This is about the time a whole lot of us start gearing up for a whopping lot of holiday cooking and baking, stovetop and oven, so we’re sure lucky Dianne Berst, our longtime recipe-sharing Marysville cook and cookbook author, is looking out for us. She says, “This is good to know,” and shares what may well be a priceless how-to.
It starts with a story that goes like this: While dosing his landscaping with pesticides, a young fella lifted the lid and leaned into the barrel, fired up his lighter to see how much of the contents were left, and was instantly engulfed in flames.
Thankfully, a neighbor came racing out of her house, carrying a dozen eggs and yelling for more eggs from other neighbors. She started breaking the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks, and another neighbor helped her apply the whites to the horrible burns.
When ambulance EMTS arrived and saw the egg-white application, they told the neighbor(s) the treatment had saved his face. Sure enough, he came through the nightmare with skin as soft and unblemished as a baby’s.
Hopefully, we’ll never suffer through a burn that horrible, but if we should, here’s what to do: Immediately spray the affected area with cold water until the heat is reduced and stops burning the layers of skin. Then, spread slightly beaten egg whites on the affected area. The whites will dry and form a protective layer, but for the following hour, the beaten whites should be applied to the burn(s), layer after layer. The pain should lessen after a few hours and by the next day, there may be little trace of the burn.
Let’s send Dianne a huge big THANK YOU, and make a mental note to never, ever run out of eggs!
Next, if all it took to help a whole school’s worth of kids — no more than a minute here and there, plus an envelope and a stamp or two every so often — would you do it?
Well, in case you didn’t know, the clipping, ripping and collecting of certain UPC codes and boxtops (the boxtops, for instance, represent a donation of 10 cents each to a school, and although not THAT much, they really do add up to playground equipment, library books, field trips and rewards for outstanding performance) is something many Forum folks do on a regular basis.
In fact, Kandace Aksnes of Mountlake Terrace, as the wonderful initiator of this program for the Everett branch of AAUW, describes those of us who participate in this project as “a community of passionate people joining together to help create change in our schools.”
What’s more, Kandace goes on to state, “Most (80 percent) of the box tops AAUW-Everett mailed to Index School District were contributed by women who read Judyrae Kruse’s Forum column. Another commonality is that many of us have empty nests and limited resources. This program allows us to indirectly nurture some children and to influence their education.”
In case you’ve missed it or misplaced it, the Forum has a current list of our local schools collecting these Campbell soup and related UPC codes and box tops. For a complete list of the 10-cent apiece boxtop school helpers, many of which are always on our weekly grocery lists, go to www.boxtops4education.
Just something to keep in mind, especially now that we’re in the hurry, flurry and joy of making food and fixings for special Christmas suppers, dinners and parties, all of which probably call for an extra can, package or box of this or that…
The Forum is always happy to receive your contributions and requests, so don’t hesitate to send them along to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. Please remember that all letters and e-mail must include a name, complete address and telephone number. Send to kruse@heraldnet.com.
The next Forum will appear in Monday’s Good Life section.
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