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In-Depth Product Review: Bottega Del Rame (Mazzetti copper cookware) – 30 cm diameter tin-lined 3 mm copper skillet (frying pan)

Bottega del Rame - Mazzetti Copper 30 cm 12 inch frying pan — Bottega del Rame – Mazzetti Copper 30 cm 12 inch frying pan

Note: If you have an induction stove, see De Buyer Prima Matera as well.

THE COMPANY

Bottega del Rame (Italian for “Copper Shop”) is the workshop of Mr. Cesare Mazzetti, located in the town of Montepulciano in central Italy (between Florence and Rome in the Tuscany region).¹

Cesare’s grandfather, Bernardo Mazzetti (1863-1909, born in Montepulciano), was a farmer who was injured from falling out of an oak tree. He returned to his birthplace of Montepulciano to pursue his interest in metalworking, buying rough copper from a foundry in Gran Sasso and forming them into copperware for his wife to sell at marketplaces in the nearby towns of Chianciano, Pienza, Petroio, and Torrita.

Bernardo was a competent coppersmith in his own right, but he decided to send his son Giuseppe (1903-1982, born in Montepulciano) to apprentice with the master coppersmith Ghiotto of Porta Farina. When Master Ghiotto died, Giuseppe bought all of Ghiotto’s tools, stamps, anvils, forges, and lathes which dated back to 1850-1857, some of which are still in use today.

Guiseppe had two sons, both plumbers, but eventually Cesare (1936- ) returned to help his father’s increasingly famous Montepulciano copper workshop. Since 1982, Cesare has made copper cookware, plates, and other housewares at the workshop. Like his grandfather and father, Cesare makes copperware by hand (using tools like hammers) rather than by hydraulic presses. Says Mazzetti: “To be a coppersmith has been and is for me a dream come true…. I derive great satisfaction doing what I love. I work with passion and integrity and my life is peaceful and full of love.”

Cesare’s son is an engineer, so it appears that Mazzetti’s copper shop will close when Cesare retires (he is 80 as of 2016). In the meantime, Cesare continues to make heirloom-quality copperware for sale. Mazzetti even made a plate for Pope Benedict XVI. And you can get a Mazzetti copperware piece of your own, too.

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Kitchenware Giveaway

Last year we gave away some very nice kitchenware. If you’d be interested in another giveaway, please comment on Facebook. Yes, we’ve barely done anything with our Facebook page in years, but we’re gauging interest.

This is only open to USA residents who are capable of Liking the page.

Taking risk out of driving cars

For many people, the riskiest part of the day is driving a car. About 33,000 Americans die each year in motor vehicle accidents.¹ That’s just deaths, not including injuries like brain damage, broken bones, and lost limbs. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) puts it: “Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the U.S. More than 2.5 million drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2012.”²

When driving, you are at the mercy of other people’s driving skills–or the lack thereof. No amount of “defensive driving” can prevent a reckless driver from driving six inches behind you on the freeway.

After an aggressive driver rear-ended Ann’s car and seriously hurt her neck several years ago ringing up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, we decided we needed a change.

But how would we change the behavior of other drivers to reduce the risk of another collision?

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In-Depth Product Review: White Noise Generators (aka Sound Generators, Sound Machines): Marpac Sleepmate/Sound Screen 580A 980A DOHM-SS DOHM-DS and Alternative Sleep Aids

Marpac Sleepmate/Sound Screen 980A White Noise Generator

BACKGROUND

Do you have trouble sleeping sometimes?
Does your spouse snore?
Do you live in a unit with thin walls and loud neighbors next door?
Does your baby have trouble sleeping, or do you want to be able to calm your baby down with the push of a button?

What is white noise, and why does white noise help people sleep?

White noise is a consistent noise evenly distributed throughout all human-hearable frequencies. However, some noise is better than others. Humans tend to pick up higher frequencies better to the point where plain white noise can sound hissy and unnatural. White noise that has been tuned to deliver more low-frequency noise is called pink noise. And below pink noise is brown noise, which stresses those low frequencies even more. Pink and brown noise are perceived by human ears as being flatter, with less hiss.¹

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Safe Plastic Breast Milk Storage Bags: A Guide

With another baby on the way, it was time to buy more breast milk storage bags. We used mostly Lansinoh bags last time, but Ann didn’t like how flimsy they felt, so we looked at more brands this time.

The problem? There’s surprisingly little information out there about breast milk bag materials. (And as for sturdiness, reviews are contradictory, with lots of fans and detractors for each major brand.) The easily-available information is as follows:

All breast milk storage bags are BPA-free, but so what? They have to be BPA-free by law (BPA is banned in baby food containers under US law).
Most brands don’t say much about phthalates (softening chemicals in plastic which are toxic).
Some brands don’t advertise what kind of plastic they use.

[Read more…]

Is sugar or fat more dangerous to your diet?

Food for thought about the relative danger of sugar versus fat.

This doesn’t mean you should eat steak for every meal. Most of your diet should still be vegetables, with some fruit, too. Real fruit, with fiber, not fruit juice.

It does mean that most people don’t need to eat refined starches, such as bread, pasta, and rice, which quickly turn into sugar in your gastrointestinal tract. Whole-grain products like whole-grain breads with lots of fiber are preferable because they smooth out that sugar spike, but you can safely skip those, too, if you want.