Vintage Linen Soak

If you have vintage linens that have yellowed with age, you may find this recipe helpful.

In a large roaster or pot, fill with hot water and several slices of lemon. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and add your linens. Use a wooden spoon to push down the linens until they become completely submerged and saturated with the water. Cover the pot and leave overnight.

Rinse well, wash with mild detergent and water as usual and then lay the items out in the sun to dry.

Have A Safe And Happy Memorial Day!

They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast,
And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Did You Know...

That you can stop spaghetti boil over or it sticking together if you add a small piece of butter or a few teaspoons of oil to the water? The same holds true for rice. Give it a try the next time you prepare it for dinner!

Civil War Recipe...Rumbled Eggs

Most cookbooks of the civil war period had entire sections devoted to cooking for the sick and invalid. Sadly, it was an all too common status in the years of the war, and long afterwards. Also included in the category would be those who, while otherwise healthy, had lost or damaged teeth and consequent difficulty chewing hard foods. Here is a rumbled egg recipe from the Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 oz. butter
1 tsp. cream or milk
Buttered toast

Beat up three eggs with two ounces of fresh butter, or well-washed salt butter; add a teaspoonful of cream or new milk. Put all in a saucepan and keep stirring it over the fire for nearly five minutes, until it rises up like a soufflé, when it should be immediately dished on buttered toast.

Recycle Your Dryer Lint...

One of the reasons we clean out dryer lint is to prevent fires, as it's highly flammable. Why not use it to start a fire where you want one, such as when you go camping and need to have a camp fire?

One way to do this is to pack lint into a small section of toilet paper or paper towel tubing to take on your camping trips. The lint will light quickly and get your kindling off to a good start.

Another method is to make fire starters by packing lint into the cups of paper egg cartons. Pour melted candle wax over the lint. Cut the egg carton apart into 12 separate fire starters and simply light the edge of the paper egg cup and place next to your kindling to get a good blaze started.

Did You Know...

That you can use cold cream to clean your child's plastic doll? It removes the dirt without removing any color from the doll's face or body.

Purple Clover...

There is a flower that bees prefer,
And butterflies desire;
To gain the purple democrat
The humming-birds aspire.

And whatsoever insect pass,
A honey bears away
Proportioned to his several dearth
And her capacity.

Her face is rounder than the moon,
And ruddier than the gown
Of orchis in the pasture,
Or rhododendron worn.

She doth not wait for June;
Before the world is green
Her sturdy little countenance
Against the wind is seen,

Contending with the grass,
Near kinsman to herself,
For privilege of sod and sun,
Sweet litigants for life.

And when the hills are full,
And newer fashions blow,
Doth not retract a single spice
For pang of jealousy.

Her public is the noon,
Her providence the sun,
Her progress by the bee proclaimed
In sovereign, swerveless tune.

The bravest of the host,
Surrendering the last,
Nor even of defeat aware
When cancelled by the frost.

Emily Dickinson

Storing Away Your Winter Sweaters?

Instead of moth balls, try using dried lavender blossoms, dried mint leaves, or cedar shavings (the kind available as pet bedding works well). The odor of these natural materials are pleasant, yet they repel moths, and there are no dangers involved as with moth balls.

Moth balls are poisonous and are considered a pesticide. Avoid inhaling moth ball fumes and do not use them around young children and pets.

A sensitive plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew,
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,
and closed them beneath the kisses of night.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant," 1820

Ironing...

"I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare."
— Tasha Tudor

These days we have so many non-wrinkle fabrics that we don't have to spend much time ironing, however, if you still have a few items that need to be pressed, or you iron your linens, you may find these tips helpful.

Did you know that if you spin dry your clothes at lower speed they will have less wrinkles in them? The higher the speed the more the wrinkling. Take your clothes out as soon as the spinning is over and shake them well to remove tangling. Put to dry immediately. Once completely dried, remove and fold immediately and you will have very few wrinkles to iron out. I launder our cottage curtains often and this has been very helpful in cutting down my ironing time.

Placing aluminum foil below the cover of your ironing board helps to cut your ironing time as well. The foil reflects heat, thus ironing both sides at the same time.

When pressing pants or jeans, iron the top part on the wrong side. Iron the legs on the right side. This gives the pockets and waistband a smooth look.

Loose threads or ravels can easily be snipped if you tie a small pair of scissors to the end of your ironing board.

The Scent of Rosemary Shortbread ...Heavenly

I know what you're thinking but give these buttery little morsels a try. I think you will be very pleased and surprised! Some people are put off by the notion of herb cookies but the combination of the taste of the rosemary shortbread with a nice earl grey/lavender tea is divine. The flavor improves with age (best 2 days after), keeping for about a week in the cookie jar (if they last that long please give me your secret for self control) and they can be frozen to pull out and thaw for tea anytime you need a sweet.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour salt and rosemary until well blended. The dough will be somewhat soft. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees F). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles 1 1/2x2 inches in size. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the tops.
Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Help For Your Hands...

To remove garden stains from your hands, try placing about 1/2 tsp. sugar with the soap lather when you wash your hands. You will be amazed at how easily the stains are removed and your hands will be smooth and clean.

Let Them Eat Cake...

These old fashioned recipes are taken from the book "Dr. Chase's Third, Last and Complete Receipt Book, Memorial Edition" by Dr. Alvin Wood Chase, M.D., published by F. B. Dickerson Company, Detroit and Windsor, in 1891.

Charity Cake Recipe
Sugar, 1 cup;
butter the size of an egg;
1 egg; stir to a cream;
add sweet milk, 1 cup;
flour, 2 cups;
cream of tartar, 2 teaspoonfuls;
soda, 1 teaspoonful
--Emily A. Hammond

Stir together ingredients and bake in a 350 degree oven 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

No other place so appropriate for a poor man's cake recipe, as to let it follow charity cake, for who needs charity any more than a poor man is likely to.

Poor Man's Cake Recipe
One cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
1 tablespoonful of butter
1 teaspoonful cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoonful of baking soda dissolved in the milk
1 egg
a little cinnamon, and enough flour to make it as stiff as pound cake.

Stir together ingredients and bake in a 350 degree oven 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For Your Locks...

Harsh chemicals in commercial shampoos, hair appliances, diet and the environment are some of the many things that take a toll on your hair. One solution is to create your own shampoo that restores your hair's moisture and sheen. Many of the ingredients you need may already be in your kitchen pantry, while the others are as close as your natural foods store or farmer's market.

If you have oily hair you may find this shampoo to your liking:

1 cup cold tap water
2 tablespoons dry peppermint (you can use a teabag)
2 tablespoons dry spearmint (you can use a teabag)
1 tablespoons dry sage
2/3 cup baby shampoo

Place the peppermint, spearmint, sage and water in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Strain the herbs out and mix the baby shampoo in with your herb water. Store in a plastic bottle.

For normal to dry hair you may enjoy this:

In a blender, combine:
1 ounce olive oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Store in a plastic bottle.