Vintage in the Kitchen: Ice pick

ice pick

kitchen utensil not a climbing tool

Many of the items in my kitchen are vintage. I have always been too parsimonious to replace hand-me-down items with brand-spanking new ones. I AM CHEAP. Now, besides being parsimonious, I realize the antique value, and I am extremely sentimental.  My mother gave me this ice pick when I married in 1966. It was old when she gave it to me. Goodell still makes these, but I am not sure if they are made in the USA. According to the embossed metal, this is Made in USA. Even though some look like this, they are not exactly like it.

Yesterday, I used this to make holes in  a plastic container. My icepick comes in handy at least weekly. In the past I used it on ice. I froze a big pan of ice and chipped away until I had glass-sized pieces. No, I did not have ice trays when I married.

When I was a child, we had a refrigerator that used a huge chunk of ice in the bottom.  Mama could chip off ice for our tea--unsweetened in our household. We may be Southern, but sugar was not part of our iced tea. Most of my life, my mother or I or Daddy chipped up ice for cooling drinks. We froze ice in a loaf pan and then reduced it in a bowl in the sink, chipping away until it was just the right size.

Notice the design, how hand-friendly it is. Many ice picks now are straight, not fitting the contours of a hand. I can only imagine how the design hurts the hand that has to expend great force in the task of ice chipping.

When I was 14, I made formula for my baby brother from Pet Milk. I used the ice pick to make two holes, one on each side of the top in order to pour the milk. That memory is vivid because, although I did not mind making formula, I hated the smell of Pet Milk.

Your turn

Did you ever have a refrigerator that used a chunk of ice for cooling? Do you have an icepick? Old or new? What is your opinion of ice picks?

Flipping Fancy: Hen Gyno

No gyno pictures!

Sunday, 5 pm
I just finished putting Fancy in a bath. She complained about being picked up....right during her dinner! She flapped and squawked when I tried to turn her up to see her vent. There is nothing hanging out. So far, no prolapse. But, after I bathed her, actually soaked her I could see  better. The vent is quite evident. There was something fleshy that I could see inside. The vent is round, opened with something inside that is flesh I poked it and it is quite solid. So, I shoved my finger in farther. I don't know if that was a prolapse or not.

Hen gyno exam is not as gross as I thought. It was all  just pink flesh, just like any other flesh. Later, after another brief soak I looked and the vent was closed but pulsing. I could see that whatever was causing it to be open was now receded after my pushing on it. I put my finger all the way in again, and YES, I do have rubber gloves that I just bought yesterday. Otherwise, I would have had nothing. And, this would not have happened.

If I had possessed three hands, I would have taken pictures. I used an aluminum pan that I carry vegetables in for Fancy's bath. It is used for food and will be again. It is not for prepared food, just to hold apples before I cut them up, etc. Just because it is aluminum is one reason that I never put prepared food in it. Now, I have a second reason. It will be disinfected to the best of my ability.

Hens don't like to be flipped. She squawked and flapped. They especially don't like to be set into water that may have been too hot. No, she as right-side-up when she was placed into the bath. She tried her best to escape, gripping the side of the pan., clawing and squawking and flapping. But, she relaxed under my iron grip.

Fancy, "SIGH..."

The residue poop is not gone from feathers. It is gone from feathers near the vent. I used an old pair of pants, gotten from my rag bag to wipe Her Poopiness. As I had her upside down, she held her head up like she was trying to look off to the side. If I relaxed my heavy-hand position, she made a bid for freedom and uprightness.

She would have been easier to contain if I had not been careful about grabbing her just anywhere. But, I did not want to break a wing or injure her as she fought and flapped and kicked and clawed. Once I had to let go and stick a finger in her, she seemed okay.

One problem I had was the water should have been a bit deeper. Since I could not carry enough in the pan, I had to keep a heavy hand on her behind to get her vent in water. I almost fell coming down the back steps, so I didn't need to go back one more time for another gallon. And, I had no helper. Everyone was busy, did not answer the phone, or just did not care to discuss the matter. The neighbor with a chicken did not answer the door! One friend called a guy who had a layer house and said this happens to all animals. Sometimes they live. If a person has 80,000 hens cooped up, does he really care?

