Mr. Floppy fixes wing droop

Today with the assistance of Mr. Floppy I'm going to show you how I fixed wing droop around here. Yes, that's his given name and no, I didn't name him.

We've been cloth diapering since my oldest was six months old so going on five years now. About six months after we started, I decided to start sewing diapers myself. Just ours, not for sale and thank goodness because that is enough. Diapers are sort of fiddly and they are definitely monotonous, production sewing. The last time I made some new diapers I added some length which was needed for the upper size range but also somehow created a bit of wing droop. What's wing droop?

The picture above is what a diaper looks like when I put it on the baby. The diaper below is what the diaper looks like after the baby spends a good bit squatting and rolling around the floor. The wings of the front panel get pulled down with her leg movement and it's not pretty, nor functional. I finally decided to do something about it the other day.




I grabbed a diaper. These diapers have seen at least 15 months of continuous use and are washed about every other day. Right now they are being used by two kids so to say that they are a bit used is an understatement. My diapers have four sets of snaps on each side. I figured that in order to fix the wing droop I've been having when using the inner first and second set of snaps I'd need to add a hip snap on a skipped snap setting.




Sounds kind of funky but let me explain. I snapped the diaper on the innermost setting.




Then I felt around with my fingers for the snap two snaps away from that setting (skipping one snap setting). I marked those two spots. This allows me to use the hip snap for the snap settings that produce the most wing droop (the first and second innermost positions).




I went over to my trusty snap press (the kids get a kick out of this every time).




Set the snaps, then repeat 29 more times.




No more wing droop and Mr. Floppy can go back into retirement. I've already modified the diaper pattern I use for a side snapping version to prevent wing droop in future versions.

Finally! Ice Cream!

About two years ago my mom and husband colluded to buy me this ice cream maker as well as an extra freezing bowl. Mr. Maricucu also added a few ice cream recipe books to get me started and this one was included. Yes, the Ben and Jerry's. Before that gift I had made ice cream and the recipes fell into two camps. Either a cooked egg custard ice cream (called French style) or a milk/cream/sugar eggless base called Philadelphia style. I preferred the French style ice cream bases but still never really approximated a real creamy ice cream taste. Until I read this book. Ben and Jerry have various ice cream base recipes but their core recipe is an egg base that wasn't cooked before hand. Eureka! I know what you're thinking, not cooked? Well I used some egg beaters to be on the safe side but the difference in texture between the B&J base and the French style base was like night and day. No cooked eggy taste, no waiting overnight to chill a base. Real creamy ice cream taste with an almost instant method.




That first summer I owned my machine I cranked out batches every two or three days. First vanilla, then strawberry, oreo, chocolate, cake and even a prune ice cream for my dad that was a flavor he used to have in Dominican Republic. After much pleading I even made a batch of mint chocolate chip for my oldest. Let's just say that was the ultimate expression in motherly love as mint anything just tastes like toothpaste to me and here I was having to taste the ice cream to make it for him. He loved it.

But this summer I really hadn't taken out the ice cream maker much keeping busy with the garden. However one day I was making a batch of dulce de leche and thought, "mmm this would be good in ice cream. Kind of like Ben and Jerry's Karamel Sutra but better." Well since that day I've been tossing the idea around until one day I thought, "cake ice cream AND dulce de leche!" Oh man buttery best ever poundcake, soaked in premium vanilla ice cream with honking swirls of dulce de leche. Good grief knock me out right now.




Marielle's Pound Cake Ice Cream (and dulce de leche variation)
adapted from Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

2 large eggs - because I'm lazy and haven't found pasteurized eggs I tend to use egg beaters.
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk - I used light cream, you know, for the health benefits.
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract - Again, I plead you to try and make some homemade vanilla. Best thing ever.
1 healthy pinch of kosher salt

1 can hacked dulce de leche
1 cup best ever poundcake, cubed or crumbled

I know it may seem like a lot of trouble, what with boiling the condensed milk cans and then making the poundcake. It's not. I had made a cake a few weeks before and I reserved about half in the freezer. The dulce de leche can be kept indefinitely in a sealed can in your pantry. So theoretically this is a pantry dessert. Grab the frozen cake and your can of condensed milk and you're good to go. Could you make this with storebought poundcake and already made dulce de leche like La Lechera? Definitely! I'd hate to think people won't ever enjoy this amazing ice cream for fear of too much work. But if you put in a little work for the homemade components you might just never go back.

Grab the recipe and yes you too need a lego block bookmarker. I will never admit that it was the closest thing so I grabbed it. It's a style statement and won't you be surprised when it shows up in Martha Stewart's magazine next fall. I might even have to put together a tutorial.




Introducing the three tenors! Or the leading players in this ice cream. The original recipe uses heavy cream and milk but I prefer light cream for the milk.




Mix the sugar into the eggs making sure to dissolve the sugar well before moving onto the next step.




Add the heavy cream and then the light cream.




Mix in your vanilla and try not to slurp up the ice cream base through a straw.




