Home: A Gift for the Orphans...

Christmas 1920 in Detroit was destined to be a hollow one for Edith (8)  and Mildred (6), orphaned* that year at Thanksgiving.  Their father had died on his way to working the midnight shift, but that wasn't the half of their troubles.  Both of these little girls had been accidentally blinded from repercussions of a simple game of Blind Man's Bluff.  Their mother had warned them never to wear a hat that belonged to someone else, but during the game they wore either a hat or blindfold shared with others...which led to both girls becoming infected with head lice. Treatment for said infection (administered by their mother), caused them both to be (temporarily) blinded--the curative medicine got into their eyes.  This blindness didn't last for mere hours or days, but weeks and months...
When Christmastime came around a charitable organization gathered toys and gifts for the little blind orphans.  The story is told that a "wealthy family" donated a music box with a broken cabinet to the cause.

  The original case was mended  before Edith received it.  The lovely gift of music for a blind orphan was perfect. (It has been forgotten what Mildred had received.) While Edith was yet blind, her grandmother read to her many poems, which became a lifelong love of hers.
Edith was shortly to be enrolled in a school for the blind, since her blindness lingered. Fortunately, though, sight was returned to her before that actually occurred.  Mildred's sight had returned earlier.
Edith grew up and married at a young age with limited schooling.  The man she married took the old music box and made a new cabinet for it.  This (or maybe one succeeding cabinet) is the cabinet which houses it today.    You see, Edith was my grandmother and Mildred my great Aunt.  This is the point in time that the music box became a treasured piece of our family history. 

The music box was a part of my mother's childhood, and mine also.  It was used in our family for the fourth generation with my son.  I was so glad when my grandmother let us have her music box.  I then began collecting music boxes and since I had so enjoyed turning the handle to produce the music, I am most fond of boxes that have hand cranks.  I thoroughly enjoy the ones that you can watch the works through glass or plastic.
This history is the "provenance" of the item.  "Provenance" refers to the chronology of ownership, location of a piece. 

Sometimes we struggle with gift ideas for birthdays or holidays...some of the best presents are the preservation of memories and family history.  So many of us already have STUFF, and we don't really want or need more STUFF. 

Preserving your family history...

• Photos, 
• family stories, 
• documenting heirlooms with photos, videos, and the impact an item may have had on your family.  
• I would encourage all of you to really talk about things with an elder relative while they are still available and have the capacity to tell family stories about their grandparents or friends and what it was like to live through the Great Depression or the War or coming to America.  Make a date with a favorite Aunt or Uncle or other family member and bring a camera and recorder (audio or video) and capture the stories of your family's life!  You will be glad you made the effort.

Both of my grandmothers were living at the time of the Spanish Flu epidemic...and neither of them EVER related anything about that time until I pointedly asked them about the subject.  They often related many other stories, but both of them had a story about that time.  Both had family members who had taken ill, and they (as children) had helped to nurse their parents and siblings...no deaths, only illness, in our families.  Make a video, assemble photos, track down names and dates of your ancestors...don't wait until your family has lost all it's history...it can be very difficult and very expensive to track your roots.  In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my family's past.  *orphan--in it's original use, generally referred to the loss of (one) parent, most usually the father, but I have also seen it used as the loss of the mother while the father was still living.  

CRAFT: Simple Cat Toys

Cats are like little children...you buy big expensive fancy gifts for them...and THEY play with the boxes and papers it came in!  Try using 

• nylon cable ties 

for cats toys because they have a bit of firmness and provide lot of "give"...which makes "bouncing" a toy easy.

I bought these pretty colored ones at a dollar store, but I also use even larger black ones.  The colored ones came in a package of 100, so we can make a LOT of toys.  These work best on floors they can swish them around on, like tile or linoleum.

My cat loves to catch 

• wads of paper rolled into a ball. 

 
Newsprint is a softer paper and weighs less.  I recycle our grocery store ads.  She will catch them, and often grab them with her teeth and shake them. ( As a kitten, she would actually chase and fetch (like a dog) her balls and mice.  She's a little more lazy now!)

