Shopping in your own house [Archive]

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iris lilies

2-2-20, 1:22pm

I have been looking for a replacement crockpot. They’re not hard to find at the thrift stores I just haven’t hit a thrift store At the right time. I missed one a couple months ago. Didn’t get there fast enough. Then yesterday I saw a beautiful one it was red,it was cute, but it was very big. Didn’t want a big one.

So we are in Hermann and I opened a cupboard door and found – you guessed it, a crockpot. Apparently I outfitted this Herman house with a crockpot and forgot about it.I have an Insta pot that stay up on the counter so I see it. I guess an instapot functions as a crockpot as well, right?

Teacher Terry

2-2-20, 2:47pm

IL, that’s funny! When my crockpot died I bought a big one to make my homemade spaghetti and lasagna sauce. Then I make it once and freeze a bunch. Also do stew that way. I have never used a instapot.

sweetana3

2-2-20, 3:04pm

Yes, the IP works as a crockpot. Had a couple of issues with it and so we are really careful making sure it gets to the correct temps. Got rid of our crock pot.

iris lilies

2-2-20, 3:15pm

I have not fully accepted the Insta pot. I regularly cant close the damn lid. I think this may be why it ended ip at the thrift store. After reviewing a You Tube video about how to close the lid and seeing a comment that we have to graduate from M.I.T. to understand how, i was ready to toss it. Again.

But DH showed me where the seal was loose, sigh. So I ran it one more time. It worked, but this Insta Pot is on borrowed time I think.i just want a regular rice cooker.

Tybee

2-2-20, 3:18pm

I love that, shopping in my own house. We had a stereo receiver conk out (it was from a South Carolina garage sale and was from the 70's). We walked into our storage area and there was another receiver, good to go, from the 80's. Up and running in 20 minutes, no shopping involved.

Teacher Terry

2-2-20, 3:24pm

If I am correct a instapot is like a pressure cooker so no thanks to potential accidents.

JaneV2.0

2-2-20, 3:27pm

I haven't used my IP as a crockpot, because I don't like waiting for hours for food to be cooked, but I've read that you should use the "High" setting. I guess low is the "keep warm" mode.

I think you need to "warm up" to your IP. :~)

Mine cooks rice perfectly. As well as an infinite variety of other foods.

I'm not a methodical M.I.T.-type person at all, but my IP and I have bonded to the degree that I'm still using my five year old Lux model, instead of unboxing a newer one I bought on Prime Day. I use it nearly daily, if I cook.

ETA--the chances of an IP accident are infinitesimally low, due to something like eleven safeguards built in, but I normally just fill it and forget it until it beeps anyway. It's not like I stand over it in hungry anticipation.

SteveinMN

2-2-20, 4:00pm

My old pressure cooker had three different systems designed to prevent the apocryphal "blew the chicken into the ceiling" failure. My new one has two. That's still enough for me. I am in my kitchen or within sight of it when I'm pressure cooking something. I have never had a mess or an explosion from my PC and my mother, who has been using a PC for 40 years, hasn't, either. If a person is a little attentive to things that are "off" -- like looking at the sealing ring upon each use and replacing it if it's inflexible or crumbling, or noticing that steam is not being emitted as usual -- using a PC is no more dangerous than a pot on a burner that boils over. You have plenty of time to prevent impending disaster.

Teacher Terry

2-2-20, 4:02pm

Someone I know had a accident. I like with the crockpot you can leave.

JaneV2.0

2-2-20, 4:29pm

I had an old-time pressure cooker. I didn't have a disaster, even when I cooked barley in it, but it was way too fiddly and not versatile. Let's hear it for progress.

I probably wouldn't leave with food cooking in any appliance, but that's just me. It amuses me that of all the kitchen gadgets I have had, I've never considered a crockpot--the closest I came was a Daisy thermostat-controlled Multi-pot that I only used occasionally for frying.

ApatheticNoMore

2-2-20, 4:38pm

Oh I'd definitely get an IP over a crockpot these days. I have neither, yes well I really have few kitchen gadgets.

NewGig

2-2-20, 5:14pm

Hm. I have a waterless cooker, a predecessor of the pressure cooker. I also have a pressure cooker. Got rid of the crockpot when we got the new stove as it has a functioning simmer burner.

I use the simmer burner a fair amount. The waterless cooker and the pressure cooker about once a year, just enough to keep me from culling them.

Teacher Terry

2-2-20, 5:51pm

I have been leaving the crockpot when not home for decades. We have had 25 people for dinner so need a lot of spaghetti sauce. I did it all the time when working.

