Advice to a Novice Canner

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Stacey

 Ok, roll film…tip the acid vats…aaaaand action!

– Director of Fallout Boy

I recently canned beets (UK: beetroot), a job that wins first prize in the category “Incredibly Messy Kitchen Event.” The kitchen ends up looking like a scene from Dexter. The Kev and I took turns shouting “BLUUUUUUUHD!” and “NOT FUNNY!” at each other. Days later, my fingernails are still bright pink.

But on the upside, we have pickled beets!

But on the upside, we have pickled beets!

I’ve been canning (UK: bottling or preserving, I believe) for about four years now. My experience means that when I start a canning session, I now feel as if I have a good chance of surviving the process. It’s messy and injury-prone work, with copious knives and glass and steam and boiling water, all designed to prevent poisonous microbes. So there are a fair few things to be worried about!

If I knew then what I know now, I’d still start canning! But I’d also give myself the following tips.

1. Just buy the canning kit.

If you are starting out, it’s tempting to make do with what you have or with a few canning tools. But as a novice canner, the first few times are pretty chaotic. A canning kit has several well-thought-out gadgets that help move things along. You just feel like you know what you’re doing when you use a jar lifter, and that little bit of confidence makes a difference.

Also buy lots of paper towels (UK: kitchen roll) — did I mention? it’s a messy, messy job.

2. Seamless silicon mitts are your friends.

Canning is a hot, wet business. Silicon oven mitts are a great way to avoid being burned. For even more protection, choose a seamless version — steam and water can seep through seams, I’ve painfully found.

3. Double the brine.

I’m not sure what it is I do wrong when packing jars for pickles, but I seem to use much more brine (the liquid around pickled things) than the pros. So I stopped stressing about it and started making a double recipe of that part. That turns out about right for the way I pack the jars (obviously wrongly, but it gets the job done), and another couple of cups of vinegar is not going to break the bank.

If you do run short, top up with a little apple cider vinegar cut with water. Works in a pinch!

4. Lock up the pets and get a sitter.

Canning has a wholesome image. We’d probably all like to think of it this way:

canning-poster-2

Their pinafores match! It’s so delightful! Or camp, either way. But the reality of canning is KID DANGER GALORE:

Gallons of boiling water being heaved about with children underfoot is just not a fabulous scenario. Involve kids in labeling after everything’s cooled down — or, better yet, have them clean the kitchen when you are done! That’s a super way to get them involved! Let me know how that goes.

I don’t have any rugrats scooting about the place (that I’ve noticed), but I do have cats. And they want to Be Where I Am most of the time. I suspect they are secretly dogs. During the Long Night of the Pickled Beets, Inigo took a dive between my legs while I was moving a pot of boiling vinegar. It could so easily have been nasty for both of us, but I managed to regain my balance. Next time, the cats will be locked in another room while the pickles get made.

I can can. Can you can too? If you can can, can you please share your tips for the can-do canners of the future in the comments?

Posted in American vs English, D'oh!, Food & Drink, Kitchen | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Glassy Garden

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Stacey

Usually it’s just soup for one, salad for one, wine for three.

– Edna Krabappel

I’ve been assiduously saving cobalt and green wine bottles so I could have a bottle tree this year. Time got away from me and I didn’t make the “tree” part, so it’s more of a bottle garden. But anything to cheer up a long winter (winter just started, but they are always long).

Cobalt Bottle Garden

Plus, the bottles trap evil spirits. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

Winter Bottle Garden

I did it this way instead of hanging them in the cherry tree (behind the bottles above) because the bottles were too heavy for the ends of the branches. Plus, having the bottles on sticks instead of tree forms let me move them around until the deep ground frost set in.

I should have taken off the labels, but I bet they’ll all fall off obligingly by spring! I left a few stuck in the ground as if they were sprouting. That turns out to have been a not-brilliant idea — the bottles need to vent so that temperature differences inside and outside the bottle don’t cause breakage (one of my “sprouts” is cracked, so I’ll have to dig out the pieces in the spring).

Bottle Garden in Snow

Fun and easy to do, but it takes some advanced wine planning!

What do you do to deter bad spirits cheer up the landscape over winter?

