal, in a
plastic bag, to a local vet and pay a fee for them to dispose of the
body. If you want the animal cremated and the ashes returned to you,
label the bag with your name. You can also donate the critter to
science in the way of a high school science teacher, vet school or
taxidermist. The thought of Fido being dissected or stuffed isn't
exactly pleasant but you don't care, you were just going to throw him in
the trash anyway!!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eIcOsQUVl40/UjqB-jvK0sI/AAAAAAAAA2U/Gwd22fEaWGE/s1600/524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eIcOsQUVl40/UjqB-jvK0sI/AAAAAAAAA2U/Gwd22fEaWGE/s200/524.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ShopCat is not amused!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
(**Please note all animals depicted were, at the time of the photo, alive and well and unharmed. No critters were harmed in the making of this blog post!**) GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-4137748995525638892013-09-04T23:45:00.002-04:002013-09-07T01:45:19.289-04:00From the archives. "My MIL won't babyproof!"<b>Dear Goodjoan. </b><br />
<br />
<b>My mother-in-law's house is not baby proofed at all. My 1 year old son is her
fourth grandchild and she has never bothered. I keep a close eye on him
when we are there to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or wreck anything
but she leaves things on the coffee table and end tables, like candles,
vases of flowers and knickknacks, etc. Is it my responsibility to clean
up after messes he makes, or if he breaks something? Should I run
around and put stuff up out of his reach as soon as we get there, or is
that her responsibility?</b><br />
<br />
<b>
</b>I know this is a difficult position because you don't want your son to
get hurt, nor do you want any of the bric-a-brac getting broken but
you'd also like to sit down for a moment during your visit! My advice
here is different than if you were just popping over to a childless
friends house because I am assuming your MIL's house is someplace you go
often and someplace your son's needs should be met to some degree. If
your MIL hasn't changed anything yet, she probably feels like it's your
responsibility to teach your son to not touch things, rather than her
job to protect him from things that are dangerous or fragile.
Unfortunately, kids don't start developing what we'd call self-control
until they are 2.5 or older! He is incapable right now of NOT touching
those things!<br />
<br />
First, start with a phone call before you visit. "Mom,
we are coming over tomorrow and I wanted to ask you ahead of time to
maybe pickup or put away any fragile things from where Baby can reach
them. We are trying to teach him to be respectful and gentle with
things but he's still so little that he doesn't really understand that
not everything is a baby toy. You have such beautiful things in your
home that I would be heartbroken if he accidentally broke something.
He's also gotten very curious since he started walking and I know you
wouldn't want him to pull a flower vase onto his head or anything like
that, that might hurt him. Gosh, I had no idea babies were so fast!
You know what? The other day I was at a friends house and I ended up
leaving early and not getting to visit very long because her house
wasn't baby proofed and the baby was into Everything and I just couldn't
keep up!"<br />
<br />
Then, when you do arrive, start redecorating. Bring
adjustable gates with you and block off hallways or stairs, or trap Baby
in one room with you. If necessary for you in-laws, bring the swinging
style gates that they can open and walk through. Bring a hand full of
outlet covers, they are cheap, and stick them in the outlets as you see
them or as your son discovers them. Leave them there when you leave. If
there are cabinets he likes, bring some kitchen cabinet locks that go
around the door handles. When you have a safe area staked out for him,
walk around yourself and pick up anything you KNOW is going to get
manhandled by the baby. Flower vases, ceramic birds, and remote
controls, whatever and move them to higher shelves or to another room.
If your MIL is uncomfortable with you moving things, or asks you to
stop, leave them there but <i>FREAK OUT</i> every time he touches one. I don't
mean just lean over and take it away, I mean Yelp like someone poked
you with a stick, jump up in a flurry of waving arms, gently take the
item from the baby (don't yell at the baby or make him think he's doing
anything wrong if he's not!) and run with wide eyes to your MIL, hand
the item to her and proclaim horrifically "This almost got BROKEN!!"
She'll probably start picking up before your visits just so you won't
act like such a nutcase anymore!<br />
<br />
If she continues to leave breakables
around you can do one of two things, let him go wild and break anything
he can get his hands on, being careful that he doesn't hurt himself and
she doesn't scold him for what is really her own error, or you can
remove him from a few things and then just say "I'm sorry, but he's
getting into everything and I can't even sit down. We're going to need
to go now because he's only going to get more frustrated and frustrating
or something's going to get broken." Then pack up and go home. If
it's important to your MIL that you come and have fun and stay for a
while, she will start being more of a partner in caring for your son's
safety and less of a liability. Certainly, as Baby gets older it's
important to teach him that the rules are different in Grandma's house
and some things aren't for touching. Kids do understand that and will
act accordingly, but they have to be old enough to grasp the concept of
personal safety and being gentle first and you're not there yet!
<b><br /></b>GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-83355887940326249012013-08-30T03:06:00.000-04:002013-08-30T03:09:46.903-04:00The Pickle Problem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When I first moved to Georgia, I knew I would miss some things about New England, the smell of crisp fall leaves, snow, my family, the house I grew up in. You know, all the stuff you're supposed to miss. Turns out, much of that was over rated! I don't miss snow at all! Especially slush puddles that hide near your car door, waiting to leap into your dress shoes at the first opportunity. I don't miss I-95 and it's potholes one bit. The beach, eh, it was ok but I'm far too fair skinned to really need to be there frequently. Plus, sand is scratchy.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What has taken me by surprise over the years is the stuff I never thought I'd miss, but realize when I see it again that I missed it terribly! Saltbox houses and old barns with fields surrounded by endless stone walls rank high on this list. Another top contender- Pickles. Pickles, like biscuits, spaghetti sauce, pizza and other regional specialties and family recipes are one of those things that you develop a taste for as a kid and spend the rest of your life trying to find the recipe that tastes just like Mom's, or just like Vinnie's or just like what you had when you were 8. When you relocate to a different part of the country, it's even harder to find something that is at least, close enough. In Atlanta, I can find over a dozen kinds of pickles, none of them are the fat, crunch, kosher half sour pickles my dad used to fish out of the barrel at the Hickory Farms store in the mall and share with me as we waited on my mom to finish shopping. I didn't even realize how much I loved those pickles until I went without them for so long!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Shortly before my wedding, a little bagel shop opened up in my college town. They got terrible reviews. The bagels were hard, leathery, impossible to chew. The toppings were odd, What's a lox? They were AWESOME! They were exactly like the bagels we'd buy in Grand Central Station and eat for the entire half hour it would take us to get home on the train! The locals here were used to squishy Lenders bagels from the grocery store. They had no idea! Soon-to-be-hubby and I ate there one day and he ordered a sandwich. It came with a pickle wedge that he offered to me. Expecting the typical vinegary dill pickle, I was at first surprised by the salty, garlic deliciousness that I tasted. Then I realized what I had! My eyes widened and I started to clap my hands and stomp my feet. I think I made audible YUMMY noises. Hubby thought I was having a stroke. I handed him the pickle and told him to try it. He did and he made a face and said it tasted weird. I ran to the counter and asked if I could buy more pickles. A very confused clerk said "Um, no, they aren't for sale. The owner has them flown in every week from New York." She thought they tasted weird too. She said most people try them and throw them out! Oh my, what a waste of good pickles! Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the bagel shop didn't last and my small lifeline to half sour pickles was gone. I could never find them in a store and any reference to home pickle making I could find in the library was only for vinegar pickles. Half sour pickles are not 'pickled' in the 'soaked in vinegar' sense of the word, but rather are fermented in brine so they aren't listed in typical canning and storing type cookbooks. So sad. I gave up on finding those pickles again. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Fortunately, a few years later this nifty research tool became available...the internet! I found several recipe variations to my beloved half sours and tried a few. As I decided what I did and didn't like about each, I tweaked the recipes into one. This is the one I use.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G-sAkxsZDIA/Uh_kFat4L3I/AAAAAAAAAzo/iBA1tS6A1IQ/s320/IMG_2085.JPG" width="240" /> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My highly technical recipe.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And these are the things you need- A pitcher of room temperature water, a box of salt, pickling spices, garlic, a jar to ferment the pickles in and some cucumbers. If I was a more organized blogger, all of those things would be in the picture :)</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCDyFOgXYkE/Uh_kK420vYI/AAAAAAAAAzw/X6GwcQHLvFY/s1600/IMG_2086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCDyFOgXYkE/Uh_kK420vYI/AAAAAAAAAzw/X6GwcQHLvFY/s320/IMG_2086.JPG" width="240" /> </a></div>
