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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

December grocery money journal

Dec. 6  Here we are, well into the first week of December, and I haven't needed to go to the grocery store. I had a surplus of whole milk, from Black Friday shopping, so I turned it into yogurt the other day. This will prolong the life of the milk for a few weeks, meaning I don't "need" to go shopping for milk right away. Yogurt will sub for our milk needs, when the fresh milk runs out.

We've had a hard freeze here, so the garden is toast. I'll look for kale, broccoli, chard, sorrel, mustards and watercress to return in March. And so, we're starting in on the frozen vegetables. Hopefully this will clear enough space in the freezers to stock up on hams, should their price per pound be great, later this month.

Items that I'm looking to stock up on this month: ham, cheese, butter, and onions. I will likely find good prices on oranges, pineapple and avocados this month, as well.

In November, we went over our grocery budget of $170/month by 19.53. This leaves us with $150.47 for the month.

December 7. Out running errands, stop in at Fred Meyer. Pick up their flyer at the door and find powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and whole milk on sale. I buy 3 2-lb bags of powdered sugar (3/$5), 2 lbs butter ($1.79/lb), 4 8-oz bricks cream cheese (89 cents ea), 2 lb block of cheddar ($4.99), 4  half-gallons whole milk (4/$5), and 2 bags of choc chips ($1.67 ea). Spent $25.47

December 11. Happen to catch Safeway's ad on TV, before the day's mail and flyer comes. Hams are 99 cents/lb for whole and shank half (limit 1 of each). I buy 1 whole and 1 half ham, total of about 30 pounds, for $30.19, for a month to date  spending of $55.66

December 13. QFC also has half hams on sale for 99 cents/lb, but this store has both shank and butt portions at that price. I buy 1 butt portion half ham, about 10 lbs. Also find 1/2 gals milk on markdown for 89 cents/ea (I buy 9), 1 gallon of skim milk marked down (1.79) and 1/2 gals of eggnog for 1.19 (I buy 1). That's all I buy. Total spent $21.27, for a month to date spending of $76.93

December 13. Stop in at Albertson's for canned pineapple (20 oz cans for $1, I buy 9), cream cheese (8-oz bricks for 88 cents, I buy 4), butter (1-lb for 1.99, I buy 2). Spent $16.50, for a month to date spending of $93.43.

December 17. Trader Joe's. Hoping to pick up bananas today. But their shipment didn't come in. Just get one 9 oz canister of cocoa powder for $2.49.

December 17. Also stop at the Cash and Carry restaurant supply. Needing onions. Buy a 50-lb sack of onions for $10.51. Month to date spending -- $106.43

December 17. The 30 oz cans of mixed nuts and cashews finally came in at Bartell's. This was a Black Friday advertised item that sold out within minutes of opening the doors. I got a rain check for 10 cans of mixed nuts and 1 can of cashews, at $4.99 ea. This worked out to $2.66 per pound for the nuts. I spent $54.89 here. Month to date spending of $161.32

December 21. AT Dollar Tree and decide to splurge and buy some oregano. $1. Month to date spending of $162.32, which is $11.85 over our budget for the month.

We really didn't need a whole lot this month. I stocked up on ham (40 lbs), canned nuts (20 lbs), powdered sugar (6 lbs), cream cheese (2 lbs), cheddar (2 lbs), milk (7  1/2 gallons), and picked up some cocoa powder, eggnog, choc chips, and oregano.

Going into January, we are very low on eggs, and will need more milk, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, and that's it. If I find exceptional sales on other items, I have the budget to cover them.

We did go over budget by $11.85 for the month. But we'll make this up next month. We are very well stocked, which should give us a budget surplus at the end of January. I can roll this surplus forward into the mid to late spring months, typically more expensive months for us.


Monday, December 30, 2013

Doing the math on bedsheet repair


It's back to the basics of saving money, this week.

When my dad passed away, 11 1/2 years ago, I inherited my parent's California King-sized bed, sheets not included. I bought 1 set of plain white, cotton sheets for about $60. This included the fitted sheet, the flat sheet and 2 pillow cases. California King beds are not common in my area, and neither are the sheets.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I developed a thin spot in the fitted sheet. I patched it with Heavy Duty Wonder Under and scrap fabric, and my iron. This small patch has held just fine for the past year and a half, requiring occasional re-ironing of the patch.


A few weeks ago, I put my foot through another thin spot, this time tearing the sheet. I went out shopping for a new fitted sheet, and found I couldn't just walk into a store in my area and buy a Cal. King fitted sheet. It would have to be ordered, and at the minimum, would cost about $20.


I decided to hold off on buying a new sheet, and patch this one, one more time. We keep talking about replacing this bed with a smaller, Queen-sized one. And it looks like this summer could be the time to do so. Buying a new sheet, that we'd only use for half a year, didn't seem economical.

the math

A new sheet would cost $20, and would likely last 10 years, if alternated with the other sheet set for the rest of winter (a flannel set). At $20, for 10 years, the amortized annual cost of a new fitted sheet would be about $2 per year, or 3.85 cents per week.

At the fabric store a couple of weeks ago, Heavy Duty Wonder Under was on sale, and I had a coupon applicable for sale and non-sale merchandise. I spent about 25 cents for a piece of Wonder Under large enough to patch this larger tear and thin spot.

At 25 cents for the patch job, the sheet only has to last another 6  1/2 weeks, to recover my cost. And I still have a piece of Wonder Under large enough to make another patch, if necessary, in any other thin spots.

Does all this matter? Should I have just ordered the fitted sheet, even though we may not even need it in 6 months' time?

I think it does matter. I may have spared our budget $19.75, by not buying a new sheet right now. If we do, in fact, down-size our bed to a Queen in 6 months, I would have found myself with sheets in the wrong size.

I could have saved myself the 25 cents, and patched the sheet with stitching. But my time is valuable. An iron-on patch took 10 minutes start to finish, and I was able to work this mending job into a small chunk of time over the weekend.

I recognize that not everyone would be comfortable sleeping on a sheet with a patch. I got used to it within a couple of nights, on the last patch. I'm okay with this slightly imperfect solution to a worn bed sheet.

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I do the math, frequently, to see if something is worth the money. It may seem tedious to some folks, but it winds up saving us a lot of money in the long run. (We have several calculators around the house, and I keep an extra one in my purse.)

