Laundry Stain Treatment

Laundry stains are not difficult to treat.  I have a few products that are "must-haves" in my laundry room.  

Dawn Dish Liquid

1 part Liquid Laundry Detergent (any kind) & 1 part Ammonia

Lestoil

Here are my basic laundry stain rules:

1.  Men's dress shirts - put a line of Dawn across the collar and cuffs and rub in with a toothbrush just before washing.  It gets the "ring" out and keeps the shirts like new longer.

2.  Food stains that aren't greasy - rub the Ammonia mix in with a toothbrush just before washing.  Don't let this sit overnight on clothes, especially cotton or khaki, because it can remove some color.

3.  Grease stains - rub Lestoil on the spot and let it sit for a few minutes before washing.  If it doesn't come out the first time, DON'T machine dry the garment.  Try the Lestoil again and let it sit a little longer, then wash.  If the stain is still there, try it again and let the garment soak in some cold water with Lestoil for a few hours, then wash.  I've had great success with this process!!

4.  White clothes & underarm stains - sorry, I don't have a magic wand for this.  From what I've read the yellowing is an enzyme reaction and not a stain.  That's why stain removers and bleach don't work.  The best defense against yellowing is to get the sweat out of the garment as quickly as possible after wearing.  If you put the garment in a bucket of cold water to sit until you're ready to wash a load, that will work. If you're favorite white blouse is yellowed, I'm afraid you'll have to buy another one!

5.  Whites and light-colors  - I love to hang clothes outside. The sun is a tremendous stain-fighter.  It will bleach out red food stains and wine stains from your clothes while it brightens up white t-shirts and linens.

You may notice that bleach is not on this list.  I'm not a fan. Bleach deteriorates elastic from socks and underwear and erodes other fabric fibers.  I think it's more harmful than helpful so I don't use it often.

I hope something here is helpful.  What's your favorite laundry product?

Creating a Landscaping Bed

Most of my landscaping lessons I've learned the hard way, and this one is no exception.  I can't count how many hours I've spent digging up sod so that I could make room for plants.  When I took my Master Gardener class several years ago, one of the presenters showed us another way to create a planting bed that is SO much easier than what I used to do. Here's an example from my backyard that I just finished.

I needed to extend the curved edge of one planting bed by a couple of feet.  I laid down 10-layer-newspaper sections on top of the grass up against the edge of the existing bed.  

I carefully placed the edges right where I wanted the end of the new bed to be.  I wet the newspapers with a hose as I went along so that the wind wouldn't undo all my hard work.

I covered all the newspapers with a 2-3 inch layer of topsoil and compost, tamping it down with my hands along the edges.

Finally I put down a thick layer of mulch to inhibit weeds and keep the roots cool around my new dappled willow bush.



And that's it!  The newspapers will kill the grass over the winter, and I'll be able to dig through it and plant anything I want next spring.  This is MUCH easier than digging up sod. And leaving the grass in place gives the new bed some height without using so much topsoil.

Do you have any landscaping tips??  I'd love to hear them!

Fall Beauty

I love the change of seasons, but I can't decide whether I like fall or dread it. I live in Western PA I and know what's coming soon... Yet I always try to appreciate what's around me.  So...here's my attempt at finding beauty in this coming season!

Not bad, huh?

The Underside of the Tapestry

We all know that life brings each of us seasons.  Seasons of plenty, seasons of lack, seasons of joy, seasons of pain...

I'm a "big picture" kind of person and it helps me a lot to keep things in perspective if I have a good picture in my mind of what's really happening.

When life brings me one of those times when things just aren't the way they "should" be, I remember that I'm not home yet in heaven.  From our viewpoint here on earth, it's like the underside of a tapestry.  We get glimpses but only the Master Weaver can see clearly what's being woven on His side.

I sometimes wonder what good could possibly come from a particular trouble I'm going through.  That's when I remember the knots and frays that are all over the underside of an embroidery.  Perspective is everything and sometimes you just have to trust that God knows what He's doing.

A wonderful christian writer popularized this.  Her name was Corrie Ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place.  She published this poem of unknown origin.  I hope this helps you as it has helped me.

My Life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.

Fresh Basil Pesto

We grow lots of Italian Basil in our garden every summer. Usually it reached "hedge" status by mid-August and we have a "Pesto Party" with a dozen or so friends to make loads of pesto for the coming winter.

This year our basil was adversely affected by the cold summer weather and we didn't harvest much.  We had enough for a few batches, though.  Here's our tried and true pesto recipe.

Start with 1 cup of fresh basil and 1 cup of fresh parsley.  Put these herbs in a food processor with 4-6 garlic cloves, 1/2 cup Romano cheese, 1/3 cup walnuts, and 1/4+ cup quality olive oil.

