So . . . Levin is on a work trip so I decided this would be Pinterest Week. Pinterest is where you "pin" ideas you find online, recipes, etc. I joined maybe a month ago - on his last work trip. Now prepare yourself for my rant.
Today I made homemade french bread, homemade fruit roll ups/fruit by the foot, and semi-homemade body wash.
The french bread turned out good. BUT the recipe was misleading as the "original pinner" said something about it being one hour recipe. Well, I was rushed and had to rush along the rising times because that was A LIE. It was 30 minutes to bake, 30 minutes to rise, but they seem to have left out the time for the first rising in the bowl. OH well, it turned out okay even though I cut the raising time short both times.
Second the fruit roll-ups. They were supposed to be in an oven for 8-10 hours. I went to dinner at a friends (taking my bread) and came home maybe 2 hours later. They were done! Well, at least the edges were crispy, but there was one sticky spot. They don't taste as "chewy" as I'd like and taste a lot like blackberry pie filling. I did raspberries and blueberries (frozen). I need to check the price of frozen fruit again before I fully judge, but I think I may give these one more go - with a berry not as seedy as raspberries, but pretty much, I'm done with this idea.
Third, make your own body wash. It was a BOMB! I mean that in a bad way, not in the, "it's da bomb" kind of cool kid way of speaking. I read on the blog the comments where people tried non-Dove soap to melt and add to hot water and stuck with the original recipe of a Dove bar as it seemed other brands had issues. Luckily I decided to NOT follow the recipe and did a 1/3rd batch so I only wasted one bar of soap instead of 3. Maybe it's because I used a Russian Dove bar, I don't know, but it got all sudsy and boiled over once while I rinsed out the measuring cup and I just cleaned my burners yesterday. As soon as I'd put it back on the heat it'd start bubbling up again - just on low! I still have a few chunks of bar that won't dissolve and my kitchen smells so strongly of soap. Then touching it and rubbing it on my hands it reminds me of when you use a bar of soap that's been sitting in a little water in the tub and it all slimey on the bottom. That might be reason enough of why I use body wash - not to have that slimey bar nastiness. But now I fear I have a whole bottle of body wash that is just slimey bottom-of-the-bar nastiness. Maybe I'll just have to pay the $2 for a little tiny bottle of Palmolive body wash here.
So here is my beef with Pinterest. Since most of the ideas come from people's blogs no one is going to write a comment that says, this stinks, this food is yucky, I don't like it, etc. They'll be like me and just keep it to ourselves because partially we wonder if we are the ones that failed. And when a friend of mine pins an idea that sounds great I just pin it too. But no one tells you no actually this idea stunk because probably they themselves haven't tried it yet. If someone went to my boards right now they'd find a bad idea brownie recipe and think, oh I'll try this. Note to self: go delete it.
Pinterest is like gambling - you win one and you just can't stop going back. I found an AWESOME recipe and it was the first one I tried. Now, I have had more failures than successes I think- chicken pot pie in a slow cooker - disgusta-mundo as we say in our house. But I've had a few successes that keep me going back like an addict.
I guess I can't blame Pinterest because I'm the idiot that keeps going back . . I still want to try making my own dishwasher detergent and maybe laundry detergent since it is so expensive here. . . oh and I'm sure there are a few other recipes I'll try too.
I had some comfort tonight though in thinking this is just part of being a Mom. As my soap concoction was apparently failing I had a memory of my Mom taking all the soap scraps (the little part of the soap at the end that no one uses) and following a money saving idea of melting them all down to make a soft hand soap. This was before body wash was around I think. I remember it didn't work well. Too bad I didn't remember this idea before my attempt, but I probably would have gone ahead anyway because the lady on the blog had such excellent results with hers and I had visions of grandeur. So I've concluded when you're a Mom you try money-saving ideas where you work instead of someone in a factory and this is somehow better for your family health-wise too. And you fail sometimes. Someday maybe Leah will be melting soap and maybe she'll be smarter than me and somehow do it right, or maybe she'll fail too and wonder why did I bother?
Today I made homemade french bread, homemade fruit roll ups/fruit by the foot, and semi-homemade body wash.
The french bread turned out good. BUT the recipe was misleading as the "original pinner" said something about it being one hour recipe. Well, I was rushed and had to rush along the rising times because that was A LIE. It was 30 minutes to bake, 30 minutes to rise, but they seem to have left out the time for the first rising in the bowl. OH well, it turned out okay even though I cut the raising time short both times.