An example, is it worth the gas money to drive a few miles out of my way, for a sale? I will figure the cost of my gas and weigh it against the potential savings on the sale item. I often decide that the savings on the sale, are not great enough to warrant the extra gas expenditure. Avocados are on sale this week, for 50 cents each, at a store 10 miles from my house. That's a 20 mile round trip, just for avocados. There's a limit of 4 avocados at that price, and the store is not featuring any other sale items that I can use right now. So, I would spend about $2.75 in gas, to save $1 to $2 on avocados. Not worth it.

Another example, I can buy an LED light bulb, that will use 50 watts per hour less than an incandescent bulb, for about $10. If the fixture is in use for 6 hours per day, I can save 300 watts per day, or about 9,000 watts (or 9 KW) per month. At a rate of about 10.5 cents per KW hour, that's a savings of 94.5 cents per month, on our electricity bill. It will take about 11 months for the LED light bulb to pay for itself, then we'd see savings of almost $1 per month for the life of the LED bulb. So, in my mind, the investment into LED bulbs is worth the money.

My dad used to say, "don't sweat the small stuff, kid." But really, the sum of all the small stuff is what has allowed my husband and I to have the life of our choosing.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Overnight herb and cheese strata with marinara sauce & Apple, dried fruit and nut salad



These are two recipes that I used for brunch on Christmas Day. Both used only what I had on hand, and were very economical to make. Carol from CTMom asked for the recipes in the comments the other day. But also, this would make an easy breakfast for New Year's Day, so thought I'd post it in case any of you would like the recipes.

The strata, in particular, was sparing of my dwindling egg supply (I am now down to 2 eggs, total), and my small amount of cheese. Yet, it fed my family at brunch, and left us with snacking extras in the afternoon. You don't need to serve it with marinara sauce, but if you are a fan of polenta with marinara, then I suggest you try this. It adds a flavorful touch to the strata.

To make the strata more frugal than standard recipes, I use just a little cheese (many recipes call for 8 ounces of cheese for this amount of eggs/bread). I also use whatever cheese I happen to have on hand. (Some recipes call for fontina or other more spendy cheese.) And I use herbs from my summer garden, that I now have in my freezer. (I freeze basil, parsley and rosemary, instead of drying them. I think they have more flavor frozen, than dried.) You could substitute dried herbs, or change the herbs altogether.


A true strata is made with layers of bread slices. I prefer the "bread pudding" variation of strata, with cubes instead of slices of bread. The bread cubes allow the herbs, seasonings and cheese to coat each bite.

Herb and cheese strata with marinara

5 thick slices of French bread, cubed
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash red pepper flakes
3 to 4 ounces of shredded cheese (I used half cheddar and half mozzarella), use 2/3 of the cheese in with the bread, and 1/3 to top the strata
2 tablespoons fresh or frozen basil
1 tablespoon fresh or frozen parsley
marinara sauce (any leftover pasta, pizza or marinara sauce will work)

Butter an 8 by 8-inch pyrex baking dish.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Combine with milk, salt, pepper flakes and herbs. Add bread cubes and 2/3 of the cheese. Toss well to coat each piece.

Spread mixture in baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove strata from refrigerator about 30 to 40 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.


Warm marinara sauce and spoon over individual servings.

This recipe makes about 4 main-dish, breakfast servings. For us, it was part of a larger brunch, so it went much further. To serve 6 to 8 people, simply double the ingredients and use a 9 by 13-inch rectangular casserole.

Apple-dried fruit-nut salad

This salad has many variations on our table. I add celery when I have it, and alternate between raisins, chopped prunes or dried apricots or dried cherries (which ever I feel like using). My favorite nuts in this are either pecans (expensive here), or almonds (the budget alternative for us). And I sometimes add cubes of cheddar to this salad -- good with the apples!

For 3 to 4 servings:

Dressing:

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fruit vinegar (I use raspberry, blackberry and blueberry -- but plain vinegar will also give that tang)
1/4 cup spray whipped topping (if using real whipped cream or Cool Whip, 3 tablespoons may be enough)

In the bottom of your salad bowl, combine the above ingredients.

Toss dressing with the following:

1 large apple, skin left on and chopped
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped nuts (roasted or unroasted)

If I'm making this an hour or so in advance, I add everything but the apple, then chop and add the apple at the very last minute.


Thursday, December 26, 2013

How do you spend Boxing Day?


When I was growing up, Boxing Day was the big after Christmas clearance sale at US stores. My mom stocked up on gift wrap, bows and cards on that day.

For me, I prefer to take a day off, and not go out shopping.

On the 24th, I stopped at the public library and checked out a stack of back issues of Martha Stewart Living and The English Garden magazines. I'll be spending today with my nose buried in magazines. I do this one day per year. We eat leftovers from the previous couple of days of cooking, and kids have always been very entertained with their new belongings -- the perfect set-up for me to have time to myself.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas Day Menus

Merry Christmas! Were you able to sleep last night? I am like a kid, I lay there half the night waiting for morning to come. Wherever you are today, I am wishing you the merriest of Christmases! Every year, I think to myself, "Christmas just gets better and better each year." New friendships, maturing older friendships, a growing up family -- all those those things make for Christmases that get better with each year.

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Today, I'll take 1 meal off, and we'll only have a brunch and dinner. I am told that all the clean-up is covered, so that after I cook, I can just go put my feet up. Now that's a Christmas present! Brunch is actually the bigger meal to prepare, today. We'll snack on brunch items throughout the day. My dinner menu is fairly simple (easy on the cook), and much of it was prepared in advance.

The menus for the day:


Christmas Brunch

pineapple chunks
apple-dried fruit-nut salad
overnight herb and cheese strata with marinara sauce
sausages
bacon
Austrian almond braid bread
mini blueberry muffins
orange-pineapple juice
coffee
cocoa


Christmas Dinner

baked ham
au gratin potatoes
pumpkin souffle
pear mousse gelled salad
carrot sticks, green bean pickles, bread and butter pickles
cookies



As I said, most of these items were made ahead. The pineapple chunks were canned. After draining, I added the liquid from the can to the orange juice. The marinara sauce was left over from batch cooking over the weekend. I pre-cooked the sausages the day before, then simply heated them through this morning. The bread and muffins were baked earlier in the week. The pumpkin souffle was made, ready for the oven, yesterday afternoon. And the gelled salad was prepared on Monday.

I like to have an easy day, too. A little preparation ahead of time goes a long way. Merry, merry!


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

My problem -- when I over-buy for Christmas

Never fails, every year, I slightly over-make, over-buy, over-plan for Christmas. It's not by much, but just enough that I think, "hmmm, we really don't need to saturate ourselves with treats and gifts." So, I set just a little aside until Valentine's, Easter and/or spring birthdays.