Rinse the cucumbers in cool water. Nothing special here, you just want to rinse off any loose dirt. Pickling cukes will work best, but since they only soak for a sort time, larger salad type cukes will work too but the end result will be softer than the smaller, pickling variety.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7xlvxp2elk/Uh_kR13eWYI/AAAAAAAAA0A/u3lEr-8QgOs/s1600/IMG_2087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7xlvxp2elk/Uh_kR13eWYI/AAAAAAAAA0A/u3lEr-8QgOs/s320/IMG_2087.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Dissolve 1/4c of salt (pickling, kosher, coarse, ice cream, whatever is cheapest.) into 8 cups of room temperature water. If you want to be super special, let the water sit out overnight to let the chlorine dissipate, or use filtered water. All those goodies they put in the water is to kill bacteria, and we're trying to grown bacteria so getting them out helps the process happen faster. For the same reason, hot or cold water can slow fermentation, just go with room temp.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRU2YDGWa_o/Uh_kRuS_a1I/AAAAAAAAAz4/-_PrwEtfDKs/s1600/IMG_2089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRU2YDGWa_o/Uh_kRuS_a1I/AAAAAAAAAz4/-_PrwEtfDKs/s320/IMG_2089.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Put your spices (2T) and garlic (5-6 cloves) into the container you're going to use to ferment the pickles. Normally, I use fresh garlic, peeled and smashed with the side of a knife, but I was all out and I really wanted pickles so I used the oil packed. Also, these are just store brand pickling spices. I think these have too much clove so I just pick out about 2/3 of them before adding to the container. If you absolutely must have DILL in your pickles, add a spring or two of fresh, whole dill now. Don't use the really fine, powdery, dried stuff, or if you have to, put it in a muslin bag first so it doesn't stick to the pickles.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-azviugq9jFk/Uh_kTX-z51I/AAAAAAAAA0Q/-tnhkTFlffs/s1600/IMG_2090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-azviugq9jFk/Uh_kTX-z51I/AAAAAAAAA0Q/-tnhkTFlffs/s320/IMG_2090.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Cut the blossom ends off the pickles. I hate biting into a bit of stem so I cut off the stem ends as well. This also makes them fit nicely in the jar! This is the time to decide if you want whole pickles, or slices or wedges. Cut them however you want them. Whole will stay crisp longer but if I know I'm going to use them up fast, I sometimes cut them in 4ths.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ye0dIf0QpDU/Uh_kT_uLbDI/AAAAAAAAA0c/6FxTU3_LDb0/s1600/IMG_2091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ye0dIf0QpDU/Uh_kT_uLbDI/AAAAAAAAA0c/6FxTU3_LDb0/s320/IMG_2091.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Goof alert! I usually mix all my brine and spices into a large crock (below) so I threw everything into the pitcher for this tutorial. This was my first run with these smaller jars and I didn't use all the brine, leaving me to scoop and scrape the garlic out of the pitcher and into the jar after the fact. You can see the spices in the brine in the pitcher. Ignore that, put your spices in the jar! The smaller jar probably would have been fine with half the spices and garlic, but having twice as much didn't hurt. Luckily, we love garlic in our house! If you don't have a mason jar or a big crock, any large plastic or glass container will work, a big cookie jar, or a food grade bucket from a fast food joint. A wide top is useful, so you can more easily submerge the cucumbers. This glass crock was under $10. I think it came from Old Time Pottery or Garden Ridge. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64vGi8l9A2E/Uh_kViWx6YI/AAAAAAAAA00/zIvYzT1j1ew/s1600/IMG_2095.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64vGi8l9A2E/Uh_kViWx6YI/AAAAAAAAA00/zIvYzT1j1ew/s320/IMG_2095.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Pack the cucumbers into the jar. It helps if you can wedge them in enough that they don't float around too much, but you want them loose enough that the brine can get in and around all the cukes.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nV8tQXDbXBI/Uh_kTopBL-I/AAAAAAAAA0Y/A83h2disyDA/s1600/IMG_2092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nV8tQXDbXBI/Uh_kTopBL-I/AAAAAAAAA0Y/A83h2disyDA/s320/IMG_2092.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Right before my craving for pickles, my hubby bought a set of <a href="http://pickl-it.com/" target="_blank">"Pickl-it"</a> fermenting jars. I figured this was a great opportunity to try them out. They come with a glass dunk'r, to hold the food under the brine (visible below) and a nifty airlock to keep anything unwanted out of the jar, including oxygen, while allowing fermentation gasses to bubble off. In the past, I've had issues with yeast or other less desirable things growing in my pickles, with the pickl-it airlock, I had none of that! (and they didn't pay me to say that, or give me swag...though I'm not opposed to swag!)<br />
<br />
Pour the brine over the cucumbers, covering completely. If you don't have these fancy jars, you can use a smaller dish to hold the cukes down, or a baggie filled with brine. In my big crock above, I use a plastic needlepoint mesh cut to fit just inside the top, with a small plate or ramekin perched on top of it to hold it all down.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k4lByQ0qUVk/Uh_kUp2wv9I/AAAAAAAAA0o/jgcVNv4iW70/s1600/IMG_2093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k4lByQ0qUVk/Uh_kUp2wv9I/AAAAAAAAA0o/jgcVNv4iW70/s320/IMG_2093.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Leave your jar in a room temperature place, out of direct sunlight and away from extreme temperatures, for at least 3 days. The water will get cloudy, even downright murky! There will be little bubbles. There may even be mold on top. If so, just scoop it off with a spoon. If you aren't used to fermenting your own food, it may look a little scary. I promise you, it's ok! These pickles are actually quite good for you! They do wonders for your intestinal flora! If you're scared, you can read up at the extension service, or any of the MANY internet sources about fermented foods to be sure you're doing it right. If you're not sure, or the whole thing looks like it's gone way off, or smells way off, by all means toss them and start over. This is supposed to be fun, not give you a belly ache!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SHVugFx9eOI/Uh_kVo6W--I/AAAAAAAAA0w/sxh9FNf-0LU/s1600/IMG_2094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SHVugFx9eOI/Uh_kVo6W--I/AAAAAAAAA0w/sxh9FNf-0LU/s320/IMG_2094.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
After 3 days, move the jar to the fridge. (with the pickl-it, you can remove the airlock and put in the rubber stopper) Give the new pickles a little time to get cold, then dig in! There are no more pictures because this batch didn't last long enough! Once they hit the fridge, hubby, who has since developed a taste for the briny beauties, and I devoured them. You can let them sit longer, and they will get more and more sour. In a week or 2, depending on the weather, you'll have full sour pickles. This is another reason these are so hard to find, the shelf life is so short! Both hubby and a dear friend of mine who knew my plight eventually found a commercial jarred half sour pickle, but they only pop up in stores briefly and then are gone again. It's easier to just make your own!<br />
<br />
Do you have a favorite kind of pickle? Is there a recipe that you grew up with that you've been trying to replicate as an adult? GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-13422049951594654442013-08-09T00:30:00.000-04:002013-08-09T00:30:02.934-04:00Let's revisit- Foster Parent?2 years ago I posted a story about being asked <a href="http://askgoodjoan.blogspot.com/2011/06/are-you-foster-parent.html" target="_blank">if I was a foster parent</a>. I'd been asked so many similar questions (do you do daycare? Are they ALL yours?) that I was curious if it was because of the number of kids I had with me (I only have 4!) or if there was something about my kids, or my demeanor that suggested we weren't a family. I heard back from other moms of many kids that the daycare thing was almost universal. Apparently, any more than 2 kids with you at one time gets those comments! Is more than 2 really that odd?<br />
<br />
Similarly, any mom pushing a double stroller is asked "are they twins?" even if the kids are an infant and a toddler!<br />
<br />
