it's amazing the simple things that excite me!

17 years ago

I got a salad spinner! I remember a few months ago someone posted a 10 most wanted kitchen items list and many of the respondents including myself, said a salad spinner. Well, I really don't eat salad very often so I couldn't justify 25 dollars for something that would almost never get used. I broke my sewing machine today (story to follow for anyone interested!) and went out to find a replacement. While I was out and about I went to a thrift shop. There was a brand new looking OXO salad spinner for $3.99 just calling my name. I marched straight up to the counter (after pushing the plunger to test it of course) and forgot to even check for vacuums! Maybe it will inspire me to eat more green foods! Well, that was the justification under which I bought it. I really just wanted a new toy to play with! I just don't know where I'm going to put the silly thing, I barely have room for the pots, pans, and electrics that I already have.

So, to anyone who has the OXO, do you like it? Which parts if any are dishwasher safe? I want to get it sanitized as soon as possible, but since it didn't come with a manual, I'm scared to just throw it in the dishwasher. I don't want to melt it!

What circumstances led up to this wonderful event you ask? Well, if you have a few seconds and want a chuckle keep reading! :o) Yesterday, I needed to use the table that I keep my sewing machine on for something else. I took the machine off and placed it on the ironing board that I never put away. Today I was trying to get my Gazelle glider (here's a sign, exercise is BAD!) out of the closet. I started to carry it and became entangled in the sewing machine cord. I started to fall and let go of the Gazelle. It knocked the ironing board over. The sewing machine did three flips and landed head first 4 feet away by the window. At the same time, the Rowenta (which I had just filled with water to iron some work pants) became airborne and headed straight for the cat spilling water all the while. Jasper ran fast and hid from clumsy dad, probably laughing the whole time. The Rowenta survived unscathed. The poor sewing machine didn't stand a chance. Some how the power cord snapped in two during the process. The carrying handle got pressed into the body of the machine and the metal thread spindle snapped in two. There's a crack all down the motor housing, and I have already thrown it away. Guess ya just had to be there :o)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

Nancy
17 years ago
I just love thrift shops. Congratulations on a great buy, sorry I can't help any on cleaning it. I don't have one, I don't eat many salads, although I know I should.
Too bad you didn't have a video camera going, sounds like a good sitcom :) Thank goodness neither you or Jasper were hurt, but its a shame about the sewing machine. A good machine can be pricey replacement.
0
kathleen_li
17 years ago
Hey, Bobby, congrats. Spinning IS exercise. Now you will have to be on the look out for a sewing machine!
0
Related Discussions
In Praise of the Simple Things
Q
Comments (3)
I love your musings, Steve. :) I've been trying to make things with all the herbs from the garden. For whatever reason this year my herbs have never been better. My French Tarragon is huge (comes back every year but this year!). So yesterday went to a Father's Day picnic with all the cousins and I made a green salad from the garden (I'm partial to the limey green Simpson Elite), a potato salad with potatoes I had left over (not from the garden), a ton of tarragon, chives and parsley from the garden and just mixed with olive oil, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar Yum! Spinach is just about done but I've been trying to eat a handful with every meal. I need to make some batches of pesto before all of my parsley and cilantro go to seed. Saturday night we had some friends over, the kids were running around barefoot squealing, friends were over for good company. We made a huge salad from greenns/herbs with hard boiled eggs from our chickens and bbq'd grass fed beef from a local Colo. ranch and I made vodka mojitos with mint from the garden. We got out the instruments and I thought that I hadn't been happier in a long time. It was all so simple and lovely :)
...See More
The simple things in life ... what makes you happy?
Q
Comments (26)
Natal we had a lovely day today and I was wandering around the garden thinking about how much I was going to enjoy taking the flowers in during the spring and summer. It's a new yard to us, and honestly more than I can handle, but for one summer I'm going to live like the fancy people and have fresh flowers all over the house every day :) It's been pretty mild here and the yard is full of lovely evergreens and several types of wonderful rosemary. Such deep lush scents. I've started doing little winter floral arrangements with the herbs and evergreens. All for free :) Then I just sneek in simple stuff like babys breath or a few flowers from the store among the beautiful herbs. I love fresh flowers and this silly house seems to ask for them so I'm having a great deal of fun being creative. So that's my personal little pleasure lately, but on a regular basis I thank god for every morning my son gets up healthy and goes to bed the same. It's been such a long road for him. Seeing his life become "normal" since we've moved is heaven. he's blossomed so much, and now he gets to go to school with other "normal" kids :) He's so happy about it and wants to go every day, morning and night heh heh And watching him run to the gate with his silly little thomas lunch box, full of food he will never eat (he's had the same snacks in it for two weeks and does not eat them, but wanted a lunch box like the other big kids), his happiness makes me smile. He's sick today for the first time this winter. It's a simple pleasure, but we really enjoyed the little vacation from illness. My kitty just told me to mention how much I love his purr....we've been together (kitty and I) since before DH and DS and when he crawls into bed and tries to sleep on my head, it reminds me of simpler times, which also makes me smile :)
...See More
It's just never a simple project, is it?
Q
Comments (6)
Don't have to be really old! LOL There is a new and really gorgeous subdivision not far from me. When I first an open house there, I was seriously ready to sell my house and move, but the housing market was down (which meant taking a loss), so I had to "chill out". Guess what? I know someone who bought a house there and they had terrible problems with black mold and had to move out due to being allergic to mold. One never knows, right... OP, I really feel your pain. Every single appliance broke soon after we got this house and new appliances do not fit the old openings. Do I need to say more? Did I mention finding mold in AC vents a week after bringing a newborn home? Well, "this too shall pass". :-)
...See More
What Exciting Things Are You Doing Today?
Q
Comments (16)
First I made an appointment to get my teeth cleaned, I had to cancel a few weeks ago (go in every 4 months), & was surprised that she had two openings next Monday...which is very unusual. Wonder if The Great Recession is forcing people to cut back on dental work. Then I decided to take a long walk (5 miles up, 5 miles back) to our County Courthouse to do some genealogy research. A lady requested info on a great uncle who left home in Minnesota around the turn of the 20th Century, ended up in California, was rarely heard from again, changed his last name, and died here in 1964 at age 83. She was able to at least obtain a copy of his CA death certificate, but that was about it. The "exciting" part ws I was surprised to find a modest probate proceeding for him at the Courthouse, and since there were no known heirs, a nice sum of money was turned over to the State of California in 1966, which I believe his heirs are still entitled to. I don't know if interest is obliged to be paid by the State on this money, but it felt good to tell someone that they might be getting a little unexpected windfall. So I more than got my daily exercise in & also did my Good Deed for the day.
...See More
caliloo
17 years ago
Congrats is right!

