CHILLY PAD COOLING TOWEL

This isn't a paid review or a compensated free product, I just feel like I should blog about something that has worked for me that might work for others.

Original Cooling Towel

Not sure if I had ever heard of this before our friend "D" told us about it.  She bought one for her son to use when he was mowing and she said he raved about it so much that she bought one for herself.  We were at Bed Bath and Beyond recently and they had them on end of Summer clearance.  After chuckling for a moment at an 'end of Summer' sale as my hands left a layer of skin on the steering wheel, I decided to buy one and try it out.  

Frogg Toggs Cooling Towell

It works SO well.  When you first open it, it's soft and flexible.  You get it wet, wring it out just a bit and while it still holds an abnormally large amount of water, it doesn't drip.  That's the method it uses to cool you, as it evaporates it creates the cooling effect.  It's kind of rubbery, definitely an odd feeling 'fabric'.  I've worn it while mowing and while working in the garden and it doesn't get your clothing very wet either.  I say "very" because if you put a lot of water in it, there will be some dripping.  The nice thing is if you have a bit of a breeze, it's really cooling.  Even after a couple of hours on the mower, it was still cooling me down.  One warning...you better wash it and fold it into the shape/size you want because when it dries, it's as stiff as a board.  You know how a chamois gets hard when it's dry?  It's just like that.  

We only got one, this color is called "Hi Visibility Green" but I've got another one on order so we'll each have one, or at least have a backup.  Of course, they also sell them on Amazon (is everything available at Amazon? ha)  Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towel is the link.  They are available in several colors and other sizes, though we like this large size, this one is 33"x13".

4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5

TOLL HOUSE ANNIVERSARY TIN

I stumbled across this at the grocery store yesterday and just couldn't resist.  It's a commemorative tin that celebrates the 75th Anniversary of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips.  We needed some chocolate chips for cookies anyway.

Nestle Toll House 75th Anniversary Tin

I figured it would have one bag in it, but when we opened it, it has a regular sized 12 oz bag and then, bonus, another half size bag.  If that weren't good enough, there's a coupon for $1.50 off of any future Toll House purchase!

The tin, at our local HEB grocery store, was just about $4.00  Not bad for all you get and when you take the packages out, you get a really cool metal container.  The tin has a vintage look that will look really nice on one of the kitchen shelves at the farm.  We can even keep a few bags of chocolate chips in it! 

Toll House Anniversary Package

So if you need chocolate chips this season (and really, who doesn't when cookie baking time comes) and you want a pretty good deal, you might check this out.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE

CANDLE SCONCES FOR THE WALL

Here is something really cool we discovered recently on Etsy.  They are called Freestyle Candle Sconces, by FreeStyle Works shop.

You know our love of all things candle related, and especially wall sconces.  Well this a modern take on the traditional wall mounted candles.  AND it has the bonus aspect of ''easy on/easy off' with no marks on the wall.  This means you are free to put them anywhere, anytime, making changing your decor on a whim by putting the candles somewhere else is simple.  

Wall sconces for candles

They go up easily, using the 3M Command Strips (genius).  This makes them tool free and more importantly, hole in the wall free, which is good for those renting or living somewhere temporarily.  The Command Strips come pre-attached to the backs of the holders so all you have to do is peel and stick.

We really liked the simplicity of them.  Made of a curve of wood in oak, pine, and walnut, each glass candle holder is held in place by a copper metal ring.  They are also lightweight with no worry of them coming off the wall.  

We've had ours up for a couple of weeks and even with the temperature fluctuations in the house during the day and night, there is no change in them, they aren't loose, they are as sturdy as when we put them up.  Best of all, they look so pretty with the warm glow of candles.  

Wooden Candle Sconces for the wall

As soon as we get some more wall art up, we will buy a few more of these and scatter them around the walls.

Check out their shop, CLICK HERE.

RECAP FOR CANNING JARS, WONDERFUL NEW PRODUCT

reCAP lids

Here is a great new product I recently discovered.

They are called "reCAP Mason Jars".

It's a wonderful invention that I didn't realize how much I'd use until we had them.  I got two, they are made in two different sizes, one for the standard size opening of a jar and one for the wide mouth opening.

reCAP lids on jars

We are experimenting with making our own salad dressings in a jar.  It's a great way to just put our ingredients in and then screw on a standard lid and ring and shake it up.  Nothing wrong there, but then when you unscrew that ring and pop off the lid, it's a mess to pour.  This eliminates that.

