Saturday Short Subjects: Meet Corky

Corky (below) is the partially homemade, thus partially Made in the USA, wine cork trivet we gave to our son and his fiancée this past Christmas.

"Corky" required 40 corks.

After seeing such a trivet for sale online, I had decided to put my family’s collection of used wine corks to good use protecting a table from hot pots.  I was not quite ready to start from scratch. I knew I had enough corks but wasn’t sure about sizing the frame properly. I looked for a kit. None of the local craft or hobby stores in the area had such an item, but at the Home Depot online store I found the kit for the trivet you see here. Slow shipping was free at the time.

The kit arrived later than promised from China [Yikes! That was missing from the description.] via a California warehouse. The cost was pretty reasonable, but the wood was mahogany-stained vs. mahogany [as I had expected], and the 40 corks fit a little loosely in the frame and sat a bit lower than we wanted. My husband was the one who came up with the idea of adding more cork to the trivet. Hull’s in downtown New Haven had sheets of cork in several thicknesses, the middle weight perfect for our needs. We trimmed some to fit in the base, adding just enough height for the corks to rise above the frame, thus keeping any hot pot from touching the wood. We also cut thin strips to line the frame, fitting the corks more tightly together. 

After designing the pattern inside the frame, we removed the corks a pair at a time and duplicated the pattern outside. We poured some white glue into a dish and carefully applied a fairly generous amount of glue to the back of each cork, one at a time, with an inexpensive watercolor brush. Then we carefully set each one back into the frame in its proper place. Voilà!

We set a tray weighted down with a cast iron pan atop the trivet for a couple of days to let it set and dry well. And then it was ready for packing and shipping back to California where the kids live. I confess the footprint for this gift is pretty big.

The present was a big hit, evoking memories of special occasions and good times shared. We just might do this again when our cork collection is replenished, many months, if not years from now. We will probably build our own box next time. 

Someday a wine cork trivet may be a truly collectible item. Start saving your corks, and come back on Monday for my Meatless Monday post to find out why …

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Avoid Cans When You Can

Late in November of 2011, The Harvard School of Public Health reported that volunteers who ate a 12-ounce serving of canned vegetarian soup for five days had more than a 1,200 percent increase in BPA in their urine over the volunteers who ate the same amount of fresh vegetarian soup for five days. Here is another excellent case for eating as fresh as you can, whenever you can.

What is BPA and why should you worry? Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical which has been used in the manufacture of some plastics and resins since the 1960s. It  was particularly common in polycarbonate plastics used to store food and beverages, and in a number of other items including water bottles, baby bottles and cups, and toys. BPA is listed as an endocrine disruptor by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which defines endocrine disruptors as “chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife.” For more information, read the Mayo Clinic’s response to the question, “What is BPA, and What Are the Concerns About BPA?”

The time of potential greatest risk from BPA exposure is during fetal development and in early childhood years when the body and its organs are forming. As a result of extensive lobbying by concerned citizens and activist groups, plastics containing BPA have all but disappeared from store shelves. There is still no federal legislation, but individual states passed laws which had an impact on the industry. In June, 2009, Connecticut became the first state to ban BPA from infant formula, baby food cans and jars, and from all reusable food and beverage containers; in October, 2011, California became the 11th state to take such an action. Connecticut’s ban took effect on October 1, 2011.

That’s good news for the problematic plastics. But with all the attention focused on BPA in polycarbonate, not as much attention was being paid to the BPA in resins. Epoxy resins are used to coat the inside of metal cans, to keep them from rusting, particularly when they contain an acidic product like tomatoes. The recent Harvard canned soups study leaves little doubt that BPA leaches from the lining to the food and that we are ingesting it.

Over 90% of Americans tested by the CDC were found to have residues of BPA in their bodies. On the good chance that you are not in the BPA Free 10%, you might want to consider some preventive measures for you, your family, and any future offspring.

What can you do?

• Make your own soup.
• Cook your own beans. [This will also save you money. You can freeze the extra for future use.]
• When buying canned goods look for the phrase “BPA Free Lining” on the label. You will find this on Eden Organic canned bean products.  Eden Organics has been using BPA Free cans since 1999! Muir Glen is transitioning to BPA Free liners.You can read more about BPA Free cans here. 
• To be safe, look for BPA Free stickers on any plastic products you purchase. Rubbermaid has offered a BPA Free line since 2009. 
• Purchase prepared food in glass jars. Use glass or porcelain for storing your own food.
• Never heat or microwave in plastic.
• And here is something you may not know. Stainless steel sports bottles do not contain linings of any kind. You will never find BPA there. Check out Kleen Kanteen. 

It all comes down to two rules: 

• Eat fresh when you can.
• Avoid cans when you can.

Have a great week. “See” you next Monday.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Restoring the Shine

As co-owner of a 19th century row house I am co-steward of many things — among them a staircase with 117 rungs supporting a wide handrail which wraps from the third floor to the basement. The house is on a busy corner. Dust accumulates. Time between dusting has tended to stretch out more and more each year.

One of the first resolutions for 2012 was to give the hallway a good cleaning. My co-steward handled the vacuum. The dusting fell to me. I remembered a link at Sustainable Praxis to a Huffington Post slideshow: Olive Oil Uses: 20 Bizarre Household Tips. Slide 3 initially gave me the idea for a chemical-free New Year’s cleaning. For affirmation I turned to my trusty copy of Green Cleaning for Dummies. Sure enough, page 87 suggested dabbing a cleaning cloth with olive oil for dusting furniture. Railings and furniture are both made of wood; close enough.

I tried it. Since lemon oil was an optional add, I left it out.I enjoyed the fruity smell of olive oil as I polished away and polished away (117 rungs, remember?). The wood buffed easily to a shimmery shine with no oily residue. The end result of glistening wood and dirty cloths were proof enough for me that this alternative cleaning method worked. 

When I decided to try this experiment, all I had on hand was a selection of nice extra virgin olive oils from which I chose the least expensive. In advance of the next cleaning project I’ll buy a can of a lesser grade; bouquet, color, and country of origin shouldn’t matter to the dust specks. And if I find the fruity smell is missing from the cheaper variety, I can easily add either lemon juice or lemon oil to the mix.

Sorry Old English. You are now officially banished from this hallway during my lifetime.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. These Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or take you as long to read or to try. 

But, we all know about best laid plans. In many places it is now Sunday. I’ll do better next time. At any rate, let me know how you like my Saturday Shorts.