Yesterday's indulgence:

[moominmolly]

I couldn't find a water bath canning rack, so I bought new sheets and extra pillowcases to console myself. I should have bought a whole sheet set to match the extra pillowcases, since they were so satiny soft. I put them on our pillows last night, saving the new sheets for later, and it was fabulous! Every time I woke up in the middle of the night, I wriggled happily back into my pillowcase and went right back to sleep.

Man, I love nice sheets.

Comments

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Mmm...sheets. What are you canning?

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

If all goes well, I will replicate and can leeble's brandied spiced peach butter.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

drool!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I'll share with you. :)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

PS: if you've got any idea where I could get a canning rack and new lids in the area, I'd love to hear about it!

[trom.livejournal.com]

Your local ACE hardware. You however may have to buy a canning pot set to get the rack....

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I don't mind buying a pot, though I'd rather not -- I just don't want to drop all that cash on a pressure cooker, which is what BB&B wanted me to do.

ACE! Excellent. I will go by Tags in Porter Square tonight, on the way home. It's also conveniently located next to a gigantic Peach Source (Star Market).

[trom.livejournal.com]

Pressure cookers rock! But a regular canning pot w/rack should be <$20 at ACE. And they will have lids and also rubber coated jar tongs. kcatalyst has a great recipe for peach-butterscotch jam that I can find and type in if you like also.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I thiiiink I have a pressure cooker somewhere, which is why I'm not buying one. And peach-butterscotch jam sounds lovely -- if the recipe is within reach, I'd love to have it.

Jar tongs jar tongs jar tongs!

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Lids should be pretty simple - we saw rafts of them at Tags, and a somewhat less plushy selection at Stop and Shop. The rack...um, not sure, although Tags might also have that. I know that the Target, etc., people will look at you like you've got two heads.

If you have time and are patient, flea markets are great for things like that. It's where I got my last canning rack (lost now to the sands of time, alas).

(Peach butter!!)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I know that the Target, etc., people will look at you like you've got two heads.

Sadly, so do I. :) I'm hoping Tags will come through for me!

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

chaiya and i have recently been making pickles (cucumber, radish, sweet onion) and Concord grape jelly. we’ve been using a big stockpot and a folding steamer to do water bath canning, with quite good results. you should be able to get one at K-Mart or some such, i’d think.

-steve

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I actually already have one of these (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007KPHY/102-1679486-6204114?v=glance), with the deep steamer pot -- I was considering using it, but what do you do to make sure the jars stay separated? Put little rocks in between them?

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

no negative consequence has yet resulted from the jars not being separated. :)

-steve

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

tell more about the sheets! the dog just ripped another one of mine...

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

My criteria for sheets are that they have to be really really soft and not white or ivory. Most ultraluxury sheets are useless to me, then, since they only come in white and ivory. :P

Right now, though, the Burlington Bed Bath and Beyond (BBB&B) has cotton sateen 600-thread-count "Hotel" sheets in sage and rusty-brown for about $100 for a king sheet set. These are the pillowcases I used last night, since they mostly matched our current sage-green sheets. Shiny and smooth and soft! I also picked up a bright-red cotton sateen striped sheet set that was shockingly soft, at $70/king set and 320 thread count. I don't recall if the other sizes of sheet sets had the same price as the king sets (seems weird, but I think that's what I remember) or whether they were priced correspondingly lower.

[tcb.livejournal.com]

omg! 600? I wonder if the BBB at the Valley of the Things has it too.. I could do sage..

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

They have 1000, if you're willing to do white/ivory. :) But the 600s are as soft as I'm apparently able to sense, and really quite inexpensive for what you seem to be getting!

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

I am curious about the newer high threadcound ones. It seems they are using a doubled thread in the same loom to get the higher count. I wonder if the 600's are really closer to a 300 or not.......

OOooooo 1000 now that sounds silky. I don't much mind the white or off white as you can bleach them. I am not a fan of the the ones with textures woven in, as they are less silky.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

They are slightly less silky, but the wee little stripes make me feel all dapper. :)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Plus! Bright RED!

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Very high thread counts are overwhelmingly likely to be either deceptive or false. The manufacturer counting plies instead of threads (typical cotton sheet thread has three plies) is deceptive. False is when there aren't even that many plies, not to mention the proper thing counted, threads. Consumer Reports has caught manufacturers doing both.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

they had them earlier in the week :) the 8th wedding anniversary is "linens" :)

[coraline]

i've found even better than the high-threadcount ones (ok, not based on lying on them, but based on petting them) and better than the silk sheets we've both got are these. they make me soooooo happy (we got them as a wedding gift).

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Ooh, and I *love* the plum and burgundy colors.

[coraline]

yeah, they're really pretty.

*waggles eyebrows* and if you want to try them out you can come lie in my bed, pretty girl :)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Some offers are downright impossible to resist! :) I may take you up on this.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

PS: I do not know how such matters work, but based on petting sheets, it seems that thread count alone isn't responsible for how wonderful a sheet feels. This is why "8000 thread count!" offers on the web don't tempt me as much as they might. So, thanks for the pointer. I'll go pet them soon. :)

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Don't forget the effect of materials. Most people like the feel of cotton the most. Egyptian cotton is best (very long staple); then Pima, aka Egyptian-American, came plant as Egyptian but grown in the US (long staple); cotton-poly blends in various amounts. Flannel is cotton or blend, woven differently. Then the funky materials: silk, linen, knit instead of woven (usually a wool or wool blend), satin (which is a weave type, not a material).

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the high threadcount sheet slut club!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm already a member (http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=high+thread-count+sheets)! Just a stingy (and therefore infrequently-satisfied) one. :)

[tcb.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I've wanted to get some nice 300 thread count sheets for a while..

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

Higher higher.....400 is the minimum to be a real high threadcount slut!

[palmir.livejournal.com]

We just got a 350 set. :-(

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I figure that as long as they're really soft and silky, and as long as they make you coo when you bed down at night, it counts.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

wait for it :)

I'm doomed!

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

1200 thread count sheet from amazon for $99
http://dealnews.com/deals/1-200-Thread-Count-Luxury-Sateen-Solid-Sheet-Sets-for-100-shipped/96652.html

Re: I'm doomed!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I'm reluctant to buy sheets over the internet without touching them first. If you buy these, let me know how it works out. :)

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, nice sheets... Yum!

I've historically settled for the boring "colors" since I figure, hey, my eyes are closed, right? And I'm not allowed to buy new sheets for a while, 'cause... well, how many sets of sheets do I REALLY need? If I let myself run free on this issue, I wouldn't have room for clothing.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

One set per bed plus one extra per bedsize.

Two sets per bed if you don't use a dryer.

Two sets per bed if you use flannel in the winter.

Apparently infinite amounts, if you make the mistake of putting sheet sets in your wedding registry.

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

mmmm, sheets. Now I want my bed!

If your search for a local place to get the canning rack is fruitless, there's always the internet.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

I have become a sheet-slut ... JB gave me a gorgeous silver/blue japanese-themed set after Baitcon 10 as a thank you gift that were, I think 300-count and I just fell deeper and deeper over the years. 600 count sounds positively luscious, so I bought a set :)

[maighread.livejournal.com]

Lucky pillowcase!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

What can I say? I'm a sucker for smooth, soft, and shiny.

[maighread.livejournal.com]

OooOOooo,...shiiiiny!