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EPISODE #53- SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
Welcome to the last weekend
of summer. For most people summer ended when
the kids went back to school. Still we always hope for the warm weather
to
continue. I don't think it is coming back. We can still enjoy the tastes
of summer though. We also have a bunch of ideas for your early fall home
and even a great healthy recipe for those school lunches.
Ottoman Changes
For most people the Ottoman is a place to put your feet, but at
Ste. Maine (503-232-1880)
it has many more uses. Erin showed David a couple of other uses that you
use an ottoman for. First of all there are some ottomans that have
storage
areas inside them. This is great for people that have limited space in
their homes or apartments. It can also be used as an extra table. Simply
use a tray or a piece of clear plastic or glass to create a hard and
stable
surface to hold drinks and plates. If you would like to see some
ottomans
and learn about all their many uses you can stop by Ste. Maine in the
Westmoreland/Sellwood area of Portland.
Indoor NASA Plants
NASA has expanded our learning in lots of different fields, and
not just the fields of science. They have also found out a lot about the
different types of plants and their uses. We caught up with Deby at
Cornell Farm (530-292-9895)
to
talk to her about the recent NASA findings about indoor plants. She told
us
that NASA investigated the use of indoor plants as a means of cleaning
the
air in the space station. They came up with some interesting results.
They
found that indoor plants are great at absorbing toxins in the air.
Chemicals like formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene can be taken
up
by certain plants and that can make your living space healthier. Common
household items like carpet, paint, insulation, cleaners, plastics and
detergents all can release toxins into your home. Philodendrons, Boston
ferns, spider plants, mums and gerbera daisies are just a small
selection of
plants that can help your air stay clean. To see these and many others
you
can stop by Cornell Farm and talk to their staff.
Coconut Cherry Truffles
Healthy doesn't have to taste yucky. Wendy Gabbe Day joined us
to share a recipe that is both healthy and delicious. Wendy is the
author
of a new book called 'Scatter Vegan Sweets'. She is also appearing at
the
Portland VegFest at the Oregon
Convention
Center this weekend. This event promotes sustainable and healthy food
choices and lifestyles.
For us she decided to make one of the recipes from her new
cookbook, Coconut Cherry Truffles. First she added almonds to a food
processor and ground them into fine pieces. Then she added some dates,
dried cherries, brown rice and a little bit of coconut flakes to the
food
processor. The result is a slightly moist mixture that can be molded
into
balls and then rolled in coconut flakes. You can
get the recipe right
here or you can stop by the Oregon Convention Center and pick up a
copy
of Wendy's book for this recipe and many more.
Build a Bloody Mary
Robin is searching for the perfect Bloody Mary. Her quest lead
her to Salty's
on the Columbia (503-288-4444) and their wonderful Sunday brunch. Linda Addy was eager to
introduce Robin to their new 'build your own Bloody Mary' bar. Bloody
Marys
are the perfect drink with brunch and Salty's has figured out a way for
everyone to put their own twist on this late-morning favorite. Linda
walked
us through the steps for making your own concoction. First you order
your
favorite vodka, in this case Robin started with a bacon infused vodka
(yeah,
bacon!), then she added a smoked tomato purée. They actually have 3
different purees/sauces to choose from including the traditional style
sauce. Finally you can top it all off with your choice of condiments
including pickled okra, red curried carrots or horseradish and a wide
selection of hot sauces.
The Bloody Mary bar is a great addition to Salty's huge Sunday
brunch. They have over 90 different items to choose from including fresh
seafood, a made to order omelet area and a 4 foot chocolate fountain.
Stop
by for the brunch and create your own signature drink!
Lemon Tips
Lemons are not only tasty in your drinks and other recipes, they
have many other uses. David and Robin found some uses for lemons around
the
kitchen that they wanted to share. First of all, you can use them as a
decoration in your kitchen or on your table. They have a relatively long
shelf life and give off a light lemon fragrance over time. You can even
use
them in a clear vase with water and they will help keep the water fresh.
When they start to 'turn' you can toss them into your garbage disposal
to
give that appliance a fresh scent. Also because of the high acidic level
of
lemons you can cut them and use them to disinfect items. David used a
piece
to disinfect a cutting board. They can also remove stains. If the stain
is
on your cutting board just rub some lemon on it to help remove the
stain,
plus one-half cup in your laundry will help remove stains from your whites.
The
lemon juice will also help to whiten your nails if they become
discolored by
nail polish. If you are feeling under the weather you can also use the
lemon and mix it with honey and hot water to make your throat feel
better.
Finally, lemon will help keep avocados and apples from 'browning' after
they
have been cut. Simply rub a little lemon juice on the fruit to keep it
looking fresh. Lots of tips from a little piece of fruit!
Fixing a Hole in the Wall
Fixing a hole in your sheetrock is a pretty common thing around
most homes. It could be a hole from a doorknob or from a sharp object.
Either way repairing the hole can be an easy process. We stopped by
Parr
Lumber (503-531-7277) to get some
help
from Chris. Chris helped us pick out the items we would need to fix a
small
hole, but even if we didn't have Chris to help us, all the Parr
locations
have easy to follow 'how-to' booklets for customers to use to get the
job
done. For our job we needed a patch kit, some sheetrock mud and a can of
spray texture.
To fix the hole we first sanded down the rough edges of the area
around the hole. We then applied the adhesive patch to cover the hole in
the wall. If the hole had been bigger we may have had to do a lot more
work
to fix the hole, but Chris read our measurements of the hole and knew
that
the patch would work (you can get the same help at your local Parr
store).
Once the patch was in place we applied the mud around the patch to help
cover it up and hide the edges of the patch. We then had to wait until
the
mud dried. Once dried, we sanded the mud to smooth it out, and then
sprayed
the wall with the 'texture' to get it to match with rest of the wall. If
the project looks a little rough or you are not happy with it, you can
simply sand the texture off and try again. When everything is dry you
can
repaint the spot and it should blend in pretty well and your hole is
fixed!
For help with any of your other do-it-yourself projects you can stop by
any
Parr location.
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