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S pilyay T ymoo
July 5,1985
Howto keep your family safe on vacation
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| P re p aratio n is the key to a
Successful vacation, w hether you
lan to stay a t hom e or travel.
Is Y our H om e Ready?
I
I' Stop m ail and ne wspaper deli
v e rie s unless you arrange w ith a
• reliable friend or relative to
^regularly collect them . A rrange
/f o r som eone to keep your lawn
mowed so it w on’t be obvious
fy o u ’re n o t at home. A tim er th at
turns lights on and off a t pre-set
^ tim es is a good idea. P u t valua-
||b le s in a safe deposit box or
other safe place.
Is your car ready?
If Carefully check cooling sys
tems, brakes, belts, and tires.
¿ D o it well ahead of your depar
t u r e tim e so there’ll be tim e for
B any needed repairs.
D o n ’tleav e hom e w ithout!—
^ D riv e r’s license, duplicate car
/k e y s , vehicle registration, hos-
' pital insurance care, medical
* information card, auto insurance
m o to r club card, and nam es
S an d addresses of next of kin.
4 If y o u ’re pulling a trailer: A
^ ‘strong hitch and safety chains
S are essential. Check the brake
¡^connections to the trailer and
ksee th a t the trailer lights are all
in good w orking order. Pull
Monly th a t size trailer recom-
gm ended for your car and hitch.
r
Be aw are of regional hazards:
visit the library and do a little
reading up on possible hazards
of the area you plan to visit. F o r
in sta n c e : R o c k y M o u n ta in
Spotted Fever, which is tran s
m itted by ticks, occurs prim ar
ily in the Southw est, western
M ontana, W yom ing, parts of
Idaho and eastern California.
H igh altitude sickness can
strike in the m ountains. F o r
healthy people, problem s usu
ally occur at elevations above
7,000 feet; for people w ith heart
or lung disease, at heights above
4,000 feet.
D rinking m o u n tain stream
w ater can give you a num ber of
intestinal diseases. D o n ’t drink
any surface water.
D rinking w ater in M exican
border tow ns can give you “tra
velers diarrhea.” D rink bottled
w ater or soft drinks.
Know where you’re going:
M ap your trip carefully so th a t
w andering is by choice and not
just because you’re lost.
If you plan to drive in strange
territory, consider taking along
a tape recorder and a blank
tape. I f you have to ask direc
tions, get the recorder into action
and put in instructions on tape.
T hen play jt back as you p ro
ceed on your way.
Try this m ap trick: Fold the th an others. I t’s a good idea to
m ap you’re following so that pay special attention to such
the ap propriate section is show spots as the nose, eye contour,
ing, then clip it to your car’s sun throat, chest, and the backs o f
visor with clothes pins. I t ’ll be the hands, feet, and knees.
easier to read this way (while
you’re stopped, of course) with
Rem em ber to reapply the sun
no groping in the glove com screen preparation after every
partm ent or trying to unfold it swim or shower, and every few
while you’re driving.
hours of exposure to replace
D o n ’t run out of gas: If you’re w hat’s lost through evaporation
headed for a rem ote area, try to or perspiration.
arrive a t your destination with
The m ost dangerous time of
at least half a tan k of gas. Then the day to be in the sun is
you’ll be prepared in case of a between 10 a.m. and' 2 p.m .,
middle-of-fhe-night emergency wheri the heaviest concentration
trip, which might be to a hospi untraviolet rays reach the earth.
tal or emergency first-aid station.
Tips for the stay-at-hom e va
D o n ’t try to drive too far at cation: D o n ’t overdo it. D o n ’t
o n e s tr e tc h . W h e n y o u ’re climb to o high, reach to o far,
pooped, park it!
lift m uch, o f try to do too m uch
W hen in the water: D o n ’t in too short a time.
over estim ate your swimming
Use p ro tec tiv e eq u ip m en t
ability and get too far from shore. when it’s called for. Gloves,
D o n ’t swim w ithout a buddy if safety shoes and goggles can be
th ere’s no- lifeguard on duty. ju st as im portant, at hom e as
Sm all children playing in or they are on the job.
near water require constant super
Be sure you’re qualified to
vision.
handle a jo b . Sometimes more
Beware of the sun: Some vaca k n o w h o w is re q u ire d — w ith
tions are spoiled by sun b u rn plum bing or electricity, for in
out. Keep this in mind and take stance—th an the average per
the sun in small doses,
son possesses.
Use a sun tan oil, lotion, or
Try to relax a little. Catch up
cream th at contains a sun screen, on your sleep dr reading. Forget
and rem em ber th a t some parts ■about the every-day pressures
of the body are m ore sensitive "that disturb you.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
EXTENSION
Clay Penhollow
Mollie Driscoll
Baby food tips
Warnings about heating com-
mericial baby food in jars in the
microwave oven have led to
much confusion and unneces
sary concern.
