August 15, 2010

     Things are looking up in the cat world. Tivoli is almost over the scathing experience when the runaway bulldog chased her up a tree. She does stare out the sliding glass doors in back, at the spot where the bulldog so suddenly and mysteriously appeared, and her tail twitches angrily. I think she’s suffering from a problem similar to one humans have. You know how, a half hour after an argument is over, you think of the perfect comeback? By the same token, Tivoli seems to be thinking how things SHOULD have gone between her and that dog, how they WOULD have gone if there were any justice in this world. She could have mopped up the floor with a Chihuahua. Even with a miniature poodle. It was just her bad luck to get a bounding bulldog.

     Things are also looking up in my rose garden. It’s true, the deer discovered it and chowed down on the roses, but since I sprayed the deer repellant they’ve left things alone, and the roses are making a comeback. It pleases me that the spray is NOT poisonous: it simply smells bad to a deer, though not to humans.

     This spring I wound up in the gardening section of Wal-Mart, for the first time in years, and found that most everything there was either poisonous or “organic.” The rank chemical smell of Weed ‘n Feed filled the air, and bottle labels promised to kill or eradicate just about anything I wanted killed or eradicated – EXCEPT for the products whose labels claimed they were organically pure, healthy, and wholesome. So I bought an organic hose (well, it was yellow plastic, but it wasn’t intended to kill anything and presumably fell on the organic side of the ledger). I was thankful to leave the place behind.

     And now, due to the hours I spent double digging, mulching, and watering the flower bed, my zinnias are going wild with joy, almost bounding about with enthusiasm. They, do in fact, bound, to the extent their stems permit. They are gaudy. The neighbors like gaudy, Bill likes gaudy, I like gaudy. My own heart bounds with joy when I walk around the gaudy bed early on a summer’s morning, looking at one perfect bloom after another.

     Janette

----Table Of Contents----

1. No-Machine Ice Cream
2. Eat Some Milkweed (Why Not?)
3. Those Beautiful Tomatoes
4. Make Your Own Ketchup
5. A Site “For Ravenous Readers”
6. Give Books Away; Get Books You Want
7. You’re A Bargain Hunter Who Wants Quality?
8. Amazon Helps You Shop For A Cellphone
9. Buy It Cheap On Facebook!
10. Protect Yourself From Facebook Scammers
11. Going For Pennies On The Last-Minute Auction
12. How To Get Wrinkled Quick
13. Magic Food That Prevents Wrinkles?
14. What The Mayo Clinic Thinks Of Tanning Beds
15. Luxuriating In The Tub

1. NO-MACHINE ICE CREAM

     All you need to freeze the ice cream mixture are a couple of plastic bags, ice, and ordinary table salt. ANDREAS VIESTAD says kids love to watch and take part. So do grownups, for that matter, and it would be a nice way to end an informal back yard cookout. You can use the ingredients from a favorite ice cream recipe, or make one of Viestad’s recipes for apple, grape, or pear sorbet, or ice cream with honey and thyme.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conten
t/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080302437.html

2. EAT SOME MILKWEED (WHY NOT?)

     My friend LYNN LIDDICK tells me butterflies are hanging around the blooms on the milkweed plants by her mountain cabin, which reminded me that milkweed pods are supposed to be good to eat. (I’ve never had a supply of milkweeds nearby so I could try them, but I’d like to.) If you’d like to try them too, THE WILDERNESS CHILDE offers a delicious sounding recipe that includes bacon and mozzarella cheese:

http://wildernesschilde.blogspot.com/2010/07/
stuffed-milkweed-pods.html

     And WRITER BY NATURE tells how to saute the contents of very young pods with mushrooms. As a bonus, if you scroll down to the comments, you’ll learn how to prepare (and freeze) milkweed flowers!

http://www.writerbynature.com/2007/08/01/
wild-food-recipe-sauteed-milkweed
-pods-and-mushrooms/

     Oh, WOW! I googled “eat milkweed flowers” and found a whole nother batch of information. The excellent article below in FORAGER’S HARVEST tells of a host of things you can do with the milkweed in various stages from late spring on, including eating delicious milkweed silk (I always thought something ought to be done with that fascinating silk but never thought of eating it).

http://foragersharvest.com/milkweed-a
-truly-remarkable-wild-vegetable/

3. THOSE BEAUTIFUL TOMATOES

     If you planted some out back this year, you’ve probably got an abundance of red, ripe tomatoes. If not, they’re in your local farmer’s market. And, as it happens, every summer the Washington Post runs a tomato recipe contest. Unlike the regular Post recipes, which all seem to be Big Productions (too big for my taste), the contest limits recipes to ten ingredients, including salt and pepper, and people manage to do some amazing things with those ten ingredients. The 2010 winners haven’t yet come out as I write this, but here are the delicious winning recipes for 2008:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
story/2008/08/12/ST2008081202341.html

     While the winner of the 2009 contest, ELLYNNE BRICE DAVIS, had a recipe so simple she almost didn’t send it in. Here is her recipe and those of the other 2009 winners:

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20090901/AE/909019989

4. MAKE YOUR OWN KETCHUP

     I remember my grandmother made delicious ketchup, and I tried making it once myself. It was far better than any you’ll get in a grocery store and an excellent way to deal with too many tomatoes. I made garlic ketchup, but, when I recently tried to find a recipe online, all I could get were discussions on how to find Heinz garlic ketchup. But, if you want to try a recipe for homemade ketchup with a small amount of garlic, here’s one from EMERIL, and there’s no law saying you can’t play with the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/
emeril-lagasse/spicy-homemade
-ketchup-recipe/index.html