5:30 pm, Sunday
I got a feeder and waterer up in the cage--make do, of course. She is partaking of my offerings- water and raw oats. I will cook some oats in a bit.


When I held her in the water, she had her mouth open, panting. I am hoping it was the extra-warm water or stress. But, she made a clicking noise when she panted. I could feel it in her body, too. Now, she is neither clicking nor panting.

However, she is straining even now, it appears. But, this is not all the time. i am standing near her cage, watching her. The way she is standing, her tail is down and there is a huge area that is bowed up/rising/bumped up. In other words, she does not have the relative smoothness from neck to tail. The midway between neck and tail is a marked "valley" when the lower part of the back that  is bumped up and her "shoulders." I say she is straining since the part rises and falls like a muscle being flexed and relaxed. She is very quiet, cannot see me, and is relatively still. She does not appear to be in distress.

Oh, I have never flipped a chicken before, but it appeared that the area between her legs was more "there" than it should be. It seems to be huge, from leg to leg, which would account for the splayed/spraddle-legged walk. I felt the area and sort of squeezed it. She did not react. But, it appears this is the area that is the problem.

I took a little plastic dish from food and put two holes with the icepick. Then, put two heavy twist ties in the holes and twisted once. Inside the house pen, I twisted several times around the wall wires.

water and oats

And, at the other end of the pen is Fancy.

                                                     7 pm, dark, and she still stands

I called Charlie just to talk and see how he was managing with his shoulder surgery. He started screaming to buy a new chicken for that amount of money. He has no soul. I yelled at him and told him I was not even considering spending that kind of money, that he could at least say it was too bad. 

Exbf just listened and hung up. I did not want money, just to talk! I think I hate people.

At least Fancy seemed content once she was inside in the cage where she spent the first few months of her life and later spent 14 months in safety until their outdoor pen was fortified.

It seems strange, but Pepper made her first overture to me the day Fancy first seemed lethargic. She came and talked to me like Fancy does.  Rarely do Thelma and Louise talk to me. Well, Louise did come and talk to me, but she complained about Pepper.

For how this all started and today's first post read this.

Wonder if it hurts Fancy to sit?

Parsimonious Dinner; Pistachios; Fancy Sick

chicken,broccoli, sweet potatoes

My dinner cost me about $1.25. There is nowhere I can get this quality that cheaply. Okay, I did pay lots for broccoli, but exbf and I were craving fresh broccoli. We ate four meals for $5. This is only about 1/3 of a breast, plenty for me tonight. He and I ate this on Wednesday night. I made him a Tupperware divided dinner plate to take to work. I ate my helping of chicken/sweet potato/broccoli on Saturday night.

How is this parsimonious eating? The broccoli certainly doesn't live up to that description. The chicken breasts are the most expensive pieces of chicken. However, I found it on sale for $1.59/lb. and got another 5% off on Senior Day, making the chicken $1.51/lb. He had two pieces that were larger than my two pieces just because I was not craving chicken, so I did not indulge in a larger portion.

As for the sweet potato, I was given about 8 sweet potatoes that were not quite up to par. Actually, I was not sure most were salvageable. I spent lots of time cutting off really undesirable places on the sweet potatoes, peeling them, and slicing them. The labor I put into them hurt both hands, left shoulder, and back! Then, they went into a casserole in the same oven with the chicken.

The chicken had salt, pepper, red pepper I dehydrated, and Italian dried seasoning. The sweet potatoes had nothing added during cooking or on our plates. Broccoli was steamed in the microwave with no added seasoning on our plates. 

Besides cooking sweet potatoes and chicken in the same oven, I cooked six chicken breasts and have  been eating those for lunches and dinners.

Pistachios

Before dinner, I stuffed myself on pistachios, shelling them fast as I could. Inexplicably, for years I have declared I did not like pistachios. They are delicious. It is pistachio ice cream that I don't like. After dinner, several hours later, I had a piece of fudge the size of a pair of dice, maybe smaller.

I was given four pounds of pistachios. At the store, they are priced $7.98/lb.....in the shell.  That is a $32 value. Since nuts should be a part of our diet, in my opinion, between these and my shelled pecans, I am set.