I love my salad spinner AND my salad shooter. My friends think I am nuts when I get all excited about finding one or the other at a yard sale, but they both get used on a regular basis at my house.

Enjoy and good luck finding the sewing machine

Alexa
0
sally2_gw
17 years ago
Ouch! Glad Jasper was faster than the machine, uh, er iron I mean.

I just fill my salad spinner with soapy water and spin it with the plunger like there's salad greens in it. Then rinse in out with my sprayer thing at my sink and drain it. It's just too big for my dishwasher. Every once in a while I'll add a few drops of bleach to make sure it's good and clean, but usually just dishwashing soap is fine. I use mine so frequently I almost never put it up. I use the basket when I go out to the garden to pick greens or herbs or even tomatoes and squash. Then it's easy just to bring them in and use the salad spinner bowl as a little sink to wash the greens or herbs or whatever, then I can just drain the wash water and spin the veggies dry. They do take up a lot of room, though, don't they? It took me a while to figure out you can lock the plunger down to make storage a little bit easier. I don't remember if mine's an oxo or not, though.

Sally
0
mrsmarv
17 years ago
I love my OXO salad spinner. Considering we planted a ton of lettuce, that would be a good thing ;o) It really does a great job...hey, it even has a brake on it to stop it from spinning. What more could you want? I clean mine the way sally does.
Enjoy! And good luck finding a new sewing machine. I have a Husqvarna, which I absolutely love. HTH.
Oh...and put that bad, bad, bad Gazelle back in the closet right now young man!
0
vacuumfreak
Original Author
17 years ago
Sally, yours is an OXO. They are so big that they are awkward to store. I do hope I use it enough to justify the space it takes up. I will not stick it in the dishwasher until or unles someone says it's OK.

About the sewing machine:

I actually just got a Kenmore model 16221. I sold the predecessor to this model when I worked at Sears so I know it well. It has a horizontal drop in bobbin, needle threader, and thread slicer. It came with more presser feel and stitch selections than I will ever use. It is so quiet and smooth! Kenmore machines are made by Janome so I'm sure the quality is acceptable. I HATE the presser foot release lever.... there isn't very much to it. Nothing to really grab hold of. The motor is smooth and I like that. I may not keep it though. I REALLY want an old fashioned Singer Featherlight or something similar. Something metal (and beautiful) that can survive me! The Kenmore is plain white... not pretty and I know it will smash to pieces the first time I tumble it across the room!
0
annie1992
17 years ago
Bobby, congratulations on the salad spinner. I don't have one, so I can't help with the cleaning part but I have to tell you, here EVERYTHING goes into the dishwasher!

I'm glad you and the cat escaped relatively unscathed. Plus, you reminded me that I have a 35 year old Singer sewing machine that needs some repair. I gotta find a repairman...

Alexa, I still have a salad shooter. I always used it to grate carrots for carrot cake and zucchini for zucchini bread. It's much smaller and easier to clean than the food processor and it "shoots" the grated veggies right into my measuring cup, no muss/no fuss.

Annie
0
vacuumfreak
Original Author
17 years ago
Annie,

Now that I have a dishwasher I put everything in it as well! Wooden spoons, non stick cookware, and EVEN (get ready to gasp) my Kitchen Aid mixer paddle and food processor blades! Sometimes I run it twice a day. If I have friends over, bake something, or clean the refrigerator twice a day for sure. Good luck with that old Singer... don't ever replace it because they just don't make 'em like that anymore! I remember the salad shooter commercials growing up... I used to love the jingle! And the one that was a hand mixer too, oh how I wanted that thing!
0

it's amazing the simple things that excite me!

Comments (8)

Nancy

kathleen_li

Related Discussions

caliloo

sally2_gw

mrsmarv

vacuumfreak
Original Author

annie1992

vacuumfreak
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

it's amazing the simple things that excite me!

Comments (8)

Nancy

kathleen_li

Related Discussions

caliloo

sally2_gw

mrsmarv

vacuumfreakOriginal Author

annie1992

vacuumfreakOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

vacuumfreak
Original Author

vacuumfreak
Original Author