The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Elfmama]

How were soups made before blenders? I've made pea and pumpkin soups and they required blending.

Not all soups require blending.  Most soups from before electricity was common were not blended.

But surely they had pea soups before they had blenders, or were they just not smooth?

Squishing things through a sieve works quite well.

Even medieval recipes frequently have directions to "drawgh threw a straynour."  Can't say that I recall one for soup, though, as it's mostly eggys that one draghs threu a straner, I'm assuming to strain out the sometimes inevitable results of using fertilized eggs.

[Harriet Jones]

How were soups made before blenders? I've made pea and pumpkin soups and they required blending.

Not all soups require blending.  Most soups from before electricity was common were not blended.

But surely they had pea soups before they had blenders, or were they just not smooth?

Squishing things through a sieve works quite well.

Even medieval recipes frequently have directions to "drawgh threw a straynour."  Can't say that I recall one for soup, though, as it's mostly eggys that one draghs threu a straner, I'm assuming to strain out the sometimes inevitable results of using fertilized eggs.

I've seen a recommendation for using a strainer for raw eggs, it makes sure there are none of those pieces that are difficult to incorporate

[Frog24]

Okay, this might not exactly be a stupid question, but it's kind of minor and it didn't seem to deserve its own thread

Does anyone know if there's anything about rhubarb that can mess with jelly and cause it to go bad more quickly?  Mostly I'm asking because she promised to let me know if and when she works out the problem so I can get my rhubarb jelly fix, so I'm wondering if I should keep hoping or if it might be a lost cause. 

Okay, so this might go in the "goes against conventional wisdom" thread, but if we have a jar of homemade jam, and it gets moldy, my mom takes off the mold, re-boils the jam, puts it in a clean jar and puts it back into the fridge.  We've never gotten sick from it, either.  I don't know if that would work for jelly, or if it would need additional pectin to re-set as jelly.

[Twik]

Even medieval recipes frequently have directions to "drawgh threw a straynour."  Can't say that I recall one for soup, though, as it's mostly eggys that one draghs threu a straner, I'm assuming to strain out the sometimes inevitable results of using fertilized eggs.

I love me some straned eggys.

[Elfmama]

Even medieval recipes frequently have directions to "drawgh threw a straynour."  Can't say that I recall one for soup, though, as it's mostly eggys that one draghs threu a straner, I'm assuming to strain out the sometimes inevitable results of using fertilized eggs.

I love me some straned eggys.

I have heard of (but not yet located) a Middle English recipe that manages to spell 'chicken' 8 different ways.  Just in case you can't tell what 'chikon' means, I'll also spell it 'chikin' and a few more ways.   

[artk2002]

How were soups made before blenders? I've made pea and pumpkin soups and they required blending.

Hand mill. Or a spoon and a strainer.

[marcel]

How were soups made before blenders? I've made pea and pumpkin soups and they required blending.

Not all soups require blending.  Most soups from before electricity was common were not blended.

But surely they had pea soups before they had blenders, or were they just not smooth?

To answer the question, soups do not require blending, they will simplu have a different structure.

Follow up on the pea soup. try Making it without blending. Off course i do not know exactly what goes into pea soup where you are, but generally pea soup is better without blending.

[Katana_Geldar]

Pea soup I made has onions, carrots and garlic in it too as well as a hambone. Peas are added last and not all are blended, it's mainly for colour.  Pumpkin soup needs to be smooth though.

[Diane AKA Traska]

(I usually warm up my car for about 10 minutes before I leave for work. That defrosts the windows so I don't have to scrape plus makes the inside nice and toasty.)

There's an easier way to make scraping less of a chore, at least if you live in the US.  RainX.  Its a hydrophobic coating you apply just like spray-on car wax.  Wash the windows, spray, rub to spread it evenly, let it dry, then spray lightly with water and buff.  Turns 20 minutes of scraping into 5 minutes of scraping.  Buy it near the spray-on car wax. 

For my side mirrors, I pull a sub sandwich bag over the mirror and hold it on with a rubber band.  Pull the bag, and the frost, off before I drive away.


I park in the garage at night, but snow and ice often starts during the day while I'm at work.   And occasionally I have to work well into the evening, not leaving work until frost is forming.
[/quote]

I want to thank you for this, seriously.  We did this the other day, it snowed the next day, and scraping is SO much easier!  Some of the ice just wiped off.

[oogyda]

For biscuits:

Depending on where you live, you may be able to get "Southern Biscuit" Formula L Complete Biscuit Mix.  AWESOME!!

[mechtilde]

How were soups made before blenders? I've made pea and pumpkin soups and they required blending.

Hand mill. Or a spoon and a strainer.

