Cooking at Home with Judy

Neem Oil

. . . and its benefits. Even if you don't have a yard, forward this to your family and friends who do. Plus see the benifits for your skin at the bottom of this page.

Why Plant a Neem Tree in your yard?

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica) has been cultivated for centuries for its many beneficial uses, including using the leaves to naturally repel pests. The leaves are often stored in cabinets, windows and grain storages to keep bugs away.

Instead of using harmful chemical sprays to keep destructive bugs like aphids from entering your garden, or annoying bugs like mosquitos away, you can add a Neem Tree to your landscape for an organic solution.

Best of all, Neem Trees don’t bother good bugs like pollinators and won’t keep them away from your yard.

Neem Trees are evergreens that are a delight to grow. In the spring, Neem Trees erupt with large clusters of fragrant white blooms that will add beauty and a floral fragrance to your yard before turning into ornamental, vibrant yellow fruit. (However, don't eat the fruit or leaves, as non-edible Neem is poisonous if ingested!)

By being native to dry and arid climates, Neem Trees are extremely drought tolerant and heat resistant. They will thrive during the hottest and most dry parts of the year, and little to no upkeep is required.

This is the website where I got the info. It shows a photo of a beautiful full grown tree. The site would not allow me to copy the photo. This site is also the most expensive, over $100 for a 3 gallon pot. There are sites as low at $5 and sites where you can buy seeds. I recommend you use the official name Azadirachta indica and ask your local nursery to recommend the best options for your area.

From the same nursery you can purchase Neem spray for your yard. Just read the label to make sure there are NO added chemicals.

I enjoy the benefits of Neem Oil for my skin. Neem oil has excellent antioxidant properties. It moisturizes and protects against chapping, cracking, and itching due to dry skin. Hand-Extracted from wild-harvested neem seeds. Unrefined for maximum effectiveness. You can purchase it at any health food store. 

Offering you healthier choices in your everyday life, 

          Your friend in the kitchen, Judy

Safety Pins

UPdate . . . They still make diaper pins, much to my surprise & delight. You can buy 6 of them at Bed Bath & Beyond Baby store for $1.99. Unless you want the fancy ones for a dollar more. Glad I found them. Problem solved. 

Darn . . . can't even trust good old fashioned safety pins to be what they were in the good old days!

You know how it is when you NEED a BIG safety pin and nothing else will do? Searched and searched and searched NO big safety pins in the whole house. Well darn, thought I had a bunch in a tin box. NO tin box so must have given them to someone thinking I could easily replace them. Good intentions aught to be worth something. Shouldn't they??

Covid taught me to search online before you leave the house. Not everyone has 'ordinary' items in stock these days. Plus, you know you can't always trust the web either. And, since you can't trust clerks to know where anything is anymore, like you could in the good old days.

I've learned to print out the picture from the stores web page and go directly to customer service and show it to them. Inevitably they have to call someone, or 2-3 someone's and often give up and call the manager of the store who then has to look it up. tee-hee.

But . . . hay that beats me having to walk up and down every aisle.

What was the old ad for the Yellow Pages? "Let your fingers do the walking". Did we ever dream the day would come when we'd no longer have telephone operators to look things up for us? Or, never again to have that big fat FREE directory with everyones name and address at our finger tips?

Times have changed. And, so has the quality of safety pins. I only wanted BIG ones. Have dozens of every OTHER size. But, oh NO the manufacturers know that when you need a BIG safety pin you'll not only pay the price, you will also be willing to take on MORE of those small ones that you don't want. Gerrrrrrrrrr.

So be warned my friends don't buy Fiskars. At one time that was a brand you could trust. NO more. Cheap, flimsy, metal got all bent out of shape the first time I use one.

from your friend in the kitchen, Judy