Janet Davis Cleaners February 2018

“HOT OFF THE PRESS” Dry Cleaning News

(248) 543-0340 | www.janetdaviscleaners.com 27607Woodward Ave., Berkley, MI 48072 | 3645 Maple Rd., Bloomfield, MI 48301

FEBRUARY 2018

FROZEN BUTTS AND TENDER HEARTS

teaching, but after that, it felt like, career wise, so much was still in question. The one thing she and I knew was we were meant for each other. We graduated in May, and I popped the question in October. The weekend I proposed, I also asked Laura’s mom for permission. Laura coached cheerleading, and her mom and I were on our way to the football game. Laura’s mom just about drove off the road in excitement! The night of our engagement, I took Laura to the Detroit landmark, The Whitney, and proposed. The following day, we went to Game Two of the World Series. We wore about five layers of clothes and froze our butts off, but we had such a great time. Proposing to My Wife, Laura

“The one thing she and I knew was we were meant for each other.”

The next 14 months were full of wedding plans, cake tastings, registering, and showers. We got

I attended Michigan State University from 2002 to 2006. It was at MSU where I met my wife, Laura. Laura and I both “went Greek” in college — I was in a fraternity, and she was in a sorority. Our houses planned and hosted many events together, including ski weekends up to Blue Mountain in Canada, tailgating at MSU’s Rock on Farm Lane, and the charity driven Greek Week. Over the first three years of college, Laura and I became acquaintances through those events. It was not until senior year that we started dating. In the fall of our senior year, our houses were tailgate partners. It was there on the corner of Grove and Beech that we hit it off. It only took me two months after that to actually ask her out. In December my fraternity had a date party night, and I asked Laura. It was an eventful night that included charter buses down to Detroit and back — the charter bus was late and then got a flat tire to top it off. Bus troubles and all, we still had a great time, and I ended up asking her out again, this time to the Spartan Clash.

married in December with the lights of downtown Rochester and the Royal Park as our venue. It was such an amazing night and a great send-off with our family and friends present.

This past December, Laura and I celebrated our 10-year wedding

anniversary. When I think about life, it is not what you have, but who you are and who surrounds you that defines you. My wife, two daughters, and let’s not forget our pug, Bella — they all mean the world to me, and I feel like such a lucky guy every time I come home.

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. We will see you soon.

–Kyle Matthews

Second semester of senior year flew by, and our futures were staring us in the face. Laura was going on to complete her one year of student

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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you’re probably wracking your brain for the perfect recipe to bake for your loved one. There’s nothing wrong with store-bought chocolate, but there’s no topping the personal touch of some homemade baked goods. If you have kids, baking alongside them can be just as rewarding as enjoying the fruits of your labor. As an added bonus, baking is a hands-on opportunity where your child can learn all sorts of important concepts. Here is a short list of some of the educational lessons hiding in your kitchen. What Your Child Can Learn From Baking EDUCATION IN THE KITCHEN

MATH Baking is a numbers game. Just take a look at any recipe, and you’ll recognize the importance of math in building a beautiful cake. Having children measure out ingredients helps them learn about fractions and ratios. You can also test your kids by doubling or halving a recipe for multiplication and division practice. With older kids, practice unit conversions by asking, for example, how many pints are in half a gallon.

Over time, down pillows tend to become flat and lose their integrity. In many cases, dust can accumulate inside of your pillows, and odors can easily be absorbed into the materials. Although it can be gross to think about, your down pillows can be the perfect place for germs to reside. That is why it is so important to get your down pillows cleaned at least once a year. At Janet Davis Cleaners, we clean down pillows by using a pillow machine. We discard a pillow’s old ticking (a strong, durable material used to cover mattresses or pillows) and replace it with a new one. Feathers are removed from the old ticking and placed into our pillow machine. Once they are inside the machine, the feathers are agitated by rotating brushes that fluff the feathers, break up clumps, and allow dirt and non-feather particles to settle to the bottom of the machine. Many soiled pillows contain up to a pound of dust and other foreign materials. These are removed during the sanitization process, which can help prevent illness. Ozone and ultraviolet lights deodorize and sanitize the feathers as they are being fluffed. Once the feathers are completely sanitized and odor- free, they are blown from the machine into a brand-new pillow ticking. If additional feathers are needed to fill the pillow, we can easily add them to the new ticking. We return your freshly cleaned pillows to you in a sealed plastic bag. Quality down material is a major investment and can make all the difference in your pillows. With proper care and attention, you can make this investment last a lifetime. Cleaning your down pillows will prevent sickness, ensure they last longer, and maintain their bounce better. THIS YEAR? HAVE YOU CLEANED YOUR DOWN PILLOWS

FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS Not unlike computer science, baking requires a strict order of operations. The wet and dry ingredients often need to be mixed separately and then folded together. It only takes one deviation from the instructions for a pastry to go from delicious to disgusting. Spending time in the kitchen, then, is a great way for kids to learn the importance of reading directions carefully and comprehending what they’ve just read. CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING Cuisine is a fundamental part of every culture. Introducing your child to dishes from around the world will expand their horizons. Want your child to be a less picky eater? Involving them in the cooking process is the surest way to get them excited about trying new flavors and ingredients. NUTRITION Now, you might not think that baking cookies will encourage greater nutritional awareness, but hear us out. Sugar is often buried within packaged foods. When you bake something at home, a child gets to see, firsthand, just how much sugar goes into certain sweets. Meanwhile, cooking savory dishes also allows them to learn what constitutes a balanced, healthy diet.

