Episode 268
Frame Job, Meet the Sous-Vide, Alternative Insecticides
On Today's Episode
We cover a lot of ground today--or, at least, we cover some very diverse ground! It all starts with a quick look at a cool project: repairing an antique frame (or at least making it better!).
From there, we take a deep dive into the Sous-Vide--a kitchen appliance that promises to save you time and help you produce the best meals you've ever made.
Finally, with all that delicious food you're likely to make with the Sous-Vide, we know the next problem you'll be dealing with are ants and other pests, coming for their piece of the feast. We've got some alternative insecticides to help you eliminate those unwanted guests!
Frame Job [00:00 - 05:24 ]
Durham's Water Putty is an inexpensive product that covers a lot of ground. If you don't have some in your DIY arsenal, you need it!
In this segment, we talk about an antique picture frame Dan found at an antique store a couple weeks ago. The frame was relatively intricate and sadly, a bit of that detail work had broken off with age. The missing section was glaring and accounted for the cheap price on the piece.
After looking at it for months, Dan bought it planning on painting the missing section with a metallic gold color, hoping to blend it in. However, when he got home, he remembered that he had a canister of Durham's Water Putty. Durham's, among other things, can be carved and shaped once it hardens.
He went to work and after an hour or so, had puttied in the missing spots and done a fair job of carving in a close-enough representation of the pattern. It's not perfect and there's a different approach that he could have taken with the Durhams that would have worked better. But still, after a beautiful paint match, the damaged corner fades out of sight while hanging on the wall.
The Sous Vide [05:25 - 31:17]
Sous-Vide Chef and RepcoLite employee par excellence joins us in the studio to talk about a kitchen appliance that he's LOVED for the last 4 years: The Sous-Vide. He makes the case that the Sous-Vide helps you prepare the best-flavored food you've ever eaten . . . while at the same time making the whole preparation and cooking process simple. Is the Sous-Vide right for you?
Alternative Insecticides [31:17 - 39:23]
Ants and other pests in the home can be a real pain in the neck! If you're dealing with that, there are some options other than your standard pesticides.
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of diatoms. While living, they are responsible for producing almost 30% of our oxygen. And once dead and fossilized, they can be ground up into a fine powder that works well for filtration, polishing, and . . . bug killing.
Just sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of your home and any bugs with an exo-skeleton who crawl through it will be short for this world. Just wear a mask while applying it and you should be fine. There's a lot more to read about and here's a great place to start!
BORAX ANT KILLER
The internet abounds with recipes using Borax as a main ingredient in ant killers. Basically, you mix 1 part Borax to 3 parts water, sugar, peanut butter, or corn syrup. Then you put that mixture on small pieces of index cards and place them where you see your ants. They will eat the mixture and then take it back to the colony and in about 24 - 48 hours, there should be no problem.
A couple IMPORTANT things to consider:
- Borax is not a pet-safe/child-safe alternative! It CAN be lethal to both pets, children, AND adults in the right doses. So be careful to keep it out of reach!
- Borax is the ACTIVE INGREDIENT in the over-the-shelf ant killer, Terro.