In some of the "Big Houses" they would push it through a muslin cloth. It took two- each woman would hold two ends of the cloth, holding it sort of taut, and they would push it through with wooden spoons. It took a long time!

[Dazi]

I've always been a side or belly sleeper,  I actually refer to my preferred sleep position as   the superman takeoff. Even as a baby I'd pitch a fit of I was laid on my back to sleep. I had a sleep study done two years ago and the technician commented that I never slept on my back even once during the night,  besides the initial set up where I was  asked to lay on my back. I rolled as soon as I was allowed to.  He asked me about it as he thought it was a bit unusual... I guess most people switch positions frequently. I didn't sleep for three days while I was in the hospital last year after having surgery. I physically couldn't lay on my side because  the head of my bed wasn't allowed to be lowered under 30 degrees (that and morphine makes me bright eyed and bushy tailed,  instead of sleepy like a normal person). My DH said in over 10 years of being together,  he's never seen me sleep on my back either.

So a few weeks ago I woke up laying on my back.   I was confused.   Like I stated above,  I never ever sleep on my back. Never,  ever.   A few days ago,  I woke up on my back.   Again,  very confused. This morning,  I woke up on my back again. I have no idea what is going on.   Do people randomly change their sleep positions?   I've heard of people training themselves to sleep in other positions due to  injuries and such,  but they find it very difficult to change  something so ingrained.

[camlan]

I've always been a side or belly sleeper,  I actually refer to my preferred sleep position as   the superman takeoff. Even as a baby I'd pitch a fit of I was laid on my back to sleep. I had a sleep study done two years ago and the technician commented that I never slept on my back even once during the night,  besides the initial set up where I was  asked to lay on my back. I rolled as soon as I was allowed to.  He asked me about it as he thought it was a bit unusual... I guess most people switch positions frequently. I didn't sleep for three days while I was in the hospital last year after having surgery. I physically couldn't lay on my side because  the head of my bed wasn't allowed to be lowered under 30 degrees (that and morphine makes me bright eyed and bushy tailed,  instead of sleepy like a normal person). My DH said in over 10 years of being together,  he's never seen me sleep on my back either.

So a few weeks ago I woke up laying on my back.   I was confused.   Like I stated above,  I never ever sleep on my back. Never,  ever.   A few days ago,  I woke up on my back.   Again,  very confused. This morning,  I woke up on my back again. I have no idea what is going on.   Do people randomly change their sleep positions?   I've heard of people training themselves to sleep in other positions due to  injuries and such,  but they find it very difficult to change  something so ingrained.

I never sleep on my back, either. Well, there have been about 5 times that I can remember that I woke up on my back, but that's over the course of over 50 years. Side or stomach all the rest of the time. I even had the same comment after a sleep study!

While I don't have an answer for you about why or how people might change sleep positions, I'd wonder if for some reason you are physically more comfortable on your back? Something as simple as a cold that blocks your sinuses might make sleeping on your back feel better for a night or two. (Trying not to stray into medical issues here, as I don't want to get the thread locked. Just putting the idea out there.)

I am pretty sure I don't sleep on my back because it just feels like a terribly vulnerable position to me. So maybe you are feeling safer for some reason?

[Outdoor Girl]

You've lost a lot of weight; it may be that sleeping on your stomach is putting stress on your back so your body is subconsciously flipping you over so it doesn't hurt any more.

[Betelnut]

I've always been a side or belly sleeper,  I actually refer to my preferred sleep position as   the superman takeoff. Even as a baby I'd pitch a fit of I was laid on my back to sleep. I had a sleep study done two years ago and the technician commented that I never slept on my back even once during the night,  besides the initial set up where I was  asked to lay on my back. I rolled as soon as I was allowed to.  He asked me about it as he thought it was a bit unusual... I guess most people switch positions frequently. I didn't sleep for three days while I was in the hospital last year after having surgery. I physically couldn't lay on my side because  the head of my bed wasn't allowed to be lowered under 30 degrees (that and morphine makes me bright eyed and bushy tailed,  instead of sleepy like a normal person). My DH said in over 10 years of being together,  he's never seen me sleep on my back either.

So a few weeks ago I woke up laying on my back.   I was confused.   Like I stated above,  I never ever sleep on my back. Never,  ever.   A few days ago,  I woke up on my back.   Again,  very confused. This morning,  I woke up on my back again. I have no idea what is going on.   Do people randomly change their sleep positions?   I've heard of people training themselves to sleep in other positions due to  injuries and such,  but they find it very difficult to change  something so ingrained.

It is definitely possible to change your sleep position.  I used to be a stomach sleeper but got a CPAP machine.  It didn't take long to become a side sleeper.  When I have tried to stomach again, my back starts hurting.