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“HOT OFF THE PRESS” Dry Cleaning News
(248) 543-0340 | www.janetdaviscleaners.com 27607Woodward Ave., Berkley, MI 48072 | 3645 Maple Rd., Bloomfield, MI 48301
OCTOBER 2018
FESTIVE FAMILY TRADITIONS
Human beings are creatures of habit. Think about it. We wake up at the same time every morning to the same alarm sounds, we commute to and from work on the same busy streets, and we relax on the same sofa watching sitcoms televised on the same night every week. Our daily rituals are built on our desire for stability, and during the holiday season, we work even harder to preserve annual routines. These traditions often stem from experiences we had growing up, and they are then passed down like family heirlooms, gaining sentimentality with each generation. Ever since I became a father, I have tried to replicate the amazing experiences I had as a child for my two girls. When I reflect on my childhood Halloween celebrations specifically, I recognize the awesome world my family created for me and the importance of maintaining these traditions in the years to come.
biggest ones we can find. Last year, our pumpkins reached nearly 50 pounds! We load up the monstrous gourds, take them home, and set them out on the front porch. Once Halloween approaches, we bring the pumpkins back inside to thaw after sitting out in the wintry Michigan air. We cut into them, carving out big, toothy, orange smiles. While we are more traditional in our pumpkin artistry, my sister and brother-in-law take the event much more seriously. They will print out intricate sketches, trace them on the pumpkins, and spend hours perfecting their work. Sometimes they’ll even buy practice pumpkins to test their skills. With the pumpkins perched prettily on the porch at the end of this month, my wife and I will do just as my parents did and host a Halloween get-together for our family, friends, and neighbors before the trick-or-treating festivities. Per usual, my daughters have had their costumes picked out since June, and they will hit the sidewalks in their shimmery Disney princess ensembles prepped and ready to separate the good candy houses from the truly great ones. As I said before, while the Halloween traditions we uphold are not all that distinctive, they have helped create some of the best memories I’ve had both as child and as an adult. I can only hope that in the years to come, I will get to see my daughters carry on these wonderful traditions with their own families.
In our earlier years, my friends and I would stake out the houses with the best candy. If you trick-or-treated as a kid, then you know the drill. Avoid the houses that give out pennies or half-wrapped butterscotches; always hit up the ones that give king-size candy bars and Coca-Cola. I decided I was too old for trick-or-treating after eighth grade, but I made my last costume my best one yet; I went as the Headless Horseman. I put a lot of planning into perfecting the overall aesthetic. People loved this costume so much that I repurposed the costume several years later in college, and it killed! My costume-wearing days are long over, but the fun Halloween traditions have only gotten better. Each year, my wife and I get our families together and take a trip to an idyllic apple orchard out in the countryside near the beginning of October. We will drag a little Red Flyer wagon behind us as we scour the pumpkin fields for the
“My costume-wearing days are long over, but the fun Halloween traditions have only gotten better.”
My childhood traditions, though very important to me, probably aren’t that different from anyone else’s. At school, my classmates and I changed into our costumes and had a party during the latter half of the day. Then, when I got home, my family hosted a short rendezvous party for other families and friends before heading out into the community to collect pounds of Halloween candy from our neighbors.
–Kyle Matthews 1 (248) 543-0340
Cooking Oils Declassified ARE YOU USING EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL WRONG?
THE LIONS AND YOU
Close your eyes and imagine for a moment that your best buddy surprised you with tickets to a Lions game with the best seats you have ever seen. In your preparation for the big game, you get your Stafford jersey ready, gas up the car, and head on down to the glorious Ford Field. Just walking up to the entrance makes you feel sentimental. Last year was a winning season, but just barely. You know this year will be different though. This year, they will beat out the Vikings for first place in the conference. As you navigate your way through crowds of other enthusiastic fans, you breathe in the delicious smells permeating the air around you: buttery house-made pretzels from Pretzel Hastings, juicy French onion burgers from Mercury, and the spicy artisan meats from Corridor Sausage. You take your seat, stare out at the ocean of silver and Honolulu blue, watch the coin toss, and get ready to scream your lungs out along with 65,000 other fans. The gratitude you feel toward your buddy for surprising you with these tickets is the same feeling my team here at Janet Davis Cleaners gets when our existing clients refer our business to their friends and family. The reviews you have posted on Google Reviews, Wedding Wire, and Facebook consistently encourage prospective clients to set up consultations with us regarding any dry cleaning needs they might have. The most popular service we provide is cleaning and preserving wedding dresses. Because so many wedding dresses are handed down from generation to generation as wearable family heirlooms, we understand the level of trust required for clients to hand them over to us. It is for this reason that we rely so heavily on your customer referrals. While new clients may struggle to place their trust in a business that is brand-new to them, they will feel far more comfortable working with a company validated by people they know personally. So, to those of you who have referred us to your friends or family members, thank you for making us feel like we are jumping up and down at a Lions game. We know it’s nothing like the real experience, but it at least gets us halfway there. What Do Referrals Have to Do With Football?