F irst, there is no need to be
concerned about the use of mic
rowaves to heat any food. M |c-
rowaves simply supply the energy
which causes the molecules to
vibrate, thereby causing the food
to become warm. The energy
generated remains in the food
in the form of heat, not micro-
waves.
W arnings issued by commer
cial baby food processors are
related to the uneven fast heat
ing o f baby foods by the micro
waves th a t lead to crusting over
and spattering, and hot spots.
ingful exchanges can happen in Baby food products which cause
bits as you plan and do things the most concern are plain meats
together.
and poultry, high meat dinners,
In spite Of independence, many egg yolks and meat and poultry
five’s show a spurt of extremely
close attachm ent to mothers.
But if they have an outburst of
tem per, it’s most likely against
her.
Fives add an im portant new
person to their lives—teacher.
Teachers are different because
they must help children get ready
fo r form al school and are less
Now that spring garden plant
intim ate th an previous caregiv
ings are up ahd growing, a shot
ers. Fives usually like their tea
of nitrogen fertilizer is just the
cher, but they sometimes, “Tea-
thing to keep the plants going
nbber m akeF ffied 6
Strong.
dr-Ft’s-an alm ost overwhelming
A d d itio n al nitrogen should
change for young children begin
be spread along the vegetable
ning to m ake it on their ow n to
rows and watered into the soil.
have to listen attentively, re
This m ethod of fertlizing plants
member, take turns, works inde
is know as sidedressing.
pendently, and control their im
Am m onium nitrate, am m o
pulses all at once. W hile it may
nium sulfate and urea are good
look like more playtiine, the
sources of nitrogen fo r the gar-
routines are preparations for
den. A complete fertilizer such
the big switch into first grade.
as 10-10-10 com bination is also
W hen you stop to think about
a good source o f nitrogen for
it; it’s pretty rough for a little
the garden.
five-year old to leave baby hab
Blood meal is a good source
its and supports behind.
of nitrogen for organic garden
five-year olds are not “babies”
ft
T he w orld changes dram ati-
, cally for five-year olds. Five
* m arks a giant step out of the
. protective shelter of home, neigh-
borhdocl and child care center.
E ntering ‘real’ school brings
trem endous changes in expe
riences fo r Children and their
view o f themselves. Suddenly,
after being coddled and advised
in sm allgroups, they m ust make
it on th eir ow n in new places
filled with many strangers.
Five is a critical year for
e x p e r im e n ta tio n w ith new
friends and m aking independ
ent decisions.
1 EVen though a child’s basic
personality is som ew hat estab
lished by age five, m ood and
b eh av io r swings continue to
m ark a child’s early develop
ment.
W e m ust be constantly re
m inded th a t all children do not
behave the sam e way a t certain
ages because each child has
his) her own developmental tinie
table. Som e have been im pa
tiently w aiting to get into bigger
things such as kindergarten while
others haven’t thought m uch
about it yet.
However, studies of general
activities and interests qf five-
year olds can help parents under
stand and accept m any behav
io r q u irk s, sp e cia lists n o te.
These studies can prevent undue
concern w hen life w ith a five-
year old isn’t so rosy.
Five has been called th e ‘sunny
serene year’ because th a t’s the
way it usually begins. D o n ’t be
lulled into thinking . five has
decided to m ake life easier for
you. T heir acceptance of ‘my
life’ and boastful pride in ‘my
house,’ or ‘my m other or fath er’
women they are becoming.
A lm ost independent, but not
quite, five still need others to
boost their self-confidence. I t’s
crucial th at parents and family
members prom ote the five-year
o ld ’s beliefs th at they are good-
looking and com petent boys
and girls.
I t’s especially hard for fives
to keep up good feelings-about
themse|yes if older siblings o r
neighbor kids are allowed to
em barass them , tease or make
them feel young and small.
Five is sometimes called the
‘hom ebody’phase of childhood,
often turns into overdemanding because five-year olds show such
explosiveness'by five and a half,-
Som e go the opposite direc
tio n reverting to hesitancy and
dependence. The child who has
been cheerfully responding with
“Yes, I w ill,” now is ap t to say
“No, I w on’t,” w ith a steely
glare- and arm s folded in de
fiance.
By the age of five, children’s
individualistic ways Of handling
everyday activities and their per
sonality and developm ent give
glimpses of the kind of men o r
■deep satisfaction with themselves
ahd their family.
T ake advantage o f this satis
fying time to w atch and listen to
your five-year old. Exchange
ideas on how you feel about
things, the w orld and right and
Wrong.
