We came home from the Tim Hawkins concert last night to a semi-crisis - our microwave had died! Why is this a semi-crisis you might be inclined to ask? (I love putting words in your mouth) Well, every night our microwave gets a work-out warming up corn bags for everyone (sans Zoe) in the house. Now, some of you aren't familiar with corn bags (poor souls). A corn bag is a flannel bag filled with feed corn (thus the name) that you heat up in the microwave and then place in your freezing cold bed. When you climb into bed you put your cold little tootsies on the corn bag and enter that wonderful bliss of a warm place for your toes.
So, as you can see, no microwave = no corn bags = really cold feet!
If you don't already own a couple corn bags, you should run out right now and buy the supplies and make a few for yourself and everyone else in your house. It really doesn't work well for only one person in a house to have one, as it creates all sorts of jealousy and conflict - even threats of theft...
It's really ideal to have two for each person - one for your cold feet and the other for your cold hands. You can make it out of rice or other grains as well. We just use feed corn because it's really, really cheap and it has such an interesting smell when you heat it up. Even the smell brings happy memories to my mind :) Just don't use popcorn - for obvious reasons. Now I know that some people out there are thinking. This lady is a lunatic for getting so excited about a warm bag of feed corn, but you wouldn't say that if you had experienced the pleasure of one. I am sure I will get wonderful testimonials on my comment page from other corn bag owners. You just wait and see...
We do this with rice. There is nothing better for a head ache than a worm rice bag on your neck.
ReplyDeleteCrystal,
ReplyDeleteI figured with you being in AK you would have something similar :)
They're great on sore shoulders and necks as well.
Barb
They are the most wonderful inventions since potato bags!!
ReplyDeleteBarb,that sounds like a little home business for you all.I have never heard of such a thing! We just go to sleep with cold feet.
ReplyDeleteOh I did not realise you went to a Tim Hawkins concert.Was it THE Tim Hawkins the very funny guy on youtube?How was it?He is just so funny.
ReplyDeleteOh, Tina, we need to rectify this situation! I'll get my girls on it right away.
ReplyDeleteBarb
Tina,
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, it was THE Tim Hawkins. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Very funny (if a little bit strange) guy!
Barb
Where do I get "feed corn"? How big are the bags? Any fabrics that you would recommend?
ReplyDeleteJen,
ReplyDeleteYou can pick up a 50 pound bag of feed corn at Fleet Farm for about $5 - seriously, it's super cheap.
As for fabric, I recommend a good quality flannel or a soft corduroy. Anything that will feel nice on your tootsies. Cheap fabric will end up getting a hole in it sooner. yes, we use ours so much they eventually wear thin and get holes.
As for size, whatever you want is fine. Ours range in size from 12x8 to 18x8 inches. You can make them smaller or square-er or whatever...
One caveat, if you have any uninvited rodents in your house, you need to make sure that the corn bags don't spend any time unattended on the floor. Mice LOVE feed corn. Trust me, I speak from experience. When we lived in Minneapolis we had to do without corn bags because we were just feeding our unwelcomed guests.
So, Barb, what do I do with the left over 40 lbs. of FEED CORN?! Do chickens eat it?
ReplyDeleteOh no, Jen, these are going to be the Christmas gifts you give this year. Trust me, people will look at them weird at first, but once they try them you will hear things like, "These were the best Christmas presents we ever received!" I kid you not, we have heard those very words from MANY people.
ReplyDeleteBarb