JaneV2.0

2-2-20, 5:58pm

I bought my IP when the only size available was 6 qt. I generally cook for a platoon. But I recently got a smaller model, so maybe that will encourage some restraint.

iris lilies

2-2-20, 7:19pm

I use the crockpot weekly but I’m not gonna say I’m a huge fan of it. But recently we did cook down a bunch of garden tomatoes and it was painless and in doing so we ended up with very very rich spaghetti sauce that we both remarked on how good and different it was it was from our usual spaghetti sauce that we seldom make because it takes a lot of time.

catherine

2-2-20, 8:45pm

I have two crockpots: A big one that I use for making beef bone broth and soups that both DH and I like, and a small one that I can throw a few veggies and some broth in and make a soup for me.

I am interested in the instant pot, but I hate to buy it if I still have the crockpot. And I only do the cooking <20% of the time, so there's no great need

SteveinMN

2-3-20, 12:08am

razz

2-3-20, 7:52am

When my old pressure cooker went to the scrap heap in the sky (well, recycling bin) I considered an Instant Pot, but only briefly. Keep them in new seals and stovetop pressure cookers can last for decades. Manage not to break the ceramic insert and a slow cooker will go for decades. I am unsure an Instant Pot, with its electronic controls, will last quite that long. But that means I keep track of two devices, not one. That's my choice for now. No issue with anyone who will use every aspect of an Instant Pot; it's just not for me.

That has been my choice as well. I have had a crock pot for years, added a smaller and then a larger pressure cooker. Well stated, Steve. I also use the large pressure cooker as my 4-quart canner which is great.

JaneV2.0

2-3-20, 10:52am

When my old pressure cooker went to the scrap heap in the sky (well, recycling bin) I considered an Instant Pot, but only briefly. Keep them in new seals and stovetop pressure cookers can last for decades. Manage not to break the ceramic insert and a slow cooker will go for decades. I am unsure an Instant Pot, with its electronic controls, will last quite that long. But that means I keep track of two devices, not one. That's my choice for now. No issue with anyone who will use every aspect of an Instant Pot; it's just not for me.

I'm still using my original IP five years in, probably five times a week. Being that it's a modern appliance, it will die sooner or later, but I've got more than my money's worth.

I love an appliance that lasts--I have a 35-year old Krups coffee grinder and a similarly antique West Bend Poppery that I wouldn't give up for anything, but I also wouldn't choose an item merely for durability that doesn't meet my needs. In my experience there's no comparison between my grandmother's pressure cooker and today's electronic models.

iris lilies

2-6-20, 6:20pm

We are ridiculous! See the title of this thread “shopping in your own house,”

Today DH found a rice maker in our attic. It had clearly been used. Now that I see it I have a vague memory of grabbing a rice maker of a specific kind at the thrift store to keep as a backup. During our marriage we’ve gone through 3-4 rice cookers.

so according to my post #4 on this thread from a few days ago I want a rice cooker in Hermann. I shopped my own house and found one.

I wonder what other insane stupid things are ip in that attic? I have been cleaning it out for the past 8 years and I though I knew everything there that was in my jurisdiction ro toss.

Teacher Terry

2-6-20, 7:27pm

I am glad I did my major decluttering when I was younger. I wouldn’t want to face a attic full of stuff now. Hopefully you won’t be moving all that stuff since I think your Herman house is smaller. I know you have a husband with too much junk problem like I do:))

NewGig

2-7-20, 10:44am

I try and use no chemical cleaning solutions, when I can. One of these is a chamois cloth, which I use to wipe off the steam in the bathroom after a shower. It occurred to me this morning that I don't really need another cleaner for the kitchen faucet, I can just cut a piece off the chamois and use that!

iris lilies

2-7-20, 11:15am

NewGig

2-7-20, 11:41am

We have a lot of manganese in our water. Stains and builds up too.

I'm not anal, I just don't like scrubbing!

sweetana3

2-8-20, 7:07pm

Just cut the end off my tape measure last week and have hoped I did not need the full length. While cleaning out my craft closet, I found 3 more. I am so glad I did not go out and buy one.

thinkgreen

2-9-20, 3:10am

Last year my mixing bowl wore out. I had mixed with it until a hole developed in the bottom. It had been my Mother's mixing bowl and I loved its beautiful blue color. I told DH about it and he said he thought there was one in the basement. So down he went and shortly came up with a set of three mixing bowls that also belonged to Mom. Also beautiful and blue. They are pyrex and have a design on them something like Amish or Pioneer types. Thanks Mom!