You are now developing the
trusting communication patterns
th a t pay big dividends when
tougher problem s come later.
They will n o t listen to a long
philosophical discussion, but mean
1
is also recom m ended as a result
of OSU research findings.
Because hom e canning re
co m m en d a tio n s co n tin u e to
change, it is crucial to have cur
rent instructions. Check the date
on the references you are using.
The Ball Blue Book was last
revised in 1984. L ook for a 1983
copyright on the latest Kerr Can
ning and Freezing Book. Either
discard or m ark “ D o N ot Use”
on all older food preservation
books. C urrent editions of OSU
Extension publications on home
canning are also available. “Can
ning F ru its an d T o m a to es,”
PN W 299, and “ Canning Ye-;
getables,” PN W 172, can be
picked up at the OSU E xten
sion ¡Serviced An Investm ent in
up-to-date canning references
can cut food spoilage and pre
vent food poisoning.
sticks. These foods have a ten
dency to form a dried layer on
their surface that prevents steam
escaping during heating. Dis
turb the film and the steam
erupts in a spatter of hot baby
food. H eat baby foods on a low
to medium setting and stir con
stantly. Enjoy thè convenience
of heating food in the micro-
wave for round-the-clock infant
feeding.
H eating infant form ula in the
m icrowave is safe, if certain
precautions are followed. H eat
only until warm, not boiling.
Too often when heating for
mula in the microwave, thé con
tainer rem ains cool, but the
contents are much hotter. Shake
the bottle to redistribute the
heat inside and always sprinkle
a few drops on your wrist to test
the heat before giving the bottle
to the baby.
Nitrogen helps
gardens grow
Check home canning process Feed your
The first publication op home
canning was issued by the U.S.
D epartm ent of A griculture in
1909. W e’vé come a lung way
since then, thanks to continuing
research.
When we use up-to-date home-
canning recom m endations, we
pan be confident th a t,o u r pro
duct will be safé to eat. How
ever, m any hom e canners are
using old instructions with out
dated methods. A good exam
ple is Oven canning, which is no
longer considered to be a safe
canning m ethod. Likewise, old
instructions for w ater b ath pro
cessing low-acid foods (vegeta
bles, meats, fish, and poultry)
aré not safe. T o destroy the bac
teria th a t cause botulism poi
soning, these low -acid foods
m ust be processed in a pressure
canner.
R ecent research has led to
changes in U SD A canning re
com m endations ju st w ithin the
last year or two. F o r example,
the recom m ended processing
tim e for applesauce has beep
lengthened to 20 m inutes, and
recom m endations for canning
strained squash and pum pkin
were dropped due to safety con
cerns.
T om ato canning recom m en
dations have undergone much
change in recent years. U ntil
researchers can determ ine ade
quate processing times, the raw
pack method is no longer recom
mended. Processing times for
the h o | paék m ethod have been
lengthened to 35 m inutes fo t
pints and 45 m inutes for quarts.
The addition o f lem on juice
o r citric acid to canned tom a
toes is now recom m ended to
insure th a t the acidity is ade
quate for processing in a boiling
w ater bath. F o r (the, sam e rea
son, acidificatioii of canned figs
D on’t let your lawn go hungry
this summer. A June applica
tion of nitrogen fertilizer will
keep home lawns growing vigo
rously th ro u g h t h e «sum m er
months.
M any fertilizer form ulations
m anufactured specifically for
grass are available for lawns.
Weed and feed com binations
will do extra duty by killing
early sum m er weeds. Follow all
jawn
directions printed on the pack
age for using these fertilizers.
Ammonium sulfate and ammo
nium nitrate are alternatives to
special lawn fertilizers. When
using these nitrogen sources,
apply one pound of actual nit
rogen per 1,000 square feet.
Am m onium sulfate contains 21
percent nitrogen. A fiye pound
box will cover 1,000 square feet
of lawn.
Care of frozen foods noted-
Department of Agriculture show
th at hom e cooks need some
help in keeping foods safe.
The simple fact is th at most
of us do not do a good jo b of
food handling. Two simple rules
follow are: keep, hot foods hot
and keep cold foods cold. Yet,
m any cooks thaw fo o d sall day
on the kitchen counter arid cool
foods in a pot on the back of the
Stove. All wrong.
The whole idea behind keep
ing foods either hot or cold is to
prevent growth of bacteria. The
danger zone is the tem perature
range from 60 to 125 degrees F.
Bacteria grow and riiultiply in
this tem perature range.
To keep foods hot means at
165 degrees F or hotter. Al
though sbme bacteria are killed
at 125 degrees F, mariy ju st stop
multiplying at the tem perature.
It is the presence of bacteria in
large quantities which causes
many of the food-related stom
ach upsets today.