This year, I bought just a tad too much candy. Not a huge problem. I could just eat some myself, or put it all into the stockings. But instead, I chose to set some aside for Valentine's Day. I had a bag of foil wrapped candies, wrapped in green, gold and red foil. I pulled out the red-wrapped candies, and those will be added to the goodie bags for my family on Valentine's Day.

I also have a couple of small gifts that will be perfect for Valentine's and two birthdays. So, in essence, I've got a jump start on the 2014 holidays.

Now, that's a good problem to have!


Merry Christmas Eve!


Monday, December 23, 2013

Knitting headband/ear warmers plus the one thing I didn't need to buy this year



Last Thursday, I posted photos of two knit headbands that I've made for my daughters's Christmas stockings (that post is here). And I promised that I would come up with measurements and details of how I made them. So here I am, beginning a third one.I begged some yarn off of my daughter, yesterday. She has some plum acrylic yarn that I thought would be the perfect, go-with-everything-winter-that-I-own yarn.

This one may take me a few days, as I'm, uh, kinda busy this week. (And I bet you are, too!)

To start, I needed to figure my gauge. It's the gauge in width that matters, with the headbands. So, I started with yarn that I doubled, size 9 needles, and I cast on 14 stitches. I knit 6 rows, to get an idea of how wide this would be. The finished headband should be about 3  3/4 to 4 inches wide. It turned out that 14 stitches was just a tad too wide. So I pulled that one out, and cast on 12 stitches. This gave me a band about 3  3/4 inches wide, which I thought would be good for an adult (me!).


This is knit in the garter stitch, which is knit both sides. There's no finishing the edges, the knit won't roll, and it will be a thicker headband than if knit in stockinette stitch.

Once the gauge was established, I began knitting. I'll knit the band until it is about 20 inches long. At that point, I'll try it on my own head by pinning it together (leaving the knitting needle in place on the last row) and slipping it over my head. I'll use the highly technical jump-around-and-shake-my-head-about method of determining if the headband is the right size. If I need another inch, then I'll continue with the garter stitch a few more rows.


When the headband is long enough to go around my head, plus have an extra 1  1/2 inches of overlap, I'll finish the final row, with the traditional bind-off, leaving a yarn tail about 6 inches. After weaving the yarn tail into the edge, I'll stitch the headband together (with needle and matching-color thread), with the edges overlapping.

Now comes the embellishing part. I haven't decided if I'll simply sew on some buttons, or make a knit bow, or gather the headband just off-center from my face.

I'll continue posting photos as I progress. Yesterday afternoon, I spent about 1  1/2 hours knitting/untangling yarn, and got a little over half way done with the band (I've got about 12 inches knit). It will be close, as to whether I have enough yarn or not. I began with about 1/3 of a skein of yarn. (I used the highly precise method of scrunching the yarn up in my hands and guessing if it felt like a thick headband.) I think 1/2 skein would be a safer bet for one of these headbands.

For a girl-sized headband, I would think that 3 inches in width and probably about 16 to 18 inches in length would make the right size headband (you can do a quick measurement with a measuring tape, to get the right length).

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And the one thing I didn't need to buy this year?

Candy canes!

Every time I've stopped at a store, there's been a bucket of mini candy canes, free for the taking (one at a time, not the bucket). Over the course of the holiday season, I amassed about 10 mini candy canes! Woo hoo! Freebies are always nice!


I realize that many of you will be heading off to visit family in the next day or so. I want to wish you a very merry Christmas! (I'll still be here this week. It will be a family-at-home Christmas.)


Friday, December 20, 2013

The gifts that I am REALLY giving to my children this Christmas

If the advertisements on TV are any indicator of how Christmas morning will go in homes across America, many kids will be unwrapping iPhones, iPads, Wii game consoles, and Kindle Fires.

My kids won't be finding any of those under our tree. But they will receive several very nice gifts from their dad and I. As you know, this year is a tight year for us, financially. However, we've never been ones to buy over-the-top luxury gifts for our kids in past years, anyway.

Some of our "biggest" gifts that we gave to our kids in past years, included an easel for one daughter, a musical instrument for the other, and an Erector set for our son. We chose gifts that we felt they could use to continue pursuing their individual interests, and still provide years of enjoyment. It's not because we're cheap. It's because we think about which gifts could foster development in our kids' lives the most, without putting us into a financial hole.

But, you know, the equipment and playthings were really just tokens. The real gifts that we're giving to our kids this year are two parents who won't be stressed out in January when the bills roll in.

We're giving our daughters an education at the university that they chose. By giving them this education, we are also giving our daughters hope for their future careers.

We're giving our son the peace of mind that his parents are saving enough money for retirement, so that he won't have to support us in our later years. This is a gift of freedom, really. Our son won't need to choose the most lucrative career path for our sake, but can choose that which brings him greatest joy.

We're giving the entire family a savings' cushion, so that we can handle any misfortune that may happen in the coming year.

We're giving our children a fully-paid for home with heat, plenty of food, and family harmony.

We're giving all three of our kids living examples of how to be good stewards of their resources. Those are the real gifts our kids will receive at Christmas, and throughout the year.

Will my children be hindered in any way by not receiving iPhones, iPads, Wii consoles or the like? Not one bit. In fact, I think they will be better off, for the more modest gifts that we did choose. We put real thought into each gift. We chose items that filled needs for each child. I'd never send one of my daughters off to university with a new IPhone, but no decent coat to wear, or off in canvas sneakers to tromp through cold, wet grass, instead of good new boots. Gadgety electronic devices are fun, and we certainly like fun, too. But sometimes, I think parents have to be just that, the parents, and choose gifts that meet needs before wants.

Our Christmas morning will be full of the fun and excitement of giving and receiving gifts. I don't even feel sad or guilty that we're not buying more extravagant gifts. I feel like we've chosen some of the most appropriate gifts that our kids could receive, and that is a very satisfying feeling. When you know that you're doing the right thing, you can stand tall and have peace over your choice.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Hand-made stocking stuffers for my daughters


I wanted to share with you a fairly easy project that I've been working on this past week. These will go into my daughters's Christmas stockings. I know that they'll be pleased, and the headbands will fill some of that "stocking real estate". (Our Christmas stockings are too big.)

The couple of times that I've been down on campus at my daughters' university, I've seen all the girls wearing knit headbands. And they were even selling them in the general merch section of the campus bookstore (for about $15 a piece!)