• Straws, just plain straws, are another simple toy to occupy your cat's time.  

 
My cat didn't get interested in straws 'til she was about a year old.  She will bat them around, and sometimes pick them up and run off with them.  She will chew a bit on them also.  If you are using a previously used straw, make certain that you clean it well.  Remember cats have problems with chocolate, cherries, dairy, and sweeteners.  


Never over-look the value of a 

• good box or brown paper bag...

keep lunch sack sizes away from your cat, as they can get temporarily stuck inside them.  The larger bags I leave standing upright, and place a few cat treats in them for her to discover.  She will knock the bag to it's side and crawl in, happily gnoshing in her darkened atmosphere.

Some cats go NUTS over catnip.  Mine just looks at me...so???  She does go crazy over 

• VALERIAN ROOT, though.  

If I want her to get interested in a toy, or a new scratcher...all I have to do is sprinkle a little VALERIAN ROOT powder on it.  Not too much, because she will actually lick it off the object, if possible.  FYI--if you have never smelled Valerian--hmmm--it is akin to stinky feet!!!  Humans (like me) use it to help induce sleep.   (It has the opposite effect on cats! Don't give it to them at night, unless you like your cat to increase it's midnight crazies!)
I often purchase my cat toy-making supplies at thrift stores in their craft or sewing departments.  Heavy duty cotton string (like balls of crochet threads) work very well.  I avoid using anything but 100% cotton for the cat, in case she does happen to ingest a bit of it.  You can find feathers, real or fake fur, and leather strips to make your own mice.  Since you don't need much to make a toy, you can take advantage of the partially used items at very low prices.  You can use stuff recycled from around your house too!  At times, the plastic pull strip from a gallon of milk has occupied my cat for 10-15 minutes.  I've never seen her try to eat them, but if your cat is into eating things, this might not be a good idea.  Always keep an eye on your pet!
Whenever you are making a toy for your kitties, keep safety first and foremost in your mind.  Can kitty swallow bits or pieces of this?  If they can, will it be harmful to them?
It's best to keep an eye on your cat when they first play with a toy, 'cause they may figure out how to do something you hadn't anticipated!  Best never to leave ANYTHING with a string on it left out for kitty.  Save those for your playtime together.  Make sure you schedule playtime TOGETHER with your cat.  They like to play by themselves, but they need your attention, too!

KITCHEN: Tomato Paste in a tube...

Adding just a bit of tomato paste can really increase the flavor

The first time I saw the tomato paste in a tube I thought it was a little bit on the weird side, but having used this--well, I have changed my mind about it.  There are many times that just a bit of tomato paste added to your recipe  will be just the little bit of "something" that you never realized you were missing.  The ease of use and lack of waste put this item on my regular pantry list.  Even though the cans of tomato paste are rather small, often all one needs is a tablespoon.  All you are trying to do is intensify the flavors of what you already have, not produce an overkill of "tomato".  When using a small can, the problem came with what to do with an open partially used can.  I tried placing the unused portions in tablespoonfuls in the freezer...but then they would get lost, or be too little or too much.  I stopped using it altogether.  One day, while watching Lidia Bastianich use just a dab of tomato paste from her (toothpaste tube look-alike) I decided to give it a try.  Yes!!  I had finally found the product that would enable me to add some tomato to 

• my afternoon pick-me-up cup of broth (low calorie)
• meat prepared for tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, etc. without adding too much moisture
• meatloaf--I prefer it over ketchup
• soups and stews
• gravies, especially beef or mushroom
• stir fries

Whenever you need just a smidge of tomato, just a squeeze or two and there you go! Keep it in the fridge and you should be able to use it up in about a month or so.  

This brand has 70 mg salt per 2 TB serving

Napolean Tomato Paste is available at Sprouts.  On sale, they were $1.64 each--that was at 25% off.  The tube contains 3.15 oz.  It is about the right size for me.

