Laundry Stripping

I've used powdered Tide detergent forever, and have been happy with how it cleans, but Tide alone hasn't been able to fix built up oils in pillowcases. I learned detailed steps for laundry stripping on Reddit.

The water is supposed to stay hot for hours, and many people strip laundry in a cooler, so I lugged our heavy 15 gallon cooler up the steps and put it into the bathtub so it could be easily filled and drained. Filling turned out to be a problem because the cooler wouldn't fit under the spigot, so I folded a flexible cutting board to shunt the water into the cooler. 

I filled the cooler halfway with hot water (about 7 gallons) and added 1.5 cups of Tide with Bleach (which contains both lipase to cut oils and oxygen for stains and odors). I used a paint stick to stir the solution until the detergent was dissolved, then added two sets of sheets and submerged them. I sealed the cooler and let it soak for 8 hours. The water was quite warm still after 8 hours, so the cooler worked. I drained the cooler into the tub and used a 5 gallon bucket to get the drained sheets to the washing machine. I set the machine to hot water, heavy soil and an extra rinse, and I poured 1 cup of 4% ammonia solution on the sheets and put Tide powder in the dispenser. I cleaned the cooler with vinegar and then Simple Green to limit the scent of the detergent. 

The pillowcases did come out whiter and cleaner. This is a fair bit of effort, so I wouldn't see doing this more than 1-2 times/year based on need.

Ham Buns

These are great for a party.

• 2 lbs ham (I buy whole boneless ham portion from Costco and slice it)
• 1 lb swiss cheese, sliced
• 24 small/Hawaiian buns

Prepare sandwiches and put in two 9x13 pans.

Mix, boil then cool for 10 min:

• 2 sticks butter
• 2 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar (recipe calls for 4, I find that too sweet)
• 2 Tbsp poppyseeds, optional

Baste liquid over sandwiches. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Bake at 325 for 25 min, uncovered 5-10. Serve hot.

Before basting and baking

Grilled Vegetables with Garlic Aioli

Marinated Grilled Vegetables

This can be grilled or oven roasted. For the oven, I found I needed to finish them with a few minutes under the broiler to get them truly browned.

Vegetables

1-2 eggplants

1 lb zucchini

1 lb sweet mini peppers

1 lb asparagus

1 red onion

Instructions: 

Cut eggplants, onions, and zucchini in 1/4-inch thick slices. Salt the eggplant slices, and leave in a colander for 20 minutes so the bitter juices drain out. Rinse and pet dry. Wash the peppers, and leave whole. Wash and trim asparagus. Brush vegetables with marinade and grill or roast.

Vegetable Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 Tbs dry oregano

salt & black pepper to taste

Whipped Goat Cheese

1/4 cup goat cheese

2 Tbs whipping cream

salt to taste

Aioli

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh

½ teaspoon salt

1 to 2 garlic cloves small, peeled, roughly chopped

1 cup oil, blend of canola and extra virgin olive oil

Place egg, egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a jar that works with your stick or immersion blender (a 1 pint wide mouth worked well).

Pulse the blender to mix the eggs and combine them with mustard and lemon juice and also to start breaking down the garlic.

Slowly add the oil to allow the emulsification process to take place. Occasionally, lift the blender out of the mixture to allow some air to be mixed in. Continue blending. You should notice that the aioli starts to emulsify and thicken.

Continue blending until thick and emulsified. 

Upcycling a Vintage Wool Jacket

I bought this vintage boiled wool sweater jacket on eBay for $7.50 ($17 total with shipping). It came with some holes and was missing its buttons, but I liked the princess seam shaping in front and back. A quick search on the brand name indicates it was made in Hong Kong, probably in the 1980's. Another indication of how durable wool can be. I bought some vintage buttons on eBay as well.