Here is a batch of mason jar dressing we made up for dinner.

It's our "Farmhouse Vinaigrette".

reCAP jar dressing before mixing

First I put in the olive oil, then some red wine vinegar, and then a batch of seasonings and screwed on the reCAP lid.

reCAP jar dressing after shaking

Snap the flip top down (I kept my thumb on it just to be safe) and then I shook it up for about 30 seconds.  Voila!  Homemade dressing.

Then came the fun part, pouring it out.

I flipped up the top and poured the dressing onto the salad.  It came out smoothly and cleanly.  Best of all?  When I was done, I snapped the flip top down and put it in the fridge for storage.  No mess, no fuss, no leaks.  It's ready for the next salad and all I'll have to do is shake it up and pour it out.

These jar lids are made of BPA-free, recyclable plastic and replicate the vintage  look of the American zinc cap.  They are top rack dishwasher safe, though they recommend hand washing.  Oh, and they can even turn your favorite canning jar into a beverage container (i.e. an adult sippy cup!).

Please visit the reCAP website HERE for more information, or, they have an Amazon storefront that you can visit at: reCAP Amazon Storefront.

This is my own independent review, not done in exchange for product.  It's just something I found that is very useful and thought I'd share.

NEW REYNOLDS WRAP PAN LINING PAPER

Reynolds Pan Lining Paper

Have you seen this new stuff?  We love it!  I recently blogged HERE about how we used foil and parchment to do this very same thing.  We saw this recently and thought it was pretty smart of Reynolds to combine the two. 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT REYNOLDS PAGE ABOUT IT

The purpose of this new product is to give you two sides.  The foil side that lets you "shape" it to the pan/dish you are using and remove it easily, and the parchment side that gives you non stick, and added strength to make it scoopable without tearing.  Best of all, when you're done, you just pull it out, throw it away and you should be left with a clean dish/pan.  Even if some leaked out, cleanup should be a lot easier because most has been contained.

If we had a negative about it, I would say it's the size...we wished it was just a bit wider.  Seems most of our baking sheets are a bit larger and this needs to be a couple inches bigger to fit most anything you would have in your kitchen.  But for casserole dishes, lasagna pans, average size cookie sheets, etc, it's awesome.  I'm not sold on it working for all types of baking though.  I can see it perhaps curing up on the edges, if you had a larger baking sheet.  I think this is best used for "messy" dishes, such as casseroles, to make for easy cleanup.

We still keep a roll of parchment on hand, and a roll of heavy strength foil, but this has certainly found a new space in our pantry and we'll use it often.  We'll keep you posted if anything changes or we find a new use for it.  It will be an experiment in progress.

Try it, you just might like it!

EcoSMART ORGANIC BUG SPRAY - GREEN LIVING

Green Farm Living

EcoSMART Ant and Roach Killer

We stumbled across this a few weeks ago while shopping.  We figured it was good to have something under the sink at the farm in case we ran across a bug of some sort.  It IS a farm after all, ha.

Side note:  I'm not the type to just kill all bugs.  I've been known to trap a spider in a cup and release it outside.  Many spiders can actually be beneficial.  But roaches, ants, and other things like that, yeah, they pretty much need to go.  So we got some bug spray.
 
Wanting to start this farmhouse from as green a standpoint as possible, we saw this and decided to give it a try.  Oh my gosh, we LOVE this stuff.  We encountered a roach, one of those big flying kinds
(by the way, if you don't have those wherever you are, count yourself lucky).


We sprayed it and it worked like a charm.  What's the best part of all of this?  The spray itself is non-toxic.  It's made of essential oils such as Rosemary, Peppermint, Cinnamon oil, etc.  It's about as all natural as you can get in a bug spray and best of all, it works great!  We sprayed the roach and without going into the gory details, it is no longer with us, ha.  It worked fast and as an added benefit, it actually made the room smell good.  You can't say that about any other bug sprays out there.  We were also glad that it's safe to use around our cats.  They say it's safe around children as well.


We're going to get some more of their product line later on, they have bug repellent, mosquito spray, flea and tick spray, and best of all, they even have garden insect and garden fungicide spray.  I still hope to be as natural as possible in our gardens once I get them growing next season, but if I have to use something, I'll try this out and let you know how it works in another review later.  At this point, we have only used their "Ant and Roach" spray, but based on that, we are fans so far!