• According to the Napolean website, 1 TB = 1/4 cup of canned tomato sauce
• ingredients are: tomato paste, salt, citric acid
• 30 calories per 2 TB 
• tomato paste has lycopene, an antioxidant

Their website touts the health virtues of tomato paste.  The problem?  There were only ten volunteers in the test, and they consumed about FIVE TB per day to achieve the benefits...that is almost a whole tube per day!  However, I am sure that using even a lesser amount will still provide some good health benefits beyond improving the flavor of our foods.
(Walmart  carries Amore Tomato Paste in the 4.5 oz tube...about $2.50.  This is a larger amount than I can use in one month's time--at least in the summer.  When it's chilly, I can use more.  This product has less salt...only 15 mg per 2 TB.  As to recommendations, I haven't actually used this product, yet. )

soothing, warm, low cal, easy: Broth and a bit of tomato paste...enjoy!

Just an "aside"--this particular mug is one of my favorites.  I found a similar mug to this (with a Celtic pattern on it) at a thrift store.  I bought that one because of the pattern, but became fond of the shape and design of the cup itself.  Whenever I am at thrift stores or yard sales, I actually look for more of this mug.  It is made in England, (or Scotland) and is made by Dunoon.  Unfortunately, I broke my Celtic pattern mug, but found this plaid to replace it.  Most likely I would never have purchased a Dunoon mug, simply because looking at it, I thought I wouldn't like the design of it.  Finding it at a Thrift Store, (probably paid 99 cents), I could try it out and see if I actually liked the feel of it. I find this design from time to time, and if I like the pattern, I add it to our collection.

Home: The Honey Tap Facial

The Honey Tap Facial is relaxing.  The honey acts as a humectant.  In everyday language, honey promotes the retention of water--moisturizing your skin.  Honey  has another unique property on the skin...it feels warm and soothing.  The Honey Tap is a great way to use honey that may be too strong or has a flavor you don't care for.  This is best done while in the tub...or at least in the bathroom.  (It can be a little messy!)  Any honey can be used...and yes, I do use honey of all kinds and varieties.  For the honey tap, though, inexpensive honey is just fine!
 

• Make sure you pull your hair back...nothing is worse than honey in your hair. 
• Cleanse and dry your face.
• Once the honey is smoothed over your face, it will feel warm and "drippy".  Your skin temperature will "melt" the honey. 
• Begin tapping your fingers like you are typing all over your face. 
• The honey will become increasingly tacky.
• Tapping too long will pull the skin too much, becoming red and sore...go easy.
• A warm rinse and the honey has done it's work!

Note: If you haven't used a particular honey before, you may want to spread a little on the inside of your wrist and wait a few minutes, to make sure that you are not allergic to it!!

KITCHEN: Stock and Broth and Concentrates...ninth in a series

It seems that every company that produces the standard canned or aseptic box of broth and/or stock is now offering a version without the water…known as concentrate or seasoning packets, which look sort of like the mustard or ketchup packets from a fast food place.  The nice thing is that they take OH SO LITTLE SPACE in the cupboard compared to the cans and boxes of hydrated versions.   There are times that the packets are more useful, but I am still having problems with the amount of sodium they are using.

SWANSON’S “Flavor Boost” concentrated Broth comes in chicken, beef, and vegetable.  Packets , if reconstituted, are equal to 1 cup.  Both chicken and beef have a whopping 830 mg of salt--or 35% of daily intake…more if you don’t use a 2,000 calorie diet. (Vegetable is slightly less at 770 mg)  For the beef flavored version, the first two ingredients are 

• “water” and “salt”, 
• the next two are “yeast extract” and “maltodextrin”, 
• following those fabulous ingredients is BEEF STOCK.  
• The rest of the ingredients are “less than 2%”--”natural flavoring, onion juice concentrate, tomato paste, xanthan gum, beef fat, dextrose, spice, lactic acid, beef extract. 

The chicken version fares a little better in the ingredients.  It begins with 

• “chicken stock and chicken fat, followed by salt, 
• maltodextrin, sugar, yeast extract, natural flavors, and chicken broth.  
• The remaining ingredients are listed as “less than 2%”; dextrose, corn oil, dehydrated chicken broth, xanthan gum.