A nother way to prevent bac
teria growth is to keep cold
foods cold. At tem peratures be
When Cooking
low 40 degrees F most bacteria
Is the food you cook safe to do not grow. However, holding
eat? Recent studies by the U.S. • frozen foods between 10 and 32
Poultry: If poultry has thawed,
is still quite cold to the touch, it
may be cooked and refrozen:’
A ny stuffed poultry should be
discarded.
Vegetables: Vegetables that
still show ice crystals may be,
refrozen but shpuld be used as
soon as possible. If com pletely'
thawed, you can refreeze some
vegetables (plain ones, not those
with sauces) if they have not
been held a t room tem perature
too long. Vegetables may also
be. cooked and. refrozen separ
ately or as ingredients in a cas
serole or other dishes.
Breads: Can be refrozen, how
ever, the; freshness may be aft
fected.
Cakes: Can be refrozen, but
this sometimes produces dry
ness and affects the quality of-
the icing-
-
Pies: Can be refrozen, with
the exception of cream pies.
Some weeping and breaking of
the filling may occur, as well as
loss of crust texture.
A t a loss as how to handle
frozens? I t’s , always gobd to
bear in mind th at even if an item
can be refrozen, it may be lack
ing in some of its original qual
ity. Here are some guidelines.
Meats: D o notrefreeze if they
have warm ed to room tem pera
ture and have completely thawed.
If com plete thaw ing has oc
curred, red meats should be
cooked immediately. It can then
be refrozen. Partially thawed
variety meats, sausages and ham
burgers should be conked imme
diately.
Fruits: Com pletely thaw ed
fruits should be used imm edi
ately. Fruits may be frozen, but
there may be a loss of quality.
Prepared foods: (F o r exam
ple, meats in cream sauces, fro
zen dinners, cream pies and lef
tovers). These are best discarded
or cooked imm ediately if they
have thawed completely.
Juices: Any juice th at thaws
should be reconstituted accord
ing to package directions and
used.
Fish: If it has thawed com
pletely, it is best consum ed on
the spot or throw n out since it
can spoil rapidly.
I
Pagè 5
degrees F does allow some bac
teria to grow slowly. This is w h y ,
experts in food sanitation urge
us to only store frozens in the
home refrigerator freezer for a
week or two. Large hom e freez
ers, which store foods at 0 de
grees F or colder, are ideal fo r
sto rag e of fro zen foods fo r
m onths at a time,
ers who want to avoid synthetic
fertilizers.
Apply side dressing a t the fol
lowing rates: am m onium sul
fate, W f i^ a ff c u p per ren feet;
am m onium nitrate, one-thi^d
cup per ten feet; urea, one-
fourth cup per ten feet.
Blood meal is available with
different percentages of nitro
gen. Be sure to follow the label
directioiis on the blood meal
package.
Be careful not to apply extra
nitrogen to tom atoes. The to
m ato plant will channel the nit-
rogen into excessive vegetative
growth at the expense of the
newly developing tomatoes.
Dress
Safely
Sometimes dressing for suc
cess means dressing for safety.
According to governmerit sta
tistics, clothing is the cause of
more th an 50 percent of the
accidents th at occur each year
in this country around farm
m ach in ery an d o th e r heavy
equipment.
If you work around farm
machinery, attentidn to clothing
and hair style can reduce your
chances of. accidental injury,
says M ollie D riscoll, W arp f
Springs Extension agent. Take
a few moments each morning to
assess w hat you wear. Those
seconds could save your life.
W h en w o rk in g a ro u n d
machinery refrain from wearing
floppy, flared or ragged pants,
long, loose belts or scarves, un-
bottoned or torn pockets, coarse-
k n it sw eaters, loose sleeves,
sandals, rings, bracelets and
necklaces and long, free-flowing
hair.
Order carefully
Mail order catalogs offer con
sumers a conv en ien t. way to
shop^ But Extension family eco
nomics specialists warns shop
pers to beware of possible pro
blems.
If you’re going to order frpm
a mail order catalog, it’s real
im portant to read the descrip
tion carefully. Sometimes pic
tures are a little deceiving. It’s
hard to tell how big something
really is from the picture. In
many cases it will indicate th at
it’s smaller than actually pic
tured or it will indicate the size.
And then think about the kind
of iterii you’re buying. It may be
much easier, for example, to
pick a size ori som ething like a
4
blouse or a skirt th an it would a
pair of shoes. O f course the
other thing that’s sometimes hard
to tell are colors—th at if they
say it’s red or it’s green, that
could m ean an y n u m b er of
shades of red or green.
The most im portant thing is
to understand the com pany’s
return policy, as well to keep
careful records of when and
what you order.