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We made play dough today.
I couldn't find the boughten play-doh, so we made our own. Scented it with a little bit of rose water. There's something viscerally good about seeing children playing with undyed play dough, and knowing that you did that yourself. It smells so... wholesome, it really does. Like the store bought kind, but moreso.
Play dough is really easy - just about two parts flour to one part water, and as much salt as you think it needs. I always have it too sticky like that, so I keep adding flour until it's right. Takes about five minutes of my life - less if I make the kids do it, and they think it's fun.
It's like cakes all over again. So many things we buy as a matter of course, we assume make our lives easier. And I guess they do, sorta - but it turns out that the homemade replacements aren't actually that difficult to make, or even that time-consuming.
I was reading a review on Amazon.com about a cookbook, and somebody commented that parts of it were "too time-consuming" because she's a mother of a pre-schooler, so she substitutes (this is her example) canned beans for dried. I didn't get it. From where I'm sitting, soaking the beans is the easiest part of cooking! Sure, it takes several hours, but you don't need to be there. You don't even need to be awake. Just put some water over the beans and go to bed, and by tomorrow they'll be ready to cook. They're healthier that way, and cheaper, too, and it's so easy. I suppose if you start cooking every day by looking in the fridge and seeing what you haven't run out of yet, it makes sense, but that costs more money and time to do, and stress as well.
I was inspired, after the play dough, to look up some recipes for glue, for paint. Why, it's easy to make glue, and not that hard to make paint that'll stand up to the needs of a very young child. (It's not like your very young child is Picasso and needs good quality art supplies just to make a mess on the table, right?)
I read just the other day an excerpt from an old cookbook, preaching frugality. It is the height of waste, I was told, to buy vinegar. One should buy some vinegar once, and then just keep topping it off with this and that - old cider, sour beer, whatever. It sounds so simple, but who makes their own vinegar now? Or stock - why do we buy stocks? What could be easier than dumping your vegetable garbage and bones in a pot and watching TV for a few hours?
Our garden last year was so simple, we didn't touch it, and we had fresh veggies all summer and into fall.
What else is there that's really just so easy to do, that people generally don't do? And why don't we? I appreciate that people don't know how, but why don't people know how, or think of it?
Edit: To be clear, since I don't think I was, I don't mean "This way is better than that way" except for tangible things - these things are easier than they're portrayed (even if they're not totally easy), and they do save money.
I mean, more along the lines of "Why don't people see these as options? Why don't they know these options exist?" It's one thing to know your choices and make an informed choice to do this or that because it's easier for you. It's totally different to make your choice because you think something is impossible for you when it's not, or to not even make your choice because you don't realize you have one.
So like, to be specific, planning meals in advance *is* cheaper. But if it can't work for you, or if it's not a priority, that's your business. This is me, totally not caring (except if you're my mom, in which case, I really wish you'd stop buying food that looks good now, but that never gets made and goes bad in the fridge or freezer) because it's not my concern at all.
*deep breath*
I'm running off now.
Play dough is really easy - just about two parts flour to one part water, and as much salt as you think it needs. I always have it too sticky like that, so I keep adding flour until it's right. Takes about five minutes of my life - less if I make the kids do it, and they think it's fun.
It's like cakes all over again. So many things we buy as a matter of course, we assume make our lives easier. And I guess they do, sorta - but it turns out that the homemade replacements aren't actually that difficult to make, or even that time-consuming.
I was reading a review on Amazon.com about a cookbook, and somebody commented that parts of it were "too time-consuming" because she's a mother of a pre-schooler, so she substitutes (this is her example) canned beans for dried. I didn't get it. From where I'm sitting, soaking the beans is the easiest part of cooking! Sure, it takes several hours, but you don't need to be there. You don't even need to be awake. Just put some water over the beans and go to bed, and by tomorrow they'll be ready to cook. They're healthier that way, and cheaper, too, and it's so easy. I suppose if you start cooking every day by looking in the fridge and seeing what you haven't run out of yet, it makes sense, but that costs more money and time to do, and stress as well.
