My bottle of Tide HE liquid says to fill to line 2 for medium loads. This 2.95 liter bottle will wash 52 loads if filled to line 2. I'm just saying that if Tide was consciously telling you to use double what is really required, they would be much better off telling you to fill to line 1 and then labeling the bottle as able to wash 104 loads. That looks much better on the shelf sitting next to its competitors that only wash half as many loads per bottle. 2.95 liters = 200 tablespoons 200 tablespoons / 52 loads = ~4.0 tbsp/load If I cut that dosage in half, to 2 tbsp, that is not enough to get clothes clean in my 4.0 cuft machine in soft water. Even Persil Megaperls recommends just over 4 tbsp (65 ml) for a medium sized, normally soiled load in soft water. Tide's recommendations are pretty much in line with what's expected - not more, not less. I use the recommended amount of detergent (Tide, Persil, Vaska, etc) but reduce by 50% if washing towels. Towels generate a lot of suds when spun out, and reducing dosage for towels does not negatively impact cleaning since they aren't that dirty to begin with. For 80% of my laundry, however, I follow the dosage instructions on the package without any problems. There is great debate on how much is enough, and certainly water chemistry and load size has a lot to do with this. However, from what I've read, it seems that using too little detergent leads to more problems than if using too much.

Blanching destroys the enzymes that make the beans mushy. I blanch for 3 minutes, then plunge in ice water, dry on paper towels, freeze on a jelly roll pan then seal in Foodsaver bag. That reminds me I have to bag the ones I blanched and froze this morning. There is a discussion on Harvest about this from early this year. I have pickled some bigger beans, ran out of vinegar solution had to mix more up so stuck 2 pints in the fridge. We took some to a BBQ only a few days later and they tasted really good. Lemon Spiced Pickled Beans from Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp. We don't like canned beans either but these were good (of course they hadn't been processed, I'll let you know how the processed ones are in a few months). I figured they'd be good in 3-bean salad once my limas come in (or with storebought canned chickpeas). Here is a link that might be useful: Freezing beans on Harvest

Ooooh! Love the website, Lukkiirish! I most definitely would consider black. My husbands sports paraphernalia has mostly black framing, so that would be perfect. I have to refinish his desk, so maybe a flat black distressed finish would work there. I can always play around with wall color once the trim is finished. And, WOW, Sandy! That is an amazing use of color. It looks great and I love your doors. You have given me a wonderful idea now for our mudroom. I'll be sure to post pictures when I am finished. I do have to wait for the electrician to finish here, so it may be awhile. Thank you both for the ideas!

Naw, just struggling over finding a paint color for my house. Read a funny post from a blogger in reference to the question "have you ever house stalked before" a reader said "yes, and I think beside everyone's name and address in the phone book should be the make and paint number of their house color." To funny!