A few weeks after I was asked if I was a foster mom, I ran into the young man that had inquired. I asked him why he thought I might have been a foster parent, and not just mom. He stammered a bit and said "Um, because you always come in with different kids! One day you came in and one of the kids with you wasn't the same race. The kid didn't look like he could have been even half yours, so I thought maybe you were a foster mom. My mom used to foster, so I thought it was kinda neat!" I had to think for a bit and I guess he must have seen my kids playing on the playground with some of their friends. My kids certainly do have friends all over the spectrum of skin color and race, so the odds of him seeing them playing together were good. We talked for a while about his mom and what it was like for him growing up with real siblings and foster siblings. I left feeling grateful that I *only* had 4 kids with me, and flattered that he'd asked because he thought I was that cool, and less concerned that he asked because he thought I was weird! :)GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-18519901837804676902013-08-02T00:30:00.000-04:002013-08-02T00:30:00.727-04:00Let's revisit- Paper towels!Wow, it's been almost a year since I started my <a href="http://askgoodjoan.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-non-paper-towel-solution.html" target="_blank">experiment to stop using paper towels</a>! Aren't you just dying to know what happened?<br />
<br />
First of all, I had opted to buy pre-made cloth diapers instead of trying to make my own from a bolt of fabric. I'd have loved to go all "little house on the prarie" and make my own, but I realized pretty quick that just wasn't gonna happen! I know my limits! Our TV friend, Martha likes to say "It's a good thing!" I'm much more prone to the phrase "Scr*w it, close enough!"<br />
<br />
So I bought the diapers and little baskets and set up a little system for myself. It took a few days for the kids to stop asking where the paper towels were. I found a few dried up spills on the kitchen table and when I asked "Why didn't you wipe this up?" got back "because we're out of paper towels and you said not to use your good bath towels to wipe up spills." OK, I did say that, good to know that actually got through! It's hard to be upset about that! I reminded them a few times about the new system and eventually they got in the habit.<br />
<br />
What worked? We still have the 3 basket system, one for clean, one for dirty and one to catch the orphans that appear in the wash outside of the big towel washing day. The only thing that's changed about that is the location of the dirty towel basket. I had it next to the trash can but it now lives either on the counter, or, if I don't want to look at it, in a lower cabinet. I found out the hard way that leaving them by the trash made them too enticing for the dog. Since we'd use them to mop up food spills and hubby cooks a lot of meat in the crock pot, the towels smelled yummy and the dog tried to eat a few! Luckily, the dog is fine and only a couple of towels have chew holes in them! They've held up quite well in the wash and I can foresee getting several more years out of most of the towels. The chewed ones may not survive but the rest look fine. Some are stained but I really don't care about that.<br />
<br />
What didn't work? My belief that they'd get washed in the regular laundry and not add to my laundry load went out the window pretty fast. I do sometimes wash them with socks and underwear, and occasionally one gets in with the regular laundry because it was used for some non-kitchen purpose, but about the same time I started this system, I also started a laundry basket system where the kids do their own laundry. I no longer have a big basket of socks and underwear to wash on a near daily basis. Also, because they tend to be pretty grubby, I like to wash them with bleach on the sanitize setting on my washer. Now I just wait until they are almost all dirty and do one big towel wash. All together they make a decent sized load of laundry! The good news though, is that 36 towels can last us several weeks so I'm only doing that wash every once in a while. Typically, we have 2 or 3 towels in rotation at any time. One clean one by the sink for hand and dish drying. It's not really dirty so much as damp. We hang it on the edge of a drawer to dry. Another, probably an old dish dryer, used for wiping the counters and wiping the splashed water from around the sink. Not super dirty, but not clean enough to dry dishes. Then possibly another near the table, slightly more used, that's used for cleaning the table with spray cleaner, or mopping up spilled milk at breakfast (do they ever stop spilling that?) Big spills still call for a handful of towels out of the dirty pile. Who cares if they get more dirty on the floor? So one rag might be in use for a few days, advancing to more and more dirty duty before retiring to the dirty basket. <br />
<br />
I admit, I do still have a roll of real paper towels stashed in a cabinet! There are just some things that require paper. Draining bacon is one. Scraping dog vomit off the carpet is another. I have to keep them hidden because if anyone sees them, they immediately reach for them instead of a towel! Keeping them hidden allows for occasional use without wasting them.<br />
<br />
All in all, I'd say it's a great system and it's working well. We've gone from using about a roll a week, 52 a year, to using maybe 2 or 3 rolls a year? How many trees are in 50 rolls of paper towels?<br />
<br />
<br />GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-24048917079564189572013-07-26T00:30:00.001-04:002013-09-04T23:49:45.243-04:00Salsa!<b>Dear GoodJoan,</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I need a recipe for a great tomato salsa! Got any?</b><br />
<br />
If you've learned anything from my blog by now, it's that I don't claim to do anything great, or perfect, or properly. I do things cheap and easy. Heaven knows I don't have enough time for perfection! I do however, have a recipe for salsa that is good, flexible, simple and I think, pretty yummy.<br />
<br />
Here's the fun part. If you dice the vegetables and mix them in chunky, you have salsa. If you puree the vegetables and mix them in as a liquid, you have gazpacho! I know this because this recipe started out as a gazpacho recipe from some vegetarian cookbook that hubby bought when we were in college, but while we were eating it we thought "Hey, this tastes a lot like the mild salsa they serve at our favorite Mexican restaurant!" I feel safe enough saying this is an original recipe now because the one in the cookbook started with whole tomatoes and had a bunch more ingredients and steps. The more times I made it, the more I modified it. Now I claim it as my own!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IEu7-LFjM_s/Uif_M21s3EI/AAAAAAAAA1M/K1RbJduzqHE/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IEu7-LFjM_s/Uif_M21s3EI/AAAAAAAAA1M/K1RbJduzqHE/s320/IMG_1155.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In a large bowl, pour a<b> large can of pureed tomatoes</b>, the kind you'd use to make spaghetti sauce.<br />
If you have fresh tomatoes, use them instead. Dice them up, toss in a bowl and add a little salt, that will make them more juicy. <br />
Dice a <b>pepper, an onion and 1-2 cucumbers and 2-4 cloves of garlic</b>.<br />
If you have any other veggies in the fridge you want to use up, add them here! I just avoid celery because I don't like the strings, and peeling the celery ahead of time is too much effort! The cucumbers add the same crunchy texture. I usually opt for the pepper, onion, cukes, and garlic because I can get them year round at the grocery store. <br />
Chop some fresh <b>parsley </b>if you can get it, use dried if not.<br />
Some folks love <b>cilantro</b>, if that's you add it here. Personally, I only use a tiny bit or I think it makes everything taste like bug spray. <br />
Add chopped<b> jalapeno peppers</b> to taste. Fresh if you like that, canned if you're as lazy as me! A dusting of dried cayenne pepper if you can't get the jalapeno.<br />
For salsa, dump all of that into the tomatoes and stir. <br />
If you want it very smooth, like gazpacho, put all the veggies into a food processor and puree till it's smooth. It won't be totally liquified, you just want it smooth enough to pour.<br />
Add a few tablespoons of <b>red wine vinegar</b>. Some folks prefer lemon juice.<br />
A drizzle of <b>olive oil</b>.<br />
Add a bit of <b>salt and pepper</b> (to taste)<br />
Put in fridge and let sit a few hours to chill and for the flavors to mix.<br />
Eat!<br />
<br />
This is definitely one of those recipes you have to try once and then fiddle with to find how you and your family like it best. Some folks like less garlic, some folks like a ton of cilantro. Some folks like it lumpy, some want it smoother.<br />
<br />
When I puree everything, mine has a tendency to settle a bit so it needs a little stir before serving. I like to puree it and store it in a big pitcher in the fridge. A trick I learned watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_on_the_Verge_of_a_Nervous_Breakdown" target="_blank">"Women on the verge of a nervous Breakdown"</a> that way I can pour a big mug of it whenever I want! I skip the hefty dose of sleeping pills used in the movie, but it's still refreshing and relaxing to eat!<br />
<br />
What are your favorite Salsa recipes?<br />
<br />
