thock

I scored big time, today. I got four 1/10 pint bottles, two with corks, a blue Ball Perfect Mason pint and a blue Atlas jar with a glass lid, a gallon milk jug and a glass washboard for $10 at one yard sale, another Perfect Mason (not blue, but with a zinc lid, no glass on the inside) and a Foley food mill for a quarter each at a rummage sale, and 6 cones of unused thread for free at another yard sale. Even if the thread is brittle, I paid nothing for it, and I got two cones of 12,000 yards, two of 6000 yards, and two of 3000 yards. One of the little bottles is a Humphrey's Homeopathic Veterinary bottle. I'll use the old Mason jars for dry food storage.

As I recall, there was a crop failure somewhere within the past couple of years, which might account for the size of the price increase.

That was in 2007. They're now in the thirty-dollar range. A lot of things have gone up in price since 2007. Even at that price, it's still cheaper to make your own vanilla extract, and it's fun and interesting to do.

Ok, I bought some more vanilla beans from vanillaproducts on eBay. They got here today, and they smell heavenly. I think I'll start a new batch or batches of extract sometime soon. I will attempt to carefully record the data and vary what kind of alcohol (type and proof) I'm using. Although I am convinced that Andie's method of starting out with the Everclear is the way to go, I will, for the sake of the experiment, also start some with weaker alcohol. I think I'll use half-pint Mason jars for this, as I don't want large quantities of differing extracts. I'll post once I've decided how I'm going to do this and actually get it done. ETA: I may end up using the 4-oz jars, instead. We'll see.

Yes, I will. I'm not too worried about it, though. Most of what I will repair will be non-stress-bearing. I probably won't use any of the Belding stuff until I find more. I ordered a cone of white silk thread about 10 years ago, that I can dye, if need be. Plus, JoAnn sells Guterman silk thread, although it's not as fine. It is REALLY hard to find different gauges of thread, anymore.

Yes. He was quite the find, too, although not at a yard sale. I got lucky that he likes yard sales and thrift shops, too. Most recently, he forwarded me an e-mail that he got telling him about an estate sale pre-sale, which contained an ad for a Bernina 930 with cabinet. He knows I like Berninas, and my 830 needs motor work, so he told me about the sale. Long story short, I am now the proud new owner of a Bernina 930, with all the accessories, a wonderful sewing cabinet, and a bunch of thread that came with it. I also bought a little box of silk mending thread on little wooden spools made by Belding Corticelli. Apparently, they shut down in the '30's. I didn't realize it was silk until I got home and looked more carefully. I was mostly interested in the box and spools to make a mending kit for my travel bag, but I changed my mind about that, upon discovering the thread is silk. As much as he can drive me nuts, and vice-versa, he is a wonderful guy.

Look what my honey brought home for me, today. It is about 12 inches tall, give or take, and about 8 inches in diameter, and appears to be made from terracotta.

Hmmm, I'm wondering whether ricotta can be made from the whey left after draining yogurt. I have a bunch of whey in the fridge that I might try this on.

Ok, I ran the above test, at 350 F, 15 minutes, each. Neither mat beaded. Then I baked another batch of M&M cookies. Neither really beaded too much, but one of the Aldi ones did have clear beads of moisture on them that were entirely flavorless. Jury's still out on these. I think I may have to bake more cookies to figure this out. ;-) I think I'm going to put something else besides cookie dough on the mats for the next test.

Have you tried the freezing, then warming the neck thing? Maybe now that you've done the glycerin thing, it will help. Oh, just thought of something. Maybe boiling the bottle and using a hot pad to hold it will help whatever is inside to expand, possibly loosening the cap. If you submerge the whole bottle, it might work.

I haven't had time, yet, but I'm going to bake one Silpat and one Aldi silicone mat in the oven by themselves, and see if they bead up. I'm going to make sure they're as clean as I can get them before the experiment.

That makes a lot of sense, if they were from different lots. Different growing seasons or conditions and different curing conditions could potentially make a lot of difference, just like different seasonal temps make a difference in the taste of home-grown tomatoes.

