From the Kitchen....

Remember when Ritz crackers used to be in wax paper sleeves instead of plastic like they are now? So were graham crackers. I miss that wax paper. You could just twist it up to close the package and slap them back in the box, but plastic really doesn't twist, so you have to find a bag or something to put them in so they don't go stale. It's a little thing but it bugs me.

Also, in the vein of "doing away with the shit that makes me crazy", I finally ditched my gross never-to-be-really-clean-again muffin tin and bought individual silicone muffin cups. They should be a lot easier to clean and when I make 6 popovers I'll only have to clean six muffin cups instead of a 12 cup tin that makes me feel like a failure. I need to bake something in them and try them out because another brand of silicone ovenware I have gets this terrible chemical smell when you put it in the oven... and that makes me wonder if the chemicals leached into whatever I baked and THAT really takes some enjoyment out of eating baked goods. I see muffins in my future tonight- you know, to test it out....

Speaking of weird chemical smells, I bought some jeans the other day and they REEK of chemicals. According to the internets, cheap denim is often treated with formaldehyde and pesticides that just stays in the fabric and it is GROSS. So far I've tried washing them with baking soda, borax, and vinegar, sprayed them with Febreze between washes, and finally I soaked them in ammonia in the washer for 2 hours before I washed them again. It is getting better, and I expect with a couple more trips through the washer it will be gone. I really can't stand that sort of burning rubber chemical smell, it gets in everything. My old standby, Old Navy, has changed their fit on women's jeans. They used to be perfect and now they are way too low in the back and the thigh is all wrong and the waist to hip ratio has changed. I've been wearing their jeans for 7 years, so it was a dark day when I pulled on my freshly ordered jeans and found out about this. The new jeans I bought were Avenue, and they fit great. They have a bunch of different silhouettes- my favorite is "City Flair" (and I'd give you a link but they aren't on the website- odd). The only concern I have (besides the odor) is that they are 2% spandex. I ususally like 1% because it doesn't stretch out so fast. I bought them in the darker washes, and this is where the formaldehyde problem comes in - most dark washes have this smell. I don't think this is isolated to cheaper brands either- the expensive jeans at Lane Bryant and Levis smell like that too- that's why I avoided buying them. But I am determined that I can make these wearable.

Time to go bake!