De-Pilling Cashmere

For many decades, I had a little battery operated, hand held, lint remover. It used so much battery life and took forever to de-pill an entire sweater, that I used it quite sparingly, and never for more than one sweater. Finding an over-sized, electrical model on Amazon was a game changer!

Last fall, I washed all my cashmere sweaters. I wear them all winter long, and it is inevitable for them to get fuzzies under the armpits and along the sitting area. Before storing them away for the warm weather, I decided to give them a thorough once over with the lint remover.

The best place to do this is on a good ole-fashioned ironing board. It has a nice padded and flat surface and you can stretch the sweater out and move it around to reach all the corners.

Looking at these two photos, you can see how much of a difference shaving this particular sweater made. I had to clean out the waste receptacle twice on each sweater! And here is a helpful hint: if you need to clean out the "blade" compartment, UNPLUG the shaver, and use a toothpick. You do not want to bend the very fragile aluminum blades and wiring that comprise the shaver!

It took a couple of hours, but my reward was a lovely stack of like-new cashmere sweaters! All sitting in my closet, ready for next autumn!

Downsizing "Ideas"

For more years than I care to admit, I have collected subscription magazines on my two favorite ideas: Cross Stitching and Scrapbooking. Last year, after cleaning out my pantry and library, I realized that 1) - I could really use the shelf space that 20 years of magazines take up, and 2) - Getting rid of some things that I thought I would, and even should, keep together, is quite liberating.

This I discovered, when I was given a large bag of needlepoint magazines that had already been taken apart to some degree, and that I had no emotional attachment to.

As I happily tore out page after page of patterns...but only the patterns that I wanted, It occurred to me that I could do the same with my magazines. The sky would not fall...

And so, for the past few months, I have been dismantling. So. Many. Magazines. I gave a lot of the cross stitch magazines to my sister, who tore out her own selection of patterns. And I gave all the partial scrap-book magazines to Goodwill. Someone else can find their own favorite ideas.

Then, I organized my ideas into categories, put them into transparent sleeves, and filed them in lovely, heavy duty binders that I covered with pretty papers with added titles for easy reference. Now, I have two feet of shelf space taken up by reference binders, instead of twelve or fifteen feet of magazines! And my house is at least 75 pounds lighter!

Deviled Eggs

Growing up, we lived for a few wonderful years on a farm in Oregon. We had lots of chickens, and consequently, lots of eggs. Mama made Egg Sandwiches and Deviled Eggs routinely, and none of us ever thought much of it. However, when I grew up and had to make my own Deviled Eggs, I realized how much works goes into it...

The process begins with boiled eggs. Easy? LOL...NOT!! How long do you boil them to get them cooked through, but not get green yolks? My best "guesstimate" is: Cover cold eggs in room temperature water and let them sit until they are no longer cold. Then bring them to a soft but rolling boil, and let them boil for 5 minutes. Pull them off the heat and let them sit for another 10-15 minutes in the hot water.

Now, do your damnedest to peel those suckers without making a mess of the egg whites or breaking the egg apart. Have fun with that. You can try rolling each one around in a glass or tapping it against the sink 100 times, but if an egg is going to be difficult, it is going to be difficult. Period...

Carefully, remove the (hopefully, not green) egg yolk from the white and gently lay the white in a serving receptacle or plastic container that will keep things fresh. Mash the egg yolk as finely as possible and put that in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, a bit of yellow mustard, salt and pepper to taste and mix it up. Then add just a bit of milk to get this yolk filling to the desired consistency.

This will take quite a bit of trial and error and taste testing. But that is what all those broken egg whites are for!

Next, I use a small scoop to fill the "nice" egg whites with the yummy yolk mix. Usually, this all comes out fairly evenly. Also, when I am doing this, people tend to be aware of what I am making and happily

make themselves available for taste test or for ridding you of the unwanted extras, as well as for licking the bowl.

My mom always sprinkled paprika on the finished eggs to "give them a little color".

And, more than anything, just know that if somebody makes you Deviled Eggs, they REALLY love you!