green and clean

Received this article today from the National Gardening Association, very helpful and a great reminder that I don't need to spend big money on expensive green cleaning products (except maybe Meyer's cause they have the Geranium scent :)

"Kitchen Cupboard Cleaners"

We Americans are clean freaks! Look under any sink and you'll see an arsenal of cleaning products for every room and piece of furniture in the house. Household cleaners are loaded with chemicals, some strong enough that they come with warnings. Now, open your pantry. See that bottle of vinegar and box of baking soda? You might not know it, but those two ingredients are all you need to tackle most of the tough jobs in your house. Many other excellent cleaning ingredients are also right under your nose, such as lemon juice, olive oil, and ketchup. Yes, even ketchup.

Here are some homemade cleaners I have tried with excellent results:

In the Kitchen
Microwaves and stovetops: Spray with full-strength vinegar. Allow it to sit for about ten minutes on tough, baked-on stains, then simply wipe away.

Stinky drains: Vinegar combined with baking soda makes a wonderful cleaner and deodorizer. Shake a half cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by one cup of vinegar. Allow the mixture to foam for several minutes before flushing it down with a potful of boiling water. If you have a garbage disposal, follow with half a lemon to keep the whole system smelling sweet. Or perhaps you'd prefer a spot of tea? Brew some tea and add lemon and ice. Pour the mixture down the drain and turn on the disposal.

Scuff marks on floors: Use a gum eraser.

Pots and pans:
Copper — Use ketchup. It really works! Spread a thin layer on copper. Let sit a minute or two and wipe away the tarnish. Repeat as necessary for stubborn stains. Then rinse and polish.
Brass — Try rubbing on a bit of Worcestershire sauce.
Silver — Soak item in a quart of warm water mixed with one teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon salt, and a piece of aluminum foil.

Furniture polish alternative: Combine one-fourth cup white distilled vinegar and one tablespoon olive oil. Mist on and buff off. The vinegar cleans and deodorizes while the oil conditions the wood. (Be flexible with oil; if wood seems to need more, add it. However, too much oil leaves a greasy residue.)

Bathroom:
Toilets — Pour 1 cup distilled white vinegar into the bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes, brush, and flush. Or try mixing 1 cup of borax, 1/2 cup of lemon juice or vinegar, and 1/2 cup of baking soda for a bowl cleaner and disinfectant.

Sink cleaners — Spray white vinegar over surface, sprinkle on some baking soda, and scrub away.

Showerheads — Scrub away lime deposits by submerging the showerhead into a bowl of boiling water mixed with 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer if necessary.
Air fresheners — apply 10 to 20 drops of essential oils to the inside of the toilet paper roll.

Windows:
Try club soda straight up! Cleans grease and grime. Or, mix equal parts of water and white vinegar.

Stinky Shoes: Mix one part baking soda with two parts cornstarch; add a few drops of essential oil, such as eucalyptus, lemon, or tea tree oil. Sprinkle powder in shoes and allow to sit overnight. Shake out and take a whiff!

urban gardening

Photo: Fabrizio Costantini for the New York Times

Swell article in the NYTimes today about one of my favorite urban dimensions--gardens in the concrete jungle.

entertaining

Last night I had such a lovely little dinner party. Good friends, good wine, good food. I remember when I first started cooking entire meals (when I was ten) and could never get the timing right. Now I'm older and wiser and realize that as long as there is something to munch on and wine flowing, you can keep the hungry guests at bay while you coordinate all the items and emerge from the kitchen with seemingly no stress or chaos. Another trick is to have everything baking simultaneously with little attention needed in the process.

Here is one of my favorite examples of a grain dish that can cook right along with your meat or veggie dish. Yesterday I served this with roast pork loin that had been cooked on a bed of apples and butternut squash. I adapted this recipe from a Williams-Sonoma recipe to suit the contents of my pantry.

Baked Brown Rice Pilaf
Ingredients:

4 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 Tbs. canola oil

1 large shallot, minced

2 cups short-grain brown rice

1 bay leaf

2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme,
crumbled

sea salt

pepper

2 T slivered sun dried tomatoes

1/2 cup mix of sunflower seeds, pepitas, slivered almonds (toasted) or pecans or some other crunchy nut (Trader Joe's Such & Such mix works perfectly)

1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 1 T dry)
Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the stock to a simmer.

In a heavy 2-qt. flameproof casserole over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the simmering stock, dried cranberries, bay leaf, thyme, the sea salt and the pepper. Bring to a simmer, stir and cover. Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, remove, stir in sun dried tomatoes, return to oven to bake until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, for another 25 minutes. Removing the cover the last 10 minutes of baking gives the top layer a nice toasty crunch.

Remove from the oven. Remove and discard the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs, if used. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the nut mix and parsley. Serve hot or warm. Serves 8 to 10.

photo trade

(photos from Photo Trade contributors)

The Photo Trade is a new website/blog/concept I'm loving...think I saw the link on Wiksten. Fresh, lovely photos capturing May this month. For March there was a green theme, ah, my favorite. I've yet to set myself up with a flickr account, but this might entice me. That and getting new batteries for the camera. Yes, I'll stop mentioning that here now. Promise.

more biking

(my view on the ride, taken with the ever blurry and increasingly weak cameraphone)

Saturday was a busy workday out in Little Falls, so Sunday was our fun day. After the sky cleared, we hit the streets for a pleasant ride along the Hudson River. There were scores of small boats in the river with fisherpersons happily enjoying the spring day. I like the nature within the city aspect of trails like these, particularly as they demonstrate the need for public parks funding.

For a non-athletic, sit-at-a-computer-all-day-and-write person, I felt sufficiently sporty after the ride with mud splatters up my pants and my back. And, as usual, I managed to gouge up my shins while walking the bike out of the apartment and while navigating the sidewalk.

lists and more lists

I need to do bills. I need to do laundry. I need to edit the dissertation one last time before turning it into a PDF. I...have lists everywhere. Post-its to myself. That are apparently even drawing notice from persons who frequent my home. The not doing of the lists has gotten so bad that my boyfriend just wrote a check for me with his checkbook since I am out of checks. And in truth, have been out of checks for almost a month now. There is a bright pink post-it on my computer, right here, where I sit to do the bills, that says, "ORDER checks!" in my scrawling penwomanship.

friday feature : : butterfly garden

(photo by Chrisser from Flickr)

Today I'm helping a school teacher friend of mine plan a butterfly garden near the school grounds. Getting connected to community activities in the Capital District has been tougher than I expected. This project should be great entry point for this process. Looking forward to being in the dirt.