Posted in Uncategorized, clothing, thrifty on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 10:52 am GMT -6
First, let’s talk about this. What do you use Febreeze for? Be honest. You use Febreeze to make stinky fabric things smell better. Febreeze works by binding the stink molecules to itself, rendering them unsmellable. It also adds a scent of its own. It doesn’t remove the stink–it’s simply bound up and covered over. Still, [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized, reviews on Monday, August 16th, 2010 12:29 pm GMT -6
CSN Stores recently sent the Damsel a Henckels Santoku kitchen knife and asked her to review it. CSN is pretty amazing. They sell nearly everything, from table lamps to toys to furniture to purses. The Damsel was excited to try the knife, because she’d heard people say cooking with a good knife is dreamy. The [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized, preserving on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 07:23 pm GMT -6
Get ready for a SERIOUSLY old-school skill. When you make jam or jelly, you need something to make it jell. Most folks use commercial pectin–a product extracted from fruit–usually powdered (although liquid pectin is available). But. BUT. What if it was doomsday and there was no pectin in the stores? WHAT WOULD WE DO????? The [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized, preserving on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 06:41 pm GMT -6
Freezing raspberries is as easy as kindergarten. The Damsel would like to gently insist that you flash freeze your raspberry treasure. Do it this way: 1. Wash the berries. This means put them into a strainer and rinse well with cold water. 2. Let them drain a bit. 3. Spread them out in a single [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized on Monday, July 19th, 2010 12:25 pm GMT -6
The Damsel got quite a giggle out of these guidelines for authors in 1954: By Lupe Fernandez I found this 1954 article about Children’s Literature on a defunct website. Submitted for your edification and amusement. “How To Write Books for Boys and Girls” “Always portray the military, politicians and religious figures in a positive way. [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized, gardening on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 09:16 am GMT -6
One of the most annoying problems the Knight has faced in the Cottage Garden is spider mites. The chemicals farmers used to use for these sorts of pests are no longer available, and besides, we want a more natural solution. The Damsel was going to show you a magnified picture of a spider mite but [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 12:51 pm GMT -6
The Damsel found this video utterly fascinating. Does it have anything to do with old school skills? Errr, well, um, it talks about ancestors. There ya go. Human Family Reunion
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Posted in Uncategorized on Monday, June 28th, 2010 03:42 pm GMT -6
Eeeee! The Damsel is clapping her hands with glee about the very nice mention she got this morning on “Today in the Bloggernacle,” a column in the online Mormon Times newspaper. Link to the Bloggernacle Thank you, Emily!
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Posted in Uncategorized on Sunday, June 20th, 2010 06:23 am GMT -6
So now that we know all about baking soda, what is baking powder? How are they different? Can they be interchanged? From the baking soda post, we learned that baking soda needs an acid to activate it. And so maybe you can guess: baking powder is baking soda with an acid already combined with it, [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized, cooking, guest post on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 04:22 pm GMT -6
Today at the Old School, you’ll have a substitute teacher. The Damsel kindly asks that you dispose of any bad thoughts about that. This sub is not mean or cranky. On the contrary, she’s smart, sassy, and super nice. Here’s her bio, straight from her adorable website, The Clever Mommy: Krystal lives in Colorado with [...]
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