If (ax+b)(2x-3)=18x^2-23x+c, solve for a, b, & c. We can manipulate the terms all over the place, but we can't figure out how to get the correct answers. Help! :)

This is the recipe for dough enhancer that I got from someone here, and which I posted yesterday in another post about making bread at home: DOUGH ENHANCER 1 cup nonfat dry milk 2 cups wheat gluten 2 teaspoons powdered ginger (you will not taste it) 4 tablespoons powdered pectin (in the canning supplies section of the grocery store) 4 tablespoons unflavoured gelatin 4 tablespoons lecithin granules (health food store) 1 tablespoon ascorbic acid crystals (Fruit Fresh -- in the canning supplies section) Mix together in bowl and store in fridge (I store mine in a mason jar in the freezer). Use 2-3 tablespoons per batch of bread -- maybe a bit more....)

Use it as a direct substitution in any recipe in place of buttermilk. We go through at least 72oz per month this way.

We have a kit for making papyrus paper. We followed the directions, but the strips didn't stick together, so now we have a bunch of flattened, dried papyrus strips. If you've done this before, did you have trouble? Did yours stick? Any idea what we did wrong? TIA!

When I first started making fresh milled bread it came out just how you've described yours. This is the recipe I use now: WHOLE WHEAT OATMEAL FLAX BREAD from Wildflour Mill: 10-12 cups hard red or hard white grain 6 C Hot Water 3/4 C Honey 1/2 C Dry Lecithin 1/2 C Dry Milk 1 C Coarsely Ground Flax Seeds 2 C Rolled Oats 1/3 C Olive Oil 10 C Flour 3/4 C Gluten 2 Tbsp Dough Enhancer 3 Tbsp Yeast 2 Tbsp Salt Mix and allow to sponge until double...approximately 30 minutes. Add flour and salt until dough cleans the sides of the bowl and is slightly sticky. Knead 7 minutes on speed #2 or until smooth and light and silky. Shape into 4 eight inch greased pans and rise until double. Preheat oven to 450* After bread is in the oven, turn heat down to 350* for 35-40 minutes or until done. This is the dough enhancer recipe I use, although I leave out the milk & lecithin since I'm already adding them directly from the bread recipe: DOUGH ENHANCER 1 cup nonfat dry milk 2 cups wheat gluten 2 teaspoons powdered ginger (you will not taste it) 4 tablespoons powdered pectin (in the canning supplies section of the grocery store) 4 tablespoons unflavoured gelatin 4 tablespoons lecithin granules (health food store) 1 tablespoon ascorbic acid crystals (Fruit Fresh -- in the canning supplies section) Mix together in bowl and store in fridge (I store mine in a mason jar in the freezer). Use 2-3 tablespoons per batch of bread -- maybe a bit more....) Now that I'm more comfortable with using fresh milled flour, I use other recipes, but I always add the extra gluten, lecithin, and dough enhancer. I also use a Bosch Universal, which I purchase just for the task. BTW, these are recipes I borrowed from other WTMers. ;) HTH!

We've made quite a few 4-H posters, and they come out the best when using a spray glue. We had used glue sticks in the past, but the glue would dry before we got it all gluey on a big poster. Even if we got the glue on right, it would unstick in some places. Staples prints large posters on regular paper quite inexpensively. We've mounted them onto foam-core by using spray glue. It comes in an aerosol type can. You can buy it in the craft section of a department store, or at Staples (although it is about $15/can there). Measure and mark where it should go on the foam core (we place a small dot where each corner of the poster should go), place the poster face-down on some newspaper (there is quite a bit of very sticky overspray), spray a light coat, making sure to get all the corners (it will speckle the front of your paper if you spray too much in one spot), and carefully place it on the foam core. You'll need two competent people to do this. We have one person lift the poster and the other person line up the top two corners, then slowly lower from one end to the other, brushing it flat as we go. I'd use chalk pastels after mounting. Good luck!

Well... We don't have money set aside to pay for the kids' college education. I am planning to go to law school when they are teens, so I'll be taking out my own student loans. We are putting a tiny little bit into retirement; thank goodness for profit-sharing! But I feel like I'm paying up-front for their college education in providing them an excellent primary/secondary education with excellent long-term community activity/involvement that should enable to them to get scholarships. I'm paying out of pocket for books and activities, and in my loss of income in staying home to provide an excellent education. However, I can't make them take the education I am providing. The student has to be willing to do some work to become educated. My 10 yo is lazy, and doesn't want to learn, so he may be taking out student loans if he decides to go to college, or he may be looking at trade school as a high school student. And I've told him as much (plus some!).

How about a playpen?