Fancy

unnaturally wide stance for her on Saturday

On Friday, Fancy seemed lethargic. I chalked it up to her being a hen. It happens sometimes with them. She had lots of wind on her on Thursday and Friday, so I thought maybe she had a cold or something. Saturday, she was just standing when it was time to go to bed. Her legs were spraddled. She walked like there was something stuck halfway in and halfway out. Her backside, thigh to thigh was wider than Thelma's or Louise's backside. And, both those girls are twice her weight. sigh....

Stop here if you are squeamish!

Once I finally got her in the pen and closed the door, it was easy to catch her, not that she put up much of a fuss. Usually, she does not run from me. She was facing me when I grabbed her and tipped her bottom up. There was something hanging from her bottom, coming out but not coming out. I don't know if I squeezed it out or if it were hanging there all along.

It was dusk on a Saturday night. I could not manage a warm bath for her bottom by myself. Vets would probably not be available. It would freeze her tonight because it is so cold. Her indoor cage was not prepared. And, I was not willing to have her flopping and splashing nasty, ill-looking poop all over. If she is dead on Sunday morning, I will be so horrified.

Now, I feel like I made a very ill-informed, self-serving decision. Look at her picture. Can you see how unnaturally far apart her feet and legs are? She looks swollen from the front too. She may be in pain. 

This is me going out at 3 am to check on her in the pen. If she is dead in the Rubbermaid box, I will be wailing.

Pepper is on top.
Louise is to the front and looking left. It is still night out here!
Fancy is in the middle, sort of to the right. Pet my sick head. I did as she came closer to talk to me.
Thelma is in the back. What? I am trying to sleep if you don't mind!

All seems to be well. Goodnight. This should have been three posts instead of one long one.

Your turn
Any free salvaged fruits or vegetables out there? Do you sometimes want less meat at some meals? Raise your hand if you like pistachios. Have you had any chicken troubles like this? Have you seen one standing with feet so wide apart?

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag

Love at first sight!

At the super yard sale last fall, I got a few more shopping bags for a price that suited my parsimony. That means they had to be cheap, useful, and pretty if possible. I fell in love with this bag as I dug it out of the box. You know that the first thing I do is stick my nose/face in a bag to see if it has odor. No odor! And, it is not for grocery shopping.

Several months later, I unearthed this from my treasures and showed it to exbf. I asked him to examine it and tell me what he thought I paid for it. He looked it over and guessed--$5.00.  I was surprised he would think I would pay that.

I showed him the LC on the flap and asked him if he knew what it meant. He was baffled. Unlike the majority of us women, he had not a clue, not one. Liz Claiborne is just something he thinks he has heard of in the past. I am not into brands, and obviously he is completely oblivious.

You want to know what I paid? He was shocked it was soooo inexpensive.

 $0.50. Two quarters. Four bits.

Yes, two quarters for a heavy canvas, colorful bag that smells of nothing and was not dirty at all. It is 18" long x 9.5 " deep x 13 " tall. There is a zipper on the top and on each of the end pouches. The pouches on the ends are the height and width of the bag and one inch deep.  A long, snapped  pouch is across the back and there are three pouches on the front, one with a snap under the flap.

A weekend's worth of clothing would fit in this bag, including extra shoes and toiletries. Cool! Doesn't it look like Spring? Easter?

Your turn

These are just my colors, especially the happy pink and yellow. Do you ever get all silly-happy when you find something special? What have you found cheap lately? What have you found cheap that you want to crow about?  

How the Onion Slices/Salvages

I just cannot resist salvaging food. Why should I not save money and use all that comes my way? Four onions from the chicken food will be totally used. I started cutting before I remembered I wanted to take a picture. Actually, I could not afford an onion I wanted for yesterday's dinner!

How the onion slices
*In the bowl at top left is what I am keeping of two onions already cut. Will these onion tops be good flavoring? I have never used onion tops from this type onion.
*Clockwise is part of the scraps. I will freeze it for homemade bug spray later on.
*On the saucer are two tops that might sprout or make more onions. The parsimonious dork in me wants to know. When I get a chance, I may put them in soil. What do you think will happen?
*One whole onion remains to be cut.
*At the very bottom left is a partially disassembled onion.

