What you made is a SORBET, a fruit-flavored ice. Ice cream, as the name would indicate, is a frozen food containing sweetened or flavored cream or butterfat. I make lots of different sorbet (ices, frozen yogurt and ice cream) recipes in my little automatic ice cream and frozen dessert maker. It's a very handy gadget. You're probably not old enough to remember all the frozen treats homemakers made in ice cube trays, long before food processors were a common household gadget. Back when the freezer on the refrigerator was about 1-foot square and in a small shelf at the top was enough room for 2 aluminum ice cube trays. Mom's everywhere removed the insert in the trays and would toss in all kinds of frozen desserts. Almond-Apple Delight (source: Natural Foods Cookbook - by Pamela Hannan) 2 c. flaked almonds 2 c. Red Delicious apples, shredded 1 T. orange peel, grated 1 c. dates, ground 2 T. pineapple juice Combine all ingredients; toss well. Pour into container and place into freezer. Serve in dessert dishes. Serves 5. -Grainlady

The usefulness of the mask is a function of what it is being used for. While a fabric mask can't block the spread of the virus, it can capture most of the spittle that one ejects when one speaks, coughs or sneezes which is the primary form of virus transmission. Especially for those who are forced to be in close quarters with others, it can help prevent the spread of the disease. And a close fitting mask of fabric is better than a bandana tied around the face. It protects others from the wearer rather than vice versa. But the more who wear it, the more community protection everyone receives. While I wouldn't recommend them for medical personnel who are forced to be in close quarters with infected people for hours a day, it is thought to be of benefit to the general populace. Q: What mistakes are other countries making? A: The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.Source

Annie, I noticed that lack of knowledge about fabric weaves, also. Batik is not a type of fabric. As most of us know, it is a dying technique. And, batiste, is much too thin to use for this. Given the rest of the ignorance about fabrics, weaves, and fibers that is probably not a misquote. It is also not true that the spaces between fibers are larger in a knit than in a woven. It depends on what fabric is being talked about. Some of these new knits do actually have some pretty large spaces between the fibers. Most of those are synthetic knits and if you wear a pair of pants made out of that fabric, you will feel the wind blow through. All knit is not the same, though. If you have a nice cotton interlock knit, you will not see any light between the fibers, unless, of course your fabric came from an old worn out garment. A cotton interlock knit will also have a bit of fuzziness to the yarns that it is knit from, thus, creating little bits of fuzz that may catch that droplet of contaminated moisture. A synthetic fiber is more like a string of plastic that is smooth and has a slick surface that won't catch or hold anything. A fabric that is really tightly woven is what is called "sheeting". I have seen sheeting fabric on bolts that is dyed in the batik method. It was popular back some years ago. Sheeting cotton is so hard and tight that the sewing machine needle needs to be really sharp to pierce it and sometimes multiple layers of it can be really hard to sew. You may need a thimble to even get a hand needle through it. It is possible that this experiment used a piece of batik dyed cotton and that cotton fabric happened be a sheeting fabric. I never understood why it is said that this is a good fabric to use as quilt backing. It may be sturdy , but it is so hard to get a hand needle through. A cotton muslin would be a better choice for running quilting stitches through. I am not sure how sheeting differs from a percale. A tight percale might be a good substitute. It might even be classified as a percale. I don't know. But, I do know that it is some tight and tough stuff without being bulky. I have some in my mask making arsenal and have been sewing on it and through it the last few days. The sewing machine needle will let you know when you hit a piece of sheeting fabric. I think that this researcher, or this person who wrote about it, did not know anything substantial about fabric, weaves, knits or fibers. This is very unhelpful information. Also, there is not really anything that is designated as heavyweight quilters cotton. Most cotton that is sold for piecing at places like Joanns is pretty poor cheap cotton, with a few minor exceptions. Good quality cotton that is sold in speciality stores is not better quality because it is "heavier". It is good quality because it is made of longer staple cotton fibers that make the fabric nicer. Being "heavy" is not a quality that you want when piecing.

This thread reminded me how difficult it is to open those darn produce bags, even by rubbing them. The biodegradable green bags are even worse, as they are too flexible for the rub method. I usually carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer so I can address my hands as needed. I went to a salon yesterday, and they wiped down the station, equipment, etc and sprayed between clients. People were texted in one at a time, and all the stations were spaced apart. It gave a lot more confidence to hear that the 140 people exposed to symptomatic stylists in Missouri did not have a single case yet, and all were in masks. A friend posted that her salon provides a masks and even tapes down the seams for the duration of the appointment (so the loops can be dropped).