Why'd Ya Buy That?

Here's the second installment of 'Why'd Ya Buy That?' Bye bye Windex. No need to spend $3 or more for window cleaner......

But first, a wee update on my surgery. Thank you all so much for your prayers and well wishes. It went just fine. My uterus has had a good overhauling. I'll spare you all the sordid details.

Here's me in pre-op. They had the most wonderful contraption in there! I had this gown on that had these ports in it, and they hooked me up to a hot air blower. Oh my. I'm going to have to make one of these. I figured if I can get an old bonnet hairdryer at Goodwill, I'll be in business.

The anesthesiologist looked just like Mario Lopez. I was mortified when I woke up wearing a pair of disposable panties. I did NOT have these panties on before surgery. Who in the world wrangled these panties on my ginormous gelatinous hiney whilst I was unconscious?? I hope it wasn't Mario. Please, for the love of God, don't let it have been Mario.

Back to the Windex......

Let's talk about cleaners for a minute......do you know you are mainly buying water? Now, I'll admit it, I'm a cleaning product junkie. In fact, a dear friend of mine once gave me some of the new Clorox 'green' cleaning product as part of my birthday present. I was thrilled. I love to clean, I love to smell cleaners, and I like product. I've been making my own window cleaner for some time now, and I love it. I just saved an old Windex bottle and refill it.

Here's the formula: 45% rubbing alcohol, 45% water and 10% ammonia.

After measuring those amounts one time, I drew a little line on the side of the bottle, so that I know how far to fill it with each component without having to measure each time. I know! I'm smart, right?

I have this fantasy....it goes like this:

I open up the sink cabinet where my cleaners are stored, and out shines a ray of sunlight, and little birds fly out and give me a fresh SOS pad and the scent of lemon and rosemary fills the kitchen as I bend down and smile, removing the SOS pad from the bird's beak. All is beautiful, fresh and yellow.

Sigh.

But this is the truth.....

Ugh. It's my nightmare. I can't keep it straight to save my soul. It's almost as embarrassing as the disposable panties incident.

Why'd Ya Buy That?

I think I have a little food blogger on my hands. Aaron is always grabbing the camera, taking pictures of his food. I love it. When I put his breakfast on the table the other morning, he disappeared and came back with the camera. I like seeing things through his eyes. He took all the pics in this post.

While we were eating breakfast, he looked at me and said, 'Marmie, you getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me." I laughed and asked him why. He replied, 'Cause your here'. Sigh. I love it. I think it was the bacon talking, or perhaps the homemade syrup.

I want to start a regular feature here, called 'Why'd Ya Buy That?' You'll be learning how to make your own cleaning products, soap, cheese, yogurt, etc.

Today, I'll give you the recipe I use to make my own syrup. It's so cheap and easy, and I think it tastes better than store bought. First...let's compare ingredients and costs, shall we?

Mrs. Buttersworth:

I have a secret to tell you first. I've always wanted to bite the tips of her fingers off and suck the syrup out. There, I've said it. That's been weighing heavy on my heart.

Ingredients for Mrs. Buttersworth:

High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, cellulose gum, molasses, potassium sorbate, sodium hexametphosphate, citric acid, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors.

Ingredients for mine: Sugar, Brown Sugar, Corn Syrup, Water, Vanilla Extract, Maple Extract.

Now, let's compare costs:

Mrs. Buttersworth: $3.79 for 24 oz (not on sale)

My syrup: $1.12 for 40 oz.

Well?

Here is the recipe......

2 cups of white sugar

2 cups of brown sugar

1/2 cup of corn syrup

4 cups of water

1 t. vanilla extract (I only use the real stuff)

1 T. maple extract

Mix everything together, except the extracts and gently simmer for about an hour. Take off of heat (it will thicken some when cool) and add extracts.

I store mine in canning jars. You could save an old syrup bottle.

I sure hope you'll make this, and enjoy it. There are other recipes online that you can toy around with. Some include butter, others make smaller batches.

Til next time....