While they “taste” fine, (although incredibly salty), the ingredients are less than overwhelmingly shouting flavor at me…salt and sugar in all it’s various forms are lack luster.  The front of the package boasts “No MSG Added”, though they do let you know that a small amount of glutamate is naturally occurring in the yeast extract.  I have used them as a “flavor boost”, and (except for the added saltiness), they did a good job of that.  If I were to continue to use them, I would have to eliminate all other salt from the recipes…like no salt tomato sauce, etc.  However, if I just use the dripping from a roast and add a few spices and TONS of salt and sugar to my own recipes--it might be pretty much the same.

TRADER JOE'S is offering  a Savory Chicken Flavor (I only purchased a reduced sodium version for my test).  There were TWELVE pouches in the small package, compared to EIGHT packets in the Swanson packages.  Their first ingredient listed is actually 

• CHICKEN STOCK, followed by maltodextrin (corn), natural flavor, chicken fat, sugar, salt, yeast extract, xanthan gum.  

While I preferred this chicken both for flavor, when I used this product as an afternoon pick-me-up (a cup of broth to stave off hunger) I found the product to have too much fat to be enjoyable for this, though the sodium was much more tolerable at 360 mg… a reduced salt version.  It was great in chicken and rice recipes, as well as, stir fry.  It would be nice if they actually listed the ingredients in the stock, though.  Their label states it has no gluten, but it is made in a facility which uses wheat, milk eggs, peanuts, soy, fish, and shellfish, and the facility also processes tree nuts.  I’m not sure how people who are allergic to such things might be affected, but the info is there.  Since I have an allergy to barley, it’s nice to know that the maltodextrin is derived from corn, instead of barley.  Over all, I thought this was a good product also, and liked the fact that it had less sodium.
KNORR is offering a home style Beef or Chicken Stock.  This is a bit different from the other products, in that their product comes in a “tub” as they call it.  (It is a small plastic cup with a pull off lid, and each tub will make 3 ½ cups when reconstituted with water.  It is more of a gelatin product and must be “melted”.  There are FOUR tubs to a package.
I thought that this particular beef stock tastes most like a stock, compared to a broth.
The sodium level is slightly lower (per one cup serving) at 700 mg or 29%. (Chicken is at 30%).  Since it was not in a convenient form to make “one cup” at a time, I did not try it as a cup of broth in the afternoon.  Ingredients are listed as 

• water, salt, modified palm oil, maltodextrin (corn, tapioca), autolyzed yeast extract, sugar, carrots, beef extract, spinach, leeks, xanthan gum, disodium guanylate, disodium inosolate, citric acid, garlic powder, onion powder, locust bean gum, soy sauce powder (soybeans, wheat, salt), lactic acid, beef fat, caramel color, natural flavor, spice, beta carotene (for color).

Product is made in Mexico.  Note that there is no ADDED MSG, but that “small amounts” in the yeast and the soy sauce (naturally occurring).  The beef fat and beef extract add a “dietarily insignificant amount of cholesterol“.

I was unable to obtain the chicken version of this product--tried several stores, on separate occasions, and it was not stocked on the shelves, though there was an open space where it should be. 

The draw backs to this product is it is a little more difficult to introduce this product into your food since it has to “melt”, and it makes 3 ½ cups compared to the single cups of other products.  On the plus side, the flavor was pretty good and it had slightly less sodium.

 COSTCO'S private label KIRKLAND Chicken Stock comes in a large box containing six packages...which would be FOUR cups each aseptic container.  With no fat, and plenty of flavor, as well as, lower sodium, this is a good choice for the afternoon pick-me-up equally well to using for making soups and other meals.  

• Sodium is 360 mg or 15% 

With chicken stock as the main ingredient and vegetable broth the second ingredient, I think (for fully hydrated product) this one is the best choice.

                       
PROGRESSO offers a 100% natural Unsalted Chicken Broth, in the aseptic box, “no msg added“.  Of course, again, there is some naturally occurring in the yeast extract.
Ingredients:  

• chicken broth. (no ingredient list of that)  contains less than 1% of sugar, yeast extract, natural flavor, carrot puree.

