How to Soften Hardened Brown Sugar

Nothing is more frustrating than getting out the ingredients to bake something and find out one of your brown sugar has turned into a rock. The Pioneer Woman has these tips forsoftening that rock into a useable ingredient again.

From The Pioneer Woman website:

Every home cook has been there: You’re getting ready to bake, you reach into your pantry to get your ingredients and you realize your brown sugar is hard as a rock. Don’t worry! Once you know how to soften brown sugar, you can get back to business—and back to making treats like Ree Drummond’s brown sugar oatmeal cookies or her favorite turkey brine for Thanksgiving. Don’t just toss your brown sugar and use granulated instead—brown sugar has a unique molasses flavor and adds tons of moisture to baked goods.

So what went wrong? The main reason your brown sugar is super hard is because it dried out. After you open a package of brown sugar, you instantly release some of the natural moisture in the sugar. The exposure to open air dries and hardens both the sugar crystals and the molasses in the sugar, making the sugar crystals stick together. The end result: brown sugar that feels more like stone than damp sand! But the good news is your brown sugar is still totally usable. The even better news is that reviving your solid brown sugar is simple—just restore the moisture. Read on to learn how to soften brown sugar in a few different ways. And to keep your brown sugar from hardening in the first place, store it in a tightly-sealed food storage container that isn’t prone to rust (don’t just fold down the top of the bag and hope for the best). You can also add a brown sugar saver to your container, like a brown sugar bear, which can help maintain moisture in brown sugar for up to six months.

How to Soften Brown Sugar in the Microwave:

This is the fastest and easiest way to soften hardened brown sugar. Just place your block of brown sugar in a microwave-safe bowl. Wet a paper towel and squeeze until just slightly damp. Lay the paper towel over the brown sugar and microwave it in 20-second intervals, loosening the sugar with a fork between each interval, until the sugar has returned to its normal texture.

How to Soften Brown Sugar Without a Microwave:

This method will take a little longer, but it’ll do the trick! Place your hardened brown sugar in a secure plastic container or bag. Then, lay a slice of sandwich bread on top of the brown sugar and cover the container with the lid or seal it if using a bag. Let sit for at least 12 hours (or overnight). This method works like magic—the moisture from the bread is transferred to the brown sugar, helping it get back to its normally soft texture. You can also use the same method with apple slices. All you have to do is lay an apple slice or two on top of the brown sugar and apply the same technique as with the slice of sandwich bread.

How to Soften Brown Sugar in the Oven:

To soften brown sugar in the oven, place the hardened pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the brown sugar in the oven and warm at 250 degrees. Check on the brown sugar every couple minutes or so and break it up with a fork until soft. Allow the brown sugar to cool slightly before trying to use it in a recipe. Remember, you don’t want to cook or melt the brown sugar, you just want to soften it—so don’t try to speed up the process by raising the temperature of the oven.

How Do You Keep Brown Sugar From Hardening?

Store brown sugar the right way to keep it from hardening after you’ve opened the package. Chances are, your brown sugar came in either a plastic bag or a box with plastic packaging inside. In either case, once you’ve opened the sugar, you should transfer it to an airtight container to keep it moist, or stick the whole thing in a large resealable plastic bag. This way, your brown sugar will maintain as much moisture as possible and be “scoopable” and ready for baking. That way, you won’t have to resort to using a brown sugar substitute.

SOURCE: THE PIONEER WOMAN

Candle in the Wind

Today, June 1, is the birthday of Norma Jean Mortenson aka Marilyn Monroe. She was born in 1926 and died in 1962. The song, Candle in the Wind, by Elton John was a tribute to her. When I researched the song, I found an interesting article on Songfacts detailing many things I didn’t know about the song that I loved so much including the fact that the song wasn’t so much a tribute to only Monroe, but more a statement on how fame impacts people. Elton John rededicated the song a few times since he wrote it.

From Songfacts:

This song is a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, a famous actress and sex symbol who died of a drug overdose in 1962. The “candle in the wind” represents her short, but eventful life.

The song makes various references to the press coverage of Monroe. The famous opening line, “Goodbye Norma Jeane,” refers to her birth name: Norma Jeane Mortenson, and how she gave up both her name and her privacy for the sake of celebrity.

The lyrics were written by Elton’s writing partner, Bernie Taupin, who got the idea for the title from a quote he read about Janis Joplin. According to Taupin, the song is more of a take on fame and celebrity than an ode to Marilyn Monroe. Said Taupin: “I think the biggest misconception about ‘Candle In The Wind’ is that I was this rabid Marilyn Monroe fanatic, which really couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not that I didn’t have a respect for her. It’s just that the song could just as easily have been about James Dean or Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain. I mean, it could have been about Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf. I mean, basically, anybody, any writer, actor, actress, or musician who died young and sort of became this iconic picture of Dorian Gray, that thing where they simply stopped aging. It’s a beauty frozen in time.