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All Wrapped Up

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Stacey

All the colors of the ‘bow, man!

– Otto

As a student, I worked at a series of jewelry studios of increasing fancy-pantsedness. At the last such emporium, I learned how to make wrap packages with Tiffany-style bows made of fabric ribbon.

tiffany box

I no longer talk the idle rich into buying sparkly things, but I still wrap my packages this way. I just like using “real” ribbon — it’s a nice touch and it can be reused indefinitely. It works for any package size (within reason) and you can use it with a pretty box or with a box you’ve wrapped in paper.

Plus, it’s super-easy.

Grosgrain ribbon has nice texture and holds a knot better than satin, so that’s what I used here — that and a Harry & David’s box from a treat tower we received this week that I’ve already emptied.

To get the right length, wrap the ribbon about three and a half times around the box length-wise and cut it.

present 2

Put the mid-point of the ribbon at the center top of the box.

present 3

Keeping the ribbon flat, pull the ribbon around to the underside, then wrap the ribbon ends around each other so they go off at 90-degree angles. Even pressure keeps everything centered.

present 4

Keeping the ribbon taut and flat around the sides, come back up to the top of the box and tie a knot.

present 5

Here’s where you would have someone put a finger on the knot to hold it, or you can do what I do, which is keep the knot under the side of my finger while I make the bow — a skill learned under pressure from jewelry buyers waiting for their gifts! Easier to have someone lend a finger, although it’s all me in the following picture.

Trap that knot!

present 6

Pull the bow ends through until you have the right proportions and tighten it up.

present 7

Then trim up the ends.

present 8

Another trick: fold the end of the ribbon in half lengthwise and cut at an angle from the fold side down toward the outside. The ribbon end will have a nice inverted “V” after the cut. I just did these at an angle.

Fiddle with and tug at the bow and ends a little bit until you’re happy with it, and there you go.

present 9

The earlier image right after the bow gives a better idea of the bow’s “puffiness” than this more direct angle. The grosgrain ribbon’s weight and body help keep it nice and dimensional, even if you pack a gift like this to ship.

I like a biggish bow and long ends on the ribbon, but you can cut it shorter (about three times around the box for the measurement). It’s also fun to layer ribbon and then fan out the colors after you tie the bow. Whatever the variation, the recipient will just tug at an end and the ribbon will fall away prettily. And grosgrain is so cheap that it’s about the same price as buying disposable ribbon and bows.

‘Tis the season. Happy wrapping!

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Storage Bed: The Reckoning

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Stacey

Grade me…look at me…evaluate and rank me!

– Lisa Simpson

We’ve lived with our storage bed for a few months now, so it’s time for the informed low-down. If you are new to the saga, we shopped a bunch of options before buying an unfinished captain’s bed.

12-Drawer Queen Storage Bed by Delroc Furniture

12-Drawer Queen Storage Bed by Delroc Furniture

I stained and sealed it then we finally set it up and even bought a mattress for it. We were somewhat stunned that the time ever came for us to sleep in it.

clamped bed

Part of the lengthy process.

But sleep we did! And after sleeping on it for some time, we reached Important Conclusions.

The Main Important Conclusion:

A good storage bed is a useful piece of furniture worth having in your home.

But why?? Well, in case you are on the fence over the captain’s bed issue, here are the details.

1. Storage. Storage is the top reason for buying a storage bed. Go figure. Despite that, the models and plans we looked at varied quite a bit on actual storage. Units with two or three drawers don’t seem worth the time to me, although they might make sense for other situations (especially for kids). We were looking for a bed that would entirely replace dressers in our room, so we maxed out by choosing a 12-drawer bed.

drawers in storage bed

All of Kev’s jeans and sweatshirts taking up only one-sixth of the storage (and with plenty of clearance under the floating bedstand).

We’re neither one of us clothes-horses, but we’re not cloistered either; I’d say we have an average amount of clothing for a married couple. The bed easily accommodates our folded clothes for each season, even with a couple of drawers given over to non-clothes storage. We have more storage volume in our bed now than we ever had in dressers or wardrobes. Having a place to put everything without a recurring organizational struggle is nice. Really nice.