<br />GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-8483693742670398262013-07-21T21:04:00.000-04:002013-07-21T21:05:07.428-04:00Gulp!<b>Dear Goodjoan,</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I have kids that can't swallow pills. They are teenagers now and still can't manage it. It makes getting them medicine when they are sick pretty difficult. Any suggestions for helping them learn to swallow pills?</b><br />
<br />
In my house, being able to swallow a pill was right up there with the big milestones like walking and talking and graduating to an oral thermometer! Some kids took to it pretty easily, others had a harder time. With my brood, the 2 biggest hurdles were coordinating the balance between breathing and swallowing and simply getting past the anxiety that they were going to choke. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPkbZ6BI83s/TvlG-S1FVRI/AAAAAAAAAq4/nOk_RCr6vB0/s1600/IMG_1267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPkbZ6BI83s/TvlG-S1FVRI/AAAAAAAAAq4/nOk_RCr6vB0/s320/IMG_1267.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I started with the anxiety factor. For some reason, my kids felt that pills were 'big' even little tiny ones and if they tried to swallow them, they would surely get stuck in their throats and kill them! I asked them to start to pay attention when they were eating, because they'd realize that they were swallowing pieces of food that were much larger than a pill and without water, or drama, or choking! I'd offer them pudding and ask them if they were swallowing it, or drinking it? The same with gelatin, or gummy bears. Did that have to be a liquid? Of course not. We're able to swallow lots of things that are 'bigger' than liquid! Sometimes, just realizing that on a logical level made it easier to try to take a pill.<br />
<br />
The other place we had trouble was the idea that you can have water in your mouth and still breathe! For some reason, my kids felt like the moment something was in their mouth, they had to hold their breath. Typically, this is a normal reflex so we don't inhale and swallow at the same time and aspirate stuff into our lungs. As we get older, we learn to control it better. Kids sometimes don't realize they can control it. This made swallowing a pill a race to get the pill down before they needed to breathe again. Then of course, needing to breathe created another level of anxiety that caused the whole situation to escalate. I asked them to take a sip of water and spit it in the sink. Then I'd move to take a sip of water, wait a second, then spit it in the sink. Moving up to take a sip of water, and hold it in their mouths while breathing in and out through their nose. Once they could do that comfortably, we were past the biggest hurdle.<br />
<br />
Once my kids understood that they could hold something in their mouths and not choke, and that they had the ability to swallow lumpy things without choking, we were ready for practice. I'd give them a glass of water and some of those mini M&Ms. I'd have them try different ways to swallow the M&M whole. Some kids wanted to put it way in the back of their mouths, then drink it down. Some put it on the tip of their tongues and moved it back themselves. One liked to take a mouthful of water, tip his head back, drop the 'pill' in and swallow it all in one gulp. It didn't always go down on the first try, but if it didn't they could simply opt for plan B, chew it and swallow it, and not panic. I'd have them practice once in a while, when they were not stressed out. If they got panicked or anxious, we'd stop and try again another day. Eventually, they could swallow the tiny M&M and I'd move up to regular M&Ms, or smarties, or gummy bears, anything pill sized but not so scary to chew in case they had to go with plan B! With one kid, who had to take a fairly large capsule, I'd open the capsule, mix the medicine in pudding, then fill the empty capsule with sugar (to make it heavy) and have him practice with that. The medicine tasted horrible so he was eager to be able to swallow it without tasting it!<br />
<br />
I also found that for some situations, water is not the best way to get a pill down. Some capsules and coated pills can get tacky when they get wet and they want to catch in the back of the throat, rather than slip down. For those pills, sometimes a spoonful of pudding worked better to coat it and let it go down without a fight.<br />
<br />
We still have the occasional medicine problem, especially with particularly large or uncoated pills that start to dissolve before you can get them down! But <a href="http://askgoodjoan.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-do-you-get-kid-to-take-icky.html" target="_blank">we have our ways around that</a> too!<br />
<br />
If they really can't manage it, many medicines are available as liquids, though the amount an adult or teen needs to take to get the right dose is often pretty huge. Some medicines can be turned into liquids, trans-dermal patches, or even lollipops or gummy bears at specialized 'compounding' pharmacies. Your pediatrician, or local children's hospital probably has a list of pharmacies that provide this service.<br />
<br />
<br />GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-11985930755606085872013-07-19T01:30:00.000-04:002013-07-19T01:30:49.984-04:00Hurry Up!<b>Dear Goodjoan,</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I have a child with an attention issue. Generally it's not a problem, I've learned to adapt to her 'speed' at various tasks, but one thing that still drives me slightly bonkers is that she will NOT GET IN THE CAR! It's not that she doesn't want to go in the car, or go out, in fact she's usually very eager to go where we are going! She seems to think that she's moving pretty fast but she has to stop and look at every rock, every ant, some clouds, every dog hair stuck to the car upholstery, the interesting weave of the fabric on the car seat cover...you get the idea. When I suggest she keep going, or look at that later, she gets mad and tells me she IS hurrying! Normally, I leave plenty of time to get to the car, but some days, like when it's raining, or when we're late, I'd kinda like to move her along a bit faster without creating a scene that stops the whole procession in it's tracks! I know you have a child with ADD. How did you deal with things like this?</b><br />
<br />
I found the ideal solution for this problem completely by accident! Many year ago, I had started a work at home type job and one of the company samples in my starter kit was a kid friendly stop watch. Before I could get it out of the box, my oldest, who was probably 2 at the time was interested in it. I explained what it did and he immediately wanted me to time him doing various things! How fast could he run across the yard? How long did it take him to count to 10? I saw the benefits of this right away and turned almost everything into a game. How fast could he run to the mailbox and back 5 times? (to tire him out!) How sloowly could he walk to that tree and back? (So I could sit down for a minute!) How quickly could he put away his toys? (he cleans!) How long could he go without talking? (do I need to explain this to anyone with a 2 year old?) How quickly could he put on his pajamas? One time I even tried to see if I could time how long it took him to go to sleep but he insisted on popping up every 10 seconds to ask "How long has it been now?" but hey, you can't win them all! Not everything was a manipulative way to speed him up, but when so many things were a fun game with the timer, I don't think he realized when I was using it as a way to hurry him on those pokey days! I kept that stopwatch in my diaper bag for YEARS! Get a stopwatch and ask your daughter how fast she can get in her carseat! Then the next time, remind her of her 'score' and see if she can beat it! Time yourself getting into the car and see if she can do it faster than you. When you get home and have time, let her use the stopwatch to time how long it takes that ant to crawl over that rock! Or how long it takes her to read 3 books. Not everything has to be a race.<br />
<br />
Remember, don't encourage her to move at a speed that is dangerous, just a little quicker. You want her in the car and not smacked into it because she ran so fast she couldn't stop! And you want her safely buckled, not racing so fast she doesn't get latched properly! Time her going up stairs or uphill but not down! One is a game, the other is an emergency room co-pay! <br />
<br />
Best of all, remember to try not to get too frustrated. If you are really stressed out, use that timer to make yourself count to 10! :) My ADD kid was a handful, but is now the most creative person I know! He's outgrown much of his dilly dallying and now I can see how what used to be aggravating 'attention problems' has grown into a unique view of the world and a fantastic eye for art and design! He sees light and dark, and motion and form in a way that I simply cannot! When he talks to me about a picture he's drawing, he points out shading and colors that I didn't notice. I mean, I see them, but not the way he does. The other day he went on for probably 30 minutes in the car about the color saturation and shape of clouds. I had noticed the clouds. I thought they were pretty that day, quite fluffy and poofy. I don't think I could think up 3 minutes of monologue describing them other than that, he had 30! 30 minutes, non stop, in classic ADD fashion, but the way he was describing the sky made me glad he was the kid that couldn't help but stop and stare at an interesting rock :) I saw a rock. I wonder what he saw?GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-10751214251568948692013-07-19T00:44:00.000-04:002013-07-19T00:44:47.320-04:00Hot Georgia Summer Body Scrub<b>Dear GoodJoan,</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>My son just came back from scout camp and he's so ground in dirty that even after a shower, I can still see the dirt rings on him! Any advice for getting him clean again?</b><br />
