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22 MARCH 2014
L I V I N G W E L L
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F R U G A L F O O D I E
Baking Soda Has Many Uses
Hello again. I hope you are ready for
this column, because I am about to
drop some revelatory Dear Heloise Steph
stuff on you. Its no secret Im all about
clean food. But food isnt the only thing
we are constantly exposed to that con-
tains not-so-great ingredients.
Have a look at the back of your house-hold cleaners even the greenest,
most natural ones have chemical in-
gredients. What is all that stuff? Mind in-
haling those vapors, or your kids and pets
crawling all over it on household surfac-
es? I do.
We are marketed so many unneces-
sary products when we have very af-
fordable, extremely effective cleaning
materials right in our kitchens. For me,this discovery started with the back of
a box of baking soda, and now most of
my household cleaning is done with just
these two products:
nDistilled white vinegar ($2.50 per
gallon)
nBaking soda (60 cents per box)
Heres how it happened: I noticed
a message on my box of baking soda.
Hundreds of uses, it read. I began in-
nocently with laundry. A load that had
made it through a wash cycle, only to be
forgotten for a day, was frumpily frown-
ing at me from the machine. Musty!
I placed the damp pile in the dryer,
sprinkled a little baking soda directly
on top, and started her up. It worked! Itworked! The must was gone; no trace of
baking soda on the clothes.
When I posted about this on Face-
book, other skeptics expressed joy at
a possible solution to a common laun-
dry annoyance and all reported back, It
works! It works!
Not only does this baking-soda solu-
tion save water and energy by eliminat-
ing a second wash, the amount of baking
soda used costs about .04 cents. Sold!
But I didnt stop there. I now use bak-
ing soda for lots of things: scrubbing
dishes (a fine, gentle scrub), scouring the
bathtub, sprinkling on rugs before vacu-
uming or on top of pet stains to eliminate
odor and stain. I even use it as a shampoo
and face wash sometimes.
Around the same time, when googling
ideas to freshen up a trash can, white vin-
egar entered my scene. I had a gallon un-
der the sink and an almost-empty spray
cleaner. I dumped the cleaner and filledthe spray bottle with a one-to-one mix of
vinegar to filtered water. That trash can
was freshened!
Then I took my new, two-ingredient
cleaner to all my surfaces porcelain
mirrors, floors, kitchen, bathroom, toug
cooking stains on bakeware. And what a
amazing cleaner it is. No streaking. Vin
egar smell dissipates quickly. Its basica
ly a very mild, natural acid. Gentle, effec
tive, and DIRT CHEAP. Why had I bee
buying chemicals to spread throughou
my living spaces my whole life?
After this change, the couple of na
ural cleaners I had in the house didn
smell so fresh, and my thinking ha
changed if I wipe something dow
with a chemical, is it really clean? Givthese alternatives a try!
Read more of Stephanies helpfu
hints at frugalfoodiedallas.com.
S T E P H A N I E C A S E Y
White vinegar and baking soda are safe, inexpensive cleaners. JEAN-PAUL CHASSENE
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MARCH 2014 23
By Todd Jorgenson
Although his 90-year-old legs donthave the rhythm or the dexterity they
once did, Buster Cooper cant help him-
self.
He still teaches adult tap dance class-
es twice a week at Preston Center Dance,
and Cooper isnt content to sit back and
watch. He would rather lead by example.
Lets try it with music, Cooper
says before motioning toward one of
his students in charge of the CD player.
Change it to No. 14 this time.
He has heard No. 14 countless times
before, yet once the upbeat piano num-
ber starts, Coopers feet start moving,
and he works up a sweat alongside his
pupils.
Lets see if I can stay in time, he saysto about a dozen students, some of which
are less than half his age. The soft-spo-
ken Cooper commands the room with a
voice that is raspy yet authoritative, bare-
ly pausing for rest between one routine
and the next.
The lesson teaches not only the finer
points of tap dance, but also conveys a
continuing passion for the art form that
has led to Cooper teaching dance in some
capacity for 75 years.
He has taught so many people over
the years. He just keeps going, said Car-
ol Pearson, who has been taking Coopers
classes for 15 years. He does an excel-
lent job.
Cooper is an Arkansas native who wasintroduced to dance as a small child. A
nursemaid taught him the Charleston
and the Black Bottom, then took him to
the market or the town square for an im-
promptu public performance, where she
would pass the hat for donations.
Then my mother would find out
about it, and she put a stop to it, Coo-
per said.
Still, Cooper was hooked. He began
taking dance classes and even began
teaching others as a teenager. He wound
up performing as a tumbler and an acro-
bat, and as part of various nightclub acts.
But his skills as a performer often
took a backseat to his abilities as an in-
structor and choreographer with every
major dance organization in the coun-
try. His roster of famous students in-
cludes Tommy Tune, Sandy Duncan, and
Nanette Fabray. At one point during the
1970s, six of his students were perform-
ing on Broadway.
Cooper moved to Dallas in 1952, when
he was hired to choreograph an opera
at Hockaday. He taught there for many
years and has been based in the area ever
since.
Then there are his shoes, which Coo-
per has worn for decades. They have au-
thentic wooden heels which arent
made anymore and are customized
to fit his wide feet. Whenever he has a
problem with them, Cooper sends th
shoes to Chicago for repairs.
Theyre still tapping along with Coo
per, whose 90th birthday festivities la
summer included a gala celebration a
Fair Park Music Hall. He has no plans t
give up dancing as long as his body a
lows it.
Its his creative outlet. It keeps h
mind sharp, said his daughter, Les
lie Cooper. He just lives and breathe
dance. He makes it fun.
Email todd.jorgenson@
peoplenewspapers.co
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As His Toes Keep Tapping, Buster Cooper Will Keep Teaching
Buster Cooper, 90, still teaches adult tap dance classes twice each week at Preston Center Dance. CHRIS MCGATHEY
IT KEEPS H IS MIND
SHARP.
LESLIE COOPER
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