Good question. I haven't done that experiment, but I have tried Andie's method of 190-proof followed by topping up with a lesser proof (80, I think) after about a month. The first month extracts a LOT of color and odors, but since I only started these this past November, I'm not sure what it will turn out like until next November. I do know that not having a sufficient quantity of beans does affect it a lot. If one had the means to do so (enough beans, booze, jars and time), it might be an interesting experiment to try multiple proofs of alcohol and record the outcome. I have enough jars, but I'm running low on beans and booze, so I can't try this, right now. I will keep it in mind for the future, though.

I chop my beans up for extract, too, into about 1/8"-1/4" long pieces. When I'm done with them for extract, I dry them and mix them into sugar. I let them sit for a while, and just strain through a mesh strainer to separate the sugar from the beans, which I dump back into the sugar container. Seeds get mixed in with the sugar, but I don't mind that. At some point, I may whirl the vanilla pieces in a blender when they're dry and add to sugar that way, and not worry about separating them. Just to see what will happen.

I'm not sure about how many times you can reuse them, but I can tell you that I am now somewhat disappointed with the first batches I made because they were not strong enough to begin with. I have since started some double-strength extract that I will let brew for a year, without touching it. I'll probably use the beans from that for vanilla sugar, afterward. I'd rather have too-strong extract than too-weak. However, vanilla-flavored rum can't be bad.

A booze/no booze test with the same lot of beans, maybe? I'd be very interested to see how it turns out.

You might try twisting as you pull. You might also put them in the freezer, overnight, then hold them by the neck to warm the neck, then twist and pull. The idea is to warm the neck, only, and not the stopper.

Ok, that makes sense, about the spoons. I'm guessing they're plate, and not sterling. I'll have to dig the magnifying glass out to see for certain. The grater is stainless, and made in Sweden. This is only of interest to me because I have a Swedish friend who moved back to Sweden a while back, so anything Swedish catches my eye. I didn't see that the grater was from Sweden until I was laying the items out for the photo, though. On another note, I was going through some of my things, today, and reacquainted myself with some items I'd forgotten I had, and some other items my mother gave me a while back. I have a three-piece Peter Rabbit youth flatware set that I remember using when I was a child. I also have a soup spoon with my first name engraved on it, and a toddler spoon and fork set that are silverplate. Those items I had when I was a child. I also rediscovered a set of chopsticks, 5 pairs, in a box. It appears as if only one set has been used, or at least had the wrap keeping it together removed. I'm not sure if these are meant for everyday use, for decoration, or for special occasions. I got them either at a yard sale or a thrift store a long time ago. I'm half tempted just to display them. ETA: The box label has the words UTAGE IRODORI BASHI on it, along with some characters. I don't even want to speculate as to the nature of the characters, as I have no idea how to differentiate Chinese from Japanese. The chopsticks, however, appear to be Japanese style, with Japanese-style decorations. They're quite nice. Sorry the pictures are so fuzzy. The lighting was not good, and I didn't have my "real" digital camera with me in the house. I also have, packed away someplace, two rice bowls and accompanying chopsticks that my dad brought back from Japan before I was born. He gave them to his parents, and I got them when they were paring down possessions. I want to get them out and display them, too, but I would like to have something protective to display them in. I don't have any furniture that fits the bill, at the moment, so it may be a while before I can indulge that desire.

Thanks, all y'all! I knew I could count on eGulleteers.

Ok, a few months ago, I went to an estate sale with my partner. I went through the 50-cent bin in the kitchen, and came away with some interesting items. I have no idea what the items on the left are, but the bunch was 50 cents. I theorize that they might be for crab legs (digging meat out) or for grapefruit, but I really have no idea. They're aluminum. Agh, posted before I was finished... I got the two little silver spoons for 50 cents and a dollar. I can't tell whether they're plated or sterling, but they were cute. I'm guessing they were for salt dishes, but I don't know. I'll probably use them for eating ice cream. Because, you know, the slower you eat it, the longer you get to enjoy it.