We have a lot of yarn hanging around the house. I feel that we might as well put it to use. I made knit headbands for each daughter, using this leftover yarn, some wooden buttons and paint, and a small choker charm from my own girlhood (remember the 70s and chokers?).

One headband takes about a half ball of yarn. I knit these in the garter stitch (knit on both sides), and doubled up the yarns to make the headbands thicker, and knit faster.

And lest you think I must knit quickly or well, let me tell you, this is definitely a beginner's project. I knit like a 6 year old! One daughter keeps telling me that someday she'll teach me how to knit like a grown woman.

But these turned out pretty nicely, and didn't take too many afternoons of work (an experienced knitter could probably crank these out in 2 to 3 hours).

After sewing the bands into loops, I added some trim to each -- a knit bow with a center made from a piece of my girlhood jewelry (a china "cameo"that I stitched to the bow), and two doubled crochet flowers, with button "centers" (the buttons are wood ones that I painted with acrylic paints).

These projects were made entirely from materials that I had on hand, which makes me happy. You know how it is. If you knit, leftover yarn seems to fill the corners of the house.


Busy days! What do you like best -- making or buying gifts? I think I find fun in both activities. I was out shopping on Friday, and really enjoyed the "choosing" part. But I also take pride in the things that I make.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Pause

Just breathe.

It feels like there is so much that needs to be done. In truth, nothing really NEEDS to get done. I know that, I do. But the anxiety surrounding the holidays got to me yesterday. I needed to take a breath, close my eyes, and listen to something beautiful.

Do something special for yourself today, and take a moment to just listen to a favorite Christmas song. Slow down, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and forget about gifts to be finished, baked, bought or ordered, the wrapping paper, the cookies, the big dinner.

You will still have plenty of time to rush about, and get it all done. But for this moment, just pause.


There are many Christmas songs that I love. But there's this one song, when I hear it the tears flow. I thought I'd share it today. (If it won't load for you, here's the link)


Audrey Assad -- Winter Snow







Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A last-minute manly man gift



A shoe shine kit for my son, who works in an office and wears dress shoes every weekday.

The only thing that I had to go out and buy was the tin of brown polish. The rest I had, here at home.


The case was an old-fashioned men's shave kit case, the kind older gents used before 911. I bought it as a gift for someone, who unexpectedly passed away just a short time later, never even taking the tags off of it.

The mat is flannelized rubber sheeting. I had 2 large rectangles of this leftover from making crib mattress pads for my daughters, 18 years ago. I used pinking sheers to cut a piece large enough to place 2 dress shoes on for polishing, to reduce the risk of getting polish on the carpet. I rolled it up and secured with a large rubber band.


The polishing cloths are squares that I cut from flannel scraps leftover from making myself some pj pants. Again, I used pinking shears for the edges. I made two cloths, and placed them into a sandwich bag, just to keep the kit all clean and tidy.


The tin of shoe polish cost a whopping $1.86 including tax, at a local grocery super-store. When I walked in the door, I picked up the week's flyers. On the front page of the home and clothing flyer was a coupon for 15% off anything from the shoe department -- talk about good fortune!

A manly man gift. Almost done with my son's gifts.


Monday, December 16, 2013

Easy holiday dessert: Pumpkin Cake Roll



I know what you're thinking, this kind of dessert looks soooo complicated to make, right? I've always found cake rolls to be somewhat easy. I thought maybe I'd just had a lot of luck with them. Then a woman on the TV show Steven and Chris duplicated my thoughts, when she said that cake rolls are very easy for the home-baker. Okay, so maybe it hasn't been luck or skill, for me.

A couple of things to know about cake rolls.

  • You need to use a cake recipe that is "flexible" when baked, like a sponge cake. A cake mix cake, or tender butter cake, will crack if you try to roll it up. 
  • The baked sponge cake needs to be rolled up while warm. 
  • Cake rolls can be frosted, but I think they look nice just dusted with confectioner's sugar, either plain, or blended with cocoa powder, or with cinnamon or nutmeg sprinkled over the top.
  • They are moist cakes, so can be kept rolled, filled and wrapped in plastic, in the fridge, overnight, meaning I'm not rushing around at the last minute baking, filling and frosting a cake.
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If Thanksgiving dessert is all about the pie, then Christmas dessert must be all about the cake. At least that's the way it is in our home.

Some years, it's a steamed dried fruit cake. Other years, it's a cake roll, sometimes chocolate and iced (Buche de Noel), other times I go "easy" and make this pumpkin cake roll. No icing, no layers, but spectacular in presentation -- it's really fairly easy. I follow one of the Libby's recipes, with just a few tweaks of my own. And, I can make it the day before, wrapping the filled, rolled cake in plastic wrap and keeping in the fridge until an hour before serving. At that point, I plate it and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon/nutmeg.

Cake rolls can be filled with butter cream frosting, 7-minute icing, jelly, or any cake or smooth pie filling. I've made this particular cake roll several times over the last few years, and always WOW! guests. I've baked these for open houses, holiday dinners, and to bring to potlucks, all with resounding welcome. 

I wish you lived closer, as I'd invite you over for tea and cake. That's how much I enjoy making this pumpkin cake roll!

If you'd like to give it a try this year, here's how:

Ingredients:
cake:
1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (if using home-cooked pumpkin, strain pumpkin in a sieve, overnight before measuring)

cream cheese filling:

8-ounces cream cheese
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

additional powdered sugar and ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg, for sifting over finished cake

Equipment:

15 X 10-inch jelly roll pan
waxed paper
large off-set spatula, or metal spatula
non-terry dish towel
cooling rack
large mixing bowl
mixer

Preparation:

towel sprinkled with powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease jelly roll pan, bottom and sides.

Cut waxed paper to fit the bottom of the jelly roll pan. Place waxed paper into greased pan. Butter the waxed paper, and sprinkle pan and paper with flour, then tap out.

Spread dish towel out on counter and sprinkle with the 1/4 cup of powder sugar, all over (this will help the cake roll to release from the towel later).


Instructions:




Sift the dry ingredients together, onto another large sheet of waxed paper or into a medium bowl. Stir as needed to combine.

In the large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Slowly add in granulated sugar, and mix until thick.

Add pumpkin, and beat until well-combined. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Spread batter in prepared pan, evenly to edges.

Bake for 12-15 minutes (time will depend on your jelly roll pan). When done, the top of the cake will spring back when pressed lightly.


