Welcome to our good friends group
Welcome to the first Good Friends Group Newsletter! We're so glad you're here. In our newsletters, we'll be sending you cleaning tips, recipes, and thoughts and ideas from Good Friends.
We'll be dropping by at a neighborly pace, about once a quarter. Let us know what you like. And send us your recipes, cleaning tips, and ideas, and we'll send you a cleaning kit for every tip or recipe we use.
We're starting off this summer issue with some great pieces. Bon Ami means Good Friend in French, and we take that name to heart. So we are going to introduce you to some of our Good Friends. Amy Butler is an incredible textile and pattern designer. She also happens to be our Good Friend. If you've seen us at tradeshows this Spring, you know that we often wear fabulous retro aprons made with Amy's Midwest Modern fabrics. We're delighted to feature her in this newsletter. We've also included a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a cleaning mitt with an Amy Butler fabric cuff. Cute and practical.
And it's rhubarb season! My grandmother used to call her rhubarb pies "pink apple" so that we kids would not be afraid of it. Well it worked: we all fell in love with the tangy-sweet treat. Our recipe here is for a Rhubarb Fool, updated with yogurt rather than heavy cream.
This month, we'll draw the name of one member of our Good Friends group to win one of the mitts along with a bottle of the Bon Ami Liquid Cleanser. Tell your friends to join the group so they have a chance, too.
P.S. Bon Ami has been a helpful friend of American families for five generations. We'd love to hear your stories, memories new and old, tales of teaching and of learning how to care for your family and home.
Our Good Friend: Amy Butler
We've been getting rave reviews of the retro chic aprons that we Bon Ami chicks have been wearing at recent trade shows and festivals. What's our secret? It's that Midwest Modern flare we get from sewing with Amy Butler fabrics. As it turns out Amy is a fan of Bon Ami too. She's working on a new collection, but took a little time out to help us with our first Good Friends Group Newsletter.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
My inspirations always change, but the one constant is nature! I love being outside in my garden and traveling to other parts of the world. Unique cultures and a change of scenery always spark my creative fire. I love to study paintings, architecture and historic gardens wherever I go. I take tons of photos and keep them close by when I'm designing.
HOW DO YOU RELAX?
I love spending time working in my garden and practicing meditation. With four cats always lounging around I'm easily motivated to stop and just take a few moments to chill in the middle of a busy day!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BON AMI CLEANING PRODUCT?
The Bon Ami All-Purpose Cleaner. It truly is "All Purpose." I favor natural cleaning products and this is the only one I've found that can clean the marks off of my vintage desk!
Learn how to make these cute cleaning mitts with Amy's Midwest Modern fabric trims. Click here.
Keep it Clean - Scuff Much?
Hide evidence of all the playful adventures your kids have left on the walls and floors by sprinkling a few tablespoons of Bon Ami Powder Cleanser on a damp cloth or sponge and rubbing the spot clean. Extra points if you can have your kids do it!
Cake Memory
Like a lot of folks, I grew up with Bon Ami. But in my family's case, it was more than a kitchen cleanser. It was our livelihood. My family's business bought Bon Ami in 1971. And being a small business, all of us pitched in: my Dad was at the helm, and my Mom answered letters. As my brothers and sister and I grew up, we all worked there at one time or another. My first jobs were following in my mother's footsteps, answering letters from Bon Ami fans. I loved that job! And still do. There's so much wisdom to be found at the kitchen table. I have always felt privileged to be able to share some of the wisdom that our Good Friends write in. Each newsletter, I'll tell you a story about Bon Ami that was sent to us over the years. For this first newsletter in our 125th anniversary year, we brought out a limited edition of the Bon Ami Cleaning Cake. So here's a story about the cake.
When my Mom was answering letters back in the 1970s, she received a letter from an older gentleman who remembered using Bon Ami cake as a boy. When he and his brother wound up in a tussle, their mom would give them each a cleaning cloth and a cake of Bon Ami and set them to work cleaning windows, one on the inside, one on the outside. They'd each soap up their side of the window, then work off some of their anger by seeing who could clean the window the fastest. The gentleman remembered that the brothers ended up laughing with each other well before their work was done.
Do you have a memory of Bon Ami cake? Let us know at newsletter@bonami.com. Do you have an unusual use for it? Write to us and tell us your story. If we choose your story in a future newsletter, we'll send you one of our anniversary cakes."
Recipe Exchange
Summer is rhubarb season! Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, but most of us know it as a tart and cheerful pie filling. For many folks, the tartness of the rhubarb is best tempered with a sweeter fruit, like strawberries or sweet cherries. But some of us are purists. Yes, it needs to be sweetened, but not too much.
Rhubarb Fool
This is an updated version of a traditional fool. I find that the tart sweetness of the rhubarb needs something with more character than simple whipped cream. The best compliment I have found is yogurt. Strauss Organic Maple Yogurt is my favorite, but the more commonly available vanilla yogurt is also very good.
6 cups rhubarb stems, sliced on the diagonal
2/3 cups sugar (more to taste)
2 tablespoons finely diced fresh ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 quart of Strauss Organic Nonfat Maple Yogurt
Put all the ingredients except the yogurt in a non-reactive sauce pan and slowly cook over low heat until the rhubarb melts. I prefer a few pieces that still just hold together, though I know many who like it in more of an applesauce consistency.
Let cool completely. Refrigerate if not using within a couple of hours.
If refrigerated, remove an hour before serving and let come to room temperature. Spoon about a quarter cup of rhubarb into each serving cup (such as a parfait glass). Then spoon in an equal amount of yogurt. Repeat until each glass is filled. The last layer should be yogurt. Sprinkle each dessert with just a tad of ground cinnamon.