In a way, I’m fascinated with that concept. So it’s really about how fame affects the man or woman in the street, that whole adulation thing and the fanaticism of fandom. It’s pretty freaky how people really believe these people are somehow different from us. It’s a theme that’s figured prominently in a lot of our songs, and I think it’ll probably continue to do so.”

When Elton got the lyrics, he had no trouble writing the music. He understood the stress caused by constant media attention, and felt Monroe must have been in terrible pain her whole life.

From Songfacts:

On April 7, 1990 Elton dedicated this to Ryan White, one of the first high-profile AIDS patients, when he performed it at Farm Aid 4. White, who got the disease from a blood transfusion, died the next night at age 18.

He rededicated it again in 1997 to Princess Diana, calling it Goodbye England’s Rose.

From Songfacts: Elton’s lyricist, Bernie Taupin, rewrote the lyrics to this song after Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident on August 31, 1997. The 36-year-old princess had divorced Prince Charles, but remained a beloved celebrity, revered for her humanitarian efforts and grace. Diana was friends with Elton John and also a big fan – she identified with the sentiment in “Candle In The Wind,” especially the lyrics, “They made you change your name, never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in” and “even when you died, the press still hounded you.”

With the song rewritten, most notably with the first line changed from “Goodbye Norma Jeane” to “Goodbye England’s Rose,” Elton played it at Princess Diana’s funeral on September 6. The global TV audience for the funeral was estimated at 2.5 billion, and Elton’s heartfelt performance provoked an outpouring of support for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The new version of the song, which was produced by Sir George Martin of Beatles fame, was released as a single as “Candle In The Wind ’97,” this time dedicated to Princess Diana and with proceeds going to the fund.

(snip)

After performing the song at Diana’s funeral, Elton never again sang it with those lyrics. When the song fell off the charts, most radio stations also retired it, going back to the original version of “Candle In The Wind.”

SOURCE: SONGFACTS

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh, the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Goodbye, Norma Jeane
From the young man in the twenty second row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

The Long Journey of the 27th Amendment

I have always wondered about Congress voting for their own salary increases and so I researched the 27^th Amendment. Here’s what I found at the constitutioncenter.org website:

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment has one of the most unusual histories of any amendment ever made to the U.S. Constitution. Congress passed the Twenty-Seventh Amendment by a two-thirds vote of both Houses, in 1789, along with eleven other proposed constitutional amendments (the last ten of which were ratified by the states in 1791, becoming the Bill of Rights). The Amendment provides that: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.”

During the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, congressional pay was a central topic, one that took up several days of discussion. Benjamin Franklin’s initial speech to the Convention was on the topic of public salaries: he was against them. Public servants should not get paid at all, Franklin argued, or we would get representatives with “bold and the violent” personalities, engaged in “selfish pursuits.” Franklin’s extreme argument did not prevail because the Framers wisely did not want only the wealthy to be able to afford to hold federal offices. This is a very good thing.

Nonetheless, Franklin’s comments caused the Framers at the Philadelphia Convention to focus on the problem of making sure that people did not go into public office to make a lot of money. In England, at the time, the biggest problem of English democracy was the phenomenon known as “placemen.” Placemen were members of Parliament who the King simultaneously appointed to lucrative executive branch offices to buy their loyalty on votes in Parliament. The King had built up his power by corrupting these office holders, giving them easy and well-paid civil office jobs so that they would support him in Parliament. To prevent this problem, the Framers added Article I, Section 6’s Incompatibility Clause. That Clause says that “no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.” The Framers described the Incompatibility Clause as being “The Cornerstone of the Constitution.” But as to salaries for congressmen themselves, the Constitution simply said those salaries should be provided for by law—in other words, that Congress would set its own pay. This did not sit well with the general public, or with James Madison—it seemed like a big opening for Congress to pay itself too much.

In 1789, Madison proposed twelve amendments to the federal Constitution, the first ten of which were ratified in 1791 and became the federal Bill of Rights. One of the proposed amendments, which was not ratified at that time, was an amendment that became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment and which forbade congressional pay increases from taking effect until there had been an intervening election of members of Congress. Madison did not want Congress to have power over its own pay without limitation. But he also did not want the President to control congressional salaries, since that would give the President too much power over Congress. So instead, he proposed that an election had to happen before any pay raise could take effect. If the public opposed an overly generous congressional pay raise, the public could throw the offending congressmen out of office when they ran for re-election.