Remove from oven, and immediately loosen edges, all around, with a table knife. Go under the entire cake with the off-set spatula or metal spatula, to loosen. 


Tip the cake over onto the sugared dish towel. The cake will still be hot. Peel the waxed paper off from the bottom of the cake. 


With a sharp knife, trim 1/2-inch all around the edge of the cake. This will allow it to roll more easily.


You'll roll the cake up without any filling, and allow to cool, rolled up in a towel. This will shape the cake into a roll. So, at one of the long ends (a 10-inch end), begin rolling up the cake and towel together.


Place on a cooling rack, with the seam side down. Cool thoroughly (a couple of hours max).

You can fill this cake roll with a pumpkin mousse, or use this recipe for a cream cheese filling.

In a medium bowl with mixer, beat together until soft: one 8-ounce brick of cream cheese (room temp), 6 tablespoons of butter (room temp). Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 cup of powdered sugar, until all is smooth and well-combined. Chill for about 15 minutes.

Unroll the cooled cake, and spread the inside curl of the cake, evenly with the cream cheese filling. 


Reroll the cake, this time without the dish towel. It won't matter if the cake looks flour-y or the filling is oozing out. The final sprinkling of powdered sugar will conceal any flour-y looking portions. And the oozing filling will be left behind on the dish towel. Transfer to a large sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. At this point, the whole cake roll can be refrigerated until the next day, if you want to do this ahead of time.

When ready to plate, unwrap from plastic, center on plate, and sift generously with more powdered sugar, then lightly sprinkle on some ground cinnamon/nutmeg.


Friday, December 13, 2013

Turkey or ham?


Now this is a turkey that I could eat leftovers from, day after day! It's gorgeous, isn't it? One pound of milk chocolate -- yum!

Do you remember the friend that I made English toffee with several weeks ago? Her sister-in-law is a local chocolatier, and sells these in November. This one was a hostess gift to us, on Thanksgiving. I wish we could keep it forever, but alas it HAS to be eaten. It would just go bad otherwise, right? Okay, I'll make the grand sacrifice. Someone pass me the hammer.

My question to you, do you do turkey, ham, beef or something else for Christmas dinner? I might have mentioned that I buy hams just before Christmas. They keep in the fridge, in their original packaging, for a few weeks, before needing to be cooked or frozen (check use by date on label). And in the next two weeks, our area supermarkets will feature them at their lowest price of the year.

In fact, 2 grocery store chains in my area have them this week for 99 cents per pound, for bone-in shank half ham, and bone-in whole hams. I was able to pick up 1 half ham and 1 whole ham (30 lbs total), at that price, the other day. This could be all the ham we'll want through early spring. But I'm still toying with the idea of 1 more half ham. I'll need to check the freezer space before making that decision. What do you think? Do you buy extra ham, to freeze? I'm on the fence.


Back to that chocolate turkey. I'm afraid no pardon for him -- his neck will be on the chopping block this weekend!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

When college students come home for break

the curried carrot soup that my daughters made for dinner on Tuesday

Fall quarter has now ended at the university that my two daughters attend. One quarter down! Woohoo! Just 11 more!

Funny thing, early on in the quarter, I asked one of my daughters what she thought about her classes. Her reply, "Mom, you were right, university classes are a lot harder than high school classes." I put a surprised look on my face, but in my heart I was smiling, as I said, "Oh?" It was one of those funny parent moments. But all three of my kids are very hard workers. They all rise to the challenge of hard coursework.



My daughters are commuter students, meaning they come home every evening. But there have been days when it felt more like they were living away, as I only saw them briefly in the mornings, as I drove them to the bus, and again for 5 minutes, when I picked them up in the evenings. Family dinners went by the wayside this fall, as they used every spare moment to work on assignments and projects, away from the family, in their rooms.

Even though they've been living here all along, there are some similarities to the student who comes home on break. The one that I knew I needed to address right away, was a lack of responsibilities during break time. With classes out, their main job, to do classwork, is on hiatus.

Wednesday morning was our first morning of break together. I know myself, and I know that I would get frustrated if it began to seem that they thought break meant vacation from responsibility.  So, right off, I established the chores they would have over break. It's not an onerous list, by any means. Here it is:

-- Prepare dinner 3 days per week: Tuesdays, Fridays and Mondays. Some of the days they will get to choose the menu, other days I'll have a menu in mind. They began with Tuesday night's dinner. The two of them made this amazingly yummy curried carrot soup. They've made this a few times before, using a recipe that they've found online. I really need to get the URL for that one, and pass it on, because it is quite good, and uses very inexpensive ingredients (carrots, potatoes, onions, black pepper, curry powder, to name most of them). With the soup they made blackberry scones and peanut butter filled celery sticks.

Preparing dinner in our house is actually a time-consuming job, as we cook almost everything from scratch, and there's no room in the grocery budget for convenience items. But this is great experience for them. Learning to cook and feed themselves well, at a young age will go far with their health and finances in the years to come.

-- Clean up the kitchen every morning after breakfast. This is one of my usual chores, so I am happy to pass it off to them each day over break.

-- Clean the main bathroom every Saturday. (I'm secretly hoping that they'll start to notice when one of them leaves their pj's on the bathroom floor, and bug each other to pick up their stuff.)

-- Perform 1 big chore, of my choosing, assigned once per week (such as dusting the house, cleaning out the fireplace, or cleaning the baseboards).

-- Hang laundry 2 days per week. We do laundry 4-5 days a week, here. Hanging most of it to dry. Their help will give me a bit more time to do other chores.

My kids are really great, and I'm not at all complaining about them. They do offer to help out around the house, and they have such sweet attitudes about everything. But I do think that even great kids forget that there is a lot of work to be done around the house every day, and need a little nudge.

It's really not a lot that I'm asking of them. They'll still have plenty of time to have fun and enjoy their time off. But I did feel that I needed to establish this at the beginning of break.

So, what does this all mean for me? Well, I don't feel like the only one who never gets a vacation. I have several days away from the kitchen per week, meaning I can recharge, and am more likely to go ahead with time-consuming menu items, like the fresh pasta that I made for dinner on Wednesday. And I have time to work on Christmas gifts, decorating, baking, and the fun Christmas stuff. It means that my time is freed up a bit, to do more frugal activities around the house. In this way, my daughters' help will save us some money. And it means that I can feel good about my kids learning how to tackle various responsibilities.

Christmas break is 3  1/2 weeks long. Ask me at the end of 3 weeks how this all worked out! LOL!

How about you? Have you found some methods for training kids (younger or older) to help with household chores?


