What Kind of Cheese Did Thomas Edison Eat? And what was it wrapped in anyway? February 8, 2010
Saturday Shopping--the Durham Farmer's Market, Stone Brother's and Whole Foods
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas A. Edison
This past week has been an up and down journey in my quest to live without disposable plastic. It seems my job is to figure out how to do this and have a normal life as well. In short, I want to do this without letting it rule my life. Meanwhile, there are books to read, movies to see, walks to take and friends to visit and laugh with, and if I am honest–way too many dishes to wash. More on that later.
I have not been on the road, or in a school this week, so I have had the time to shop and cook. Even so, some days are frustrating. Below is a list of my week’s successes:
Making yogurt was easy with a hot pad and a meat thermometer! (I will tell how at the end of this post)
All toothpaste made by Tom’s of Maine comes in aluminum tubes. All but the top is recyclable!
You can make your own brown sugar (yes, the bought stuff is all packaged in plastic) by adding 1 tablespoon of molasses to 1 cup of sugar.
In the same vein–powdered sugar can be made by adding cornstarch to white sugar and putting it in a blender. This I have not tried as I don’t know yet how cornstarch is packaged.
My Arm and Hammer unscented clothing detergent works very well for washing dishes–now really–who would have thought…..
I made excellent chocolate chip cookies by chopping up a bar of Swiss Chocolate from Trader Joe’s.
My special thanks this week goes to Portia McKnight of Chapel Hill Creamery who cheerfully wrapped some of their excellent Hickory Grove cheese for me in wax paper. All it took was a phone call, and it was waiting for me at my local Saturday’s farmers market.
As I said in my last post, I am only just beginning to realize how inundated with plastic we are. Interestingly, many problems, which have seemed overwhelming at first, have been solved relatively easily. And once solved, the answers have often been, so clear, so upfront, and it often seems, already known by many others, that I keep saying now, why did not I already know or do that already. Tom’s Toothpaste in aluminum tubes, or making my own brown sugar are two examples.
Again–I keep getting surprising clues and affirmations. While waiting for Crazy Heart to begin at the Carolina Theatre on Saturday night, I began talking with a friend whom I had not seen in many years. Upon hearing what I was doing she told me that she and her husband Bob had been working hard not to store any of their food in plastic for several years. This after hearing a program on the Peoples Pharmacy about Bisphenol-A. She thought she remembered that Joe and Terry Gradeon do not buy any food packaged in plastic. Who knew… Here is the link that she sent me–http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2008/04/13/how-hazardous-a/ Thanks Nan.
So in the sprit of Thomas Edison, I am continuing my investigation into this world of plastic. I have listed my recent success, which at one time seemed like huge obstacles, or at least irritating bumps in the road. I am leaving to do a residency in Jones County in a few days. The owner of the B&B where I will be staying assures me that she will not be giving me any water in plastic bottles. All this to say, that I am happy to find the world an accommodating place, as long as I remember to ask. Right now, I am off to try some Hickory Grove Cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery . Portia says it makes a terrific grilled cheese–I am so ready.
YOGURT MADE EASY (Or yogurt with a heating pad)
Heat 1 pint (2 cups) of milk to 180-190 degrees. If you do not have a thermometer–this is when the milk starts to steam and tiny bubbles begin to form. Let milk cool to around 115-120 degrees. The milk will seem very warm to hot. Stir in one tablespoon of live yogurt–either from your last batch or borrowed from a neighbor.
Put this mixture in a clean warm glass container, wrap in a towel and place on a heating pad turned to low or in an oven with a pilot light. Ignore all day, or for at least 4 hours and then voila–you have yogurt. I have done this twice, once with whole milk and once with 2 %. It was delicious both times. Also, I put this off and put this off, but it is VERY easy. I like a recipe that you can ignore most of the day–
recipe extrapolated from THE CURIOUS COOK by Harold McGee
I currently use Clabber Girl Cornstarch. It comes in a cardboard can that has a plasticized label, metal bottom and plastic lid. None of this is recycled in my area. I don’t use it very often so a can lasts a year.
I have made powdered sugar with white sugar and cornstarch. It does work and it is messy. As I rarely make anything that needs frosting I do make powdered sugar when needed.
We have been using Tom’s toothpaste for years and do recycle the tube.
Thanks, I will look for Clabber Girl Cornstarch. I made some Mexican Wedding cookies during the holidays, which were great–so I began to wonder about powdered sugar.
The box of cornstarch I have (Argo) is cardboard with a waxed paper-type inner lining. But I somehow ended up with two boxes of cornstarch which I use a tablespoon at a time, so I haven’t had to buy a box in, literally, years, and don’t know if that’s still the case.