I love watching the homemade vanilla swirl into dairy products. It's kind of like spin art for foodies.




Then my final touch. Every sweet item benefits from a little salt so I threw in a pinch of kosher salt. That's it. The ice cream is done and since your ingredients were for the most part refridgerated, ready to churn.




Here's the frozen bowl that my ice cream makers uses to churn. I call it the brick and keep two of them in my garage deep freeze. I've found that the colder the better and having two means I'm prepared for ice cream emergencies. Yes, ice ceam emergencies.




Stick the brick in the ice cream maker, then the paddle.




Finally, place the lid on the whole shebang. Now, a little bit of advice from a rookie mistake Mr. Maricucu and I made the first time we ever made ice cream years ago. This bowl is frozen. Hard as a rock. So you want to get the machine on BEFORE you pour in the ice cream base. Why? Well let's just say because if you pour in your mix, then turn on the machine you'll start wondering why the motor is making an awful whirring noise and the bowl doesn't seem to turn. Then you'll decide to read the intsruction manual that says to turn on the machine BEFORE adding the mix. Then you and the other adult in the room will look at each other with shame and amusement at the same time tempted to smack each other on the forehead while saying, "doh!"




Turn on the machine, then pour in the ice cream base. I love super premium ice creams like Ben and Jerry's, Haagen Daaz, etc. So I like to churn my ice cream to soft serve consistency then finish ripening (firming) in the freezer. That way the ice cream is extra creamy and not filled with air like a lot of homemade ice creams after they've gone in the freezer. For my specific machine the time is usually 20 minutes give or take 5 minutes.




During the last five minutes of churning, after the first twenty minutes I add the cubed cake. Usually I crumble the cake like bread crumbs but this time I wanted to see how it tasted with larger chunks. I prefer crumbled as you get a better distribution of cake. How you do yours is up to you and your preference.






Once the ice cream is churned to soft serve consistency, scoop it into a freezer safe container and put a layer of plastic wrap right on top of the surface. It's something I heard Alton Brown mention on his ice cream episode and it definitely works to keep the ice cream from developing that leathery surface and free of ice crystals. Then place your lid and pop it into your freezer for three to four hours or until firm. Turn around and your family will be licking the paddle.




Your ice cream is ready to scoop. This Zyliss ice cream scoop is hands down my favorite scoop and if Mr. Maricucu would admit it, his favorite tool in the kitchen.




See the ice cream and the bits of cake? Mmmm, heaven. My kids love this and I do too since it tastes just like that last little bit of melty ice cream and cake crumbs at the bottom of a bowl when you're almost done.







Can we improve upon this? Oh yes we can my friends. My dulce de leche, in a zip top bag, ready to squeeze.




For this batch I crumbled the cake into the bottom of the storage container. Then I dumped in my churned vanilla ice cream and mixed with the spatula. Or you can just add it to the ice cream maker. Either way works.




Now squeeze on a swirl of dulce de leche. Since my baseline for this inspiration is Karamel Sutra I went for a super thick swirl, like 1" in thickness. Which means that when I swirled it with my knife it didn't swirl so much as break up into little sausage links. Exactly what I wanted, pockets of dulce de leche.




See what I mean? Pockets of dulce de leche that stays creamy and slightly soft even in the freezer.




How did it taste? Oh my goodnes it was a labor of love two years in the making. Between the cake and ice cream with the swirls of dulce de leche I exclaimed to Mr. Maricucu that it tasted like Tres Leches ice cream which just happens to be one of my favorite desserts. I consider this attempt, a success.




Thank you for the well wishes for being ill. I'm definitely feeling better now.

Second verse, same as the first.

So what happens after everyone is finally feeling well? Momma gets sick. Consider yourself blessed that today's picture is not of me. Hag is the word that comes to mind and scary is a close second.

Grab a chair and let's catch up, shall we?

I like to keep a running list of future posts, gives me a working to do list of projects and keeps my ideas at the forefront instead of forgotten on some piece of rumpled paper at the bottom of my purse. Today I was supposed to be posting about this - pound cake and dulce de leche ice cream.




I was supposed to be working on this little table as well. I'm hoping to repaint it and no, I've never done anything like that before. We'll see how that goes.




Instead of posting about decadent ice cream and painting craigslist furniture, we're doing this. Yup, my two youngest and Mr. Maricucu down with some intestinal bug. Thank the Lord for small mercies that the same morning they fell ill, I had gone grocery shopping and we were stocked. Usually it's Mr. Maricucu that makes the last minute, "quick I need such and such homeopathic remedy from Wholefoods, a knob of ginger and this list of herbs."




So the kids and the daddy rested, while my oldest and I nursed them back to health. A little secret - I'm kind of a bumbling nurse. I start off all Florence Nightingale but by the end of the day I'm mumbling things under my breath and obsessively doing laundry to get a break in the laundry room. You can imagine that right about now my my hands need to do something creative but instead they are washing our household's collection of towels, sheets and covers. Not what I had in mind.

