Saturday, September 10, 2005
We Got Spys!
What to do when your neighbor brings you two bags of Northern Spy apples from her backyard?
Why you make applesauce!
Which we did today with Splenda (r) and Cinnamon.
To satisfy the diet and add a little more flavor.
We will freeze them in pint bags for storage.
With one more batch to make up we are thinking of adding a little nutmeg also. Our first thought was to can pie filling but Jay isn’t supposed to have pie so the applesauce won out.
In another five days the plums should be in and that will pretty well shut down the canning season for us.
Last Thursday after Jay’s Doctor appointment we went to the grocery store and found Betty Crocker cake mixes priced at 10 for $10. We came out with $20. worth. Some for us and Deb asked us to pick up some for her. There wiil be cupcakes in the Jenkins household for a while! Yes we checked the expiration dates on them--well into 2006.
Food Spoilage Tests
FINALLY, a way to know
what to pitch and what to save!
We all have this problem.
Pam and Sally have decided to make the decisions easier.
Thanks Guys!
Also thanks to the guy in the image
who helps make the decisions in this house
THE GAG TEST
Anything that makes you gag is spoiled (except for leftovers from what you
cooked for yourself last night).
EGGS
When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably
past its prime.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt. Yogurt is spoiled
when it starts to look like cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is spoiled
when it starts to look like regular cheese. Regular cheese is nothing
but spoiled milk anyway and can’t get any more spoiled than it is
already. Cheddar cheese is spoiled when you think it is blue cheese
but you realize you’ve never purchased that kind.
MAYONNAISE
If it makes you violently ill after you eat it, the mayonnaise is
spoiled.
FROZEN FOODS
Frozen foods that have become an integral part of the defrosting
problem in your freezer compartment will probably be spoiled - (or
wrecked anyway) by the time you pry them out with a kitchen knife.
EXPIRATION DATES
This is NOT a marketing ploy to encourage you to throw away perfectly
good food so that you’ll spend more on groceries. Perhaps you’d
benefit by having a calendar in your kitchen.
MEAT
If opening the refrigerator door causes stray animals from a
three-block radius to congregate outside your house, the meat is
spoiled.
BREAD
Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds are the only officially acceptable “spots” that
should be seen on the surface of any loaf of bread. Fuzzy and hairy looking
white or green growth areas are a good indication that your bread has turned
into a pharmaceutical laboratory experiment.
FLOUR
Flour is spoiled when it wiggles.
SALT
It never spoils.
CEREAL
It is generally a good rule of thumb that cereal should be discarded when it
is two years or longer beyond the expiration date.
LETTUCE
Bibb lettuce is spoiled when you can’t get it off the bottom of the vegetable
crisper without Comet. Romaine lettuce is spoiled when it turns liquid.
CANNED GOODS
Any canned goods that have become the size or shape of a softball should be
disposed of. Carefully.
CARROTS
A carrot that you can tie a clove hitch in is not fresh.
RAISINS
Raisins should not be harder than your teeth.
POTATOES
Fresh potatoes do not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.
CHIP DIP
If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has
gone bad.
EMPTY CONTAINERS
Putting empty containers back into the refrigerator is an old trick, but it
only works if you live with someone or have a maid.
UNMARKED ITEMS:
You know it is well beyond prime when you’re tempted to discard the
Tupperware along with the food. Generally speaking, Tupperware containers
should not burp when you open them.
GENERAL GUIDELINE:
Most food cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster. Keep
a hamster in or near your refrigerator to gauge this by.
F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
“Oh excuse me please” was my reply.
He said, “Please excuse me too;
I wasn’t watching for you.”
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.
While I lay awake in bed,
God’s still small voice came to me and said,
“While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You’ll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.”
By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
“Wake up, little one, wake up,” I said.
“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”
He smiled, “I found ‘em, out by the tree.
I picked ‘em because they’re pretty like you.
I knew you’d like ‘em, especially the blue.”
I said, “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”
He said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay.
I love you anyway.”
I said, “Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”
FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,
don’t you think?
So what is behind the story?
Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
Another Email Shane shared with me that deserves more viewing than my little list.