The congressional pay amendment was only ratified by 6 states initially. But the First Congress, which had passed the Amendment in 1789, had not attached a time limit within which the Amendment had to be ratified by the states. (Some subsequent constitutional amendments have provided for such time limits.) In the nineteenth century, one state joined this small group, and others in the twentieth, but no one thought it was going anywhere—or thought about it much at all.

In 1982, the Amendment was languishing before the states with only a tiny fraction of the number of states needed to ratify having ratified it. That year Gregory Watson, a sophomore at the University of Texas, was assigned to write a paper about a government process. He came across a chapter in a book on the Constitution, listing proposed constitutional amendments that had not been ratified. He wrote his paper on the congressional pay amendment, arguing that there was no time limit on when it could be ratified, and that it could be ratified now. He got a C on the paper. Maybe if he had received a better grade on his paper, the story would have ended there, but Watson was sure it was a better paper, so he appealed his grade, first to his T.A., then to his professor; and when he was unsuccessful, he decided to take the issue to the country. In an NPR report in May 2017, he said that after his teacher affirmed the C, “I thought right then and there, ‘I’m going to get that thing ratified.’”

Watson sent letters around the country to state legislators, who mostly ignored his idea. But Maine Senator William Cohen liked the idea—and he pushed it and it passed in Maine in 1983. After that, Watson kept pushing, and the Amendment picked up steam.

The fact of the Amendment’s passage through Congress in 1789 and of its non-ratification by the states came to public attention in the 1980s when there was tremendous popular disapproval of the performance of the Congress and the exorbitant salaries and fringe benefits members of Congress enjoyed. As a result, a campaign was launched to get three-quarters of the states to ratify the Amendment over the totality of the period between 1789 and the present day. In 1985, five states passed it, and by 1992, the 38 states needed for full ratification had all passed the Amendment. Thus, the three-quarters of the states’ consensus required by Article V of the Constitution was finally reached in 1992—more than 202 years after Congress had proposed the Amendment. The Archivist of the United States declared the Amendment to be legally ratified, and, subsequently, Congress on May 20, 1992, declared the ratification to be legal and the Amendment to be part of the Constitution. As of today, forty-six states have ratified the Twenty-Seventh Amendment while four have not.

The main objection that has been made by scholars to the legality of the ratification process of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment is that Article V contemplates some kind of simultaneous approval of a proposed amendment between when Congress votes on it and when three-quarters of the states ratify it. Proponents of this view point out that the size of the Senate and House of Representatives and the number of states in the Union have changed significantly between 1789 and 1992. Scholars who reject the Twenty-Seventh Amendment do so on the structural constitutional ground that there was never a “magic moment” consensus of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and three-quarters of the states when a national and federal supermajority agreed to add the Amendment to the Constitution. Speaker of the House Tom Foley initially called for litigation to challenge the legality of the Amendment’s ratification process, but he quickly changed his mind on that point once he saw how popular the Amendment really was.

Moreover, these scholars add that there are a number of constitutional amendments that Congress has approved but that the states have not yet ratified, which could become law if the Twenty-Seventh Amendment process were to be held valid. In an effort to avoid the outbreak of the Civil War, Congress passed a constitutional amendment called the Corwin Amendment, which would have forever preserved slavery in those states where it was legal in 1861. Could this horrible old amendment, to which Congress attached no time limit for its ratification, be resurrected and ratified in the future simply by state action and with no new attempt to get two-thirds of both Houses of Congress to ratify it?

The argument in favor of the validity of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment’s ratification is that Article V’s text only requires: 1) two-thirds of both Houses of Congress pass the proposed amendment, which happened here in 1789; and that 2) three-quarters of the states ratify the amendment as it passed in Congress, which they did here in 1992. From a strictly textual viewpoint, the terms of Article V were satisfied, and Congress had no choice but to accept the Amendment as being a valid addition to the Constitution.

It is important to note here that the “precedent” that was set when Congress “approved” of the unusual process by which the Twenty-Seventh Amendment was ratified meets not only the textual requirements of Article V; it also met the structural argument about the need for a “magic moment” when there is a popular national consensus of super-majority proportions. Congress on May 20, 1992 voted by a unanimous vote of the Senate and by a vote of 414 to 3 in favor of “accepting” the Twenty-Seventh Amendment as having been validly approved. Forty-six out of fifty states ratified the Amendment, and no state that had once ratified the Amendment tried to “unratify” it. Both the textual and the structural concerns that underlie Article V had been satisfied. There was an Article V consensus in 1992 to ratify this most unusual amendment.

