Iron is PEEING ON EVERYTHING!

Sounds like you have blenders the way I have sewing machines (up to 10 now). My sister has a breadmaker that gets regular use, and a Wearing blender for smoothies and such. I just use my Magimix 5100 and my Bamix hand held blender for making the things, and bake the bread in the oven. I don't have a yoghurt maker - though I'd quite like one, along with an ice cream maker! My kitchen isn't really big enough to leave them out for regular use, and I don't have the cupboard space to store them.

As for hubbies bringing stuff back for the little wife indoors... Well, my dad got my mum a sewing machine when she asked for one after my bro was born, and a Kenwood Chef when we lived in Malta, that had all the gadgets available for it at the time, and it's still in regular (if now occasional) use. Other than that, his put the practical things on hold and bought romantic stuff for her, like the amythist he picked up in Africa and had a setting designed for it for her (she still wears it: dad, unfortunately, died 23 years ago).

Now me, I just LOVE those 'practical' presents! I get all sorts of wondrous stuff that way - like 34 feet and attachments for the sewing machine, like the sewing machines themselves, and like the deluxe food processor and TOTL hand held blender rather than a cheap & cheerful one! :) Oh, and like my scanner for the pooter, and next time I need a new one, I'm angling for a flat screen for the beast! Or possibye a lap-top for the sewing room... ;D

The Salton yoghurt maker is a vintage item that is rather long and narrow. It holds about six or seven "cups", which come with the machine. Basically it is a incubator that holds the correct temp that keeps the little yoghurt making germies happy. I make it "plain" then everyone can top it off with what they like, such as jam or fresh fruit, and yes even turned into smoothies.

If looking for an ice cream maker, think there was/is a Kenwood attachment for this. Am sure I saw one on eBay once, but it was on the Brit side of the pond. Will have to take a look at my well worn Kenwood mixer book.

Candide

It should still fit...

Lakeland Limited do a nice yoghurt maker: the EasyYo. I'm not quite tempted enough...

I got one after trying the yoghurt my cousin made with it. Dead easy to use and the yoghurt is great.

I do not know how I missed this side thread!! You guys have been busy! I have to add my 3 cents (inflation, ya know!) I was amazed at how many things you all had that you loved that were the same as mine (item, not necessarily brand due to location maybe.) I LOVE my Kitchen Aid mixer, Braun hand mixer, my bread maker (WEst Bend brand, nothing special, but better than a bit fancier one given to me before this one), my White Superlock and my Ford 150 truck. These are my favorite possessions. I like my sewing machine (Kenmore 100 Stitch) and embroidery machine (Brother PE-150V) but I wouldn't mind another as you might have surmised. I can't do without my computer and the Internet. I am absolutely awful about getting lost on the thing. I can travel so many places with it. Someday when I get over my fear of being shot at or bombed, I'll do the real thing. I homeschool my children partly so we'll have the freedom to travel and see/live in other countries while they are still young. However, I am just a bit anxious about it now and will have to just keep looking for the opportunity to seize.

What about a sole plate cover??? I just saw one in a book that recommends it for fabrics that tend to scorch. Would this be a solution? I am looking at ebay for a "dry" iron and what a jungle with all the vintage (I mean REAL vintage, not just teh ones my mama used when I was a child!) irons in the list! Amazing things we humans are to come so far in such a short period of time. I feel so sorry for poor women who had to iron with coals beneath their mitted hand.

If one is using a vintage iron that has a metal sole plate, then a sole plate cover is a must. These are also called "iron shoes" and usually have a Teflon coating. Modern irons have Teflon or something similar/better directly on sole plates. Iron shoes have been around for

Only problem I find with using an ironing shoe, vintage or otherwise is instructions almost always state to turn the iron onto it's highest setting when using. Some irons will get hot enough to heat the plate, others won't, guess it depends upon what one is ironing. Next problem is finding a plate that fits your iron correctly. If it doesn't it just makes the entire exercise that much more difficult.

Soleplates are also supposed to help with allowing the iron to "glide" over material. On some older vintage irons with metal soleplates (non steam), the metal can drag, but housewives used to rub a bit of beeswax (sold for this purpose), on the plate to solve this problem. I find if one cleans the soleplate well with any good modern iron soleplate cleaner the results are just as good. My irons slide quite well, thank you.

Speaking of heavy irons. Have an Naomoto gravity steam iron that weighs about 5 pound or more. One still can find heavy electric "goose" irons that weigh about as much as their predecessors. Supposedly some tailors won't press with anything else, but as these are a dying breed, many manufactures have ceased making those heavy irons.

Why the weight? Well to iron properly pressure must be applied along with heat and moisture. The heavier the iron, the less effort one has to exert by pressing down. Steam was supposed to eliminate the need for heavy irons, but find it is really difficult to get good results on some natural fabrics without a bit of "heft" on the iron.