2. Immovable Object. I’m surprised to find I love the fact that the bed feels like it is secured to the house (or possibly to the bedrock under the house). Our old boxspring/frame set-up used to wander around the room over time, and the mattress would get slightly skewed and need straightening. This was not due to any particular acrobatics or anything — the old bed would just get bumped around because it was on wheels and it wasn’t very heavy. The room just feels more put together now that I can rely on the bed staying put.

Another good thing about the bed’s solidity is that when I come to bed later than the Kev, I’m much less likely to disturb him.

On the negative side, the Kev and I did suffer quite a few initial bruises. The bed structure has no give at all, and that top corner is a beast to run into! But we fixed the problem by attaching toddler bumpers, which are concealed by bedding. (We got the bumpers from my brother, who peeled them off of the coffee table; his kids are on their own now!)

Rubber baby corner bumpers

Rubber baby corner bumpers

3. Height. The top of the mattress is 32 inches (81 cm) off the floor, including our mattress topper. I’m 5’5″ (165 cm) and I have short legs. I wouldn’t want it any taller, but this height is fine for me, and I don’t even notice it anymore. To sit on the bed, I use my toes for a boost; at bedtime, I perform a stretch-and-roll maneuver.

corgi

We did buy a particularly thick mattress, so the height could be a few inches shorter with a thinner mattress or a futon. On the upside, though, it’s great to be closer to vertical when getting out of bed in the morning!

4. Sleeping Surface. On most storage beds, the mattress goes straight onto a wooden platform. The mattress guy said that a platform bed made a mattress feel about 15% harder than it would be with a boxspring (highly scientific, mattress guys). So we bought a slighter softer mattress. I still found it a little hard, so we now have a down-filled topper on it, and it’s lovely. 

5. This Particular Bed. Overall, we are fans of the Futonland bed we chose, although there were a few things we tweaked.

The bed is well-made in terms of basic carpentry, but the finish was pretty rough. Most of the cuts were splintery with rough veneer edges. I spent more time sanding and filling than I expected, even with the good price we got on the bed. Just to be safe, I ran caulk around all the inside joints in the drawer boxes to avoid splinters in our clothes. If you buy this model, know that you’ll need to do more than just finish-related prep work before staining or painting.

Other tweaks: we applied glide tape to the drawers because we ordered the bed without metal rails (the extra weight made shipping too expensive). That solution works perfectly. We also spent some time adding extra bolts to connect the two sides of the bed (it comes as two individual “dresser” units–one for each side of the bed). Ideally, some sort of connecting system should be incorporated into the design, but it was a fairly easy improvement to make.

We liked having the “blank slate” of an unfinished bed so we could customize its appearance. In addition to matching the finish to other woodwork, we upgraded the drawer pulls from the plain wood knobs that came with it to cup pulls. We also bolted our upholstered headboard to the bed by drilling through the back of the drawer units. This task took some lining up and careful bolt sizing to avoid interfering with the drawers, but it came out well.

The Bed

We receive many visitors searching for information on dresser beds like ours, and we hope that this post (and the others in this informal series) clarifies the pros and cons. But if not, please leave a question in the comments or drop us a line — in furniture terms, it’s a big decision!

Posted in Before & After, Furniture, Organization | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Film Festival

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Stacey

I’m a little chilly. Can I have another strait jacket?

– Ned Flanders

One of my favorite tropes on the TV program Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that right after Spike (an unslayed vampire) made some big, dramatic statement, he’d often fall down or get smacked in the head. That’s roughly what happened to me today when I was applying insulating window film. I was preparing to do a window in our bedroom, and I was thinking, “I am the queen of doing this! I should post tips on how to do it, because I am soooo good at it.” And then this happened:

window

That blurry bit at the bottom of the window is where I mis-measured the film and had to use packing tape to add a bit to finish sealing the window. Yay, me!

3m window insulator kitIf you’re not sure what I’m on about, insulating window kits help reduce drafts by adding another layer to your windows without blocking the view. It’s like Saran wrap (UK: cling film) for your windows. The clear film attaches around the edges of the window frame, and then you shrink it with a hair dryer until it’s tight and it pretty much disappears. When you want to open your windows in the spring, you peel off the film. There are a bunch of brands, and they all work basically the same way. We usually use the Scotch brand shown here.