     DISCUSS COOKING has an illuminating discussion of homemade ketchup here:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f83/
homemade-ketchup-24404-2.html

     REMEMBER HOMEMADE CHILI SAUCE? It’s an old-timey condiment that is not hot at all. It tastes a lot like ketchup, but the ingredients are coarsely ground. My recollection is that, mixed with mayonnaise, homemade chili sauce also made an excellent thousand island salad dressing. Here’s GRANNY CLOUSE’s recipe:

http://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail
/Homemade-Chili-Sauce-/5343/

     And RECIPE CURIO has still another old-timey chili sauce recipe:

http://recipecurio.com/homemade-chili-sauce-recipe-clipping/

     AND THEN THERE’S GRAPE KETCHUP, from the era when housewives pickled or preserved anything that didn’t promptly leap out of their grasp. When those wonderful Concord grapes get ripe, you might want to try this:

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1940s/1948/09/grape-ketchup

5. A “SITE FOR RAVENOUS READERS”

     OVERBOOKED has book reviews. By the hundreds – so you can select the books that sound good to you. And to read them ... well, I’d go first to my local library, but there you have to compete with the other book lovers. If you’d rather own the books you read but are not made of money, you might try BOOKMOOCH, reviewed in the next item.

http://www.overbooked.org/

6. GIVE BOOKS AWAY, GET BOOKS YOU WANT

     Doesn’t cost you a thing except postage. When I checked out BOOKMOOCH, they had an amazing list of books newly available. If you like to read, do check this out.

http://bookmooch.com/

     For more about free books and book recommendations online, click on BOOKS & FREE E-BOOKS in the lefthand column.

http://tourthesites.com/

7. YOU’RE A BARGAIN HUNTER WHO WANTS QUALITY?

     The New Yorker calls CHEAPISM “a helpful and lucid review site for all things budget.” Bargain laptops and printers, bargain kitchen appliances – see them reviewed here:

http://www.cheapism.com/

8. AMAZON HELPS YOU SHOP FOR A CELLPHONE

     Using AMAZON’S COMPARISON SHOP, “you’ll be able to compare every phone on the market and order them with two-day shipping. Not only that, but you’ll have access to Amazon’s famous reviews, which will give you a very clear idea of whether a given phone is right for you or not.”

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/amazon-
wireless-comparison-shop-cell-phones/

     “DID YOU KNOW” FACTS ABOUT CELL PHONES:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/
interesting-facts-about-cell-phones-video/

9. BUY IT CHEAP ON FACEBOOK!

     eBAY needs to move over. The author of this item thinks the FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE is easier to use than eBAY, since you don’t have to bid and wait.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-buy
-used-stuff-for-cheap-on-facebook/

10. PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FACEBOOK SCAMMERS

     The online “streets” are not as safe as the ones in your hometown, as it’s harder to tell the difference online between an old friend and someone who just appears to be an old friend.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/
facebook-impostors-how-to-configure-your
-profile-to-protect-yourself-from-scammers-n/

11. GOING FOR PENNIES ON THE LAST-MINUTE AUCTION

     “An hour or less, a buck or less” at the LAST MINUTE AUCTION on eBAY may have just the thing you want for pennies. And then again, maybe not.

http://www.lastminute-auction.com/

     For lots more bargain information, click on BARGAINS & CONSUMER HELP in the lefthand column. It’s got some great stuff.

http://tourthesites.com/

12. HOW TO GET WRINKLED QUICK

     Years ago every truly sophisticated and stylish woman (1) smoked and (2) kept up a nice year-round tan. That was how you knew she was sophisticated and stylish. Now we know that smoking and sunbathing are the two best ways to get wrinkled quick. THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY has a nice website that explains this and tells a number of other ways you can get wrinkles. They have no cure for wrinkles but will be happy to put you in touch with a dermatologist who can help you with other skin problems.

http://www.skincarephysicians.com/
agingskinnet/basicfacts.html

13. MAGIC FOOD THAT PREVENTS WRINKLES?

     REAL AGE issued a glowing report that soy protein helps snuff out wrinkles.

http://www.realage.com/tips/unique-protein
-source-snuffs-out-wrinkles?eid=7197&memberid=32397090

     BUT, although you’ll note that REAL AGE said there was a study to this effect, when I ran it down, the study was not that impressive. Only 26 women were involved, and only half ate the soy protein. That’s not proof – that’s only a faint suggestion. And, according to the THIRD AGE website, which was quite scornful of the whole thing, the research was sponsored by a soy products firm.

     The THIRD AGE page below lists other things to eat and drink for “glowing skin.”

http://www.thirdage.com/skin-hair-nails/what-to-eat-for-glowing-skin

     And you might want to check out once again CONSUMER REPORTS’ findings on wrinkle creams that I ran in the March 1 issue:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2009/11/06/AR2009110603515.html

14. WHAT THE MAYO CLINIC THINKS OF TANNING BEDS

     THE MAYO CLINIC has a nice section on skin care:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-care/SN00003

     With some rather scary information on tanning beds:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tanning/HQ01487

15. LUXURIATING IN THE TUB

     You need only lavender oil, cucumbers, a scented candle, and, of course, the tub.

http://www.mybeautymoment.com/wordpress/?p=445&mbid=su

     HOMEMADE BATH AND BODY RECIPES.

http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homesteadcrafts.htm