What works for us: Poke a tiny hole in the end of each egg with a large pin or needle (a florist's pin works well). Place the eggs in a pot with enough cold water to completely cover them. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat, then turn down to med-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Immediately dump the hot water out and chill the eggs by refilling the pot with cold water to stop the cooking process. Chill for a few minutes until the egg is completely cooled, refilling with more cold water if necessary.

I'm with Elisabeth. In an ideal world I'd require shoes, but realistically I require at least sandals. Bike riding is usually not one of those things where they are in the house and decide, "I think I'll go for a bike ride." It is an outside playing, gotta-jump-on-the-bike-and-race-across-the-yard-before-dropping-it activity most of the time. I do require helmets, though. They just leave the helmets on the handlebars so they always have quick access when they jump on. If they are going for a long ride, especially on pavement, then they'd wear shoes & socks. We don't own flip-flops (ugh!) or crocs (blech!).

No way, no how! We moved back to NH after living in South Florida. It has some nice cultural resources, but it is just not a nice place to raise kids (or live). It is *way* too crowded, high cost of living, terrible summers with heat & hurricanes, can't play in the yard because of fire ants, can't go to the beach because of jellyfish and tar in the sand. Think of a non-stop parking lot with a str*p bar on every corner and you have South Florida. Stay in New England and enjoy life with your kids ;)

Yep! Those were the best. Actually, they still work great to wipe dirty hands and face after meals. We kept ours in a wipes-warmer in a solution of water and ?? I think it was lanolin & stuff. I have a pile of this stuff to list on ebay, so I know it's around here somewhere. If I find it I'll let you know what it was... Used wipes went with the dirty diapers into the wet pail, and neither the diapers nor the wipes ever had any stains on them. We did use a couple of Tbsp of bleach in our wash water for sanitizing, though. A few times when I used a disposable wipe it also went in the wash. They washed up well, but not good enough to use again, so they went into the trash.

I have been taking one class per semester for the past 4 years while homeschooling. That includes pregnancy and having a new baby (I think I took one semester after she was born). I do have a supportive DH, even if he doesn't do any homeschooling he is willing to drive them around and take care of them (feed & get to bed), and he helps around the house. Our finances are tight, but that isn't a change. It is more expensive in the long run, though, to go part time.

making money - DH paying bills - ME budgeting- ME mortgage/loans- ME home repair/maintenance - SHARE, although he does the big complicated things, I do help quite a bit banking/investments- ME taxes- ME car care- DH health insurance - ME scheduling (making/keeping track of)- ME phone calls or correspondence re: all the above- ME teaching/school work or homework- ME discipline (planning and implementing)- SHARE, I plan, he helps implement spiritual guidance (who actually carries it out, not just the "head") kids mornings- ME kids bedtimes- SHARE transportation for kids- SHARE grocery shopping- ME laundry- ME eating at home - SHARE eating away (pack lunch when we're all out)- ME eating away (he packs his own lunch for work)- DH dishes- DH vacuuming- ME clean bathrooms- ME mop floors- SHARE lawn care/snow cleanup- DH garden or bed maintenance- SHARE

You're making a hover-craft out of your vaccuum cleaner?

In order for mine to really curl nicely all over, it has to be layered. When it's one length it's only wavy with a little curl on the bottom.

Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math. :D I love that one! :lol:

Not so funny, but I like it: Get Involved... the world is run by those who show up

We used a wet pail with vinegar& water, and it didn't smell at all. We only washed dipes once per week. It wouldn't work with a front-loader, though. And it was heavy to lift it to dump it into the top-loader. I have a never-been-used diaper sprayer to sell. I need some time to list things on ebay... :rolleyes:

That is the size my kids have each had as a raised bed for their 4-H gardens. They plant: squash (2 hills) tomatoes (2 plants) with basil in between parsley carrots bush beans (green, yellow, or purple) onions or potatoes radishes marigolds lettuce They do their sugar snap peas on a 3x3 tee-pee, and grow cucumbers in the middle (you could have two of these in your 3x6 space!).

Yeah... and I think the "pro-life" movement should be called the "anti-choice" movement, because that's really what it boils down to: pro-*choice* vs anti-*choice*.

Coca Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England headquarters in Bedford NH. They told me that their kosher Coke is made with sucrose, and they buy it from a plant in New York. It has been shipped to their retail distributors, and it should be in stores by Monday! Yay! I wonder how long it will be good if I stock up? Can I buy 50 bottles to last a year? Will it all be flat? Hmmm. Maybe I should call them back... ;)

Prepurchase $1000 worth of oil for next winter. Buy supplies to fix up the house. Keep a little buffer in a savings account.

I'm with you, Scarlett!

I would either: 1) Travel Europe for a year, working for a while in each place I stayed, or 2) Join the Peace Corps Then I would attend University. If I had it to do over again...