Genie’s HOT SOX Recipe — Do Not Eat!!!
If you’re in need of a new idea for a gift (not a BIG gift) or something just for yourself this cold winter, here’s my long promised HOT SOX recipe. I know I’ve alluded to this for years in my columns, but unless I’m having a senior moment and forgotten, I don’t think I ever put the instructions in a column. So here it is! This works great for me in this old, cold farmhouse and anytime for aches and pains. Anywhere you would use a heating pad, you can use a sock. HOT SOX can keep feet — or anything else — warm. I even used some old ones once in the bed of an aging cat. I can assure you it was greatly appreciated!
If you’re in need of a new idea for a gift (not a BIG gift) or something just for yourself this cold winter, here’s my long promised HOT SOX recipe. I know I’ve alluded to this for years in my columns, but unless I’m having a senior moment and forgotten, I don’t think I ever put the instructions in a column. So here it is! This works great for me in this old, cold farmhouse and anytime for aches and pains. Anywhere you would use a heating pad, you can use a sock. HOT SOX can keep feet — or anything else — warm. I even used some old ones once in the bed of an aging cat. I can assure you it was greatly appreciated!
Buy a package of nice, new boy’s or men’s tube socks (or a more decorative long tube like sock if you like. You could sew something jazzy in any shape you like, maybe in fleece, but that’s too much like work). I like the men’s gray tube socks from discount stores. You don’t HAVE to buy them new. But if you gift HOT SOX made from old, used socks, I can’t guarantee how thrilled the recipient might or might not be upon receiving.
Round up some shoelaces or stout string — or something without metal that you can tie convincingly. Buy a big ol’ bag of the cheapest rice you can find. I use an old canning funnel with a wide mouth to fill the sock with rice, probably a pound or two. (Any funnel with a wide mouth would be better than nothing. I’ve used a tube from paper towels as a “poor man’s funnel,” too. But remember to cut the hole in the rice bag very small. A canning funnel is easier and faster. Another set of hands is helpful too. If you try to pour rice into a sock with no funnel or tube, it’s a disaster. Take my word for it.)
You want the sock filled nice and plump but not stuffed too tight like a fat, hard sausage. Leave five or so inches of material loose on the top — so you can tie the string around it tightly with some sock to spare flapping at the end. Tie the string or shoelace twice, double knot, very tightly — so no rice escapes EVER.
Slip the whole stuffed thing into another empty, identical sock that you can remove and wash. (Never wash the one with the rice inside, of course).
Place one HOT SOX in microwave two to three minutes. I’d try two minutes in the microwave at first. Microwaves are different. This might have to be adjusted. But two minutes might be enough. And watch the temperature especially on older, younger, or more tender and sensitive skin! The first time a HOT SOX is heated, there may be a little steam. The sock might even appear damp for a while. This will go away with subsequent heatings. I suppose if a sock is heated too long, it might catch fire in the microwave. But two to three minutes has never been a problem for me.
A HOT SOX will stay hot/warm under covers almost all night. Or you may drape the HOT SOX over a sore neck or knee or whatever. It’s more flexible and portable than a heating pad. In the air, a HOT SOX will cool off more quickly than under covers. You can even take one in the car to keep you warm until the heat kicks in. I’ve been known to drag a HOT SOX or two to the deer stand on cold mornings. I LOVE them!!! Everyone I’ve ever given them to loves them. There was a commercial product like this years ago, also meant to be heated. It may still be around. There were also some bags and little pillows filled with more aromatic additions such as lavender. I believe there were some filled with beans and other products, some sort of hull perhaps. But they aren’t as soft in my opinion. I’ve only used rice. If you experiment with other ingredients, please let me hear from you! (I will rejoice with you on your successes and commiserate with you on your disasters.)
A well made HOT SOX can be heated and used every day, several times a day if you like, for at least one season. I’ve had some much longer, but I usually keep half a dozen around to rotate. On a really cold night, I might have three under the covers (sort of like a three dog night, but with HOT SOX. The SOX may start to smell burnt or get holes after a certain amount of use. You’ll know when it’s time to make a new one! Enjoy!
(Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She is an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life.)