It goes without saying that there would NOT be such a national supermajority consensus for many other “dead” constitutional amendments that have been ratified by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and sent to the states for ratification. In the unimaginable situation in which a state might try to ratify the Corwin Amendment constitutionalizing the right to own slaves, Congress would immediately rescind its approval of the Amendment as would most of the states, which had ratified it. It is thus important to note that the case of the 202 year-long ratification process of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment is really sui generis: It deals with a situation, which is very unlikely ever to rise again.

One final question is raised by the odd ratification process of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment: What role, if any, should the U.S. Supreme Court play in passing on the validity of the ratification of constitutional amendments? Such amendments are the supreme law of the land, as is Article V, and Chief Justice Marshall said in Marbury v. Madison (1803), “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is.” In Coleman v. Miller (1939), Justice Hugo Black wrote a concurrence joined by Justices Roberts, Frankfurter, and Douglas arguing that cases that go to the validity of the ratification of a constitutional amendment should be said to raise a political question and that only Congress can resolve that question.

Professor Calabresi agrees with Justice Black on this point because over the last 228 years of American history the federal courts have never been in the business of reviewing the legality of the process by which an amendment was ratified, and there is no reason they should get into that process now. There were serious questions about the legality of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment since the eleven rebel states were compelled to ratify the Amendment before they were allowed back into the Union. Congress declared this was legal and that the Fourteenth Amendment had been validly ratified, and Professor Calabresi heartily agrees. Suffice it to say that no court has ever or should ever question Congress’s judgment and decision on that measure.

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment was accepted as a validly ratified constitutional amendment on May 20, 1992, and no court should ever second-guess that decision. Constitutional amendments are one of the few checks and balances that “We the People” have on the Supreme Court, and it would thus be unconstitutional for the Supreme Court to adjudicate the legality of the ratification of an amendment that might be overturning a Supreme Court decision. That would violate a fundamental axiom of Anglo-American law, which is that no man should ever be a judge in his own cause.

SOURCE: CONSTITUTIONCENTER.ORG

Georgia State Mammal: White Tailed Deer

Appearance

The coat of the White-tailed deer is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The deer can be recognized by the characteristic white underside to its tail. It raises its tail when it is alarmed to warn the predator that it has been detected. An indication of a deer age is the length of the snout and the color of the coat, with older deer tending to have longer snouts and grayer coats. A population of white-tailed deer in New York is entirely white (except for areas like their noses and toes) – not albino – in color. White-tailed deer’s horizontally slit pupils allow for good night vision and color vision during the day. Males regrow their antlers every year. Males without branching antlers are often termed “spikehorn”, “spiked bucks”, “spike bucks”, or simply “spikes/spikers”. The spikes can be quite long or very short. The length and branching of antlers are determined by nutrition, age, and genetics. Spiked bucks are different from “button bucks” or “nubbin’ bucks”, which are male fawns and are generally about 6 to 9 months of age during their first winter. They have skin-covered nobs on their heads. They can have bony protrusions up to a half inch in length, but that is very rare, and they are not the same as spikes. Males shed their antlers when all females have been bred, from late December to February.

Habits and Lifestyle

White-tailed deer are usually considered solitary, particularly in summer. Their basic social unit is mother and fawns, although sometimes they do graze together in herds that can number hundreds of individuals. Bucks and does remain separate from each other except during the mating season. Bucks usually live alone or within small groups alongside other bucks. Deer living in deserts often migrate from summertime elevations down to warmer areas where there is more food available. White-tailed deer are crepuscular, and mainly feed starting before dawn until a few hours after the sun has risen, and again in the late afternoon until dusk. They use a number of forms of communication, such as sound, odor, body language, and marking with scratches. When alarmed, a White-tailed deer will raise its tail to warn other deer.

Diet and Nutrition

Whitetails are herbivores and feed on twigs, bark, leaves, shrubs, the nuts and fruits of most vegetation, lichens, and other fungi. Plants such as yucca, huajillo brush, prickly pear cactus, ratama, comal, and a range of tough shrubs can be the mainstay of a whitetail’s diet if it lives in a desert area. Though almost entirely herbivorous, White-tailed deer may opportunistically feed on nesting songbirds, field mice, and birds trapped in mist nets, if the need arises

Mating

Whitetails are polygynous, and bucks fight fiercely during the mating season, with winners able to mate with does in the area. The season runs from October to December. The gestation period is about 6 months. A female usually gives birth to one fawn in her initial year of breeding but 2 are born subsequently. Fawns can walk as soon as they are born and only a few days later are able to nibble on vegetation. When seeking food, mothers leave their offspring hidden amongst vegetation. A fawn starts to follow its mother as she goes off to forage when it is about 4 weeks old. At 8 – 10 months old, they are weaned. At one-year-old, young males leave their mothers but young females will often stay with them for two years. Most of them (particularly males) will breed in their second year.