I was inspired, after the play dough, to look up some recipes for glue, for paint. Why, it's easy to make glue, and not that hard to make paint that'll stand up to the needs of a very young child. (It's not like your very young child is Picasso and needs good quality art supplies just to make a mess on the table, right?)
I read just the other day an excerpt from an old cookbook, preaching frugality. It is the height of waste, I was told, to buy vinegar. One should buy some vinegar once, and then just keep topping it off with this and that - old cider, sour beer, whatever. It sounds so simple, but who makes their own vinegar now? Or stock - why do we buy stocks? What could be easier than dumping your vegetable garbage and bones in a pot and watching TV for a few hours?
Our garden last year was so simple, we didn't touch it, and we had fresh veggies all summer and into fall.
What else is there that's really just so easy to do, that people generally don't do? And why don't we? I appreciate that people don't know how, but why don't people know how, or think of it?
Edit: To be clear, since I don't think I was, I don't mean "This way is better than that way" except for tangible things - these things are easier than they're portrayed (even if they're not totally easy), and they do save money.
I mean, more along the lines of "Why don't people see these as options? Why don't they know these options exist?" It's one thing to know your choices and make an informed choice to do this or that because it's easier for you. It's totally different to make your choice because you think something is impossible for you when it's not, or to not even make your choice because you don't realize you have one.
So like, to be specific, planning meals in advance *is* cheaper. But if it can't work for you, or if it's not a priority, that's your business. This is me, totally not caring (except if you're my mom, in which case, I really wish you'd stop buying food that looks good now, but that never gets made and goes bad in the fridge or freezer) because it's not my concern at all.
*deep breath*
I'm running off now.
no subject
Darning socks is easy-peasy.
http://www.ehow.com/how_648_darn-sock.html has a short description of how to darn. I'll add that before I had handspun readily available, I used baby yarn for its fine weight. The lightbulb is also the most convenient to find for your first attempt, but you can indeed buy specialized "darning eggs" or "mushrooms" (http://www.halcyonyarn.com/knitandcrochet.html ) to make things easier.
One rare refinement my antique darning spindle (from my grandmother) has is a metal collar to hold your sock taut while you darn. If you use a lightbulb, you can put a rubber band around the neck of the bulb to hold the fabric.
Re: Darning socks is easy-peasy.
Re: Darning socks is easy-peasy.
But I thought that was an odd thing to say, since I think I know you well enough to know you wouldn't go on darning socks if it wasn't the cheaper option.
EXPENSIVE? Not even.
The darning egg I linked to above is $8.95. Mine happened to be a free gift from my grandmother. I also have one that I bought at a garage sale for $3. Averaging these prices, let's say four dollars for the darning tool (and that's erring on the generous side, since I darned socks for years with only the aforementioned lightbulb).
A pack of multiuse needles can be had for $.99 at every supermarket I've ever been in.
Yarn...ah, now you have to choose. I'm going to err on the generous side again and cite my own cost ($1/ounce for carded wool roving, which I then spin into yarn) as well as that of a high-end wool yarn from Knitpicks dot com (http://www.knitpicks.com): their Telemark 100% wool sportweight is $1.99 per ball for 103 yards. This works out to roughly two cents per yard of yarn. (If you buy bargain-barn acrylic, it's MUCH, much cheaper, probably like one-tenth of a cent per yard.)
SO, amortize the $4 and the 99 cents over a lifetime of socks and it gets pretty damned cheap. The only non-amortized cost is the yarn. It takes two or three yards (depending on the size of the hole) to darn one hole in one sock....say six cents' worth of yarn. Call it a quarter to include amortized costs of needle and darning thingy.
My favorite socks are $6 a pair to buy.
I think it's cheaper to darn, what do you think?
Re: EXPENSIVE? Not even.
Re: EXPENSIVE? Not even.
Re: EXPENSIVE? Not even.