<br />
Certainly! Scout camp is fun but they sure do come back a special kind of filthy! First, empty his trunk and haul it outside to sit open in the sunshine to air out. Do not do like I did the first year and tell your scout to unpack his things and them assume that he did it. 6 months later I found a trunk half full of mostly clean laundry, topped with a bag of pool shoes that had been worn in the lake, loosely tied in a grocery bag and left there to fester. There's not enough febreeze in the world for that!<br />
<br />
Next, whip up a batch of this and have him use it in his next shower!<br />
<br />
<i><b>Hot Georgia Summer Body Scrub!</b></i><br />
<br />
This body scrub feels COOL as it washes away so it's great for showering
off after a long, hot day! It'll take off bug spray and sunscreen and
that sweaty film that you can feel all over yourself when you've been
out in the heat too long!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPjaKtkS9fc/UejBnZdrvEI/AAAAAAAAAyU/pgHp5bqcE9s/s1600/DSC00452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPjaKtkS9fc/UejBnZdrvEI/AAAAAAAAAyU/pgHp5bqcE9s/s320/DSC00452.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
1 box of baking soda<br />
1 bottle of body wash or liquid soap (use Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap for Extreme COOL!)<br />
water (amount depends on your container)<br />
a small plastic container with a wide mouth<br />
<br />
1) Wash out your small container. I used an empty gelati tub because it was handy.<br />
2) Fill container about 3/4 full of baking soda.<br />
3) In a separate cup, mix about a tablespoon or so of soap with warm water and mix gently. I used about a cup and a half in my example. You want to thin out the soap considerably, but not make a frothy mess. For the example in the photo, I used Suave body wash in Sweet Pea and Violet scent. Dr Bronner's is organic if that is important to you. If you don't want the ultimate tingly sensation, use a scent other than peppermint or tea tree) Any liquid soap would probably work, but I like really stinky ones, so the final product still has a good amount of scent.<br />
4) Slowly pour the soap solution in the the baking soda. When the tub is full, put the lid on and roll it gently back and forth to wet all the powder.<br />
5) Test consistency. If mix is too runny, add more baking soda. If it's too dry, add more of the soap solution. Eventually, you should find that the baking soda will settle and extra water will rise to the top. I keep mixing and adding until I have the tub mostly full and about 1/4 inch of water remaining on top. The end result should be a slurry you can easily scoop up in your hand but still has some grit.<br />
6) Place container in shower and enjoy!<br />
<br />
This stuff leaves my skin feeling so soft, I just love it. The baking soda exfoliates and the touch of soap cleanses. A good scrub with this should have your scout Class A ready in no time!<br />
<br />
WARNING- This scrub can make the bottom of your tub or shower slippery so be careful!!<br />
<br />
Totally aside, my spinal cord injury left me with something called a 'neurologic itch' which is a fancy term for a spot on my body that itches almost constantly. The itching is caused by a glitch in my spinal cord sending the wrong signal, and not something actually on my skin. This scrub is gentle enough to use quite vigorously on that spot on my hip so that I feel like I'm really scratching it, but without damaging my skin like I've had happen with salt scrubs! Then the cool sensation helps calm the itch for a little while! GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-20267825280177678692012-09-10T19:22:00.000-04:002013-07-19T02:28:03.043-04:00The non-paper towel solution<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>My 3 basket, non-paper towel system.</b></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Several months ago, I decided we had to stop using paper towels in my house. Between myself, hubby, and all the kids, we were going through about a roll a week. I could go through a roll a day if I started cleaning mirrors and windows! Rather than contribute to more trash, we needed to switch to a paperless system. I pondered my options, which narrowed down to cut up old clothes into rags, or buy new cloth. The idea of buying new stuff to then use seemed frivolous, but hubby had a strong reaction to using old clothes. I guess a childhood of cleaning windows with your dad's old underwear leaves a mark on a kid! That meant I needed to buy something new, but buy individual cloths or buy fabric in bulk and cut and stitch it into smaller pieces. OK, I realized as soon as it went through my head that the second idea would leave me with a giant bolt of fabric stashed in the house, uncut, unstitched, and making me feel guilty for A) not completing my project as planned and B) continuing to use paper towels until "I got around to that project." So, buy individual cloths it was! I decided on flat, birdseye cloth diapers. Like most parents, we had a few hanging around from the kids diaper days and once they are no longer needed for spit rags, they do make great kitchen towels! I found a place online and got 3 dozen for about $16 a dozen. ($1.33 each) They routinely run about $18-20 on ebay and most online cloth diaper stores.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Once the initial buying was done, I knew I had to come up with some sort of system to keep the towels contained and not lost in the chaos of my household. In the spirit of "A place for everything, and everything in its place" I organized a system of 3 small baskets.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One basket, holding the clean, folded towels, lives in a cabinet in the kitchen. One sits like a dirty clothes hamper near the trash can, to catch dirty towels. The last one sits atop my washing machine, to catch the stray towels that end up mixed in with other laundry as they come out of the dryer. When the dirty basket in the kitchen gets full, I carry it upstairs and wash the towels, usually with a load of socks and underwear to save time and water. I put the now empty hamper basket on the washer to become the 'orphan' basket, grab the basket of accumulated orphans and bring it back to the kitchen. I grab the few remaining clean towels from the clean basket, and drop them on top of the orphans and tuck that basket in the cabinet, and put the now empty clean basket on the floor to act as the hamper. In a few small moves, the cleans are refilled, the dirty hamper is empty, the orphan basket is empty, and the dirty one are washing. Simple!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1g4X8X4IEJw/UE5ol3Zxm0I/AAAAAAAAAvg/AgC-nbgNCxQ/s1600/IMG_1601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1g4X8X4IEJw/UE5ol3Zxm0I/AAAAAAAAAvg/AgC-nbgNCxQ/s320/IMG_1601.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CJdb7pWdx5Q/UE5opSLbD5I/AAAAAAAAAvo/9w2VZM5r9nA/s1600/IMG_1602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CJdb7pWdx5Q/UE5opSLbD5I/AAAAAAAAAvo/9w2VZM5r9nA/s320/IMG_1602.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I love our new system. The towels are handy, more absorbent and while I may have needed several paper towels during the typical dinner prep, to wash a pan, wipe the counter, dry my hands, then clean up after dinner, I can use one cloth as an apron to protect my clothes, dry my hands and the assorted dish, then when I'm done cooking I pull it off, wipe the counters and clean the stove with the same towel! I can throw a folded towel on the counter as a trivet, I can use a dry folded one as a potholder. When there is a spill on the floor, I can grab one or two out of the dirty hamper and use those again! I never run out!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, is it worth it? At my grocery store, name brand paper towels are $10 for a 8 pack, or $1.25/roll. At a roll a week, we're using about $65 in paper towels every year. I do have to drive to buy them, using gas and putting miles on my car, but realistically, I'm going to the store anyway so that isn't much to affect the outcome. Of course, there is an opportunity cost to running out of paper towels and having to drain your bacon on your kids old homework papers! 3 dozen cloth diapers cost me $48, and the baskets were $1 each from Dollar General, total of $51. That's already a $14 savings just in purchase price. Granted, I do have to wash them, but I usually wash them in with other laundry so I'm not running the washer more, or using more soap than I might have. It may use a little more water, but it's a front loader, so the difference there may be equal to the 'driving to buy the paper towels' spending on the other side. Also, consider that the cloth diapers will last more than a year. Some estimates say a good quality cloth diaper can last 2-5 years depending on use and washing. If I'm tearing them up and only get 2 years, I've saved $79. If they last a good long 5 years, I've saved $274! Even using the bargain paper towels brand, which run $0.65/roll at my store, or $33.80/year, I would lose $17 the first year, but save $16.60 by year 2 and $118 by year 5. Not to mention what we've saved the planet by NOT putting 52 rolls of paper towels into the landfill this year!</div>
GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-9446801644777797432012-01-09T22:02:00.000-05:002013-07-19T01:31:01.122-04:00What to do with used lingerie?<b>Dear GoodJoan, <br />
<br />
Yay me for decluttering. I cleaned out a whole drawer in my dresser yesterday to make room for things that I really don't want hanging in my closet. I ended up clearing out a whole drawer of lingerie. I kept a few things, but found a lot of things that were maybe worn once or twice that either no longer fit or don't appeal to me. None of them were hugely expensive, but everything together filled up a paper grocery bag. Now, what to do with them? I don't know if Goodwill takes and resells used lingerie? I feel funny listing it on freecycle. What would you do?</b> <br />
<br />
<br />
Congratulations on the decluttering! It's such a great feeling to free up space and lessen the chaos around us! Now, on to your question. I see a few possible things you can do with your bag of goodies.<br />
<br />
The simplest is to just throw it all away. It's a bag of old underwear, it's clutter, it's ok to throw it away. I know that's hard to do though, especially when you feel like some things still have some use and some value, so if you cringed at that first suggestion, let's move on.<br />
<br />
You can safely sell or donate bras, teddies and nightgowns and things like that, but not panties or anything worn as underwear. It's a sanitary issue. In addition to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, consider a local women's shelter, or even a local 'dress for success' program! If you think the tops could fetch a few dollars, and don't mine the work involved, post them on ebay.<br />
<br />
You could offer the items to friends or family. If you know someone who's been losing weight, a new assortment of pretty panties in the right size might be a real blessing and they won't be as concerned about cooties as ebay. All the same, you should wash the items and sanitize them with a disinfectant rinse, like Lysol, before passing them along.<br />
<br />
For the non ebay friendly items, like already worn undies and socks, both clean and dirty, you can use an online classified site, but you'd be selling them as a fetish item at that point, which may or may not appeal to you. If you'd like to go that way, <a href="http://www.brokelyn.com/author/nina-koske/" target="_blank">Nina Koske at Brokelyn</a> has already written a <a href="http://www.brokelyn.com/how-to-sell-your-redacted-online/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> for getting started! It seems there's quite a bit of money to be made in that market! <br />
<br />
Of course, you could go in a whole different direction and re-purpose the items into other things. You could go the traditional route and use old cotton bottoms as dust rags, or in the garage. Or you could go more creative! Cut up the panties into squares and triangles and make a <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_10005169_make-underwear-quilt.html" target="_blank">patchwork blanket</a>. Cut out strips and stitch into <a href="http://www.katieochicago.com/project-rolled-scrap-fabric-flowers/" target="_blank">fabric flowers</a>! There's even a pattern for making an <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/project/bra-purse" target="_blank">old bra into a purse</a>!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-50006389116384604082011-12-29T17:50:00.002-05:002011-12-31T21:55:25.054-05:00How do you make iced tea?It's no shock to anyone around me that I'm not southern. I wasn't born in the south. I wasn't raised in the south. I came here when I was 20. There are many thing about me that will always be particularly northern. I talk fast, faster when I'm around my northern family. I always have a clean and dry walkways and stairs after every snowstorm even when my only tools are a dustpan, some kitty litter and a box of salt from the kitchen, and I pronounce the word OIL as though there is a Y in the middle of it (vs the more southern pronunciation of 'ole.') However, after spending more than half of my life here, I have adopted a few southern habits. I say "Y'all" a lot. It's so much nicer than the northern version "you guys" and I drink iced tea all year long. Not just iced tea, but sweet iced tea. And yes, there is a difference.<br />
<br />
It didn't take long for the iced tea habit to start. It's available everywhere here, is generally bottomless where some restaurants charge for refills of soda (oh, and I call it soda!) and it's nice on a hot day and let's face it, we have a lot of hot days! In New England, if we wanted iced tea, our options were canned, powdered, or simply unsweetened hot tea left to cool. They are all pretty horrible. I had no idea how bad things were until I tasted the real thing! The tea here is sweet and cold and clear. It seemed so simple, yet trying to recreate it at home never seemed to work. Thankfully, I met and married a southern man, who came armed with the secret to making iced tea at home. He taught me how to do it, probably so I'd stop asking him to make more. Once I had the knowledge, I became the person in charge of making the tea at my family functions, partly because the tea is good, partly because my cooking is that bad! Now I'm at a place in my life where I feel this knowledge needs to be shared not just with the world, but with my children! Kids, the next time you ask me to make more tea, I'm emailing you a link to this page. All this stuff is in the kitchen!<br />
<br />
It's simple really. You'll need a gallon pitcher, some tea bags, some sugar, a measuring cup, and a way to heat water.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lb6aZxHtZuA/TvzotMBCkcI/AAAAAAAAArc/CJKyc5zkpvY/s1600/IMG_1270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lb6aZxHtZuA/TvzotMBCkcI/AAAAAAAAArc/CJKyc5zkpvY/s320/IMG_1270.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Here I have <a href="http://www.liptont.com/our_products/black_tea/blk_cup_size.aspx" target="_blank">Lipton</a>. Usually I use<a href="http://www.luzianne.com/luzianne-tea-48-cnt-family-p-1659.html?=" target="_blank"> Luzianne</a> but I was out and grabbed these at the pharmacy. I also have a kettle for boiling water, you can use a plain old sauce pot. The crock pot in the back of the picture is not required, it's just holding up the tea bags!<br />
<br />
Put teabags in the pitcher. How many varies- For gallon size or family size tea bags, 2 or 3, if it's a cup sized tea bag you may want 5 or 6. This Lipton tea is very dark, I only needed 3 cup sized bags.<br />
Measure 3/4 cup sugar into the pitcher (I can go 1/2c but the kids prefer 1c, we've found 3/4 to be a good compromise between not sweet enough and 'makes my teeth hurt.') <br />
Boil a half gallon of water and pour it into the pitcher.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Let it steep for about 15 minutes, until it looks like the picture.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vYYuHr9Y4Wk/Tvzo0f80vNI/AAAAAAAAArs/NrcGnL-7AZc/s1600/IMG_1272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vYYuHr9Y4Wk/Tvzo0f80vNI/AAAAAAAAArs/NrcGnL-7AZc/s320/IMG_1272.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Pull out the tea bags, I use my handy dandy pasta strainer/server, but DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TEA BAGS! I can't stress this part enough. Yes, you may take away a few tablespoons of water and drip on your counter, but squeezing them will make the tea bitter. Stir the tea until any sugar at the bottom is dissolved.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R36CPjwo_c8/Tvzo2Rh9VxI/AAAAAAAAAr0/IW3-gQNk_qA/s1600/IMG_1273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R36CPjwo_c8/Tvzo2Rh9VxI/AAAAAAAAAr0/IW3-gQNk_qA/s320/IMG_1273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Add cold water until the pitcher is full and stir again. Some folks add ice to fill the pitcher, but I find that when I want to drink it right away, I end up with a glass too full of ice and tea that is too strong until the ice melts. I just use water, then add ice to my glass.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wk6eQntV_1o/Tvzo4RJcm2I/AAAAAAAAAr8/hH2lYuX-jAY/s1600/IMG_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wk6eQntV_1o/Tvzo4RJcm2I/AAAAAAAAAr8/hH2lYuX-jAY/s320/IMG_1274.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Toss some ice in a glass and pour! Store the rest in the fridge and hope your kids don't drink it all before you get another glass! If they do, you can email them a link to this page and tell them to make it themselves!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-73927251746439283562011-12-26T23:43:00.001-05:002013-07-21T21:09:36.879-04:00How do you get a kid to take icky medicine?While not an official reader question, I discussed this today with the nurse practitioner at a local walk in clinic while she was trying to prescribe medicine to my sick kid, (we'll call her "Princess," she's 10) She's asthmatic and now has pneumonia. The NP was trying to decide what to give her and Princess was critiquing her medicine choices. "Is that a big pill? I don't like big pills...Is that a liquid? Does it taste gross? I hate gross liquids" While I encourage the kids to play an active part in their medical care, since they need to be willing participants, especially with medicine, this was getting crazy. Because I knew there were 7 other people on the waiting list and this nurse hadn't had lunch yet, I suggested we just go with the traditional zithromax and prednisone. I suggested orapred, which isn't so bad, but Princess said no liquid steroids. (one course of prelone in one's lifetime will make anyone scared of liquid steroids. I'm 42 and I can still taste the horrific liquid my mom gave me when I was about 7!) I told the NP to just rx the tablets and I'd 'fix them' so she'd take them. Princess was happy with that. The NPs ears pricked up and she wanted to know my secret for making prednisone tolerable! <br />