The calories for this product are 25 calories per one cup serving.  (All the rest have
10-20 calories per one cup serving).  This one has no fat, no cholesterol, and only 125 mg of sodium.  It is listed as Gluten free.

Since this is in a two pound box--storage of 8-12 would take a LOT of space, compared to the concentrates. 

I have (on very FEW occasions) made my own beef stock, ala Julia Child-style…the time involved and the cost are not worth it to me, since “bones” are now a very expensive commodity.  I am not likely to make my own stock, but very often make my own broth--or just use the pot liquor the food is prepared in...I don't make the broth and then toss out the veggies either...that seems such a waste.  I realize that they are often discarded because their flavor has been imparted to the broth, and they are often "soggy"...but unless they are REALLY soggy, I just leave them in, and maybe add some "fresh veggies" for texture.  This is why I am not a chef in real life.  


Labels say a lot...these say how much salt, sugar, and misc. enhancers are showing up in our products.  None of them tasted "bad"...but, most of them are not really suitable for frequent use solely because of their sodium levels.  

• The concentrates would probably be a good choice for "survival"--if you have a source of water...or they can turn a wild root into something with a more familiar taste.  If water is scarce, the fully hydrated product would be the better choice--provided you are not on the move.

As an "aside"--here is a link to how they make the aseptic packaging.

CRAFT: Recycled Copper Wire

Sentimental Recycling Project

 Quite a few years ago, my husband took a job in Alaska which separated us for about six months. 
He was working in remote areas, and phone calls were often two weeks apart.  Our son and I really missed him.


At the time, I was home schooling our son.  My husband thought it might be fun to ship some of the plant and rock materials home for our science studies.  We had plenty of fun trying to determine what all the flora and rocks he sent home were.  
Fast forward to today.  I was clearing out some boxes and stumbled across the birch bark.  I couldn't make myself throw it out...but, I didn't want to just store it in a box.  In reading through one of the magazines I picked up at the thrift store, (I almost never buy "new" magazines), I noticed a picture of a leaf that someone had punched with holes to form letters--writing a short message.  Inspiration!!  I could use the bark to make a piece of wearable art!!  A few days later I was watching a segment on TV that mentioned recycling copper wire from old electric motors.  Since my husband was already recycling that sort of thing, I asked if he had any copper wire I could use.  He set up a little anvil and a hammer for me and told me to have a go.  Thus, was born my wearable recycled birch bark and copper wire "heart". 

This cuts very easily with scissors!

 The bark was originally rolled in a "scroll".  I had to soak it overnight in water; laying it flat, with a heavy object, to dry.

The curl of wire made by twisting on a pencil to form.

I used wire cutters to cut some strands of copper wire. Two to six strands worked best. (I actually used three strands in the heart.)  Twisting the ends together to get it started, I braced the started end under the anvil and used a pair of pliers to continue to twist all the way down.  

At this point, I began pounding the twist of wire with the hammer against the anvil; and in short order, I discovered that a lovely (almost Celtic) pattern appeared.  I went too far though, and the wire became thin and brittle, breaking off bits of the pattern.  Several tries later, shaping FIRST, pounding (a lot less) later, I had a heart shape that would work.  

Kind of fun to see how the wire will appear after pounding!

I traced the metal heart onto the bark, cut it, and trimmed to size.  Then I simply used wood glue to hold it together.  This is not a totally finished piece.  I am still trying to decide whether to make the heart into a pin or a pendant...but I am saving that knot in the bark for another project...maybe a barrette for my hair...The project took very little time and cost next to nothing, but the fun I had experimenting in making it and the sentimental value I derive from it are priceless!
Thursdays are the release days for my Craft projects and ideas...check back each Thursday!!  It is my intention to use recycled items,  thrift store purchases, and "dollar store" finds as often as possible.  Green Crafting!
Sundays are the release days for Kitchen and Cooking projects, ideas, and better food choices.  Please check back on Sundays for that.
Home projects and ideas are still "in progress", but tentatively will be slated for Tuesdays or Saturdays...please "stay tuned".