I'm pitiful

But I get a kick out of this commercial every.single.time I see it on television. Maybe it's because the wife's look of "have you lost your mind?" is the same look Mr. Maricucu initially gives me each time I add another kooky project/undertaking to my list.

Homemade Sunscreen

April 11, 2010 - I corrected the % and calculated grams amount of oil which were mistyped as 4% and are now correct at 16%.

It seems sunscreen is a hot topic these days. Which brands work, which brands are more natural, which brands don't aggravate eczema, acne, etc. Then if you're considering a more natural but effective sunscreen you could end up paying an arm and a leg for a teensy tube of sunscreen. Who's going to slather on $20 a bottle sunscreen?

Fear not! You can make dare I say even better sunscreen at home without having to change out of your PJs. Oops, I said that out loud huh? I've mentioned before that the Wabi Sabi blog has been invaluable for information on making lotion and now sunscreen. I tinkered with my lotion recipe but simplified it a bit to a jojoba/water emulsion. Then I chose to start off with the minimum recommended amount of zinc oxide - 7% to see if it would be something I could use on my face (which in case you're wondering is not white thus the perfect litmus test).

I bought micronized zinc oxide from Garden of Wisdom. I know some people are concerned about micronized particles but I've read a bit, just enough to convince me it's not a great concern. Have to pick your poison, right?




Marielle's Homemade Suncreen
note: Again with the scale, but I don't mix bread or beauty products without my trusty scale. Too much margin for error and I'm a very picky customer.

78.5% Water - brought to a boil

16% jojoba oil
2% e-wax
2% BTMS emulsifier

1.5% Cosmocil CQ - a preservative

that makes for a 100% lotion formulation, then I calculate 7% of that weight for the zinc oxide amount. And people said you don't use math everyday. Pshaw!


Here's my math for this 6oz batch of sunscreen (two 3oz bottles). When I calculate I do it in decimals but when I weigh out ingredients I do it in whole grams.

6oz = roughly 170 grams

143.65 grams water
27.2 grams jojoba oil

3.4 grams e-wax
3.4 grams BTMS emulsifier

2.55 grams Cosmocil CQ

Then 7% of 170 grams is 11.9 grams of zinc oxide.


First boil your water and then melt your oils and waxes together.




My sunscreen mise en place. My hot water, the oils/waxes, cosmocil (clear fluid in the rear custard cup) and the zinc oxide. Making lotion is a pretty fast process. Just make sure the water and oils are still hot in order to emulsify well.




Add the hot water to the oil/wax mix (the oil phase) and instantly the mixture will turn a milky white.







You can either mix it by hand (I'm using a butter knife) or a stick blender. I've done both. However, the stick blender tends to aerrate the mix more quickly and makes a thicker lotion right away. I wanted a thinner liquid while warm for easy pouring and the sunscreen will still thicken as it cools.

Give the mix a good stir. Then let it cool just a bit. My preservative - the cosmocil - has to be used at temps below 176 degrees fahrenheit so I let the mixture cool just slightly (still hot) then mix in the cosmocil.




Immediately after the preservative while the mix is still hot I stir in the zinc oxide. Surprisingly the powder mixed in very well. I let the sunscreen cool to a moderately warm tempeture then I'm ready to bottle.







I bought these bottles at Wally World for a buck each. They're called Malibu bottles and are also available online. They are very similar to commercial sunscreen packaging and great for dispensing lotions since the cap is on the bottom.




Pour in the sunscreen and get your super fancy label on there. I know, someone as OCD as me should have some kind of PDF printable, gussied up label for her beauty products. No thanks. Masking tape and a sharpie. Easy to get on but most importantly, easy to get off. I just write the date, the percentage of zinc oxide and the main emollient ingredient (jojoba) so I remember for next time.




While the sunscreen is cooling, shake the bottle every five minutes or so. This will ensure that the zinc oxide stays suspended until the lotion sets up after it cools. That's it. Homemade sunscreen.




A test patch on my skin. A swipe of sunscreen above, then a swipe of blended sunscreen right below. No white cast. The true test would be on my face. That day I applied a full face of sunscreen and blended it very well. Despite my blending there was just the teensiest bit of lightening on my skin. But you should know that I'm super picky about shade fluctuations on my face. I use mineral makeup that I get custom blended by Rhonda at BareFaced Minerals. Having been a woman of color all my life it's just something I'm very aware of. If you are fair skinned, this should not be an issue. In fact, I can use this on my body and on the kids, it sinks right in without a whitish cast at all.




So I'll stick to my mineral makeup for sun protection on my face (zinc is also the main ingredient) and use this sunscreen on my body. It's very silky, again sinks right in and absorbs without feeling greasy. Very important if I wanted Mr. Maricucu to wear it while working on the yard and the boys to wear it while playing. A bonus, again thanks to info on wabi sabi, is that zinc oxide is a very soothing ingredient. Of course, it's a big ingredient in diaper rash cream and because of this, you can use the sunscreen as a cloth diaper-friendly rash cream. A multitasker, gotta love that.