Sweater listing

When it arrived, I gave it a good soaking in Woolite to clean it, and laid flat to dry. Next, I tackled the holes. Gray is my favorite color, so I had yarn and wool roving in close colors. I untwisted wool yarn so I was working with just one ply, darned the bigger holes, then needle felted over them. Smaller holes I fixed with needle felting. The sleeves were ridiculously long. I cut off 4 inches saving the knit bands, tapered the bottoms of the sleeves, and reattached the bands with a zigzag stitch. After a good steaming, you can't tell they were shortened. I defuzzed the jacket with my sweater shaver. 

I searched for a simplified view of the Minneapolis skyline and cast it onto the TV so I could adjust the image size then trace it. I did the same with another simplified skyline I found online so I had enough skyline detail to go around the bottom of the jacket. 

Casting skyline image to TV

Tracing onto tissue paper

Traced Mpls skyline

I used the traced patterns to cut out the wool felt (purchased on Etsy) then needle felted it onto the bottom of the jacket. 

Cutting the felt

Bugle Snack Mix

 

6 C original bugles

5 C nacho bugles (or another bag of regular bugles based on preference)

4 C Cheese Its crackers

6 oz. colored goldfish crackers 

3 C mini pretzels

2 C Crispix cereal (or corn Chex)

2 C cashews (or substitute more of the other ingredients if there are allergy concerns)

¾ C butter flavored popcorn oil (vegetable oil is a fine substitute)

2 – 1oz. envelopes of Hidden Valley Ranch DRESSING mix (4 Tbsp)

Optional:

1 bag of puffcorn


Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Combine oil and ranch powder and mix well. Pour over cracker mixture and toss until evenly coated. Divide among 3 – 10X15 baking sheets.

Bake at 250 for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Cool in pans over racks.

I got this recipe from our neighbor friend Brenda. Recently she told me to add puffcorn to the mix, and she's right that it's a great addition.

Andy likes the regular bugles more than the nacho. Meg likes the nacho bugles but says I can leave out the goldfish, so this is clearly something we'll tailor based on the audience.

Version without nacho Bugles and with puffcorn added

Egg Bites

I don't have a lot of time in the mornings in my current job and I'm looking to boost my protein intake, so I thought I'd try egg bites that can be batch cooked (and even frozen) then reheated quickly.

Yields about 24 egg bites 

• 12 eggs 
• 1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage, browned and drained 
• 16 oz cottage cheese 
• 5-6 green onions, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup finely diced bell pepper 
• Pinch of salt and pepper 
• 1 cup cheddar cheese 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease about 18 cups on a muffin tin. (I use the silicone muffin pan and bake two batches) 
2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until slightly frothy. Stir in cottage cheese & salt/pepper to taste. 
3. Add cooked sausage, green onions, peppers & the cheddar cheese. Stir well to incorporate. 
4. Pour egg mixture into each muffin tin filling about 3/4 of the way full. Don’t overfill as it will expand a little while baking.  
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 20-25 mins or until fully set.  

To freeze, let them come to room temperature, then chill in fridge. Pack in freezer bags and freeze.

To reheat: microwave for about 30 seconds for every 2 bites.  

Refurbishing Cornhole Boards

Cornhole boards are surprisingly expensive- even used ones, and I've been lurking online for reasonable used ones for a few months. I wanted regulation length of 4 feet. I'd seen a few on FB Marketplace, but if you don't move fast, they're gone. I finally caught a pair on FB Marketplace that were posted only an hour or so earlier. After a drive to Apple Valley and $35 these wood ones with the Apple Valley hockey logo were mine.

On closer inspection, I saw that the surface was really some kind of contact paper. Fortunately, it peeled off in one pull, but the logos still persisted underneath. 

Contact paper peeled off, behind

I gave them a quick sanding for rough spots, then primed them, two coats on the fronts and one on the backs, which were unfinished wood.

After priming

After much thought and rejected design ideas I decided to go with a Swedish flag- the design lends itself to the shape, and the colors are bright. Using the published flag proportions, I did a little basic math then used a measuring tape and straight edge to pencil the outlines. I had more paint mixed that I used on the benches, and applied two coats of each.

Flag dimensions

Taped and ready for paint