Hot Days of Summer

[chasingtides]

It's felt like summer here for the past couple days. As my room has windows facing south and east, it turns into a hothouse. This was useful in the cold winter, not so much right now.

In deference to the microclimate of my dorm room, I spent the day in a cafe reading Freud. But before I went to the cafe, I picked up some flip flops because yesterday my sandal gave me a huge (burst) blister on my right heel. So, backless shoes it was. I went to the cafe. I used html in my notes. As a reward for finishing Totem and Taboo, one of the most racist and sexist works I've read in a long time, I went to the used bookstore and Borders. I failed in my search (cheap knitlit or some good Pennsylvania folklore). I did, however, pick up a sale copy of Cooking: a Common Sense Guide, which makes me happy. (Fanny Farmer, however, does not make me happy. They've culled my favourite recipes sometime between 1920 and today.) The cookbook includes a guide to meat cuts, cooking/freezing, vegetables, preparations, tools, measurements, etc. as well as recipes. (And I now have a number of tasty looking vegetarian dishes to which I am not allergic, should my vegetarian-type friends visit me when we are graduated.) I then tried out the Creole place in town, figuring my room would be too hot to live in. (Creole place: good. I prefer more chili pepper and less black pepper in my jambalaya. They get props for attempting to make Creole food look artistic. Overpriced.) When I returned to my room after dark, it was still stifling.

I have several questions for my flist:
1. Does anyone know where I can get books on the folklore of Pennsylvania (preferably without names like Spooky Pennsylvania?)

2. Does anyone know of a good Creole cookbook? I enjoy making gumbo and jambalaya in the summer and would like to expand my knowledge of Creole cuisine. The Borders cooking section was heavy on low-fat vegetarian wholefood macrobiotic cooking and light on the real food I like to eat cooking.

3. Any advice on healing cracked skin? I have winter dry feet and my right foot (the one with the blisters) did not get on well with the flip flops. The skin between my big toe and second toes has cracked open and is rather painful. Suggestions would be appreciated. Suggestions on foot wear would also be appreciated as I have cracked skin between the toes and open (if bandaged) blisters on the heal.

Someone give me motivation to analyse Freud and incest and taboo.

Comments

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

3) cocoa butter. Or anything by Burts Bees. Best suggestion is to soak feet, apply heavily and put on loose clean old socks overnight. This is not something I learned in med school but rather on my own two feet. . .

[siyahsaclikiz.livejournal.com]

I recommend Bepanthene. I honestly don't know if it's available here, or if it is, if it's under the same name, but that has helped me on all sorts of skin problems in the past.

I know that BACASO has some food demonstrations and they occasionally cook Creole food, but I don't know who you would contact for recipes etc.

[gallian.livejournal.com]

these are both from www.butyoudontlooksick.com and they *really work.* I recommend though, if you use the first one on your whole body, that you have a bath-spotter, because you (and the bathtub) will get *very* slippery and the last thing you want to do is slip, fall, and break something.

quoted directly from: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/2008/01/problem_solver_treatments_for.php

Salt Exfoliating Scrub Treatment

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sea salt
(Optional) 10-15 drops of any essential oil you like - mint, lavender, rose, etc.
(Optional) 1 tsp liquid Glycerin (available at most drugstores)

Mix thoroughly. Apply to your entire body, paying particular attention to dry rough areas - elbows, knees, feet, heels, hands.

Run a warm (not hot) bath and soak for 15 minutes. The salts and oils will dissolve, and the warm water will help it to get into your skin. When you get out, just gently pat yourself dry. Your skin should feel smooth and moisturized!

Store any leftover scrub in a jar with lid. You can double or triple the recipe if you want to make lots at a time for future use and you can store it at room temperature.

Intense Treatment For Very Dry Problem Areas

I have a couple fingers along with my heels that crack open and bleed from dryness. The homemade cream below is how I survive the winter! Please note that this recipe does contain active ingredients in over the counter (OTC) medicines and you should check with your doctor if you have any concerns about using them.

Many people have problems Candida yeast and it can cause cracked bleeding skin, epecially on feet and heels. Dermatologists often recommend either salicylic acid or anti-yeast medications to treat Candida. I put Monistat and aspirin (salicylic acid) in my treatment in order to attack the problem in both ways. If you know for a fact you do NOT have Candida problems, just omit the Monistat and the aspirin.

Combine:

2 tsp Vicks Vaporub (or Vaseline, if you're sensitive to menthol)
1 tsp Monistat (or other OTC yeast treatment cream)
1 tsp Neosporin (or other triple antibiotic ointment)
2 tbsp Crisco
1 aspirin, crushed very fine

For an even richer cream with the benefits of beeswax, melt enough pure beeswax in the microwave to make about 1/4 cup. Let it cool slightly and then mix in the remaining ingredients.)

Doing The Treatment:

First I spray hydrogen peroxide I keep in a spray bottle onto affected areas to disinfect skin, then dry with a clean towel.

Apply the cream very generously to the hands and feet and put on clean cotton gloves and socks, letting them absorb the cream overnight. You can put it on your hands a few times during the day as well, allowing it to soak in.