Vinegar
Chris Nacey Writing 101 Final draft 2-19-1997
When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mother.
She liked to cook and so did I. Because of this, I learned my way around the kitchen. I knew the place for everything, and I knew the uses of most everything. There was only one paradox, in my knowledge of the kitchen: vinegar.
My mother had one bottle of vinegar for as long as I can remember. She never used it in cooking, or taught me how to for that matter. Our bottle of White
Wine Vinegar sat in our cupboard: on the bottom shelf, enigmatically, untouched, detached. I knew that my mother wouldn't have it without reason. It was in the kitchen, so I concluded that it must be some sort of, rarely used, cooking staple. I would never have guessed then that vinegar had so many uses.
Just the other day, I was in the mall visiting a friend that works at
Frankincense and Myrrh. While there, I happened upon some bottles that caught my eye. They were attractive looking ornamental bottles. Each one was filled with mysterious, colored liquids: the colors varied from red to brown to yellow.
In the liquids were berries', sprigs of herbs, and things of the such. I thought they looked interesting, so I picked up a bottle that I recognized as having sage in it. I took a look at the label. On the label were listed the ingredients: sage, rosemary, and southernwood leaves. When I read the front of the bottle, I was surprised to find that I was looking at an herbal vinegar hair rinse. Before this I never knew that such a thing existed. After my experience at the mall, I became aware that vinegar didn't just belong in the kitchen.
This intrigued me. I decided to find out more about vinegar and its uses.
Nobody knows the exact origins of vinegar, but there are many stories and beliefs surrounding this strange liquid.(Oster 3) The Roman Army was recorded to have mixed vinegar with water to make a sort of Gatorade for the soldiers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century United States, similar drinks known as "shrubs" or "switchels" were made by field laborers. To make these drinks, they mixed either fruit juices or water, with sometimes salt, and fruit-flavored vinegars.(Oster 4) The earliest recorded use of vinegar, however, was in Babylonia around 5,000 B.C. There, it was typically made from dates, and commonplace as a medicine.(Oster 3)
Throughout history, vinegar has been used medicinally.
...ost likely to be battery acid. If it is water, it has a Ph level of around 7. For vinegar, the Ph level is approximately 2.4 - 3.4. Thus, once testing the liquid compare it with the Ph levels above to discover the mystery solution.
Never, ever, in my life has something tasted so good. We shared a meal that no restaurant could ever top. My father and I became even tighter. From that day on, regular meals tasted like plastic and hot dogs and no better than that. Dangerous dishes became our gourmet good eats.
and from all different eras. In 2012, a woman named Deborah Cain was drinking her
so there isnt much left at the end. Finally, bottle 5 was different than the rest. We
...es of Skunk Oil, Sassafras Tea, and Other Old-time Remedies. Chester: Globe Pequot, 1990. Web.
Rabbit tobacco is also known as lasting, everlasting, sweet balsam, white balsam, feather-weed, and sweet cudweed. Its scientific name is Gaphalium obtusifolium. These annual herbs reach a height of 1 to 3 feet and have erect stems with brown, shriveled leaves persisting into winter and stems covered with felt-like hairs in summer. The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, and alternate. The flowers, minute in whitish heads, appear in late summer to fall. Fields, pastures, and disturbed areas are the sites of this common native plant of the eastern United States. The Cherokee named it rabbit tobacco because they believe it was the rabbit who took attended the plant.
Together, the passages “Business in a Bottle”, by Cynthia Barnett and “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show”, by Peter Gleick, portray how bottled water has taken a superficial and deceptive image due to false advertising and pseudoscientific claims by greedy bottling companies, whose purpose is to take advantage of a free resource in order to make millions in profit; destroying the environment as they go. Both passages expose the bottling companies’ manipulative tricks, in order to bring awareness and open the populations’ eyes to the lies they have been fed for many years, however the authors utilize distinct styles to achieve their goal. Barnett focuses on specific bottling companies’ data and incorporates analysts for support,
...oral hydrate not knowing she was still taking her Nembutal, which she was addicted to.
One day my mother told me that some of the tomatoes were ready to be picked. We went out back, snagged a few of the plumper offerings, and that evening had salads.
homes, playing the piano, singing, playing bingo, conversing, and being a friend to everyone she visited. I
Someone then ran up with a reed with a sponge on it, soaked in vinegar
Because of her active involvement in my life and Eileen’s she became known to our friends as “Mama”. Where ever we would go- she would go with us, that’s just the way it was… she got so close to our friends that they formed their own friendship with her.
(which is found in the bark of a willow tree) when used by the Ancient
The data provided by IBWA (International Bottled Water Association) reveal that bottled water has become extremely popular in the US market. More that $11 billion dollars has been spent for the consumption of bottled water and its consumption increase three times in the last 10 years. The market of bottled water in the United States is the second largest apart from the soft drink. In 2006, the U.S consumption of bottled water was more than 32 billion liters compared to 20 billion liters consumed in 2001. Yearly, an individual in Houston consumes average of 90.5 liters of water more than global average of 24.2 liters. Such growth in the consumption of bottled water is presumable consumers’ perception about safety, purity and convenience of bottled water. Typically, increasing public awareness of bottled water makes 50% of Houston population to drink bottled water and approximately one-third of Houston population drink bottled water regularly. Since 1976, there has been an increase in the market of bottled water in Houston and the United States as a whole. (See Fig 1).
In an article by Ellen Rowland from Natural Life Magazine, she states that Mesopotamians distilled essential oils from plants over 5000 years ago. Ancient civilizations of Rome, Egypt, India, and Greece used oils for perfume; India used oils for massage health treatments (Rowland 17). Pharmacists Manon and Widder in their article, “Essentials of Essential Oils”, state that therapeutic use of essential oils became popular in 1910 when books such as chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse’s, “Aromatherapie”, and Marguerite Maury’s “Guide to Aromatherapy: The Secret of Life and Youth” were published. Reports are that Gattefossie healed the burns he received in a laboratory explosion with lavender oil. Maury centered on personalized blends to aid in emotional and physical balance (e154). The use of essential oils is also documented throughout the Bible; “And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices…with pure frankincense…and thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy” (King James Version, Exodus 30: 34-35). Gifts of frankincense and myrrh were presented to the Christ child by the Wise Men (Matt 2:11); myrrh and cloves were used to anoint the body of the beloved Savoir after His crucifixion (John 19:39-40). These are just a few examples of how essential oils were utilized throughout