yeah, it's an old school sweetener which is much more difficult to find or make than simple syrup. There was discussion of its viscosity as well as sweetening properties.

Neat!

(Tho' I will admit, the idea of mixing absinthe with gin kinda makes me twitch. Someday, I may find a gin I like. Just don't count on it.)

how fun! I'd never heard of gum syrup before.

edit: I meant absinthe mixology is fun. Itchiness is No Fun At All.

Hey, if gum syrup helped the itchy, I'd take it. Or bathe in it, or whatever.

Maybe I need to sit in a bathtub of oatmeal. (You know how taking a tepid bath and putting, like, 1 cup of oats in it is supposed to be soothing to itchy skin? [It is.] I *always* envision a bathtub FULL of cooked oatmeal. I'm actually a little sad that isn't actually the recommended treatment.)

That's what I envision too, Teppy. And then I envision having to CLEAN it.

(Tho' I will admit, the idea of mixing absinthe with gin kinda makes me twitch. Someday, I may find a gin I like. Just don't count on it.)

Heh, they play together quite nicely- but I don't have any issues with gin. My personal favorite absinthe cocktail, the Monkey Gland, is also a gin based drink.

imagine all the compost from a tub full of oatmeal. the mind boggles. (that image is why i never tried it...even after my unfortunate poison sumac incident)

You can put plain oatmeal in the blender and get the same fine oatmeal powder that Aveeno sells for much more money. Both the homemade version and the storebought version have fewer of those yucky globs of oatmeal goo if you put them in the bathwater through a sieve.

Thus ends tonight's household hints from Ginger.

I know this because I itch a lot. Right now, I seem to be having a worse reaction than usual to the bites of the evil swarming Asian tiger mosquitoes and my arm is a lumpy pink mess. It wouldn't be so bad if I would STOP SCRATCHING.

I have badly chafed the inside of my thighs, through a painful combination of skirt-wearing two hot, muggy days in a row and the plastic-ey seats on my mom's car (pretty sure a significant part of my inner left thigh is still stuck to the passenger seat. ow.) Will oatmeal and lotion help this or do i just need to stick with soft inside pants for a day or two?

Um, put the oatmeal in an old pantyhose toe, of course, right?

Tep, I hope you find something that works and doesn't make your skin fall off.

"I like girls with skin." - Cocoon

Ginger, have you tried the hot water/hair dryer cure? Put your arm under water as hot as you can stand (but not hot enough to burn) the pain receptors overpower the itch recptors. It also works blowing hot air with a hair dryer.