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The blackberry vinegar is decanted

blackberry vinegar - it's jewel-toned beauty sparkles on my kitchen counter


Just in time for winter citrus salads, cabbage slaws, and chopped turkey salad, the blackberry vinegar is decanted and ready to use.



I began the infusion in late August (you can read more from that post here), with wild blackberries and white vinegar. Yesterday morning, I strained off the berries and decanted it into an empty bottle (held the chive blossom vinegar, previously).



For a vinaigrette dressing for citrus/avocado salads, I whisk berry vinegar with oil, a pinch each of salt and sugar, and a teaspoon of orange zest. (For an easy berry vinaigrette, the recipe that I use is in this post. Any unsweetened berry vinegar will work in this recipe.)


Or, for dressing cabbage slaws or chopped turkey salad, I simply mix berry vinegar with mayo, a tiny pinch of sugar and a handful of dried cranberries.



As my kids used to put it, "I like to make stuff". I enjoy the process of taking some raw materials and transforming them into something useful, or of beauty.

How about you? Do you enjoy "making stuff"? Do you make your own salad dressings? What's your favorite homemade dressing?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Circumstances that make us spend more money than we had planned

Certain times of the year and certain circumstances seem to drive us to spend more money than we'd planned. Vacations are one area that I think many folks spend more than planned. Circumstances that make one feel sad for a person, or guilty over something, tend to make us go overboard on our "comfort/remorse" gifting. One other specific time of year when a check on spending seems to get lost in the mail, is the Christmas season. And nowadays, the Christmas season spans so many days on the calendar, there are just too many opportunities to over-spend our budget.

Here we are, in the midst of the holiday shopping, celebrating and entertainment season. It's so easy for me to spend money freely in December. If it's charitable giving, and we have the money in the bank, then maybe that's a good thing. But sometimes I go overboard on gifts, or am too busy to really plan my time and money spent. A quick meal from a restaurant here. Disorganized errand running there. It all adds up to going over our budget.

In years past, we could fudge a little on the budget, because we knew there would be plenty of income to cover any extra expenditures. Things are different this year. Our budget is tight. There is enough money there. But there's no stretch to the budget this year.

Knowing this has made me acutely aware of how I spend, why I spend, and how I can get a handle on extra expenses. It's required being very mindful, some good sense talking-to in my head and focus on the goals that lie before of us.

Our goals -- Keep our daughters at the university for the duration of their education. (They have responsibility in this, as well.) Continue funding our retirement, in large sums. Continue giving generously, whenever it is needed.

On a reduced income, sticking to our goals means that I must be vigilant with spending choices.

For example, typically I'm rather haphazard about trips to the post office in December. I like to run out to the PO whenever I have a parcel or two ready to go. Some years, I make 3 separate trips to the post office.  It's a good 15 minute drive each way, and not at all on my way anywhere. Plus, I must consider my time spent, not just driving there and back, but waiting in line. My time is more valuable than ever this year. The time spent on unnecessary extra errands, is time that I could have been working productively at home, thus saving us more money towards our goals.

This year, I was about to do the same as I usually do, when it really hit me, I had to change this one little thing about my holiday mailings, in order to spare time and gas spent on extra runs to the PO. And I did. It does mean that one of my gifts may just barely reach its destination in time. But this one person will surely understand my situation this year.

Another area of over-spending occurs with gift giving. I see something that I think would be "perfect" for someone on my list, after I've already spent the budgeted amount for that person. In past years, I've gone ahead, and gone over budget, figuring we'd cut the budget in some other area to cover this gift. Well, last Friday, I was in Kohl's when I found a sweater that I really wanted to buy for my son. I've already bought his gifts, but this sweater really caught my eye. I must have carried that sweater around for an hour, while I tried to settle my mind on this. In the end, I remembered our goals, and realized that in a month's time, this "perfect" sweater won't seem sooooo special anymore, and I'll find other sweaters that I think are just as nice.

I've also shown restraint when it comes to treats while I'm out and about. The holiday season means that I'm running more errands than usual. I easily succumb to buying treats for myself while I'm out. But this year, I've managed to curtail that impulse. I do a couple of things which help keep me from buying snacks or quick lunches. One, I plan for my next meal ahead of time, so that I know, after my errands are done, I have something yummy and quick to make at home. Two, I have planned a couple of treat days, for when my family is home. I'll be using gift cards for the bulk of those meals and snacks out. When I'm feeling tempted, I remind myself that these treats are on the calendar. 

And finally, it really struck me, friends, real friends, don't want me to compromise our financial goals, in order to buy them something that they may or may not love. Real friends want the same for me as I want for them. I want my friends to have a restful Christmas. I want my friends to have peace about how much they spend or the time that they put into making a gift. I want my friends to give me the gift of their friendship, and truly nothing more. It's the friendship that I need, not more stuff.

I'm not doing perfectly on my holiday spending, this year. I did go over budget on my husband's gifts. But I am doing a lot better than previous years. And I think this will show when the credit card bills roll in, come January.

My hope for you, is that your budget is not nearly as tight as mine this year. But if it is, I hope you have found ways to keep yourself on track.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Pumpkin-y questions


Okay, so a couple of you are curious about my intentions with my pumpkin haul from last week (14 pumpkins for free!)

SandyAZ wants to know, "how much canned pumpkin will you get from all those free pumpkins?"

And Delores, gifted with 4 pumpkins over the Thanksgiving holiday, "it's just my husband and I. I don't know what to do with these pumpkins. Besides pie and muffins, do you have any recipes?"


So, for Sandy, this is 5 of the pumpkins cooking down in my largest stock pot. I've been reducing the pumpkins down to about 2  1/2 cups of puree per pumpkin, on average. So, with my 14 recently acquired pumpkins, I should have about 16 pints of pumpkin puree. Of course, I'm using much of it in cooking this week.

The pumpkins looked to be going soft, so last weekend, I cooked 7 of them, and this weekend, 5. I have 2 of the free pumpkins left, and 3 other pumpkins that I grew in my garden. I am hoping to get them all cooked by the end of next weekend.

Sandy also asked if I can or freeze my pumpkin. I freeze it. But I'd be interested in knowing of other's experience pressure canning pumpkin. Canning would save freezer space. I've just never canned anything that wasn't either high in sugar or vinegar, and am a bit nervous about canning.


For Delores, depending on the size of the pumpkins, you may go through the 4 quickly enough. Cook and can or freeze the puree. Then use the pumpkin over the month's of winter. I find pumpkin to be fairly versatile. It's flavor is mild enough that it can be added to many of my regular dishes.