Second the fruit roll-ups. They were supposed to be in an oven for 8-10 hours. I went to dinner at a friends (taking my bread) and came home maybe 2 hours later. They were done! Well, at least the edges were crispy, but there was one sticky spot. They don't taste as "chewy" as I'd like and taste a lot like blackberry pie filling. I did raspberries and blueberries (frozen). I need to check the price of frozen fruit again before I fully judge, but I think I may give these one more go - with a berry not as seedy as raspberries, but pretty much, I'm done with this idea.
Third, make your own body wash. It was a BOMB! I mean that in a bad way, not in the, "it's da bomb" kind of cool kid way of speaking. I read on the blog the comments where people tried non-Dove soap to melt and add to hot water and stuck with the original recipe of a Dove bar as it seemed other brands had issues. Luckily I decided to NOT follow the recipe and did a 1/3rd batch so I only wasted one bar of soap instead of 3. Maybe it's because I used a Russian Dove bar, I don't know, but it got all sudsy and boiled over once while I rinsed out the measuring cup and I just cleaned my burners yesterday. As soon as I'd put it back on the heat it'd start bubbling up again - just on low! I still have a few chunks of bar that won't dissolve and my kitchen smells so strongly of soap. Then touching it and rubbing it on my hands it reminds me of when you use a bar of soap that's been sitting in a little water in the tub and it all slimey on the bottom. That might be reason enough of why I use body wash - not to have that slimey bar nastiness. But now I fear I have a whole bottle of body wash that is just slimey bottom-of-the-bar nastiness. Maybe I'll just have to pay the $2 for a little tiny bottle of Palmolive body wash here.
So here is my beef with Pinterest. Since most of the ideas come from people's blogs no one is going to write a comment that says, this stinks, this food is yucky, I don't like it, etc. They'll be like me and just keep it to ourselves because partially we wonder if we are the ones that failed. And when a friend of mine pins an idea that sounds great I just pin it too. But no one tells you no actually this idea stunk because probably they themselves haven't tried it yet. If someone went to my boards right now they'd find a bad idea brownie recipe and think, oh I'll try this. Note to self: go delete it.
Pinterest is like gambling - you win one and you just can't stop going back. I found an AWESOME recipe and it was the first one I tried. Now, I have had more failures than successes I think- chicken pot pie in a slow cooker - disgusta-mundo as we say in our house. But I've had a few successes that keep me going back like an addict.
I guess I can't blame Pinterest because I'm the idiot that keeps going back . . I still want to try making my own dishwasher detergent and maybe laundry detergent since it is so expensive here. . . oh and I'm sure there are a few other recipes I'll try too.
I had some comfort tonight though in thinking this is just part of being a Mom. As my soap concoction was apparently failing I had a memory of my Mom taking all the soap scraps (the little part of the soap at the end that no one uses) and following a money saving idea of melting them all down to make a soft hand soap. This was before body wash was around I think. I remember it didn't work well. Too bad I didn't remember this idea before my attempt, but I probably would have gone ahead anyway because the lady on the blog had such excellent results with hers and I had visions of grandeur. So I've concluded when you're a Mom you try money-saving ideas where you work instead of someone in a factory and this is somehow better for your family health-wise too. And you fail sometimes. Someday maybe Leah will be melting soap and maybe she'll be smarter than me and somehow do it right, or maybe she'll fail too and wonder why did I bother?
I have the same beef with Pinterest, I wish people could only pin stuff after they have tried it and liked it. Anyway, I hope your next experiment works better.
ReplyDeletesame here! I like pinning ideas to try. Another thing I don't like about Pinterest is you can't control who follows you. I have a TON of creepy people that I don't know following me. sorta scary.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom and Shannon make their own laundry soap and LOVE it....get on her blog and ask her to email ya the recipe. My Aunt does too but doesn't like that it doesnt have a scent so she found online where ya can buy Tide scent drops for about $12 a bottle and it lasted about a year.
ReplyDeleteIt's just part of life-- trying new stuff, failing, succeeding, wondering, "Why did I try?" And we try because if we don't try we'll never learn anything new.
ReplyDeleteYou've gave me courage to keep trying, and in fact, I had a yummy cupcake last weekend that I got the recipe from Pinterest.
DeleteI do make my own laundry soap. It is super easy and very cheap.
ReplyDelete1/3 bar Fels Naptha or Zote (I use Fels)
1/2 c. washing soda (oxi clean)
1/2 c. borax powder
You will need a bucket
Grate soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 c. water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir til dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into a bucket. Then add your soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for 24 hrs and it will gel. Shake it up before each use and use 1/2 c per load.
Thanks! I'm a little nervous about melting anymore soap in a pan after my homemade body wash incident, but I'll think about it.
Delete