<br />
Over the years, I've been told various 'secret tricks' from doctors and pharmacists. One said to give the kids a spoonful of jelly before the medicine, one claimed the liquid from a jar of maraschino cherries before and after the medicine would block the taste, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, soda, I think I've heard them all. I've also tried them all. Heck, one year I gave my oldest kid $1 for every dose of prelone he didn't throw up on me! The closest we've come to really masking the taste is chocolate. Letting the kids suck on a chocolate kiss before and after the medicine helped a little, but a few years ago, I took it to the next level. Chocolate coating!<br />
<br />
This is awesome for prednisone, but also works with other chalky tablets like penicillin. It makes them more slippery to swallow and keeps the nastiness hidden from the taste buds just long enough to get it down. More after the jump, including pictures! Please ignore my dinner dishes waiting to be washed!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Start by opening the medicine and popping out the pills you need. This is a dose pack. She's had 3 already, she needs one with dinner and 2 at bedtime. I'm going to fix up all 3 and save my self some trouble at bedtime.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_FyOjH9AwnY/TvlEqDtGUEI/AAAAAAAAApk/RkJs0rWWeVc/s1600/IMG_1260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_FyOjH9AwnY/TvlEqDtGUEI/AAAAAAAAApk/RkJs0rWWeVc/s320/IMG_1260.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QWOVI018wrc/TvlEqDIgwDI/AAAAAAAAAp0/eiN8QI6R7tQ/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QWOVI018wrc/TvlEqDIgwDI/AAAAAAAAAp0/eiN8QI6R7tQ/s320/IMG_1261.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Then get some chocolate chips.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0NVkQFzNBFE/TvlFsaDpuJI/AAAAAAAAAp8/z3ftJ3QRk1o/s1600/IMG_1262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0NVkQFzNBFE/TvlFsaDpuJI/AAAAAAAAAp8/z3ftJ3QRk1o/s320/IMG_1262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Melt them in the microwave. They won't liquify, they hold their shape but get really soft. Give them a poke every 10-20 seconds. You want them mushy, but not molten. My microwave takes about 30 seconds.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XUH3EZFksOM/TvlFspplFOI/AAAAAAAAAqM/20JM9nFT3Uk/s1600/IMG_1263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XUH3EZFksOM/TvlFspplFOI/AAAAAAAAAqM/20JM9nFT3Uk/s320/IMG_1263.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Dip your finger into the chocolate and smear it onto the tablet. Roll it over and around as needed to cover all of the tablet. The first time I did this, I used a paintbrush and artfully coated the tablets on one side, let them dry, flipped them over and did the other side. It took forever and wasn't any better than the dip and smear method. Set the tablet onto some parchment paper or a silpat, something nonstick. On my parchment paper I wrote 'dinner' and 'bed' because one chocolatey glob is one pill and one chocolaty glob is 2 pills and I didn't want to mix them up.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_ps4WDcRcQo/TvlG94oo-DI/AAAAAAAAAqs/DSIunHXqGiw/s1600/IMG_1264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_ps4WDcRcQo/TvlG94oo-DI/AAAAAAAAAqs/DSIunHXqGiw/s320/IMG_1264.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Toss the whole mess into the freezer for a minute to harden. I also toss the dish with the remaining melted chocolate into the fridge to use for the next dose.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJlXEFYSqQQ/TvlG9g7W3wI/AAAAAAAAAqg/FyrjELfDuGo/s1600/IMG_1265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XJlXEFYSqQQ/TvlG9g7W3wI/AAAAAAAAAqg/FyrjELfDuGo/s320/IMG_1265.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And then find a sick child willing to be goofy for mom's blog.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eOtYVyBrOa0/TvlFtftbM1I/AAAAAAAAAqU/AbEoWzdwVQ8/s1600/IMG_1266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eOtYVyBrOa0/TvlFtftbM1I/AAAAAAAAAqU/AbEoWzdwVQ8/s320/IMG_1266.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Note the silly grin and the lack of panic and terror! She knows it won't taste disgusting.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPkbZ6BI83s/TvlG-S1FVRI/AAAAAAAAAq4/nOk_RCr6vB0/s1600/IMG_1267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPkbZ6BI83s/TvlG-S1FVRI/AAAAAAAAAq4/nOk_RCr6vB0/s320/IMG_1267.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
allow one silly "I did it" moment!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MwwnH64V3s4/TvlG-j59fmI/AAAAAAAAArA/3B_MSdxspi0/s1600/IMG_1268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MwwnH64V3s4/TvlG-j59fmI/AAAAAAAAArA/3B_MSdxspi0/s320/IMG_1268.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Then bask in the glow of happy children who cheer for your awesomeness!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHXyG7S-uoE/TvlG-4vqqsI/AAAAAAAAArQ/5qXTZJVSjik/s1600/IMG_1269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHXyG7S-uoE/TvlG-4vqqsI/AAAAAAAAArQ/5qXTZJVSjik/s320/IMG_1269.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And that, dear readers, is how I get a kid to take icky medicine!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-87339100373288000662011-11-11T17:51:00.000-05:002013-07-19T01:31:16.162-04:00A holiday gift that keeps giving!I've been seeing many posts and emails lately about ways to do holiday shopping that is less 'big box' and more personal and local. It's got me thinking about what we do for the holidays. One of the things we like to do is grab an angel or two off the angel tree either at a local store, or one of the kids schools. A few charities ask for gifts for kids in need in the area and we like to be able to pick out a new outfit, some warm clothes and pajamas and a few toys for a child that may not receive much else. The kids are reminded of the importance of service and giving, and to be completely honest, I love shopping for stuff I think is cute but gets eyerolls from my kids! (What's wrong with floral prints?!) Even though I will never meet those kids, it feels good knowing that this winter, they'll go to bed warm and wait for the school bus with a sweater on.<br />
<br />
In the spirit of helping other this year, I'd like to ask that you all take a moment and think about registering as a bone marrow donor. There are so many people that would like to go to bed not just warm but healthy this year. Donating marrow is a little more involved than just donating blood, but still only takes a few hours out of your day. It's a few hours that could save a life. What a great gift that would be!<br />
<br />
DKMS is a registration organization that will send you a free kit and allow you to register for FREE. All you have to do is swab your cheek and return the sample in their envelope. They send you back a card with a member ID and they'll contact you if you are a possible match. There is no obligation to donate even if you do come up as a match. Please use the widget below, it'll take you right to the website where you can sign up and ask for the free kit.<br />
<br />
<object align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="125" id="dkms_widget" width="125">
<param name="movie"
value="https://battleforward.com/counter/signup/?stage=dkms/swf&id=284"
/> <!--[if !IE]>-->
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
data="https://battleforward.com/counter/signup/?stage=dkms/swf&id=284"
width="125" height="125">
<param name="movie"
value="https://battleforward.com/counter/signup/?stage=dkms/swf&id=284"
/> <!--<![endif]-->
<!--[if !IE]>-->
</object>
<!--<![endif]-->
</object><br />
<br />
(disclaimer-I get nothing for this, no compensation, just a widget with a counter. I am a registered donor with DKMS, but that's all!)GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-83286068670990114622011-09-09T13:53:00.000-04:002013-07-19T01:31:28.807-04:00Help my closet!<b>My closet is a crowded mess! Do you have suggestions for closet organizers, those hanger things that let you put 4 or 5 things on one hook or vacuum bags? Do they work?</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Chances are, you don't need a special organizer, you just need to get rid of some stuff! There are a few things you can do to make it easier to know what should stay and what should go.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
First, go to the back of the closet and grab anything that's crammed back there that you know you aren't going to wear again. Be honest and realistic. Try not to get nostalgic. Sometimes we hold onto things not because they fit well and we like them, but because they were a gift, or we paid a lot of money for them or we think we may need them later. I had a dress in my closet that I kept because it was fancy and expensive. I kept telling myself, "I might wear that to a wedding or special event" but every time a special event came up, I'd try the dress on, realize I hated it! It made me look like a circus tent. I'd feel frumpy and I'd go out and buy something new! Eventually, I realized that just seeing it in the closet made me feel bad about my size, and for spending money on a dress I never wore so I donated it to a charity thrift shop. It will look great on someone else and she'll get a great dress at a bargain. She'll probably see it in her closet and feel good about herself! That's much better than the negativity it brought to my closet!<br />