This weekend, I made a batch of pumpkin soup, some pumpkin muffins (my favorite recipe is from the inside of a Libby's label on canned pumpkin) and added some pumpkin to a chili-mac casserole on Friday, and some to refried beans for Saturday night's burritos.

I frequently add 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree to casseroles and other dishes. The flavor, in small quantities, doesn't seem to compete with other recipe ingredients.

I made a successful pumpkin soup last winter, from Live and Learn's blog. It had peanut butter and curry in it. Live and Learn, if you're reading today, could you give us a link to that recipe?

I make a delicious pumpkin, sage, Italian sausage and cream pasta sauce. I'll be making this later this week, when I have time to make some homemade fettuccine.

Pumpkin oatmeal is a nice change from other oatmeal flavors. Just add some pumpkin (about 1 to 2 tablespoons per serving), cinnamon, nutmeg and sweeten with maple syrup, or add maple extract.

I've been wanting to make pumpkin butter. Does anyone have experience with making pumpkin butter?

I've also thought that I could blend some of this pumpkin with homemade applesauce, for a pumpkin-spice applesauce. I'll try it and let you know if we like it.


What else? Do you have any favorite pumpkin recipes that you could add to this list?


Friday, December 6, 2013

November grocery money journal


If you follow grocery store sales, you will have noticed that autumn is the best season for stocking the fridge, freezer and pantry. November, in particular, stands out as the month with the most sales on a wide variety of basic groceries, from baking supplies, to canned veggies and autumn long-keeping fresh vegetables, and to turkey and cheese. I buy more groceries during this month, than any other month of the year, more groceries than we can consume in a month.

While November has some of the best deals, just around the corner January, February and early March will have some of the fewest great deals on groceries. I use this info to my advantage, and really stock-up now, enough to carry us through the leaner months to come.


I'm a bit nervous about this month. I do have a bit of a surplus entering the month, plus the usual $170. I will hopefully find great deals on turkey, ham, cheese, butter, potatoes, celery, yams, and canned vegetables. I have a surplus of $64.05 to add to this month's budget of $170, for a total of $234.05 to spend this month on groceries.


Nov.1 Dollar Tree for soy milk (1 qt.) and peanut butter (10 small jars). Spent $11

Country Farms produce stand for the last bit of clearance. Squash, pumpkins, oranges, limes, grapefruit, avocado and apples. Spent $22.76

Safeway to use coupons. Milk (1.89/gal, bought 2), cheese (2-lb block for 3.99), spent $7.77 for a total month to date of $41.53

Nov. 6 Walgreen's has eggs for 99 cents/dozen. I pick up 7 dozen eggs. The sell-by date is in mid-December, about how long this amount of eggs will last for us. spent $6.93, for a total $48.46

Nov. 8 Dollar Tree, need soy milk, spent $1, for a total of $49.46

Nov. 11 Fred Meyer, 1/2 gallons of milk for 99 cents, limit 4. also find autumn mix candy for 32 cents. I buy 1 bag to add to the Thanksgiving dessert buffet. spent $4.28, for a total of $53.74

Nov. 15 Albertson's to buy turkeys. the deal is spend $35, then buy one turkey for 99 cents/lb and get another turkey free. I buy shortening for pies ($5.79/3 lbs), marked down quarts of half and half creamer (50 cents each, I buy 2, I'll freeze most of this), milk for $2.19/gal (limit 2 w/coupon), 8 oz cream cheese ( 88 cents, limit 6), and two 22-lb turkeys. I spent $40.83, for a total of $94.57.

Nov. 20 Albertson's again. I wasn't planning on buying anything but the potatoes on sale, then thought to spend another $35, and buy one turkey, get another free. So, I find 8 packages of our favorite brand of breakfast sausage on markdown for $1.99 each, regularly $3.99, a family pack of ground beef for $1.99/lb, Italian sausage marked down for $2.99/19 ounces (I buy 2 packs, will divide and freeze when I get home), and two 2-lb packages of powdered sugar, celery (89cents/lb), yams (99 cents/lb) and 1 10-lb bag of potatoes (97 cents, limit 1 per transaction), plus my 2 turkeys. Spent $53.73, for a total of $148.30 for the month so far.

Nov. 21 Albertson's, this time with my coffee and butter coupons. I buy 2 cans of coffee (34 oz, $5.99 ea), 2 pounds of butter (1.99, limit 2 w/ coupon), and my 10-lb bag of potatoes (97 cents), for $16.93, for a total of $165.23

Nov. 23 Albertson's, this time I take my two daughters with me, and all three of us buy 10-lb bags of potatoes, for a total of $2.91

Fred Meyer, we buy 16 cans of pumpkin ($1 ea), 2 lbs of butter (1.67/lb), 10 jars natural peanut butter (1.88/16 oz), 1 gal skim milk (marked down, $1.50), 1 package choc chip for 1.79, 6 cans of corn (50 cents ea w/coupon), 1 can of decaf coffee (5.99), can cream of mushroom soup (75 cents), for a total of $51.17, bringing spending for month up to $219.31

Nov. 24 Albertson's again w/ family members to buy potatoes. we buy 3 10-lb bags, for a total of $2.91, total month to date, $222.22

Nov. 29 Bartells for canned nuts and sparkling cider, on sale. Tins of nuts are 30 oz for $4.99 each. I buy 3 tins and get rainchecks for more, and 6 bottles of cider (1.99 ea), spent $26.91

Fred Meyer while shopping for socks, etc, I find 5 half gallons of milk for 89 cents each, spent $4.45, for a total of $253.58 spent for November.

I went over budget plus surplus by $19.53. This amount will be deducted from December's budget of $170. I think we'll be okay, though.

What I stocked up on this month: 80 pounds of potatoes, 4 frozen whole turkeys, 5  1/2 lbs of nuts (and hope to buy more when stock comes in), sparkling cider (we'll use this throughout the winter and early spring, for special occasions), an assortment of meat, cream cheese, the winter's supply of coffee, peanut butter, winter squash, fresh and canned pumpkin, and a couple month's supply of butter.

Ending the month I can get a glimpse of how we'll do year round, with our grocery spending. Looking into my pantry, fridge and freezer, I can see that we are very well stocked. We have enough here that we really could go months without shopping. We'd run out of eggs and milk, but otherwise be okay. So, that's reassuring. I even had the thought that we could cut our grocery spending further. But I don't need to, so I won't. It's nice to have a bit of extra money in this category, so we can have some luxury foods, like cheese, cocoa, nuts, cream and plenty of meat.