Fun Facts for Kids

When White-tailed deer gather together and trample down snow in a particular area, this is called a “deer yard.”

White-tailed deer can jump vertically more than 8.2 feet and horizontally 354 in, which is almost the length of a school bus.

White-tailed deer swim well and can escape from predators through large streams and lakes.

Only the males grow antlers, and they shed them each year.

White-tailed deer are the shyest and most nervous of deer. When they are startled and run away, their tails wave from side to side.

Deer can smell human odor on underbrush for days afterward. Bucks will stay away from areas that have been visited by humans for weeks afterward.

Bucks usually lie on their right side when they go to sleep, and they face downwind, enabling them to employ their nose, ears, and eyes to detect danger in any direction.

We Didn’t Start the Fire

This song, by Billy Joel, was one of my favorites back then. The lyrics and explanation of the origins of the song are from the GENIUS website. It reminds me that the world has always been in turmoil.

From GENIUS:

This monster hit of a song was created in 1989, when Joel turned 40. The idea spawned from a conversation he had with a friend of Sean Lennon. The friend just turned 21 and was complaining about how crazy it was to be living in his era, therefore undermining any other time before his. This encouraged Joel to write a song that would prove that any time is filled with extremes.

Starting from 1949 (the year in which he was born), he chronicled the major events that occurred during that time in a rapid fire delivery of names, places, and cultural works.

These are his words on the subject:

I started doing that as a mental exercise. I had turned forty. It was 1989, and I said, “Okay, what’s happened in my life? I wrote down the year 1949… It was kind of a mind game. [It’s] one of the few times I’ve written the lyrics first, which should be obvious to why I usually prefer to write the music first, because the melody is horrendous. It’s like a mosquito droning. It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.

Passage taken from the book, In Their Own Words by Bill DeMain (Chapter 14) where he interviewed Joel about his thoughts on the song.

The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a radio mainstay.

We Didn’t Start the Fire

Harry Truman, Doris Day
Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific
Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon
Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea
Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb
Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I,
And The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine
England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace
Santayana goodbye

[Chorus]
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov
Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella
Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron
Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, “Rock Around the Clock”
Einstein, James Dean
Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan
Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place
Trouble in the Suez

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak
Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou En-lai
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle
California baseball
Starkweather Homicide
Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur
Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro
Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee
Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho
Belgians in the Congo

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann
Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin
Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia
British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn
Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X
British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away
What else do I have to say?

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh
Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock
Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine
Terror on the airline
Ayatollahs in Iran
Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride
Heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets
AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores
China’s under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars
I can’t take it anymore

SOURCE: GENIUS

Other Uses for Bar Keeper’s Friend

From the FAMILY HANDYMAN’s website:

Learn how to use Bar Keepers Friend in ways you’d never thought of before, including cleaning rusty tools, removing a stubborn toilet ring and more!

Go-to cleaning product Bar Keepers Friend (BKF) has developed a cult following, and with good reason. The inexpensive powdered cleaner invented by chemist George William Hoffman in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1882, can do much more than polish brass bar fixtures — the job it was originally marketed to do.

What Is Bar Keepers Friend Made Of?

Bar Keepers Friend’s seemingly magic powers come courtesy of its main ingredient, oxalic acid. This natural substance attacks rust, lime, tarnish and other stains on a molecular level, breaking the bonds holding them together to eliminate all trace. It works on multiple surfaces, too.

“BKF powder has just the right blend of powdered oxalic acid and micro-abrasives to safely scour off even long-term mineral build-up without damaging fiberglass, chrome or stainless steel,” says Melissa Homer, chief cleaning officer with MaidPro.

And at a mere $2 a can, you can’t afford to ignore its cleaning power!

How To Use Bar Keepers Friend

Our cleaning experts suggest mixing the powder with water to create a paste, then wiping it off after a brief period. Extended contact can damage finishes.

Homer recommends creating a thick slurry of 1/4-cup BKF mixed with a little water. Smear the slurry onto the surface you want to clean, let sit for 10 minutes while the acids work their magic, then scrub. “Dampen, sprinkle, smear, sit and scrub, and you can clean virtually anything,” Homer says.

The manufacturer says to avoid using BKF on porous surfaces like cast iron, granite, marble, wood, fabric, leather or painted surfaces.

Ways To Use Bar Keepers Friend

Read on for a host of ways to put this hardworking, inexpensive helper to good use all over your home. A few caveats before you start: Wear gloves, don’t mix with other cleaning products, and always test in an inconspicuous spot first.

