Is your year off to a good start? Looking back, here are six assorted things I learned in December — some from experience and some from reading blog comments and product packages.
- Grapefruit juice reacts with some medications. (According to Wikipedia, this can cause drug overdose toxicity, which sounds pretty serious!)
2. You can make your own cake flour; just remove one tablespoon from a cup of all-purpose flour and replace with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
3. It’s hard to make icing without an electric mixer. I managed to make a simple buttercream by beating with a wooden spoon, but my meringue buttercream was a flop. (I ended up buying a cheap hand mixer to tide me over, but I’m planning to order a part to repair my Kitchenaid.)
4. I am cursed when it comes to sewing machines. I traded an old machine that frustrated me for a slightly newer model and I thought everything was running smoothly…but when I got it out for my Christmas sewing the thread tension went crazy and I almost started pulling out my hair. I think I need a sewing tutor.
5. Our van can play music from a USB drive. How much easier is this than putting CDs in and out?!
6. Christmas crackers were invented in 1847 by Tom Smith of London, England, who was inspired by sugared almonds wrapped in tissue paper and the sound of a log thrown on a fire.
Are long distance sewing tutors a thing…? If so I volunteer.
I was thinking of you!