Happy New Year!

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~Edgar Guest

Our Scented Cottage wishes you a Happy and Healthy New Year! If you celebrate, please don't drink and drive!
Best Wishes,
Laura

Tips For Eating Healthy

How are you feeling? If you've been following the tips for eating healthier we're now on week 4 and you should see a difference in your skin and energy level. Here is the tip for week 4:
Become a semi-vegetarian. Supplement your diet with a steady supply of vegetables, grains, legumes, fruit and dairy and only moderate servings beef, poulty and fish. The benefits are many: a lowered risk of cardiac issues, cancer, and diabetes and you will have fewer digestive complaints.

Goddess Yogurt Body Mask

With all of the rushing around you've been doing, it's time for a time out. Is your skin looking dry from the winter weather? Pour yourself a cup of tea and pamper yourself in a warm bath. Here is a wonderful face and body mask that will do wonders for your skin.
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Yogurt
3 Tablespoons of Honey
3 Tablespoons of Puréed Pumpkin OR
3 Tablespoons of Puréed Carrots

To Make: Use canned (nothing added), or slightly cooked pumpkin or carrots. Drain,and purée in a blender. Pour into a bowl with the yogurt and honey. Warning...using pureed carrots alone will give your skin an orange hue, not an attractive look unless you are going for jaundiced color. Make sure you mix with the honey and yogurt to mellow the carrots.

To Use: Draw a warm bath. Lather your face and body with the yogurt mask. Sink into a warm bath and soak for 10-20 minutes. Rinse in the shower, tone, and apply a light moisturizer.

Make Your Own Butter

Making your own butter is not as far off as it seems. All you need is some heavy cream and an empty jar, like a simple mason jar with a good tight lid. Add cream and shake until the solid lump of butter hits one end of the jar! You want your cream to be about 60 degrees F. If it's too warm, your butter will be soft and won't keep well, if it's too cold, you´ll be churning forever to get your butter formed. When your cream is the right temperature, pour into your jar and get moving and shaking. Pass it around to other family members if you get tired. Within about 15 minutes, it should start feeling heavier. If not, check the temperature to see if you are in the right range. Churn for another 10 to 20 minutes, and you'll start to see the cream separating into buttermilk containing very small butter "pellets". Keep shaking and you will soon have butter. Drain on some cheese cloth and enjoy!

The liquid you drain will be real buttermilk. This is another side benefit of churning your own cultured butter. This buttermilk is excellent for baking, has a complex tang, and is full of the natural emulsifiers which help keep the butterfat in suspension in the cream (and which are lacking in commercial buttermilk, which is actually just cultured skim milk). These elements are why buttermilk was a prized ingredient in many baking recipes for adding flavor and helping to produce a smooth batter. You can use this buttermilk in place of water to make pie crust, and the lactic acid in the buttermilk will help tenderize the crust.

This is a fun project for children on a rainy or snowy day. Bake up some fresh bread or biscuits and make a day of it.

Unusual Uses For Lemon Juice

Here I am again, bringing you some more unusual tips for items we usually have on hand in the pantry. I love being able to find non toxic ways to keep Our Scented Cottage clean and germ free. Read on for my most recent discovery on uses for lemon juice!

Garden Grit Hand Cleaner:
Splash some lemon juice in your hands and scrub in hot soap and water. Gets the grime off quickly and easily.
Laundry Booster:
Put in half cup of lemon juice (plus laundry detergent) when washing whites. Also a good stain pretreater (for whites), just spritz on some lemon juice and soak before washing. You could also make a paste with salt or baking soda, apply to stain then wash.
Deodorize Containers & Cutting Boards:
Do you have less than fresh smelling lunch boxes, plastic containers or cutting boards? Scrub them down with lemon juice and don’t rinse off for at least an hour. Wash in hot soapy water.
Microwave Oven Cleaner:
Fill a small microwaveable bowl with 50/50 water and lemon juice. Microwave for a few minutes until moisture builds inside to scrub down your microwave. It cleans, freshens and deodorizes your microwave.
Kitchen Sink Cleaner:
Make a paste of lemon juice and baking soda then gently rub into sink. Wash well with hot soapy water.
Dishwasher Rinse:
Add lemon juice to the rinse cup of your dishwasher for sparkling dishes.
Grease Buster:
Spray lemon juice on stovetops, overhead stove fans, countertops–anywhere there’s a grease film or spill. Wipe away grease then wash in hot soapy water.
Small Appliance Cleaner:
Descale and de-grime kettles and coffee pots by soaking in lemon juice.
Shower Door Soap Scum Cleaner:
Spray or wipe on lemon juice and let sit for about a minute before scrubbing off the soap buildup. I add some baking soda to this and my shower doors sparkle when I'm finished cleaning them.

How To Clean Household Sponges

Did you know your household sponges should be cleaned at least every other day? I clean and sterilize mine often but didn't realize that every other day was needed. They are nice for scrubbing and wiping up, but make sure to wash frequently to help prevent spreading germs around your home.