Oh yes, about eBay. If one is going that route, look for an iron that is new in box. There usually are plenty, and these are best as one does not want a steam iron that has been used with water hard as bricks. You'll never clean all that muck out, and rest assured the darn thing will spit brown gunk. For dry irons, stick to those from about 1950's to 1970's. These heat faster than their older cousins, and are for the most part UL listed which adds a measure of safety.

Final warning: If one is using a vintage iron DO NOT LEAVE IT ON/PLUGGED IN WHEN WEE ONES OR PETS ARE ABOUT. These are heavy and very hot things, one tug on the cord could spell serious injury for maybe death. Am not kidding, this is one of the reasons why irons started to be made lighter, and "cooler". Those comedy sketches of a woman burning a hole through her ironing and perhaps through her ironing board and maybe starting a fire are not fiction. In fact until one gets to "know" the vintage iron in question, best use it at a setting one notch lower than what is being ironed (i.e., if ironing linen, set the iron to cotton), until one sees how "hot" the iron runs. Have actually melted a few Nomex ironing board covers with my vintage Westinghouse iron. Also dropped it once (wobbly ironing board), and while the floor got a huge dent, the iron escaped unscathed and still works like a champ.

Finally, finally, these irons are slow to heat and equally as slow to cool down. So even a good while after being turned off/unplugged the soleplate can remain quite hot. Hot enough to cause nasty burns (trust me, I know and have the marks to prove it), or scorch marks. Oh yes, most of these irons will have fabric/cloth cords. Always inspect any vintage iron to make sure the cloth cord is not frayed and is in good condition. If the cloth is frayed either have it swapped for a new one, or chuck the iron. Vintage irons can pull 1000 to 1300 watts of power, which means pay close head to all those warnings about extension cords, fuses and such. Oh, if using one of these irons for a long period of time on a warm day, you might wish to consider getting a small fan or turning on the air conditioning. *LOL*

Candide (who spent an afternoon ironing linens and shirts with a heavy vintage Westinghouse iron, and has the calluses to prove it)! *LOL*

You don't need any special equipment to make yogurt. A wine bucket and a heating pad will do you fine.

When my kids were babies, I made it in the oven with canning jars. After the oven is turned off, but before it's gone dead cold, just put the jars on a tray and pop into the oven overnight.

I never used a "shoe" or plate on an iron until I got a steam iron. Never saw one, except for the gadgets that were meant to set the iron on between uses, to keep it from being wobbly or burning the cloth on the ironing board. Never used beeswax, either, but we did use wax paper. If the iron begins to drag, especially when using a lot of starch, we'd run the iron over a piece of wax paper and it would glide like ice after that. I still do that with the steam iron sometimes.

I just own two irons. The first iron is my Mum's old black Sunbeam which is about 35 - 40yrs old - it was wedding present to my parents! I got it about maybe 9 years ago, and use it weekly for the laundry. It is a dry iron, has a good high top heat and is a good weight. It's had its power cable replaced several times over the years - which is a thankfully easy task and not something you could do on a modern iron with all the exra plastic covers, moldings and whatnot.

My second iron is only a couple of years old and is a steam iron DH bought for me (at my request I hasten to add!) which lives in the sewing room and I finds makes life much simpler when applying iron on interfacing etc.. The only problem is that its started spotting and weeing...... I MUST give it a clean out and hope that sorts the problem out!

Sarah

We ended up buying a Vitamix and it was worth every penny.

I lucked out and found one that does a quart at a time.

We found that an electric knife works best.

Yup. Heat a couple of quarts of milk to scalding. Stir in a half cup of dried powdered milk, cool to lukewarm. Stir in a half cup of yogurt with live cultures, pour into sterile jars and place in a warm oven over night. Pour off the water, refrigerate.

Kathleen

Now that's impressive! I haven't tried it yet - I need a new kitchen thermometer. Mine got shattered in the drawer.

In my previous house I used a large bowl with a cover and sat it on top of the central heating boiler. In this house the boiler is wall mounted (and that will be replaced a couple of weeks from now with one in a cupboard upstairs!). I'm so short of space in the kitchen here that an extra gadgety thing isn't really an option. I should explore the flask option, and get them in use when they aren't being used for coffee!

It doesn't need to be very warm. A little warmer than body temp is about right. You can warm the oven to 250, then put your jars in and turn the heat off. Leave the door shut overnight (no peeking, it lowers the temp). Or you could find some counter space and set your jars on top of a heating pad.

Homemade yogurt made with whole milk is a wonderful treat, especially with a little vanilla, sugar and fresh strawberries.

Remember to save out a half cup of each batch to use as starter for the next.

Be very clean when you're making yogurt. Basically you're culturing bacteria and where the good ones can grow so can the bad. That's why you scald the milk and sterilize the jars. After you pour the water off homemade yogurt should look and smell like yogurt (maybe a little stronger because you're smelling it warm when store bought yogurt is always cold). If you have any doubts, dump it. I've only had one batch go bad over many years of making yogurt and when I smelled it there was no doubt that something had gone very wrong.

Kathleen