Refresh bathroom surfaces and fixtures

Homer recommends smearing a Bar Keepers Friend slurry on hard water spots, mineral deposits and rust stains on glass shower doors, fixtures, tubs and sinks. You can use it on toilet rings, too.

“Clean the toilet with your favorite bathroom spray, flush and pump the flusher [in the toilet water tank] to lower the waterline,” she says. “Sprinkle the powder on the ring, smear it around on the stains with your brush, wait 10 minutes and scrub.”

Remove rust on tools and more

Apply the paste directly on the trouble spot, let sit for a minute, then wipe away. This helps all kinds of items in your garage, including golf clubs, garden tools, ice skate blades and old bikes.

Pro tip: Use a cotton swab to scrub hard-to-reach spots. “I saved a dirty old classic Radio Flyer tricycle with rusty handlebars from the landfill with just a can of Bar Keepers Friend and the back of a kitchen sponge,” Homer says. “I had it looking like it just rolled off the factory floor in less than 20 minutes.”

Get rid of sticky labels

Use Bar Keepers Friend Spray Foam Cleaner to dissolve adhesive and easily remove the annoying residue left behind by labels. Simply spray and let it sit for a minute before wiping clean.

Renew a fireplace

Use Bar Keepers Friend to remove layers of grime and soot stains and from the fireplace door. Remove the insert and lay flat. Wet the glass and sprinkle with BFK. Wait 15 to 20 seconds, then lightly scrub with a wet sponge. Rinse and repeat until sparkling.

Clean kitchen surfaces

Sinks, cookware, appliances and more can benefit from a little BFK. For stainless steel, use a microfiber cloth or non-abrasive sponge and clean with the grain.

On glass cooktops, go with BKF Cooktop Cleaner. First, scrape off any food. Then cover the affected area with cleaner and let it sit, no longer than five minutes. Wet a sponge, apply more Cooktop Cleaner to the sponge, then wipe the stained area in a circular motion. Rinse the sponge and wipe cleaner from cooktop.

Scour siding

Give dingy vinyl siding a good scrub with a Bar Keepers Friend and water solution to help it look new again. Wet a section of siding, scrub the solution on with a wet sponge, then rinse well.

Detail your vehicle

BKF can cut through carbon buildup on your exhaust pipes and make dirty hubcaps shine. It can also turn cloudy headlights clear again — clean, then dampen before sprinkling with BKF. Gently scrub, let sit for up to a minute, then rinse with warm water. Repeat until sparkling.

Update dishes

To get rid of stains and scratches on mugs, glassware and porcelain servingware, sprinkle BKF on a damp sponge and wipe onto the scratched surface. Let sit for 10 to 15 seconds, then lightly scrub with a damp sponge. Rinse and wipe clean.

Refresh sneakers

Make a paste of BKF and water and start scrubbing to clean shoes. All surfaces except leather can benefit! Use a toothbrush to detail rubber soles and edges. Scrub until clean, then wipe off remaining cleaner with a damp sponge.

SOURCE: FAMILY HANDYMAN : ANDREA COOLEY

What Shall We Bake Today?

In honor of Memorial Day, today’s entry is a Patriotic Memorial Day Cake. The technique used to make the multi colored cake can be used for any holiday!

Patriotic Memorial Day Cake

Ingredients

1 box White Cake Mix
Water, vegetable oil and whole eggs called for on cake mix box
1 1/4 teaspoons red gel food color
1 1/4 teaspoons blue gel food color
1/2 cup from 1 tub (16 oz) Creamy Vanilla Frosting
2 teaspoons Red, White & Blue Sprinkles, if desired

Steps

Heat oven to 350°F. Generously spray 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with baking spray with flour.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and whole eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. In small bowl, place 1 cup of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the red food color until blended. In another small bowl, place 1 cup of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the blue food color until blended.

Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. Carefully pour remaining white batter over red batter in pan. Carefully pour blue batter over white batter. (Blue batter does not need to cover white batter completely; it looks better if it just forms a ring in the center of the white batter.)

Bake 39 to 44 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Place cake on cooling rack over waxed paper or cooking parchment paper. In small microwavable bowl, place 1/4 cup of the frosting. Microwave uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle over cake. With spoon, drizzle warmed frosting back and forth over cake in striping pattern. Divide remaining frosting between 2 small microwavable bowls. To 1 bowl, stir in 1/4 teaspoon red food color until well blended. Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 10 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cake. Repeat with remaining bowl of frosting and 1/4 teaspoon blue food color. Sprinkle candy sprinkles on top. Let stand about 30 minutes or until frosting is set. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

When you add batter to pan, do not mix with spoon. Just pour in so colors don’t mix but rather just rest on top of each other in pan.