According to Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in the Home:
”A sponge that’s been in use for no more than two or three days in a kitchen will harbor millions of bacteria,” said Elizabeth Scott, co-director of the Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in the Home at Simmons College in Boston. That’s a problem, she said, ”if you pick up the pathogen or a pathogenic E. coli, salmonella or campylobacter on the sponge.”

She added: ”That means that any time you use the sponge to wipe up a surface you are potentially spreading those pathogens.”
Source: NYTimes

Well, that's a little more than disturbing if you ask me! I decided to post this because I don't want any of us doing more harm than good when all we're trying to do is keep a clean little cottage.

How To Clean Household Sponges
Methods for cleaning household sponges depend on what they’re used for and what chemicals they’re already holding.
Sponges Used For Kitchen Counters & Dishes:
Toss the sponges in the dishwasher when you do a load of dishes. The dishwasher detergent and the heat should sterilize the sponge. You could also wash the sponges in hot soapy water with a good splash of vinegar, rinse well, then when still wet microwave for a couple of minutes. This is what we do but beware, that sponge is steaming hot when you take it out so be careful! Bleach and water could be used as well, rather than soap and vinegar.
Sponges Used For Wiping Up Toilets, Bathrooms, Showers & Floors:
I prefer to throw mine out after I use them for this but you can soak them in a bleach solution, then toss in your washing machine. I find sponges break down very quickly when using bleach, not to mention I don't like using bleach in my home. If you do decide to do this, and you're going to wash them with other items, don’t mix with clothing, dish cloths or towels...wash them with other household cleaning rags.
Sponges Containing Ammonia:
Don’t wash with bleach. Clean and rinse in hot soapy water, then wash in the washing machine.
More Cleaning Methods:
Soak sponges in bleach and hot water (as long as the sponges haven’t been in contact with ammonia). Use one ounce of bleach per gallon of water.
Soak sponges in vinegar and hot water.
Bring water and vinegar to a boil, then add sponges. Boil for a few minutes, cover pot and remove from heat. Let sit for an hour.

Even More On Vinegar

Just when you thought I couldn't come up with more information on how to use vinegar, here I am with even more ideas! I'm sure you're thinking that you don't want to be overcome by the odor of vinegar and deal with that in your car, but believe me, the smell doesn't last long and it's well worth a few minutes of dealing with it. Because white distilled vinegar has so many wonderful uses as a cleaning agent, it’s no surprise that it is also perfect to use on some of your bigger cleaning projects—namely automobiles. The next time you’re washing your car, really make it shine with a little vinegar.

Keep car windows frost-free overnight in winter by coating them with a solution of 3 parts white distilled vinegar to 1 part water.

Polish car chrome with full-strength white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth.

Remove unwanted decals and bumper stickers by covering them with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar, or by repeatedly spraying them with full-strength white distilled vinegar. You should be able to peel them off in a couple of hours.

Rid the windshield wipers of road grime by wiping them with a white distilled vinegar-soaked cloth.

Remove the leftover odor after a rider has been carsick by leaving a bowl of white distilled vinegar overnight on the floor.

Get rid of hard water stains on your car with a rinse made from 3 parts soft water to one part white distilled vinegar.

Wipe vinyl upholstery with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.

Remove winter road salt residue on car carpeting by spraying with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water, then blot with a soft towel.

Remove the hazy film that builds up on inside windows by spraying with white distilled vinegar.

Remove dirt and stains from car carpeting with a mixture of half white distilled vinegar and half water.

When doing car maintenance, soak rusty bolts and screws with white distilled vinegar to make them easier to remove.

Loosen chewing gum stuck to carpeting or upholstery by soaking it in white distilled vinegar.

Create an all-purpose window cleaner with a few ounces of white distilled vinegar in a quart of water.

Give leather upholstery an extra shine by cleaning it with hot white distilled vinegar and rinsing with soapy water.

Make your car extra shiny by adding a few drops of white distilled vinegar to your bucket of water.

French Mousse With Pumpkin

I know the pumpkin recipes are all but put away for the season but I could not resist posting just one more. Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and white chocolate paired with the pumpkin make for a wonderful holiday treat. Enjoy!
Ingredients:1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup plus 2 cups chilled heavy cream
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ounces white chocolate, shaved
Preparation:
In a medium saucepan, stir together the pumpkin, 1 cup heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Chill for at least 1 hour before preparing the mousse.

Whip the remaining 2 cups chilled cream into peaks. Gently stir ½ cup of the chilled pumpkin mixture into the whipped cream. Once the ½ cup of pumpkin is almost fully incorporated into the cream, fold in the remaining pumpkin. Serve chilled with white chocolate shavings as a garnish. Makes 8 servings.

Homemade Scouring Powder

Here is another green cleaner you can make with items from your pantry.
Ingredients:

1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax
1 cup salt


Drain Cleaner

1 cup baking soda
Add 1 cup hot vinegar. Wait a few minutes,
then flush the drain with 1 quart of very hot water.