Comments On Article: It Is The Simple Things

Ingrid, I don't have an answer to the problem of your buttonholes because I have the same problem! I often end up doing a tight zigzag on the loose side. My buttonholes end up looking pretty bad a lot of times. 

A gift suggestion for a little girl- toddler & up is a bag/purse filled with a few items. I did that for mine when they were toddlers & preschoolers & now for my granddaughter. They love a "purse" with things in it! It's easy to make a little bag/purse and things to go in it or buy at the thrift store. For little boys a shoebox or bag filled with stuff to build or stack or glue. For adults I have made "books". This does take a little time but I get a blank book and add things to it that I think suits the recipient like poems, pictures,  cartoons, recipes, etc. They've always been well-received.

A small purse with a couple $1 bills or coins (if the child is old enough not to put them in their mouth) would be a great gift.  My dad gave a coin purse with a few coins in it to his g-granddaughter who received a whole room full of expensive gifts and that was her favorite.  

We were invited to a bd party for a foster grandson at the last minute and I put 5 $1 bills in a card, and he ignored all the expensive gifts and was so excited because he had MONEY.  I think he was 4 at the time.  

A handmade purse will become a keepsake.

I have been so busy this week, between work and processing all of our produce. Fortunately an atmospheric river moved in this weekend so staying cozy at home and working on projects here is much easier to do without the sun shining. 

Margaret P- I think half-and-half would probably work, as long as it didn't contain any added ingredients like thickeners or flavoring. My next experimentation will be with plain milk, then I may move on to experimenting with powdered milk in varying ratios to fresh.

Stephanie G- I just make up a regular salsa recipe and then dehydrate it on a fruit leather tray. Just make sure all the ingredients are cut into small pieces or puree roughly with an immersion blender. Once it's done, I break it up into pieces. To use, pour boiling water over the salsa and let sit 15 minutes or so. I usually use 1.5 parts water to 1 part salsa, then add more water after its rehydrated until I get the desired thickness.

Someone asked about potatoes and dehydrating. The risk is with case hardening, which is when the outside dries before the inside so the inside retains moisture and spoils. To avoid it, thick skinned potatoes should be peeled and they should be cut into small pieces or thin slices. All potatoes should be blanched until they just begin to soften. After blanching, I soak the pieces in lemon water to prevent blackening, then I dehydrate. When dried properly, potatoes become somewhat translucent and yellowish, although they may appear brown around the edges and that's okay.

I made a cheap but delicious meal last night -- tomato gravy over homemade biscuits with cucumber salad on the side. The tomatoes and cukes are from the garden, so this was a very inexpensive meals and it made enough for lunches today. 

I'm glad I have a store of coffee in stock, too. I will replenish it off sales and hope for the best. We mainly shop at a regional employee-owned, no frills chain (WinCo). Their bulk bins are the best! I avoid highly processed foods. Of course, cheese, flour, and similar are technically processed, but they are processed in ways I can emulate in my own kitchen without any weird ingredients or equipment, if I so pleased. 

We only shop to restock the deep pantry. For example, today I am going shopping and my list is: Green beans and onions (from the farmer's market), Irish cheddar block (which tariff's caused the price to go up $1.50...), 2 cans of black olives, a couple dozen eggs,  tortilla chips (our one junk food, but they only contain three ingredients -- corn, oil, and salt), and peanut butter. WinCo has a machine where you grind plain peanuts into butter for $1.88/lb. It's much cheaper than the jarred stuff and it doesn't contain sugar or any other ingredients except peanuts. I will pick up another can of coffee if it is on sale, since we opened a new can this week. 

I will be glad to see the end of the canning and drying season! I will do a round of blackberry preserves for pies and snacking on next week (I finished the jam this week). Then there are apples which I can and dry in various ways. This afternoon I am hoping to finish canning the tomatoes. I still have some dehydrating to do -- zucchini, green beans, the aforementioned apples, broccoli, and pumpkin. Much like salsa, I dry pureed fresh pumpkin on fruit leather sheets, and rehydrate it for making pies, desserts, sauces, and soups. I use our Halloween pumpkins for food. The trick is not to carve them until Halloween day, then to bring them in that evening for processing!

I feel secure knowing that we can eat for at least a year from what is currently in the house. In many ways, it is better than money in the bank since it seems every day a dollar is worth less and less for us. 

I don't have a laundry rack that goes up to the ceiling, but I have seen one on the following Youtube channel: Look at around 11:56 minutes. It is a young couple who have built a tiny house. He is a carpenter. It's a system of pulley's. Hope this gives you some ideas.

The pulley laundry rack is quite common in England. They are sometimes called Sheila Maids. They can be simple structures or quite fancy with filagree ironwork on the ends. They look charming but they are also very practical.