Wednesday, August 06, 2008

odds & ends

Do you have a disposal? Consider yourself lucky if you do because in most homes in Japan we don't. Most of us have these buckets/baskets in the corner of our sinks. I buy these fine net bags from the 100 yen store to put into the bucket/basket so that it is easy to dispose of. I guess you could also use old pantyhose too. Every so often I scrub down the bucket/basket as well as the metal basket which catches all the other stuff in the sink's drain--there is a slimy black film that forms from the food, oils, and moisture...eww.

Actually this basket reminds me of the times when I visited my grandma & grandpa in Hilo, since they didn't have a disposal nor garbage pick up, we would take the raw garbage and throw it out back onto the plants/veggies and we would burn the burnable garbage. As kids, we weren't allowed to play with or touch matches, so it was a kind of "honor" to be "the one" to light the match to burn the garbage.

Do you have dry heels? Are they scratchy and rough? (I do)

Microplane it! I couldn't believe this product when I saw it on QVC or some television shopping channel.

I bought this at a local shop for 3360 yen (about US$33). This price, I found out is double the amount that Microplane is selling it for in the U.S.

It works. (too gross to show you what comes out of the microplane, though.)

Let's end this post on a happy note...The summer corn is so sweet! It was like eating sugar.

15 comments:

  1. Such beautiful corn--I love it when it is so sweet like that!

    That is pretty funny, I bought the "Ped Egg" too a few weeks ago at the "As Seen on TV" store at Ward Warehouse (I won't tell you how much mine was but you were close) It does work well though!

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  2. oh man, i gotta get myself either one of those microplanes or a ped egg - my heels are a horiffic disaster! hehehheee ^_^

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  3. I'm going to look on their website to see what your ped egg looks like, Deb :)

    Kathy, it is the best!!

    Take care you two.
    Kat

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  4. Hi Kat- That corn looks beautiful. My Grandparents lived in Honolua, they had no garbage pick-up, so the scraps went to the pig farm, some stuff was compost, and most of the other stuff was burned in a huge barrel in front of the house...talk about culture shock!

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  5. Thanks Kirkk, wow a pig farm, that must have been cool!

    Take care.
    Kat

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  6. At our place we have one day (Monday) for curbside pickup service of regular garbage and kitchen scraps. The garbage needs to be in a designated yellow plastic bag which you need to buy from the community's main office. They are not cheap. The scraps we keep in a green bucket which is automatically given out once you register as residents at the community office. To collect food scraps on a daily basis, I use these biodegradable corn-based bags to line my small receptacle bin that's kept in a drawer under the sink. When it's full, I tie it up and put it into that above-mentioned green bucket where we keep in the garage. Great post!

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  7. I think it is great that you have biodegradeable bags for your scraps, Rowena! I should look around for those. We receive 120 (20 liter) garbage bags from our city, after that, we need to purchase more. Purchasing them is expensive, I think they charge 600 yen (about US$6) for 10 bags.

    Take care.
    Kat

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  8. I also have garbage related memories from the Big Island. I remember going down the road by my grandpa's house to throw away the rubbish at the dump. As a kid I thought that was so unusual!

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  9. Oh yeah, forgot about that Lori, after awhile burning your own rubbish was illegal and we had to stuff the car with it and bring it to the dump. Thanks for reminding me!

    Take care.
    Kat

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  10. OMG, that microplane heel thingy scares me!

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  11. I was kind of scared to use it Su-lin, but I followed the directions and it really is good.

    Take care.
    Kat

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  12. I recently got the ped egg at Walmart and it was $11 (US). I haven't used it yet but soon. My grandparents gave the kitchen scraps to the pig farms. That picture of the corn looks really good!

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  13. Thanks Laura! I hope you like the ped egg.

    Take care.
    Kat

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  14. It's funny because just this morning I was thinking about what a luxury having a garbage disposal here is. I always grew up with one in Hawaii but it is NOT a standard in Australia to have garbage disposals...isn't that weird considering that we are an industrialized nation? When I am prepping, I often use a big bowl or big plastic bag next to the cutting board so I don't have to make multiple trips to the rubbish can.

    And I really want one of those Ped Eggs...I totally forgot to pick one up at Walgreens in Hawaii last time I went. My friends swear by it!

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  15. I hope you get a ped egg on your next trip home, Michelle :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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