<br />
While you're back there, box up everything that you're saving for when you lose all that weight. We all have that pile! Do yourself a favor, when you do get back to that weight, buy yourself some nice things that flatter your new body! You'll have earned it! When you do that, be sure to box up all of the clothes that used to fit and get them out ASAP so you aren't tempted to backslide! Let someone else get some use out of them!<br />
<br />
Now that you've got some space, take a few minutes and turn all your hangers around the other way. It's a bit of a pain, but it will help. Really! Jot down the date on a post it and stick it to the closet wall. As you wear your clothes and put them back in the closet, put them back in the normal way. Every 3 months, go back and re-evaluate anything on a backwards hanger. Do you really love it? Do you really need it? If not, put it in the box. When you hit the 1 year mark, anything still on a backwards hanger needs to go. No excuses about the seasons, or that you haven't had the right occasion to wear it. It's been a whole year. You've had time and occasions and you picked other things.<br />
<br />
The only exception should be funeral clothes. I can understand wanting to keep a dark dress or suit that is suitable for a funeral, but perhaps not dressy or festive enough to wear out to dinner. And hopefully, you don't have to go to a funeral every year so it doesn't pass the hanger test. If you do keep a funeral outfit, make sure it fits, is in good condition and there is only one! If it doesn't meet all those criteria, I would encourage you to box it up, and make do for the occasional funeral with dark clothes in your regular wardrobe.GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-25780076287810360492011-06-18T17:46:00.000-04:002013-07-19T01:35:31.483-04:00Thanks Bemis!A while back, I told you guys about a new toilet seat I bought for the kids bathroom. It was made by <a href="http://www.bemisseats.com/">Bemis</a>, had a slow close hinge and it popped off so you could clean under and around the hinges. It was the coolest thing ever in a house with 3 little boys! Well, time marches on and I still have that toilet seat. It still works great. I love that the kids didn't slam their fingers in it. I love that I don't hear the lid slamming all the time. I love that I can pop it off, toss it in the tub and spray it with cleaner and rinse it with the shower! My only beef with it was that it sometimes shifted a little because the bolts didn't sit properly in the holes in the porcelain. I blamed the toilet, because the holes are a bit off center. I suspect the toilet was a factory second purchased by our homes previous owner! Toilet seats never fit on it right and the kids broke (like broke, in half) several before we found the Bemis seat. Recently, hubby and I have been doing some much needed home repairs in preparation for putting our house up for rent. We're moving to a larger house a few miles down the road. While fixing up the kids bathroom, the topic of that toilet seat came up. Do we leave it for the tenants, knowing it wiggles a little? Do we take it with us because it's oh so quiet and easy to clean? If we take it with us, won't it just wiggle in the new house? I hadn't seen the same seat for sale in a while, and assumed they had discontinued it. I decided to check the company website and see if they sold replacement bolts, or the little rubber gaskets that we needed to replace so we could keep using the seat, regardless of the house in which it lived.<br />
<br />
Well, before I could remember to check the website, Bemis fixed my problem!! For FREE! I took kid#3 to<a href="http://homedepot.com/"> home depot</a> today to grab a tile cutting blade for my rotary tool and found a tent event going on. Many of the the big tool companies were outside and some smaller companies were scattered around inside. As we meandered our way from rotary bits to the tile section to peruse cove base, we happened upon 2 representatives from Bemis. They were there showing off their new and improved <a href="http://www.bemismfg.com/easyseats/easy2.php">"Easy 2"</a> seat. I mentioned that I already had 2 of their seats and loved them, except for the wiggle problem. The rep laughed and said that was their #1 complaint with the old seat and the new seats had solved the problem with a special new seat bolt. She verified that I did indeed have the "easy clean" hinges and then gave me 2 packages of the<a href="http://www.bemisseats.com/sta-titesystem/"> new bolts</a>, and showed me how to install them. I am eager to try them out, but at the moment, the hall toilet is in the tub, while the tiles cure on the floor. Soon! Soon!<br />
<br />
Oh, for the parents of the smaller set, they also make a family friendly<a href="http://www.bemisseats.com/nextstep/"> potty seat!</a> Same easy close hinge, but with a seat for small bottoms added in. The child seat fits into the lid and clips up magnetically so it's not in the way of adults. When kiddo needs to use it, they can flick it down easily with no pinched fingers! I got to see it up close. It's great! Where was this when my kids were potty training!<br />
<br />
Anyway, thanks Bemis for acknowledging the problem with the original seat bolt design and offering a fix for it, even several years later! Just for the record, I'm not affiliated with Bemis, just a happy customer!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-81425001739457991762011-06-18T14:04:00.000-04:002013-07-19T01:36:04.125-04:00How long can I keep lunch meat?<b>I bought a package of sliced turkey last week. The expiration date has not passed, but it smells a little funny. Is it still ok to eat?</b><br />
<br />
Probably not! Throw it out! Lunch meat is not that expensive and you risk a trip to the hospital if it's contaminated with bacteria. An unopened package of lunch meat can have an expiration date that is a few weeks away but once it's open, the<a href="http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html"> CDC says</a> to throw it out after 3-5 days! Meat you have sliced at the deil is also considered an open package and should be tossed after a few days. If you don't want to run to the grocery store every 5 days, consider buying smaller bags or splitting up a larger bag, and freezing it. In the freezer, away from the door, it can last up to 2 months. Just take out the package a day or two before you need it and let it thaw in the fridge.GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-67420567886297715212011-06-13T17:11:00.001-04:002013-07-19T01:32:43.777-04:00Are you a foster parent?<b>Are you a foster parent?</b><br />
<br />
While this one wasn't emailed to me, I've been asked this several times over the past month or so. Often enough to make me wonder exactly what it is about my demeanor, or my children, that make people think they aren't mine!<br />
<br />
Ok, I admit, one of those times I was at the mall with a friends 3 month old baby who's racial heritage is much more interesting than my own and her gorgeous complexion shows it! While her mama is as fair skinned as I am, no one assumed she was my baby but they at least factored in that I could be related. Other than the one foster mom question that day, several people asked if she was my granddaughter! Ouch! That hurts! I'm not THAT old, am I?<br />
<br />
The other times I've been asked about fostering I've been out with my own kids. When they were smaller, I was asked repeatedly if I ran a daycare! I guess now that they are old enough to not be day care kids, the next most logical option is foster care. Is 4 kids just that far outside the norm that people would think foster mom before assuming they were simply mine?<br />
<br />
I think it's a little funny that people were more likely to assume that the ONE beautiful, little, cocoa skinned baby I pushed around the mall could have been related to me but the 2 gangly teenagers and 2 hyper preteens I took to McDinner had to be given to me by the state! I know there are times when we are out in public that I WISH I wasn't related to them, but yeah, they are all mine!<br />
<br />
Parents of larger than average families and foster parents, do you get quizzed? How do you answer?GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2667523312129341634.post-20317385865879992732011-06-13T16:11:00.001-04:002011-06-13T16:18:47.431-04:00I'm Back!After a long hiatus, I am back! I appreciate all the emails checking in on me and asking me where I've been! It's been a crazy few years, probably best summed up by "3 surgeries, multiple ER visits and 4 simultaneous cases of whooping cough!" That's not all, but it's a representative sample, and none of that was for me! Whoever says being a stay at home mom is easy has never stayed home with my children! Things seem to be settling down and I hope to be better able to field your questions from now on! Send them on in!<br /><br />Please excuse the construction, as we fiddle with the website and layout. We're still 'moving in' over here and hope to get it nice and comfy soon!GoodJoanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831550280041868041noreply@blogger.com0