Not all cooking oils are created equal. Some cooking oils have distinct flavors, while others are suited for high temperatures. Every oil is unique. Here are six common oils and their best uses. EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL An often misused oil, extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) should not be used for cooking or frying. It’s simply too delicate and cannot withstand high temperatures, which can damage the flavor, ruining dishes. Instead, use it as a finishing oil — drizzle it over pasta, salad, or bread. OLIVE OIL Unlike EVOO, standard olive oil can be used for cooking and frying. It can withstand temps up to about 460 degrees. In many cases, you can use it in place of other cooking oils — just be sure you’re using plain olive oil and not EVOO. COCONUT OIL Better for baking than cooking, coconut oil is generally solid at room temperature. It can be used for some cooking, but like EVOO it doesn’t play well with high temperatures. Keep it at 350 degrees or below and use it as a butter substitute. CANOLA OIL/VEGETABLE OIL A good option for high-heat cooking, baking, and frying, these utilitarian oils are completely neutral in flavor, but they’re not heart-healthy. Vegetable oil is a generic mix of oils, including soybean, canola (rapeseed), and palm oils, making it the most inexpensive cooking oil. PEANUT OIL Great for high-heat cooking, frying, and deep-frying, peanut oil has a neutral flavor, so you can easily use it in just about any dish that needs a cooking oil. It’s also a more heart-healthy option than canola and vegetable oils. AVOCADO OIL When you need an oil to withstand high temps, this is your oil. It has a smoke point of 510 degrees, making it perfect for grilling and stir-frying. What makes avocado oil particularly unique is it can also be used as a finishing oil, like EVOO. It’s light yet resilient.
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DOES HALLOWEEN BRING OUT YOUR COMPETITIVE NATURE?
3 Insanely Expensive Costumes
1. ELVIS: $1,365 You’ll need money , honey , if you want to dress like Elvis. Coming in as the most expensive costume on Amazon, the Elvis Aloha costume is magnificent and ornate. It comes with a silky red scarf, a luscious black wig, and a fully rhinestone-studded belt. If Halloween brings out the competitive side of you, and you want to preserve your elaborate or ornate costume to impress future audiences, we encourage you to bring it by Janet Davis Cleaners for dry cleaning. Of course, we know that not all costumes can be dry cleaned, but if you are unsure whether yours should be (or even if the inside label says not to), feel free to reach out to us with any questions. We can help you keep rocking these awesome ensembles for years to come.
Nowadays, it seems that one of the most common (and expensive) ways people commemorate Halloween is by trying to best one another in a battle for the coolest and most creative costume. Some of these costumes are rather splendiferous, involving a floor-length ball gown and a wig made of actual human hair. Others are more intricate, requiring the wearer to assemble a plethora of separate pieces. If you buy one of Amazon’s three most expensive costumes, our team at Janet Davis Cleaners can help you preserve your dazzling ensemble! 3. SUPERMAN: $950 It costs much more to dress as this alien strongman than it does to don the garb of any other superhero. Luckily, if you spend over $900 trying to outdo all your friends this
Halloween, the ab muscles are included.
2. STORMTROOPER: $1,050 Because they are some of the most iconic characters from the Star Wars universe, dressing as a Stormtrooper is not cheap. In 2011, damaged parts from one of the original films’ suits were auctioned off for $320,000. Now you can buy a full replica costume for a little over a thousand bucks!
SUDOKU
‘Headless’ APPLES ON HORSEBACK
A take on the classic “devils on horseback” hors d’oeuvres, this recipe requires only three ingredients. These little bundles of flavor are the perfect finger food for your next get-together.
INGREDIENTS
• 16 very thin slices of pancetta (or cured, unsmoked bacon) • 2 pink lady apples
• 3 ounces manchego cheese, 1/4 inch thick • Toothpicks for skewering
DIRECTIONS
1. Core apples and cut each into 8 wedges. Remove rind of manchego cheese and cut into 2-inch sticks. 2. Heat a grill pan or skillet to medium-high. 3. On a cutting board, lay pancetta or bacon slices flat and place an apple wedge and piece of cheese in the center of each. 4. Roll pancetta tightly and skewer with toothpick. 5. Grill until cheese is melted and pancetta or bacon is golden and crispy, about 5 minutes. 6. Drain excess grease on a paper towel and serve hot.
3 (248) 543-0340
Inspired by Food & Wine magazine
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(248) 543-0340 www.janetdaviscleaners.com INSIDE THIS ISSUE
27607Woodward Ave. Berkley, MI 48072
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How Do You Celebrate Halloween?
Understanding Cooking Oils and Their Uses
Referrals and Football
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How Much Money Is a Costume Worth?
‘Headless’ Apples on Horseback
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The Surprising Origins of Trick-or-Treating
WHY THERE ARE KIDS ON YOUR PORCH ASKING FOR CANDY The History of Trick-or-Treating
As Halloween looms and you load up your grocery cart with candy, you may ask yourself, “Why do I provide these spooky gremlins with a sugar high every Oct. 31, anyway?” Well, when your doorbell starts ringing around 6 p.m. this All Hallows’ Eve, you can thank the Celts for this tradition of candy and costumes. Halloween itself is a kind of mishmash of four different cultural festivals of old: two Roman fêtes, which commemorated the dead and the goddess of fruit and trees (not at the same time); the Celtic Samuin or Samhain, a new year’s party thrown at the end of our summer; and the Catholic All Saint’s Day, designed to replace Samuin and divorce it from its pagan origins. Long before there were young’uns on your porch dressed as Thanos with candy-filled pillowcases in hand, the Celts believed that Samuin marked an overlapping of the realms of the living and the dead. To trick the spirits leaking into our world, young men donned flowing white costumes and black masks — a great disguise when ghosts were about.
it up in religious garb. By the 11th century, people
were dressing up as saints, angels, and the occasional demon instead of spirits. Eventually, costumed children started tearing through town begging for food and money and singing a song or prayer in return — a practice called “souling.”
But when did they start dressing up as Minions? Starting in the 19th century, souling turned to “guising,” which gave way to trick-or-treating in mid-20th-century America, and the costumes diversified. So put on some clown makeup and a big smile, scoop up a handful of sweets, and scare the living daylights out of ‘em — ‘tis the season!
The Catholic Church was never a big fan of these pagan traditions, so they renamed it “All Saints’ Day” and gussied
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