Wednesday, I had no onions left from the five pounds of Vidalias I dehydrated last fall, free Vidalias, if you recall. The chicken that I wanted to season with onions was delicious with salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning (flakes), dehydrated-by-me red, sweet pepper, and a fresh celery stalk. Now, my supply is restocked somewhat.

I read that onions are not good if they have sprouted. Someone should have told me this earlier in my life because since I have cut onions at home with Mama, I just slice around the green part, discard it and use the rest of the onion. This is my first time using onion tops other than green onion tops. Charlie disagrees that sprouted onions are bad onions. Like he said, you just don't eat rotten onions.

The onions await prep for the dehydrator.

Your turn
Do you discard onions in the condition these are in? Do you eat the tops from this type onion? What are my chances of these onion tops growing?

February Flowers

I love this shade azalea.

Daffodils are all over my yard.

Vinca grows profusely, just not where I want.

forsythia or yellow bells

Azalea are six weeks early this year. We have festivals in the South, Dogwood Festivals, that are based on the timing of azalea blossoms. The daffodils have been in bloom for two weeks, at least. Vinca, also, does not bloom this early usually and has been in bloom for several weeks. The forsythia is over my head and spindly, so it really needs to be pruned this year.

This is my second post today. So, don't miss my Atlanta post just preceding this.

Going to Atlanta

This is not about a frugal trip to Hotlanta, going to Underground, or any of the other joys I have ever experienced in Georgia. Nope, my tale is a different kind of parsimonious/silly joy.

About twelve years ago I had to go to Atlanta for a week of training for a new job.  I was so exhausted after the sessions that all I wanted to do was go to my room. The young people hit the lounge area, buying expensive drinks and food. I think I stayed at the Hyatt, not sure.

On the second night everyone was broke. I got wind of the hotel van taking a group to the grocery store and threw up my hand. I got aboard, becoming claustrophobic because of the tight fit and anxious because of my control issues.
Everyone on the bus was in high spirits, so it was sort of fun. No, it was not fun, just not as horrible as it could have been. At the grocery store we all spilled out and hurried  into the store, each person or group with their own mission AND a deadline from the van driver. Then, we all gathered at the counter at about the same time to pay for our purchases. All the young people gasped at my purchase. If I had been less self-assured, I would have cried after their remarks. Maybe I would have yelled at them. Or, treated them like the idiots they could have been mistaken for.

Is that what you are getting?
Why did you get that?
What are you going to do with it?
Then, there was giggling and eye-rolling. They exchanged knowing glances and puzzled ones. You have to understand, they were half-lit anyway.

I am going to eat it.
More laughter. "Without cooking it?

Of course I am going to cook it before I eat it!
Lots of murmuring behind hands occurred.

How?!
The same way I always cook it!

Tonight? You are cooking rice in your room?
No, I just cannot find this in Alabama! I am taking it home because this is the closest place to buy it.

People looked sideways at each other. People rolled their eyes. Some giggled into their hands. I was tolerated for favoring to buy food, real food, good food instead of alcohol.

My fellow passengers were training for a different job than I, but they saw the benefit of keeping lots of booze in the motel room. Some had spent $100 on drinking and treating others the first night.

All I wanted was some Uncle Ben's Brown Rice because I could not find it any closer to my home in north Alabama! And, I had five of the two-pound bags. I am soooo cool that way!

I love Uncle Ben's Brown Rice. At that time, I could go to Mobile, AL; Nashville, TN; Memphis, TN; Jackson, MS; or Atlanta, GA to buy rice. I live in the center of those places. So, going to Atlanta and getting paid the federal government rate for mileage and being hauled around in a free van seemed like the ideal time to buy my rice.

Many times when I cook rice, I chuckle at the younger people's dismay at a person wanting food not booze.

Okay, there was not really a strong point to the story. It just always makes me smile.

Your turn
Tell me a funny story. Got a comment on this story I told you? Do you ever find yourself temporarily in the company of people who just don't get it? Are you easily embarrassed?