Mother's Down-home Country Lore
(Page 3 of 4)
November 1980
By the Mother Earth News editors
[5] Sometimes when Lakeland, Florida's Billie Richley is working up a recipe in her kitchen, she'll add the acidic salad dresser to cream to make "instant sour cream" and to milk when she needs "quick buttermilk".
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[6] Tallahassee's Leslie Campbell ( another vinegar-loving Floridian) uses dilute you-know-what for a shine-producing hair rinse . . . while Brenda Krupnau — a Hoxie, Arkansas resident — finds that the same treatment is an excellent remedy for head lice!
[7] As Edith Bernard of Manning, Oregon reminded us, sore throats can be soothed by gargling — and then swallowing — a solution of one teaspoon of vinegar in one glass of water.
[8] Some folks — like Melody Thennick — even splash the kitchen condiment under their armpits for an effective deodorant. This Evart, Michigan woman has also realized that a vinegar soaking is a good smell-removing laundry additive for odorous socks!
[9] A Phoenix, Maryland veterinarian named Michael Lynch routinely recommends a vinegar application for dogs and cats stricken with the common bacterial ear infection Pseudomonas. Dr. Lynch says that the pets' owners should first clear the animals' irritated hearing passages with cotton and oil, then pour in a teaspoon of the fermented liquid and massage the well of each ear. Repeat the treatment — everyday — until the persistent infection clears up.
[10] People who want to lose weight can try drinking a solution of two tablespoons of vinegar, one tablespoon of honey, and one-half cup of water 30 minutes before each meal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jerry L. Fuller — two Muskogee, Oklahoma readers — say the mixture "will definitely curb any appetite".
[11] We've recently learned of an absolutely amazing use of vinegar, which is also one that we hope you never need to try. Tom Welling of Aurora, Indiana was the first person to tell us that — according to studies done in Korea — a good whiff of the acid juice is practically 100% effective in reviving persons and animals that have just suffered carbon monoxide poisoning!
And, lastly, more people than we have space to name told us they use vinegar (plain, heated, or combined with baking soda) to clean everything from grimy silverware to mildew to all their bathroom appliances. Folks, it all just goes to show: When we told you before that plain old household vinegar can be a genuine elixir, we weren't kidding!
