Wombats and cents

Wanted: waffle maker

In seven years of living Australia I have seen specialized electrical equipment designed for a single purpose, such as cooking pizza, cooking sausages, baking donuts (aren't donuts supposed to be fried), grilling sandwiches, boiling rice, grinding coffee, making coffee, or baking bread.

So why is it that I can't find a waffle maker in this country?

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2008/01/wanted-waffle-maker.html

Don't be tied down by your furniture

Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste. -- Saadi (1184-1291)

A number of years ago, an old climbing buddy of mine graduated from college, got a job, and bought a couch.  At the time his best friend, who was more attuned to sleeping under the stars than on a sofa, berated him for purchasing something that would tie him down, force him to have a home base, and prevent him from picking up and moving on.  It was only the first step; it wasn't long before my friend had purchased a house that stuck him smack in the middle of settled.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/08/don-be-tied-down-by-your-furniture.html

Beware the Australian Trolley

The classic American shopping cart has two wheels at the back that are fixed in a forward facing position and two wheels at the front that turn in the direction that they are pushed.  For some reason, one of the four wheels always seems to have something stuck in it so that it doesn't turn well, or it swivels from side to side incessantly as you push the cart around the store.  In contrast, the standard Australian trolley (as shopping carts are known to Australians) has four wheels that swivel and rarely seem to insist on a particular direction.

This post has moved. Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/06/beware-australian-trolley.html

My new sewing machine

I grew up around sewing machines.  My first sewing machine, which I still have and use, was a 1976 Singer.  It is built like a rock (and weighs about as much as one), and 31 years later still compares favorably against most modern home sewing machines.  I've since added a serger (a.k.a. over-locker) to my toolkit, and have been fantasizing about a cover stitcher.  But yesterday, when I went with my mother to help her pick out a new sewing machine, I was utterly charmed by a little chain stitcher.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-new-sewing-machine.html

Elimination diet: the end

The long awaited end to our elimination and challenge diet has arrived.  After three and a half months of monitoring everything my son and I ate, we can now go to a party without bringing our own food!  During this period we challenged salicylates (twice), amines, and glutamates, and my son also challenged bread preservative.  My son finished his second salicylate challenge a few days ago, and he'll be off the diet tomorrow (I finished a little over a week ago).  I'm disappointed to report that the only thing I've learned about my son's skin condition from all of this is that my son does not have a severe reaction to any of these things.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/02/elimination-diet-end.html

Getting lazy with glutamates

Well, in what feels like a never ending quest to determine what food sensitivities by son has, we challenged glutamates last week. The challenge required eating a whopping 80 ml of soy sauce (4 Australian tablespoons, or 5 ¹/₃ US tablespoons) each day for three days.  We were also encouraged to use Parmesan liberally.  Technically, those were the only two items in the challenge, but we also indulged in a few other foods that contain glutamates (and amines, which we are no longer avoiding) but no other forbidden chemicals.  We also continued to indulge in small amounts of glutamates during the three day elimination period that follows each challenge.

This post has moved.   Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/02/getting-lazy-with-glutamates.html

Asynchronous challenges

We're getting to the tail end of the discovery stage of our diet to find the cause of my son's eczema.  Last week my son challenged bread preservative (three crumpets a day, whether he liked it or not; he liked it) and I challenged salicylates again.  We'll do a glutamate challenge later this week, and then we have the option of challenging additives, challenging salicylates again (this would be my son only, as I have just done this), or starting the salicylate reintroduction.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/01/asynchronous-challenges.html

Allergy tests reveal error in elimination diet

We finally met with the dermatologist this month, who performed skin prick tests on my son to determine whether he has allergies to a number of common allergens.  As it turns out, he is allergic to egg whites, dust mites, and peanuts.  The good news is that he is not allergic to soy.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2007/01/allergy-tests-reveal-error-in.html

Defeated by amines

It's been 62 days since we started our elimination diet to identify the causes of my son's eczema and I'm starting to feel defeated.  We've finally completed our amine challenge and now my son's eczema is the worst it's been in nearly two months.  During this period we've also faced two birthday parties, a Christmas party, Christmas dinner, and a week away with friends.  All of these occasions were poignant reminders of how little "normal" food we can eat.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2006/12/defeated-by-amines.html

Salicylates challenge more than expected

After 31 days of a strict elimination diet, we've finally entered the discovery phase.  Our first challenge, salicylates, was harder than I thought it would be.  For the previous 31 days I had looked forward to indulging in strawberries, mangoes, cherries, pumpkin, and apples, and once again enjoying the flavor provided by curry and cinnamon.  I thought my son would too; he was absolutely fixated on pictures of strawberries.  But the food didn't taste as good as I expected, and I was surprised to discover that I didn't feel very well either.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2006/12/salicylates-challenge-more-than.html