From clogged sinks to toilet bowls to dishwashers to bruschetta -- how Vinegar Thursday played out

TGIVF!

Well, here it is: the first day of July (where did June go??) and the 7th Vinegar Friday of the year. I can't believe how fast these come around.

Last evening, I had a small gathering of women at my home for a party. And you know what that means -- I had to spend the day cleaning. As I was cleaning the bathroom, I discovered a rather sluggish sink drain. It's not that it was totally clogged, but it seemed to take an awfully long time for the water to go down as I was rinsing out my Norwex Envirocloth. 

In days (years) past, I would have called my husband, who was out and was planning on stopping at the hardware store, and I would have asked him to buy some Liquid Plumber or Drano or some such toxic substance. But now I know better. **That's not to say that I haven't had to resort to those products from time to time when things got really bad, however.**

First, I made sure the water was really hot. Then I dumped about a 1/4 cup of baking soda into the drain, followed by about a half cup of distilled white vinegar (DWV). I watched as the oft-used science experiment took place. Goop and brown stuff showed up in the bubbling mess. Yuck. When the reaction settled down, I ran hot water until it was clear and then wiped up the excess dirt that clung to the side of the sink. Since the drain was still a bit sluggish, I repeated the process. Two times. Finally, the water was draining freely. Vinegar to the rescue once again. 

In my book, VINEGAR FRIDAYS, I recommend using boiling water as a chaser, but I was admittedly lazy and just ran hot water instead. Perhaps if I'd done it the right way, it wouldn't have taken 3 tries, but it worked and I was happy. 

I also dumped a cup of DWV into the toilet and let it soak for awhile. Later, I swished it with the toilet brush and it was clean and disinfected.

The dishwasher was full after breakfast, so I poured a half cup of DWV in the bottom and ran it. Shiny dishes!

And, of course, what's a party at Green Grandma's house without vinegar... especially on the eve of Vinegar Friday? I made bruschetta and drizzled it with a balsamic vinegar glaze. Oh my. Here's my recipe:

• Small crusted Italian toast slices
• Diced tomatoes
• Mozzarella
• Basil
• Balsamic glaze

Since my day was already full, I admit to buying a can of organic diced tomatoes. I spread them on top of the toast. Then I sliced up some mozzarella string cheese and placed 4 slices over the tomatoes. I stepped out onto the patio, picked some organic basil leaves and, using my handy-dandy herb scissors, I cut slivers of basil and sprinkled them on top. Finally, I graced my little masterpieces with a decorative drizzling of balsamic glaze. Delicious! I could've eaten an entire meal of these. But since they were for guests, I refrained. I just wish I'd taken pictures of them!

So, all-in-all, it was pretty much a Vinegar Thursday yesterday. So tell me, how are you using vinegar today?