Jesse Glessner

Rico Loma wrote:Many good comments, and I am intrigued.  Thanks folks.  
Cristobal, you have a wealth of building experience,  so your word carries substantial weight. I thought the SBC was an integral part of dry stacking.....supposedly giving strength and waterproofing.  And I thought it was only exterior.  If you were building this wall, for example, how would you finish , interior and exterior? I have only used a OPC and fine sand finish exterior with some lime, on a looknormal block wall, then low voc latex paint inside.  

I saw some "dry-blocking" going on recently and it was of manufactured blocks of a new variety. The walls were so smooth that the lines between all the blocks were almost non-existant they were so fine. And the blocks were smooth and white on the wall they were showing. I believe this was on a recent episode of the "This Old House" TV show, I just do not remember.

These were "new technology" and had an interesting looking form of the blocks interlocking with each other. These were being touted as a new method of building a strongly structural house and, I'm assuming, from the looks of the blocks and the light weight they would also be insulating material as well.

r ranson wrote:Ever wondered why people keep mixing things up and calling puddings boiled when quite clearly they are steamed?
What about modern tech like the microwave and pressure cooker?
The thing I love most about the pressure cooker is I can shave hours off the time it takes to boil or steam a pudding.

This was a good History lesson! Thanks!    Now on to the modern methods.

I bought a Mealthy Pot, a low pressure, pressure cooker, something similar to an InstaPot. Someone told me to check the Internet for InstaPot recipes and I ran across a Cheesecake item. Dumb me just had to try it as I didn't believe it could be done!

Well, I did the mix, popped it into the Mealthy Pot, set the timer and walked away! When it was finished I pulled it out and it looked good. But, it called for using a Spring Form which I did, but I forgot to put a table knife down and around before I opened the form. It  could have cooked a bit longer but when the form opened about 1/3 of the Cheesecake slid off onto the counter top.

I haven't repeated that process yet, but I do make a 9" X 12" pan of cheese cake from a very simple recipe from the Internet, a Cheery Cheesecake by title, however you can top the cake with any fruit you have a hankering. I'll be making a cake for our family's Christmas dinner and two people have insisted that it be a Blueberry topping (pie filling works great on any of the fruits). IF you rinse your mixing pan after each of the mixes you make for the cake you can use just the one pan for the whole thing!

Now, I've made my self hungry for a bite of that!   :-)

Catie George wrote:I like sand.
Now in Ontario, the local municipalities put out a sand-salt mix for people to grab for free. I like it, because it doesn't freeze solid like wet sand, and is far less salt than actual salt, plus it adds traction, so you use way less salt... Also, admittedly, I like it because it is free, and I am cheap. I also use ash, but wouldn't in the city. The eco friendly ice melts work well, are less damaging, but very expensive. I use it on my north facing landing, where I don't want to track in sand or ash.

I have a cement walk between my house and garage and steps and pads outside of both front porch doors, all great places to go bottoms up!  I usually buy a sack of contractors sand (the brown stuff, NOT playground stuff)  and dump that into a 5 gallon bucket to easily fill, and use one of the old small coffee cans or large plastic peanut jars with holes drilled in the lids to sprinkle sand around the place. It doesn't take much, just a light film on the cement. During times with the sun shining the sand melts down through the snow/slush/ice like crazy and it doesn't take long until the sidewalks are clean.

As for personal safety there are gadgets that pretty much slip on over your shoes/boots that are similar to the spiked shoes that golfers wear. They are "spiked" and are good grabbers, but if you're not used to them they can be clumsy - and where are you going to put those when you get to where you're going? I'd rather sweep up a bit of sand. IF you sprinkle that lightly you may not even realize that you tracked any inside.

Until recently my labels really came off easily. I would pull all of the old canned items that I thought needed to come OFF of the shelves and dump all of those on my compost heap.
Then I would bring those into the house and turn them over to the Cleaning Lady's Helper. I just sat back and enjoyed watching! So, so easy!!!

But since she no longer works at cleaning it is up to me! I use Dawn detergent in with the jars, having soaked in very hot water, cooled down enough to be able to handle the jars and use a stainless steel scrubby on the labels. It does take some work as the labels are of the Avery Labels variety and stick very well for 7-8 years on the shelf. No scratch left on the jars that you can see with just the eyes, no magnification. And I've never had a re-use jar that has gone through this process break either in the pressure cooker of the water bath canner.