If you have good windows, then you don’t need insulating film. If you have old drafty windows that you’ve been meaning to reseal and insulate since you bought the dang house, then window film application might become your annual ritual. It really does help.

Despite my recent d’oh moment with window film, I do have some tips that can help maximize your window kit and minimize application time.

1. Measuring. Obviously, measuring is important before you cut the film (see above), but it took me a couple of years to realize that it can be most efficient to cut it “sideways”. What I mean is that the film comes in a long folded sheaf, and it seems like you want to measure along the length of it to cut your vertical measurement. However, the short direction might be long enough unfolded to cover your window with less waste. Check your vertical measurement against the size of the film before cutting.

film folded

Graphics in honor of the 2014 Pantone color of the year, orchid-something.

Also, don’t be like me! Make sure your measurements include enough film to wrap around the edges of your window frame.

2. Wrinkles. The instructions usually emphasize the importance of attaching the film as tightly and flat-ly as possible. You know what? Film is filmy. It’s hard to avoid wrinkles. Do what you can, but the hair dryer can take a lot of slack out of this stuff.

I stick the middle-top of the film to the middle-top of the taped window frame, and then do the same at the middle-bottom. Then I smooth down the film along the top edge before tapping the film into place simultaneously along the sides. Finally, I wrap the film around the sill and smooth the bottom edge. Avoid outright folds around the edge (you can peel the film off the tape and reset it before you shrink it), but a few wrinkles around the edge are not a problem.

On this window, I had some wrinkles at the edges that made ripples as deep as a half-inch (1.25 cm) across the front of the window. Here’s a picture of those edge wrinkles after just the initial shrinking.

pleats

Arrow 1, acceptable wrinkle. Arrow 2, also acceptable wrinkle. Arrow 3, fingerprint from contrast adjustment to show wrinkles in clear film.

To get wrinkles out quickly, point the dryer along the wrinkles, then 90 degrees the other direction — super-quick tightening, and the wrinkles just disappear. Then generally “dry” the entire surface to finish it off.

3. Repairs. Many be-filmed windows have fallen victim to cat-based violence around here. A bird flutters by, someone lunges, and the film ends up with a big hole. If you keep the end of the film roll, it’s easy to repair. Trim any ragged edges and use clear tape to secure a patch to the intact parts of the original film, then use a hair dryer to tighten it all up. It’s not ideal, but it does the job.

You may also find that otherwise un-felined film starts to sag a little over the winter. Ten seconds with the dryer tightens it back up. I wish my bottom were made of this stuff.

Fixing up the windows is on the 2014 list — maybe no plasticized windows next winter!

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Super 3D Christmas Paper Crafts

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Stacey

Let me see…that’s three Christmases I saved…eight I ruined…two were kind of a draw.

– Homer Simpson

Last Christmas, I went bonkers with old-school paper chains hither and yon. The Kev saw my paper chains and raised me 3D paper ornaments. Since our decorating this year is lacking comparable motivation, I decided to revisit this fun and festive project.

Christmas living room

These paper Christmas decorations are really easy and result in a great look that would work with all sorts of holiday decorating styles–all you need is construction paper and a glue stick.

I found a great video that shows how these are done. The hostess shows you how to make a bunch of these into a mega-decoration, but to do the individual ornaments that we used, you only need to watch the video up to about 2:45.

 

We experimented by cutting the strips different widths. Kev made some with ½” wide ribs.

Orange Christmas ornament

And some with ¾” wide ribs.

Blue Christmas ornament

Making the ribs narrower or wider can change their number and the intricacy of the finished piece.

Purple Christmas ornament

Our visitors all liked our crafty Christmas ideas, so this was fun, festive and gratifying!

Christmas ceiling decor

This would be a fun thing to do with kids, and you can make them as homey or as fancified as you like. Happy decorating!

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Corralling the Pills and Potions

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Stacey

Drugs! Various drugs! Get your drugs here!

– Homer Simpson

In February, I converted our linen closet to a coat closet. It’s a much better use of the space, but the change meant that some items needed to move out.

Actually, less a linen closet and more a pharmaceutical enclosure.