So if you need to get a bug spray, I would highly recommend this based on our experience.  Stay away from Raid and those chemical laden bug sprays and go as natural as you can with EcoSMART.

Check out their WEBSITE HERE.

*this review is entirely my own, I was not endorsed by or compensated by, EcoSMART in any way.

RETRO GLASS SALT CELLAR WITH LID

Glass Salt Cellar with Lid

Snagged two of these tonight on the way home, at of all places, Walmart!

I was in there looking for an inexpensive bath rug, to put in the bathroom until we start decorating that area, and I saw this and just couldn't resist.  They were very affordable and made by Fire King.

I love the retro/vintage look of them.  That's something we often do, mix old and new.  When you put something new, that's styled to look old, in an old setting like this farmhouse, it can really make people just assume it IS old. That's a great decorating tip.  Same holds true with expensive items mixed with inexpensive. They just sort of blend together and no one is the wiser
(unless they read our blog, LOL!)


Anyway, 2nd Man loves to use salt from containers like these during cooking and we usually have one for pepper as well.  I figured we could just turn one of them around so that the word "salt" is in the back and then we can fill it with pepper.  My thought was that these would be perfect to put on the marble top table next to the stove.


UPDATE:  And here they are in their new home (not filled yet of course).

Salt Cellars in their new home

I'd link to them on the website but I don't see them on the WalMart website.  It may be something in local stores only.  They do, of course, sell them elsewhere online, click here for Glass Salt Cellars of all types on Amazon. For the one like we got above, you can click here for it Anchor Hocking Fire King Glass Salt Dip.

MANGO WOOD PIZZA BOARD

Just saw this while looking online for some farm stuff and doing a bit of preliminary Christmas shopping list preparation.  It's an over sized pizza board with server, though it can be used for breads and other dishes as well.  It's made of the same wood as our table, "Mango Wood" which is sustainable and doesn't use old growth wood.  I love that.  I'm thinking this might need a home at the farm.  Wouldn't it look really cool hanging on the wall in the kitchen??

Oversized Mango Wood Pizza Board



Over sized mango wood pizza board

NEW CAST IRON TETSUBIN TEA KETTLE

We purchased a new teapot / tea kettle recently, this black cast iron style.  It's very pretty, a matte finish with a beautiful nail head design. These are more commonly called Tetsubin...which is a Japanese teapot.

They are often handcrafted as this one is.  It has a nice stainless steel basket insert for putting loose tea leaves in.  It's made of a heavy cast iron, which means it will heat up very quickly.  We figured this will be a good addition to our farmhouse kitchen, and perfect for those cool nights when a nice cup of hot tea is perfect before bed.  Or in the morning while watching the birds from the front porch.  Of course cool nights are not in the foreseeable future now, but they will be at some point this Fall and Winter.

Here is a link to a similar one if you are interested:  Japanese Cast Iron Tea Pot

BRAHMA WORK BOOTS - HOPEFULLY THORNBUSTERS



Brahma work boots, Bravo II

When I was out there Saturday and was regaling the neighbor with my mesquite thorn story, he said I should get some good, sturdy, work boots.


I figured there was no point in spending a fortune for something that could get muddy, be poked with thorns on occasion and covered in dirt and grass when I'm working in the yard.  On my lunch break today, I went over to the local WalMart and bought these.  They also sell them at Amazon: Waterproof Mens Work Boots


They are the Brahma brand, this particular style is called "Bravo II", which is the style in between the basic and the steel toe, with these having the additional feature of being waterproof.  I looked at the three versions they had and figured for a few extra dollars, it can't hurt to have that feature.  I'm sure sometime in the future I'll be splashing around in a puddle somewhere on the property.  They'll get their first "real" test this weekend...


UPDATE: 7/2011 -  I have had some visitors looking at this particular blog entry and I realized that I never gave my test results.  I have been wearing them while out there (and even around town) and they are AWESOME.  They are a bit heavier than I'm used to...remember, I work in an office wearing dress shoes during the week, and on the weekends, I'm usually in Crocs.  But once I was used to the weight, they worked great.  Stepped on several mesquite thorns, no problem.  I splashed around in some water and my feet stayed dry.  I'm thinking I might eventually have to have a second pair so they last a long time.  My bottom line?  Get them!  For the price, they are definitely worth it.

UPDATE: 10/2011 - They are also "bee proof".  I wore them recently during my beekeeping class that I blogged about HERE. They were the perfect height above my ankle to protect my legs while wearing jeans and the bee suit.