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Keeping your whites looking pristine when doing laundry at home can be a real challenge. No one wants to leave the house in a dingy gray blouse. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to lengthen the graying process. Here’s how to keep your whites white for as long as possible. First, sort loads by color: darks, lights, and white. By washing white items alone in the laundry, you will prevent other colors from bleeding onto your whites. If you don’t separate your colors from your whites, your whites will absorb small amounts of color, which eventually turns them gray. When washing your whites, make sure to use warm water and detergent in each load. Modern laundry detergents have enzymes in them that work best in warm water. Let the washing machine do its job in keeping your clothes clean, bright, and white. And make sure to wash your whites before they are heavily soiled. It’s much easier to remove a little bit of dirt each time you clean than it is to remove a whole lot of dirt at once. FROM TURNING GRAY IN THE LAUNDRY How to Keep Your Whites

turns white items yellow (it can actually burn the fibers) and turns dark items white. Instead, use OxiClean. If yellow or light brown stains remain after washing, soak your whites in OxiClean to keep them looking fresh. In the end, your whites will inevitably turn gray from the wear and tear of life, but proper care lengthens this process. But don’t fret if you’ve followed all these tips and your whites get dingy quickly. This means they weren’t truly white to begin with. Clothing manufacturers sometimes use optical brighteners to make garments look white, and these brighteners wash out over time, letting the garments turn their natural color.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, never use chlorine bleach on your whites. In fact, never use chlorine bleach on any clothes! Chlorine

Follow all of these tips, and you can keep your white garments looking bright for many years.

SUDOKU

Sure, your showoff pal can wrap a tater tot with a piece of bacon and call it “The Daniel,” but you can take it a step further. Prepare a couple batches of these savory snacks for your Super Bowl party or the next family get-together. Snag a few for yourself before they disappear! BACON-WRAPPED Tater Tot Bombs

INGREDIENTS

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2 cups frozen tater tots, defrosted 1 ounce sharp cheddar, cut into 1/4-inch squares

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4 slices bacon, quartered

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1/4 cup brown sugar

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1 tablespoon chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 2. Press a cheese square into each tot, then wrap with a piece of bacon. Dredge each tot in brown sugar.

3. Place tots seam side down on baking sheet. Bake for 20–25 minutes, using metal tongs to turn halfway through. 4. Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve immediately.

Recipe inspired by ThisGrandmaIsFun.com

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(248) 543-0340 www.janetdaviscleaners.com INSIDE THIS ISSUE

27607Woodward Ave Berkley, MI 48072

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Frozen Butts and Tender Hearts

Cook Your Way to Better Grades

Bring Your Down Pillows to the Cleaners

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Are Your Whites Looking Dingy?

What to Bring to Your Super Bowl Party

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The Most Romantic Destinations on Earth

Valentine’s Day is for fancy dinners, heart-shaped boxes packed with subpar chocolates, and fantasizing about the magical places you and your beau would have escaped to — if only you had the PTO. So, grab a glass of bottom-shelf cab sauv, cuddle up next to your special someone, and try to make them feel bad for taking you to Chili’s instead of whisking you away to one of these picturesque fantasy lands. UDAIPUR, INDIA These days, meandering through the cobblestone streets of Paris with your loved one is très passé. All the real high-rolling romantics are migrating southeast to the famous Oberoi Udaivilas hotel in western India. Set in a traditional Mewari palace, visitors will feel like royalty as they stroll around the labyrinthine gardens that surround the elaborate cream-colored structure. Travelers can relax beside one of the many glassy pools sprinkled throughout the estate, all of which are enthusiastically attended by an unparalleled service staff. POSITANO, ITALY More than perhaps anywhere in the world, this place looks like it was lifted straight from a sappy romance novelist’s imagination. You and your partner can kick back on a balcony overlooking the entirety of this seaside town, taking in the century-old multicolored Italian architecture perched Getaways to Fantasize About THE BEST VALENTINE’S

precariously on the verdant mountainside. Too small to accommodate swarms of tourists, it’s the perfect place to while away the hours ambling from shop to shop, sampling the delicious local cuisine, and maybe taking a dip along the 300-meter beach. THE MALDIVES From a water villa smack dab in the midst of the glassy, ultra-blue Indian Ocean, you and your main squeeze can enjoy utter seclusion. Sip champagne in the shade of a palm overlooking an otherworldly sunset or get a little more adventurous, strap on a mask, and check out the abundant aquatic wildlife. Many hotels in the area even include access to an array of boats, perfect for your own private excursion along the mild waves. Of course, you could also always just stare, dumbfounded, into the horizon, wondering how such a place could actually exist on Earth.

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