Hello! It has been about a thousand years since I have posted and we have had the some recipe for clam chowder up for at least a month so someone seriously needed to post something :) This post is not about edibles but rather about kitchen things that have some pretty awesome applications outside of the kitchen.
Over the last few years I have become increasingly fascinated with home-remedies for things with specific emphasis on non-toxic and cheap fixes. Having been a graduate student up until a couple of short weeks ago, the cheap factor has been really important to me. Through a lot of putzing around on the internet, experimentation, and more focused research I have found a few things that have just totally blown my mind so I thought I'd share.
Baking Soda:
1. So I am pretty sure everyone has heard a million different things about baking soda but there are a couple of more obscure ones I want to personally attest to. I recently tried a tip about using baking soda to wash hair. Sounds really weird but it actually works. I don't know if anyone else has this problem but I occasionally get an itchy scalp. This is not a malady that is common enough to merit dandruff shampoo or anything like that but I have tried of a few different things to fix it. It is largely related to living without air conditioning (both at middle school and at home) and therefore having a constant (albeit low) level of sweat...ew. So I did some research about scalp exfoliants and they all sounded scary. I had visions of hair falling out in chunks after the follicle was scratched to pieces by sharp little pieces of sugar or walnut but then I read about some lady using baking soda. It sounded significantly less scary so I gave it a try and lo and behold! No mas itchy scalp. In fact, my scalp was immediately as clean as it would be if I were bald. Basically you just wet your hair, slap some baking soda on it, rub it in, work it around, and then rinse. Shampoo and condition as usual and enjoy a happy scalp! :)
2. Shoes. I work on my feet as a teacher and my dress shoes don't always involve socks. Shoes without socks inevitably smell. Solution? Chuck some baking soda in there and leave it in overnight. Shake it out in the morning and don't worry about the remaining power because it makes your feetsies not smell either. Go forth and enjoy dryer feet to boot :)
3. Brushing teeth. Duh. I recently started dipping my toothbrush and toothpaste in baking soda when I brush and my mouth is now quite happy. Good times. Happy gums.
4. Facial exfoliant. Yup. Baking soda actually works as a mild but effective facial exfoliant that actually also has some antibacterial properties. It makes your skin nicely soft too. You can use it anywhere else as well actually. It's kinda a miracle substance like that.
Vinegar:
1. Hair again. So this is much less obscure than the baking soda thing but is still pretty cool. Recently there have been cider vinegar shampoos and things coming out on the market and they are capitalizing on an extremely old remedy: the cider vinegar rinse. Cider vinegar, when properly diluted, gently strips away product buildup and other crap from your hair and also cleanses and sterilizes the scalp. Evidently one of the main causes of dandruff and general scalp itchiness is a buildup of yeast on the scalp. This happens especially when the hair isn't washed every day (long hair actually shouldn't be), during hot weather, and in humidity...so basically if you are me :) Combine two tablespoons cider vinegar with one cup of cold water and pour it over your hair at the end of your shower. Don't rinse it out. When your hair dries the smell will be completely gone. I have been doing this for over two weeks now and my hair is happy. The scalp benefits are really what I do it for though, it helps to prevent grossness. The thoughts behind using cider vinegar instead of white vinegar have something to do with its acidity. Some people laud using organic unfiltered cider vinegar because it has the "mother of vinegar" in it which has all kinds of happy bacteria in it. I am not so concerned with that.
So there you go. Weird home remedy personal hygiene tips from the littlest sib.
END
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Clam Chowder
A slow cooker clam chowder recipe, slightly modified from this one, and annotated.
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon
2 medium white onions
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup flour
3 6.5 ounce cans chopped clams
2.5 cups white wine for cooking
3 medium-large white potatoes
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 cups half and half
1 cup cream
1. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks (half inch to one inch cubes). Set aside.
2. Chop onions. Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Mince the garlic or squeeze it through a garlic press. Open the cans of clams, drain clam juice into a measuring cup, set clams aside (refrigerate).
3. In a wok or large skillet fry the bacon until it greases the pan. Add onion, sautee until onion is soft. Add garlic, sautee until the garlic smells nice.
4. Reduce heat to medium or so and slowly stir in the flour. Fry until everything is coated.
5. Pour in clam juice and wine. Stir until everything is blended.
6. Pour all this into the slow cooker. Add the potatoes, chicken bouillon, marjoram, celery seed, and pepper. Stir.
7. Cook on low for 7 hours.
8. Add clams, half and half, and cream.
9. Cook on high for another 30 minutes.
Most slow cooker clam chowder recipes I've seen call for cream of mushroom soup. The Boston snob in me is shocked. This tastes more like what we remember. The wine especially adds a wonderful tang to the taste. This went perfectly with oyster crackers (natch) and a crusty sourdough bread.
Notes: Of course fresh clams would probably taste better than canned; in that case you'd want to buy bottled clam juice to use, and I unfortunately don't know how much because I forgot to notice how much juice was in 3 cans of clams. Also, a fourth can of clams wouldn't go amiss. As for the wine, the cooking wine we used had salt added; if you're using a normal white wine (i.e., made for drinking) you'll want to add salt to the recipe to compensate. Finally, next time we might try reducing the liquid to make the broth just a little thicker - but what to cut back on? Clam juice? Wine? Half and half?
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon
2 medium white onions
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup flour
3 6.5 ounce cans chopped clams
2.5 cups white wine for cooking
3 medium-large white potatoes
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 cups half and half
1 cup cream
1. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks (half inch to one inch cubes). Set aside.
2. Chop onions. Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Mince the garlic or squeeze it through a garlic press. Open the cans of clams, drain clam juice into a measuring cup, set clams aside (refrigerate).
3. In a wok or large skillet fry the bacon until it greases the pan. Add onion, sautee until onion is soft. Add garlic, sautee until the garlic smells nice.
4. Reduce heat to medium or so and slowly stir in the flour. Fry until everything is coated.
5. Pour in clam juice and wine. Stir until everything is blended.
6. Pour all this into the slow cooker. Add the potatoes, chicken bouillon, marjoram, celery seed, and pepper. Stir.
7. Cook on low for 7 hours.
8. Add clams, half and half, and cream.
9. Cook on high for another 30 minutes.
Most slow cooker clam chowder recipes I've seen call for cream of mushroom soup. The Boston snob in me is shocked. This tastes more like what we remember. The wine especially adds a wonderful tang to the taste. This went perfectly with oyster crackers (natch) and a crusty sourdough bread.
Notes: Of course fresh clams would probably taste better than canned; in that case you'd want to buy bottled clam juice to use, and I unfortunately don't know how much because I forgot to notice how much juice was in 3 cans of clams. Also, a fourth can of clams wouldn't go amiss. As for the wine, the cooking wine we used had salt added; if you're using a normal white wine (i.e., made for drinking) you'll want to add salt to the recipe to compensate. Finally, next time we might try reducing the liquid to make the broth just a little thicker - but what to cut back on? Clam juice? Wine? Half and half?
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