We like using baking spray with flour when baking our red, white and blue bundt cake for easy removal from pan. Greasing pans with shortening and lightly dusting with flour will also work.

Watch closely while warming frosting in the microwave; it doesn’t need a lot of time before it starts to melt down into a looser texture for drizzling.

ENJOY!

125 Interesting Facts About Everything: Part 1

Reader’s Digest bills this article, written by Elizabeth Yuko as 125 random interesting facts to share with your friends. Because of it’s length, I decided to break into 5 monthly parts.

From the article:

Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years

It was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.

Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust

Here’s an interesting science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 percent.

Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world

Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.

Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal

Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitti’s hog-nosed bat—is the smallest mammal in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. To see this tiny bat for yourself, you’d have to visit one of a select few limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi Province of southwest Thailand.

Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long

If a child’s entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries, and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, according to the Franklin Institute. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies have become home to approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels.

Fact: There are parts of Africa in all four hemispheres

For people whose education was largely focused on the Western world, it may be surprising to find out exactly how huge the continent of Africa is. For instance, it spans all four hemispheres and covers nearly 12 million square miles.

Fact: The cornea is one of only two parts of the human body without blood vessels

The cornea is the clear part of the eye that covers the pupil and other parts of the eye. Cartilage and the cornea are the only types tissue in the human body that do not contain blood vessels, according to scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology’s Schepens Eye Research Institute.

Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina

Even if you know a lot of Disney trivia, you might assume that the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings and had a running time of 70 minutes, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fact: German chocolate cake was invented in Texas

The “German” part of German chocolate cake comes from an American man—not a European country. Specifically, it’s named after Sam German, who in 1852 created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company, which was subsequently named Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. Fast-forward to June 13, 1957. The Dallas Morning Star published the recipe for the cake, invented and submitted by a reader identified as Mrs. George Clay, according to What’s Cooking America.

Fact: Marla Gibbs continued to work as a flight attendant for two years after being cast on a hit TV show

Prior to taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played the housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family). In a 2015 interview, Gibbs told the Washington Post that despite it appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job as a flight attendant for American Airlines for two more years—just to be safe.

Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands

The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.

Fact: A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing 3,901 bridges

Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but it’s also the longest one in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.

Fact: The Golden Girls was supposed to have a different theme song

That’s right: Instead of Andrew Gold’s iconic “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the show’s producers wanted to use Bette Midler’s song “Friends,” according to Jim Colucci, author of the book Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. But the rights to the Divine Miss M’s song were too expensive, and the rest is sitcom history.

Fact: There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet

Turns out, there’s quite a bit of gold on—or, really, in—our planet: 99 percent of the precious metal can be found in the Earth’s core, Discover Magazine reports. How much is there? Enough to coat the entire surface of the Earth in 1.5 feet of gold.

Fact: Cleveland was once the country’s fifth-largest city

Data from the 1920 U.S. census indicates that Cleveland, Ohio, was one of the most heavily populated cities in the country, behind only Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.

Fact: Human beings can use only a small fraction of Earth’s water

In school, we were taught that most (specifically, 71 percent) of the planet’s surface is covered in water. While that’s true, humans can use only 0.007 percent of that water, according to National Geographic. That’s because only about 2.5 percent of Earth’s water is fresh water, and only 1 percent of that is accessible. The rest makes up glaciers and snowfields.

Fact: Wally Amos is responsible for making more than just cookies famous

You may be familiar with Wally “Famous” Amos, thanks to his packaged chocolate chip cookies. But before he worked his magic on the sweet treats, he was in the business of making people famous, Biography reports. He discovered and signed folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and was a talent rep for acts like Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye.

Fact: The brand name Spam is a combination of “spice” and “ham”

This is one of those interesting facts you probably thought you knew but actually didn’t. Contrary to American mythology, Spam is not an acronym for “Scientifically Processed Animal Matter” or “Shoulder of Pork and Ham,” Eater reports.

Fact: It takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the entire Mississippi River

Spanning 2,340 miles, the Mississippi River is the third-largest watershed in the world. That’s one long stretch of water. So long, in fact, that it takes one drop of water approximately 90 days to travel its entire length.

Fact: People once ate arsenic to improve their skin

You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favorite cosmetics were riddled with arsenic, but it gets worse. There were also products on the market in the late 19th century, like Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers, that were meant to be eaten. They claimed to get rid of freckles, blackheads, and other “facial disfigurements.” Admit it: That’s one of the most interesting facts you’ve learned in a while.

Fact: The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first passenger to disembark at Ellis Island on its opening day. She had traveled to the United States with her two younger brothers aboard the SS Nevada after departing from Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh).