Process all ingredients until a thick paste forms.  I spread my pesto on a long sheet of wax paper, roll and wrap to form a
"log" like this:

Then I wrap that log in a long sheet of plastic wrap to keep it fresh in the freezer.

When I want to use some I just peel back the plastic wrap and cut through the wax paper. Approximately 2 inches of this pesto log will season a pound of cooked pasta, tortellini, ravioli... We add more olive oil to the thawed pesto as needed.

If you have a large food processor, 11 cups or more, you can double this recipe and make 2 logs at once.

This pesto can be mixed with cheese for a 16 inch pizza.  Just top it with fresh tomatoes or roasted red peppers for a fantastic meal.  It is a great addition to bechamel sauce for meat and fish dishes.

Here's link to an interesting Food Network page if you're a pesto lover:

50 Things to Make With Pesto

Tony's Fiesta Saute

My husband Tony is an excellent cook.  He can take ordinary ingredients and make a beautiful and delicious dish!  Here's another of his creations.  By the way, most of these ingredients came from our local farmer's market.

Start by chopping 6 or 7 garlic cloves and a jalapeno pepper, if you like some heat.  In a heavy-bottomed skillet heat 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and add the garlic and jalapeno. When the garlic is nicely golden brown, start adding...

3 thinly sliced carrots

some chopped red cabbage, a red bell pepper, a few golden fingerling potatoes, a few mushrooms,

and 3 ears of fresh corn cut off the cob.

Saute at medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are all cooked through but firm.

Add a generous amount of kosher salt and coarse ground pepper.

Tony finished this with some chopped fresh parsley and basil from our garden.



You could add other garden vegetables you like, or some black beans, and serve with rice or pasta.

Isn't this a beautiful dish??

Hanging Clothes On The Line

My childhood memories are filled with clothesline images - my mother hanging clothes, putting my dad's work trousers on stretchers so they dried with the right shape, running outside to get the clothes off the line when it started to rain, mowing the lawn under the sheets on the line...

I still remember the smell of getting into my small bed with fresh sheets and blankets dried in the sun, the clothespin bag my mother kept near the back door made to look like a woman's apron, and the time my mother had to rewash my quilt because she said "A dirty bird did something on it!"

My sister tells a funny clothesline story about my 2 brothers. Vince, probably 16 at the time, once used my mother's clothesline to hogtie Dave, 4 years his junior.  Then he wrapped the line around and around the dining room table, tying knots as he went along, then out the front door to the telephone pole before winding it back inside.  After he was done he went away with his friends, leaving Dave lying on his stomach, hands and feet hopelessly bound, unable to free himself.  My sister arrived home and found her captive youngest brother begging her to cut the rope to which she replied, "I can't, it's mom's good clothesline!"  My mother was so committed to hanging clothes that she would take her "good" line inside after every use to protect it from the elements.  My sister slowly untied the knots and freed my brother while saving the clothesline.

I've lived in 4 different homes since I married Tony and I've always found a way to hang a clothesline outside somewhere, even if it meant wrapping it around trees or porch railings. Currently I use a retractable line that goes from my porch to the garage.  I also have 2 lines strung in my laundry room so I can hang clothes winter and summer.

My boys asked me one time when they were in elementary school, "Why can't we just put clothes in the dryer like everybody else?" as we were lugging heavy basket after basket of clothes out to the yard to hang.  I don't remember what my answer was, but I guess it's just in my blood.

Tony's Fresh Tomato Sauce

Here's another staple in our house from my dear husband. Our tomatoes are ripening by the minute outside.  He loves to freeze many quarts of this lovely tomato sauce for the winter.

Like all good Italian recipes, he starts with lots of fresh garlic, chopped.  For this many Roma tomatoes he uses 6-8 cloves of garlic.

He chops the tomatoes and browns the garlic in a "nice amount" of olive oil on medium high heat.  You can add a chopped jalapeno pepper with the garlic if you like more heat.

He chops some fresh basil and oregano from the garden.  When the garlic is nicely browned add the tomatoes and herbs and lowers the heat.  Add a generous amount of kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.  Tony says to "fight the urge to stir the tomatoes" otherwise the skins will  separate and you'll have an unappetizing pan of tomatoes with the skins floating on top.  He simmers the sauce for about an hour until most of the water reduces and the sauce is thick with chunky tomato pieces.  Just touch the tomatoes with your cooking spoon, don't stir!!

This can be served with melted feta and grated Romano cheese over pasta, ravioli, tortellini, etc.  I just had some of his sauce over zucchini noodles, "zoodles" as they're called.  It was luscious!