As I said at the time, it was “less a linen closet and more a pharmaceutical enclosure.” So many little bottles!

There were a surprising number of varied capsules and syrups in the Closet-That-Was. I discarded a bunch of expired and unidentifiable items, and I organized the rest in the bathroom cupboard. There, the bottles were lined up behind one another, which made getting an aspirin into a bit of a quest. Instead, we tried:

  • Keeping a stack of pill bottles on the kitchen countertop (made us feel like we were 116).
  • Kev’s solution: sweeping all the usual suspects into a box and stuffing the box on top of the blanket shelf in the coat closet (became more and more precarious every time it was stuffed into place).
  • My response: leaving the box of pills on the floor of the kitchen after retrieving it (I’m too lazy short to effectively stuff the box on the shelf).
  • Kev’s response to my response: Putting the box on the kitchen counter (led to stacks of bottles on the counter, which re-started the cycle).

None of this was particularly promising for continued marital harmony, so I went to Ikea. What?! It sequiturs! It totally sequiturs. Ikea has a solution for everything!

I wanted storage that could be moved if necessary and that didn’t require super-precise organization to work. I bought some of these $2.99 wire baskets from the kitchen area.

These baskets are designed to hang from a rail that juts out from the wall, but I had other ideas. The bathroom cupboard door has a recessed panel just wider than the baskets; the basket is 13 inches wide, and the recess is about 13¼. My idea was to hang them within that area so the baskets wouldn’t interfere with existing storage.

I picked up a length of pine lattice to replace the rail and measured out a couple of pieces to span the door panel.

Bygel test fit

I drilled mounting holes, then sanded, primed and painted the pieces. Using a level, I marked and attached the new “rails” inside the door. Then I hung up my fancy baskets.

hanging bygel baskets

And done!

bygels with drugs

I love a good Ikea hack — not that this would qualify! It’s just a different way to hang a basket in a different place than intended. Perhaps it’s more of a marriage hack, since I won’t have occasion to leave boxes of painkillers under foot anymore (the Kev did not love that).

And they all lived happily ever after.

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And The Winner Is…US!

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Stacey

Recapping our day’s top story, the winner of today’s state lottery is … me, Kent Brockman! Can we get a shot of me?

– Kent Brockman

This summer, I entered the This Old House sweepstakes. TOH allowed you to enter once a day online, so I did. It took about five clicks each time, no biggie. “I’m going to be really annoyed when we don’t win anything after all this tiring CLICKING!” I joked, each and every day. The Kev says it never gets old, being married to me.

Anyway, long story short, we won something!

Specifically, we won a set of Senco power tools. After reading through the included tools, we were quiet for a moment before I shouted, “THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE OUR LIVES!” and Kev exclaimed, “I KNOW!!!!” Then we did a small dance.

Once everything arrived, it was all our power tool Christmases come at once.

Christmas Morning (Senco)

We received two pneumatic nailers (15 gauge and 23 gauge) with a compressor, a cordless power screwdriver, and a cordless 18 gauge nailer (I didn’t even know there WAS such a thing!), plus associated batteries and fasteners. Senco has no idea I’m writing this post, so it’s completely unsolicited when I say they were really generous.

We promptly set to work trying everything out, and we learned about some features that are worth seeking out in your power tool shopping. The compressor and nailer were put to immediate use fixing up the door frame for our new storm door. We also put together a Cat Food Containment Structure out of scrap wood. What, you might ask, is a CFCS? It’s a big wood tray that prevents Kibble Underfoot Syndrome (KUS). The Kev tacked the CFCS together with the nailer, and then it was time to try the power screwdriver.

Look at this thing. Look at it!

Power Screwdriver

Two things: thing one, the only downside here is that the strips of screws aren’t long enough to wear bandolier style.

mexican-rebels-7And thing two, one of the major upsides is that it bears more than a passing resemblance to a blaster.

chewbacca_w_han_solo

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good power screwdriver by your side, kid.

I filmed the Kev securing the edge of the CFCS with the screwdriver. Our delight is obvious, although the Kev’s is better-articulated; I mostly make hooting sounds.

It’s unbelievable how fast it sinks these screws! Sheetrock, you have met your match. The automatic feed makes using a drill to drive screws seem medieval.

