Vinegar in the Wash

I've never been a fan of vinegar. I've always detested the smell of it. In fact, I'm certain that the only times I've used it in the past were for certain recipes that required it - like Asian cole slaw. Several of my savvy blog readers, however, have told me about the benefits of using vinegar in the wash and I have to say, I'm becoming quite the fan of the stinky substance!

Here's how it works:

1. Put 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener compartment in your washing machine.

2. Run the machine like normal.

3. End up with fabulous results! First off, it acts as a fabric softener. Your clothes will be fluffier and softer. Secondly, it helps prevent your laundry from souring. Now, if you leave it in there a really long time I'm sure it still will but I left a damp load in the dryer for 24 hours on accident (on a warm day) and it was still fresh when I found it. I didn't have to rewash it. Third, if you have trouble with a stinky washer it fixes that, too! A couple of people commented that they have a type of drain on their washer that holds a little water and it was always stinky. They added vinegar as a rinse-aid and voila! no more stinky washer. And finally - It's so stinkin' cheap compared to purchasing fabric softener. For my family, it's an added bonus because I hadn't been able to use fabric softener at all since we have such sensitive skin.

Now, I know what you are thinking... Are my clothes going to smell like vinegar? No! Not in the slightest. This may be the thing that surprised me the most, but, it's true. I can smell it a little in the washer because there's a little bit in the fabric softener compartment, but the clothing just smells fresh and clean, no vinegar odor at all.

I'm now using vinegar to help clean my toilets, as a fabric softener, and as a rinse-aid in my dishwasher instead of an expensive store-bought rinse aid. I've gone from having a teeny bottle of the stuff tucked back in the pantry somewhere to buying this industrial sized bottle to use all around the house! Love it! Thanks, readers, for turning me on to this great idea.

We're Jammin'

On Friday I took Mia and baby Hyrum with me to a local berry farm. She sells strawberries for $1.25 a pound if you pick them yourself. We went out at 8am before it was hot and I sat the baby on a blanket with a few things to play with. Mia got down and helped me pick. It was really peaceful and nice to be down in the dirt working with her while she had my undivided attention to chatter about whatever she wanted. She would pick for awhile, eat for awhile, and then frolic for awhile. I picked for about 3 hours and got 5 1/2 flats - about 15 pounds - of berries.

Typically you pick strawberries around the middle of May through the end of May. I didn't realize that but, lucky for me, the season was a bit late this year. She only had small and medium berries left but that didn't matter for making jam. The variety she had me pick are extremely sweet with a very thin skin. The jam turned out fabulously.

I also stepped a bit outside my comfort zone and asked her over the phone if she would be interested in bartering my bread for berries. At first she replied, "Oh no, I don't want to do that." I said that it was ok, I still wanted to pick from her. While I was there she came up to me several times asking more questions about the bread. When I left I signed up to come back for blueberries and blackberries and she said, "Write down "bread" by your name and bring a loaf or two when you come back and we'll work something out. I'd like to try that." So, you never know.

One thing I've found with the jam is that it took me a full day of work but I stocked my pantry with about 25 jars of jam and still have some berries in the freezer. At Christmas time last year I used old baskets I had in the attic, spruced them up with some ribbon and filled them with a few jars of my homemade jams. I added some fresh pecans from a friend's yard and people were absolutely delighted to receive them. It allowed us to give gifts to people like Bruce's piano teacher and my husband's bosses, plus additional gifts to family members without spending anything over the holiday months. Everyone enjoyed it so much I plan on doing it again, I've even been recollecting baskets and jars from some people with a promise to refill them. It's a win-win!

And, I won't have to buy jam for another year. I don't feel so bad about giving my family peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch a couple times a week (which cuts the grocery budget) when it's made with homemade whole wheat bread and homemade jam!