Tybee

2-9-20, 11:07am

How nice thinkgreen! Sweetana, how many cloth tape measures are you keeping? This is something I am looking at right now, as have bought one at a yard sale and now own my mom's.

iris lilies

2-9-20, 4:30pm

I bought some Firefly jewelry I’ve been coveting for three years. Included in that batch was a bracelet. I have wide wrists. The bracelet fit and it wasn’t tight exactly but it wasn’t easy to clasp either. I thought about returning the bracelet to them and asking them to add two more links for my wide wrist.

Then this morning I was cleaning out a bag of dog supplies and I found small O-rings intended to attach tags to a dog collar. They are too small to be useful for a dog collar which is why I never used them.

but I’ll be damn. They were perfect to extend the length of my new bracelet. OK it’s not beautiful but it’s not perfectly ugly either. I’m not real picky.

This jewelry fix reminds me of a time I was Maid of honor in my friend’s wedding. She had forgotten to bring the new necklace she purchased. But she did have earrings that she didn’t especially like, pearl drop earrings. She was wearing a plain necklace. She wanted a jewel around her neck. So I used thread from a sewing kit someone had there to attach one of the earrings to the necklace. I thought it looked fine. Somebody in the group didn’t recommend she wear it but I think she did end up wearing it.

iris lilies

2-9-20, 7:21pm

3118

see the O rings on the right? Fixes!

SiouxieQ may not comment, haha

sweetana3

2-9-20, 8:22pm

Tybee, keeping all of them.

Tybee

2-10-20, 8:44am

Thanks, I know I need more than one as I have a knitting bag for projects on the go, out of the house.I finally figured out to use a paper clip to keep them together.

NewGig

2-12-20, 5:33pm

I have been on the hunt for something to store tapers. They’re in a brass basket now, but it gets dusty and I want to sell the basket, as I have hardly anything brass anymore. I’d finally decided the only way I was going to find something I wanted for a $ I’d pay was to buy a tabletop planter. I haven’t done it as our current financial position is up in the air, suddenly, and it isn’t food, heat, etc.

But it occurred to me that I have a paper file drawer which will probably fit them! I know it’s empty, because I set it aside for the April flea market. Obviously, I’m not using it otherwise — If it works, they will be put away where they will go permanently. The basket was atop a cabinet, along with other things which I want to change, displace or replace. And, finances permitting, I’ll buy a wire baskets or a planter to store these at some point. I’ve given up the idea of finding something not flammable and closed, all too expensive or ugly!
———

This only sort of worked, the file drawer isn’t long enough. However, I put what fit in and found a way to put the whole batch into a shallow cabinet. So, I’m storing the same stuff, but less visible clutter! Not what I ultimately want, but it will do for now.

Tybee

2-13-20, 10:10am

I just stick tapers and other candles in a kitchen drawer, but this kitchen has a lot of drawers.

NewGig

2-17-20, 6:02pm

DH uses Dr. Bonner's peppermint soap. We dilute it a lot, so only use a little, but of course we do run out now and then. I had it on the shopping list for a few weeks but had an occasion to go into the back of the bathroom cabinet and lo and behold was a diluted bottle AND a brand new one. No new bottle needed for us. Hurrah! Less stuff to buy, less stuff to store, and more using what's already here.

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Part my dehoarding this place is that I decided to finally get organized! To that end I’ve been filing clippings to get rid of the piles of them... I’ve been indexing them, culling them, and taping what I do keep in composition notebooks. I’ve got a bunch of these, but thought I needed more. Started clearing out my office closet and found a stack of them. Hurrah!

in the process, I’ve also culled stickers, a notebook with most of the pages missing, various clippings, magazines, ends of notebook paper, scrapbooking paper, pencils and binders!
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My latest success with this is an herb rack. What I have used in the past is a coat rack attached to one of the kitchen's beams. Works fine, except I have to get up/down a step ladder to access the area 2x a year or more to put up the herbs and take them down. Decided I wanted something which hangs, and maybe can be lowered, so no up and down step ladders for me! Had IDed one at Target, $20 and kept thinking about whether it was really worth it? I researched again today and found an image of what looked like a modified embroidery hoop. I have a bunch of hoops I'm not using at the moment. Decided that instead of buying something now, I'm going to play with the hoops and some heavy duty string and see if I can't construct a rack to use in lieu of the coat rack on the beam!

Gardnr

2-17-20, 7:47pm

I just stick tapers and other candles in a kitchen drawer, but this kitchen has a lot of drawers.

Ditto! I have a small shallow box in the back of drawer and all tapers are there.

mschrisgo2

2-18-20, 1:11am

OMGoodness! I just did this today- moved a stack of dog towels to make room for the grooming tools, and found a brand new bottle of ear wash! Took that off my Amazon order lickers-split!