Here’s another bad-ass thing: a battery-powered nailer.

Cordless Nailer

Nailers I’ve used fire once per trigger-pull, but this unit is higher-grade and has a wonderful option. You can choose to have it fire only on triggering, or set it so you can pop in nail after nail each time you hit the surface.

Switch it to the row of nails and you're good to go.

Switch it to the row of nails and you’re good to go.

You can also set a countersink depth instead of setting each nail. We tried all this out on some scrap wood (the screwdriver made short work of the CFCS). Here’s me having a go (the skirt + bare feet + power tool look is pretty typical).

More hooting! For good reason. Thanks, Senco and TOH! You made our DIY hearts sing!

Posted in Construction, Repair & Maintenance | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Too Much of a Good Thing Can Look Goofy

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Stacey

All right! The mummy’s ready for his mystical journey.

– Jimbo

What do you suppose this is?

first tree

Abstract shrine? Modern garden ornamentation? Thin conduit to nowhere?

To explain, first let me ask: did you know that over half the world’s rabbit population lives in North America? They do! Of those, a full 37% live in our garden. To avoid rabbit damage to my tiny espaliered apple trees last winter, I used tree wrap. I wound it farther up the trunks than I thought was necessary, and forgot about them until spring.

In the depth of winter, I don’t (and can’t) get over to the trees very much. It wasn’t until spring that I realized that the rabbits ate the bark off everything above the wrap on the shorter trees. Including the branches.

My reaction.

My reaction.

I had to replace all of them. So this year, I had an idea.

Aha!

Aha!

I’d just fully encase the shorter trees in tree wrap. It might not be ideal for the trees, but at least the damn rabbits won’t eat them!

little tree

We used to laugh at my grandmother over this sort of thing.

The taller trees got The Treatment as well, but I left the branches clear.

three trees

Why yes, that IS blue painter’s tape.

I imagine the Kev does a lot of private head-shaking.

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Category: The Bloody Obvious

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Stacey

Well, duh!

– Mr. Burns

We’re running a little late for the clue bus today, on several fronts.

First, it seems that attic insulation is a good idea. Did you know about this?? The EPA does! We do have attic insulation, but for many years, we’ve been meaning to add more. We’ve hemmed and hawed about the issue for some time, thinking that a possible attic conversion might alter insulation plans. We wouldn’t want to throw all that money away, would we? Turns out, it was much cheaper than I expected, and it only took about a half-hour to throw down more batts. I dithered for years over NOTHING.

Insulation is a good idea–check! But buying insulation on Black Friday is a bad idea. I was looking for a sale on insulation, and I found one! It started Friday after Thanksgiving! How bad could it be? I thought. It’s not as if Menard’s is one of the central attractions for Black Friday shoppers.

Well, color me surprised. Arriving at Menard’s on Black Friday was a little like being a regular churchgoer on Easter. Who do all THESE people think they are?! Menard’s had aisles-full of cheap toys, small appliances and holiday decor — oh, and people — that made maneuvering a trolley loaded with R-38 batts a tricky proposition. Plus, they were not the experienced and cooperative DIY shoppers I’ve come to expect. At one point, I caused a small insulation avalanche, but the complacent knot of people shuffling past just watched it happen. I AM NOT THE FLOOR SHOW, PEOPLE!

Stack 'em high, try not to pull them down on yourself (via).

Stack ’em high, try not to pull them down on yourself (via).

If I’d looked further, I would have realized that the sale is on through Sunday. There was no need to brave the Friday crowds. There was no need to do it today at all! Dang it.

On our return to the house, it took us a little while to realize that cats and insulation don’t mix. Having the attic spaces open is always an invitation to adventure for the cats. At a moment of insulation-wrangling frustration, the Kev dubbed Cat 1 “Mayya the Unhelpful Cat” — much to my amusement. Because she must be the only unhelpful one of the species! Think of all those intrepid cats striding through the mountains with brandy flasks, or finding survivors in disaster zones. Law enforcement cats! Sheep herding cats! Truly, the economy would grind to a halt without them.

What? We're holding down this blanket. It's important work.

What? We’re holding down this blanket. It’s important work.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is a better day clue-wise!

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