Dave Bross wrote:An idea from our very own Redhawk - " We trellis one sweet potato vine every year

I always wondered if sweet potatoes would climb a trellis. My mother used to grow one in a South window just to have something that was cheery green. I didn't climb by itself, but it didn't mind growing to the top of the window.

AND, darn it, I just downloaded an article about AIR GROWING potatoes with drip irrigation in 5 gallon buckets. and I cannot find the article. Oh, just remembered, it was in the book, "The Amish Ways" by Eddie Swartzentruber, Global Brother, 2024. The gist of this is to have the potato on top of the lid with irrigation tubes in the bucket where the potatoes will grow with no soil. Interesting concept! I MAY have to try this as I did different sizes of grow bags from landscaping cloth that I sewed myself, because someone challenged me to do the grow bags. For me they did not work at all. BUT, I also have never really had a good crop of potatoes even from the ground.

Mk Neal wrote:I would carmelize onions, salt to taste, and mix with sour cream ( or labneh) while still warm. Then let sit some time before serving so the flavor permeates.

I'm not big on dips, however, what would it be like to put the onions in a food processor and finely chopped, then use real mayonnaise as the mix, or maybe Ranch dressing? Lip smacking good or just totally YUK??

Jay Angler wrote:

Deane Adams wrote:...  But it's kinda hard to make it for just one, so like rice I end up eating it for days.  

Some dishes you've just got to go big or go home! I hope the homemade Mac and Cheese is yummy and filling! My son considers it comfort food.

I like spaghetti but with a chunky sauce. SO, I make a huge pot of sauce starting with two quarts of purchased spaghetti sauce and using all kinds of veggies. I make sure to keep stirring it until I think it is all done then I package it away in square-ish 16 oz containers and put away in the freezer. For a meal I just pull one of those out, drop the contents in a bowl and stick in the microwave to thaw out. In the meantime I'm cooking the spaghetti and buttering a couple of slices of bread for my meal.

These worked great, especially when I was teaching at the local community college, but it still works well when I need a good meal.

Karen Donnachaidh wrote:I am amazed at the talent I see displayed on this page! I would love to be the recipient of any of these fine wares. Lucky folks.

My humble gift is almost ready to be delivered (tomorrow) to my in-laws at the retirement home. As I posted above, applesauce, sliced pears, grape jelly, cranberry jelly and orange marmalade. The marmalade recipe made exactly 6 half-pints, so I only had a taste when I scraped the pot and licked the spoon. Delicious! But, it looks thin in the jars (moves when you invert the jar). Oh well. Now, I'll make some buttermilk biscuits (mother-in-law's recipe) and it's ready.

When I moved back to IN from CA, as a 65 year old dude who had never cooked much, I learned the canning process all over again. Had to do that as a kid and hated it but it kept us fed through the winters. Learning new with squeaking through the Y2K fiasco I needed to do some prepping. You learn as you go, not just from reading and recipes. I developed an Apple Sauce recipe from an on-line version, one that "I" liked! I have a Niece who not only owned a restaurant, but also made & sold lots of Apple Butter is a very good cook. It was great, but, yuk, apple butter, when you could make apple sauce? It's a no-brainer. I gave the Niece a pint of my apple sauce. She eMailed me for the recipe! And that was one of the best "gifts" I've ever received!   :-)    So, sometimes gifts can come from very unexpected sources!

Some hints for you: Try a Cranberry/Orange Jam from recipes on-line. Also, instead of Buttermilk Biscuits try making Biscuits from just TWO ingredients from recipes on-line. They come out GREAT with fluffy layers that taste great right out of the oven, split open, and smothered with butter! ENJOY

Gary Crocker wrote:I really like this Wood Oyl for butcher blocks, cutting boards and wooden utensils:
https://www.kramerize.com/products.htm
The other Kramer wood products are fantastic, as well! This is a small company and it feels good to support them.

Thanks for posting that Gary. I'll pass on the word in our CNC meeting coming up this week. Some of the guys are making cutting boards all the time, usually using end grain or inlays as decorative motifs.
There are many solutions and oils people use on their boards. You just have to be careful that those are not detrimental to humans. Beeswax is a good one, especially if you melt it before applying as that gets into the grain better.

Thanks, again