Fact: Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people

Japan is thought to have one of the highest densities of vending machines in the world, with one for every 40 people in the country. While most sell various types of beverages, others feature ice cream, noodles, and disposable cameras.

Fact: Lemons float, but limes sink

Because limes are denser than lemons, they drop to the bottom of a glass, while lemons float at the top. Out of all these random fun facts, this one’s been in front of our faces (or rather, in our glasses) this whole time!

Fact: Professional athletes used to perform in vaudeville during the off-season

Before today’s big-league salaries, professional baseball and football players often had to take on jobs during the off-season, The Atlantic reports. Some of them took advantage of their name recognition and hit the vaudeville circuits, doing everything from comedy routines to reciting poems. Babe Ruth even sang—if you could call it that. Frankly, many of the athletes had no business being on stage, but it’s not like it was against the rules.

Fact: The first time the word “period” was used on TV in reference to menstruation was 1985

It came via a line in a Tampax commercial: “Feeling cleaner is more comfortable. It can actually change the way you feel about your period.” And the actor who made pop culture history was Courtney Cox of Friends fame.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

DIY: Upcycling Garden Tools

I was intrigued by the name of this article I found on balconygarden.web. (I discovered upcycled is simply repurposed.) I hope some of these ideas spark your imagination! (Tutorials can be found at the website.)

GARDEN GATE

RUSTY SHOVEL FLOWER

RAKE GARDEN TOOL HOLDER

GARDEN TOOLS BIRD FEEDERS

GARDEN TOOLS TRELLIS

SOURCE: balconygarden.web: SHERIN WOODS

Georgia State Flower: Cherokee Rose

From the floraqueen.com blog:

In the realm of state symbols, flowers hold a special place, representing the natural beauty and heritage of a region. When it comes to Georgia, the state flower is the Cherokee Rose. This elegant and resilient flower carries deep significance in Georgia’s history and culture. In this article, we will explore the Cherokee Rose as the state flower for Georgia, uncovering its origins, characteristics, and the symbolic meaning it holds. From its delicate blooms to its enduring spirit, we will delve into the rich tapestry of the Cherokee Rose, providing valuable insights and fostering a deeper appreciation for this cherished symbol.

The Cherokee Rose: A Historical and Cultural Emblem

The Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata) holds great historical significance in Georgia, particularly in relation to the Native American tribe from which it derives its name. Here, we will delve into the history and cultural associations of the Cherokee Rose:

Origins and Naming

The Cherokee Rose is native to East Asia but gained prominence in the southeastern United States, including Georgia. It is believed that the flower was introduced to North America by early European settlers.

The Cherokee Rose earned its name in honor of the Cherokee Native American tribe, which inhabited the region where the flower thrived. The association between the Cherokee people and the rose stems from a tale of hardship and resilience during the Trail of Tears.

The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears refers to the forced removal of Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the 1830s. This devastating event resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and marked a dark chapter in American history.

According to legend, the Cherokee Rose grew along the route traveled by the Cherokee people during their forced relocation. As they endured immense suffering and loss, it is said that the tears shed by Cherokee women transformed into the delicate white petals of the rose, symbolizing their resilience and strength in the face of adversity.

Characteristics and Symbolism of the Cherokee Rose

The Cherokee Rose is a deciduous climbing rose that features intricate and fragrant white blooms. Here, we will explore the characteristics and symbolic meaning associated with this captivating flower:

Appearance and Growth Habits

The Cherokee Rose is characterized by its elegant and abundant white flowers, which typically bloom in spring or early summer. Its blooms have a distinct yellow center, surrounded by layers of delicate petals. The plant itself is known for its climbing nature, often adorning fences, trellises, and walls with its sprawling vines.

Symbolic Significance

The Cherokee Rose holds deep symbolic meaning, reflecting both the resilience of the Cherokee people and the spirit of Georgia. Here are some interpretations associated with the Cherokee Rose:

Resilience and Strength: The Cherokee Rose serves as a symbol of resilience, representing the endurance and strength of the Cherokee people in the face of great adversity. Its presence along the Trail of Tears serves as a reminder of the perseverance and fortitude displayed by the Native American tribe during their forced relocation.

Beauty and Fragility: The delicate white blooms of the Cherokee Rose evoke a sense of beauty and fragility. Despite the hardships faced by the Cherokee people, the flower symbolizes their ability to find beauty amidst challenging circumstances, offering a source of hope and inspiration.

Unity and Heritage: The Cherokee Rose holds a unifying significance, symbolizing the shared heritage and cultural legacy of the Cherokee people. It serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and honoring Native American traditions and history.

SOURCE: FLORAQUEEN.COM