If you have a large-enough quantity of cheap cloth towels, such that you can throw them in a bin for washing, that pretty much eliminates the need for paper towels, IMO. However, each person has his or her own way of dealing with things. To me, it's preferable to have a large supply of renewable-by-me resources, rather than to eat up the trees. I found this interesting. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it does give pause for thought. In the end, it's really down to what makes more sense to the user. In my case, I've got a nearly endless supply of t-shirts that I can easily cut up in front of the TV as my supply dwindles. I don't need to worry if I "ruin" one of those rags with really nasty stuff, and I'm not spending money on replenishing my supply of paper towels. Right now, cash flow is a serious issue for me, so that makes more sense. I don't think it would change, though, if I were swimming in money.

I have some microfiber stuff, but I don't use it in the kitchen. I hate microfiber. It sticks to my hands, and sends chills up and down my spine. I DO, however, have some fake chamois that I got from Target, and use that for floor spills. It stays on the floor until I'm done with it, and I use my foot to move it around (I go barefoot). I also have a piece of one of those viscose "campiing" towels for the same purpose. It works better, frankly, because it soaks up liquids much better. It, too, lives on the floor between launderings. Those get washed with the "nasty" rags. I hate touching the viscose camp towel because of the aforementioned tactile issues, but it is really handy when I've slopped something on the floor, and can't be interrupted to wash my hands, clean it up, wash my hands, again, etc. I just use my foot, and voila, it's no longer as wet.

I use cut-up old t-shirts for nasty messes, and then rinse and let dry. I store them in a pile on the laundry room floor (need to get a bucket) until I have enough of those and the t-shirt parts I use for general cleaning to make a washer load. I wash those on hot with Zote and sodium percarbonate (generic oxygen bleach bought in bulk). I use cut-up cotton sheets for covering bread dough and other stuff. I use kitchen towels for hand and dish drying only, until they're wet, and then sometimes I run them over the counter before relegating them to the laundry room in a separate pile until I have enough to launder at once. Same with dish cloths. I don't typically wipe seriously dirty countertops with dish towels, but I do use them to wipe up just water or to wipe up after cleaning with a dishrag or a green scrubby. If I have to drain or strain anything that makes a stain, I rinse whatever I used to drain or strain in the sink in cold to lukewarm water, sometimes using Dawn. For those items that are exposed to oil or grease, I keep them separated from everything else. They rarely go through the washing machine, but I do heat them up in my water bath canner, on the stove, with some Dawn. That gets rid of a lot of the oil or grease, and I do that several times before finally hanging them to dry. I reuse these for anything oily or greasy (mostly wiping up spills, etc.). I do use linen napkins bought from the thrift store, or the aforementioned t-shirt or sheet bits, to dry off meat of any variety. Those get put in with the other t-shirt rags for laundering after they've dried. I use potholders, as opposed to side towels for dealing with hot stuff. That's what I'm used to, so that's what I do. So, in short, I have three different types of kitchen linen care methods: 1) towels, dishrags, and those t-shirt and sheet bits used for non-staining things; 2) cut up t-shirts used for nasty, dirty messes (like cleaning up non-greasy spills of anything) or for general cleaning of the house; and 3) rags that get greasy. I keep these three types separated, and I never wash 2 or 3 with anything else. I sometimes do mix 1 with other household linens (hankies and bath linens).

The nice thing about using the crock pot is that all I have to do is throw the oats, sugar, salt and water in the crock, put the lid on, and turn on low the night before. Literally less than 5 minutes to prep. They're creamier that way than they are prepared on the stove. They still have a slight firmness to them, but not like when they're cooked on the stove according to the McCann's directions. I like the toothiness of the oats prepared on the stove much better than the ones prepared in the crock pot. I use McCann's ratios, and usually make enough to use up a quart of water. That gives me leftovers for a bit over a week.

Ok, I got half a dozen of the silicone baking mats (Aldi's take on Silpat) on clearance. I washed them with Dawn, shook them off, and dried them with a towel. That was several weeks ago. This weekend, I made some M&M cookies. I used the mats in my half sheet pans. I noticed some beading on the mats, both where the cookies were, and where they weren't. I let the mats sit (because I was in a hurry), and the beading dried white on the mats. I made another batch of cookies tonight. Same beading. I tasted the liquid (just a bit, to see what it was), and it didn't taste like anything. Didn't coat my tongue, either. Any ideas? I don't remember anything like this happening with my Silpats, but the next time I make cookies, I'm going to use those, and see what happens.