This month, I'll be looking for good prices on ham, onions, butter and cheese.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Quick and easy weeknight dinner: Chili Cheese Potatoes


Like chili cheese fries, but healthier, and no drive to the fast food place.

This is such a quick and easy dinner. The potatoes are microwave-cooked. The chili and optional bacon are leftovers. And the rest comes together in a flash -- I think the most time-consuming part is scrubbing the potatoes. These are a huge hit with my family, as it's a cross between home-cooking comfort food and diner fast service.

Ingredients:

potatoes, scrubbed, but still in skins
leftover chili (meat, vegetarian, canned or homemade)
grated cheddar cheese, about 3 to 4 tablespoons per potato
minced onions, or scallions, a couple of teaspoons per potato
leftover cooked bacon, crumbled, 1/2 to 1 slice per potato (optional)

Equipment:

microwave oven
microwaveable container for the chili

Method:

Pierce potatoes all over with the tip of a knife. Microwave on high, 2 to 4 minutes per potato, until cooked (check after the minimum time). In my microwave, I do 5 potatoes, on HI, for 9-12 minutes. I begin checking after about 8 minutes, and remove any potatoes that have softened. Then continue cooking until all potatoes are done. **Microwave time will vary according to potato size and microwave wattage.

Heat chili.

Split potatoes lengthwise, and squish to open. Add salt and butter, if desired.

Top with a couple of large spoonfuls of hot chili (so it pours over the sides), some grated cheddar cheese, and spoonful of chopped onions or scallions.

Pop back in microwave for 40 seconds, to thoroughly melt the cheese.

Optional -- if you want over-the-top-potatoes, crumble one slice of bacon over each.


Super simple supper for my hungry family. Do you have a favorite super simple supper?


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

It's just an ordinary day around here (and why I think that's good)

Today's chores . . .


Laundry,


cleaning up the kitchen and getting dinner ready,


keeping the fire stoked,


baking bread,



making yogurt,


and maybe a little knitting in the afternoon.



It's the holiday season, and we all feel the pressure to being doing "holiday work" -- baking holiday cookies, making or shopping for gifts, wrapping Christmas presents, and on and on.


Ordinary is good!

Ordinary keeps us grounded in what matters to our families. In the long run, whether or not I baked Christmas cookies on December 4, won't matter to my husband and kids. But keeping up with daily chores, like laundry, cooking and general housekeeping, will matter. After all, eating cookies for dinner, and wearing dirty socks, isn't in my family's best interest.

It's nice to have just an ordinary day, right in the midst of the holiday frenzy. What are your chores for the day?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Easy to make gift -- Lemon-Rosemary Finishing Salt


Finishing salt is a final seasoning, sprinkled over cooked pasta, meat, rice or vegetables.

I happened to be in Home Goods a few weeks ago, and saw finishing salt for sale for about $8 a small tin. Seasoned salt for several dollars! Now this is a gift that I could make myself at home, for about half the price, and in minimal time! I chose Lemon-Rosemary, as I was in a Mediterranean sort of mood. And here's how I made it.

For one 4-ounce tin of finishing salt:

Equipment:

cutting board and knife
citrus zester or fine grater (you can also do as I do, use a vegetable peeler to remove the thin layer of zest, then fine chop with a knife)
electric coffee grinder (or small food processor that can pulverize particles of herbs and coarse salt)
small bowl
baking sheet with raised edges all around (jelly roll pan)
oven


Ingredients:

the zest of 1 lemon
1 large handful of fresh rosemary (you'll need 1/4 cup of fresh rosemary leaves)
1/3 cup of coarse Kosher salt
one 4-ounce tin (I found these at Michaels)


Method:

Wash rosemary, spin and press dry in a towel. Set aside.

Zest the lemon, and set aside.

Pull the leaves off of the stems of the rosemary, and measure 1/4 cup of leaves. In the coffee grinder, process 1/2 of the leaves, until finely chopped. Add 1/2 of the salt and 1/2 of the lemon zest. Process again, until salt is medium-fine and yellow-green. Pour and scrape into the small bowl. Repeat to finish with rosemary, salt and lemon zest. Wipe out your coffee grinder. (You'll want it completely dry inside when the salt is processed one last time after baking.)

Stir the seasoned salt, to combine well. Spread on baking sheet. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.

Dry out the salt mixture in the oven for 10 to 20 minutes (I did a large batch, on an insulated baking sheet, and it took 20 minutes to get it all dry). Stir the mixture every 5 minutes. The seasoned salt is fully dry when the lemon particles are dry and the rosemary is flexible, but not succulent. The clumps in the dry mixture will break apart, but feel dry.

Leave on the baking sheet until thoroughly cooled, about 20-30 minutes. Process through your coffee grinder one last time, to break up any lumps. Fill tins.


Lemon-Rosemary finishing salt adds the final touch to baked chicken pieces, freshly cooked pasta (along with a drizzle of olive oil), sprinkled over focaccia bread dough (drizzled with oil) then baked, or added to plain steamed vegetables or rice.




Monday, December 2, 2013

Busy weekend, and some freebies

14 free pumpkins at the home and garden center

Thanksgiving weekend is now behind us, but Christmas is just around the corner! It was a busy weekend here. The Thanksgiving gathering of friends and family. The post-Thanksgiving clean-up, early Friday shopping, playing chauffeur to teen daughters for their various projects (the university quarter is coming to a close and they are scrambling to get it all done), church on Sunday morning, and friends coming over in the afternoon to make gifts together -- all totaled to a very busy weekend.

gifts some friends and I made -- knit headbands,
bags of cider/wine mulling spices,
tin of lemon-rosemary finishing salt, and gift tags

Friday, we did go out for a bit of shopping, as I'd said we'd planned. Can't beat half-price socks and free donuts and juice. In addition to this stop, we swung by the home and garden center. Every year, just after Thanksgiving, this store puts their pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks out for free. Now that's my favorite price! They had a large mountain of free pumpkins, so I was able to get 14 small ones. 7 of the small pumpkins had lost their stems already, so I immediately began cooking them up. Each pumpkin yielded about 2 cups of cooked puree (enough for a pie or double batch of pumpkin bread).

Saturday's mail yielded one more freebie -- another $10 gift card to Kohl's. I'll use this for a gift for a family member. I'm actually getting quite close to being done with my Christmas shopping. Now I feel that I can focus more on the true meaning of the season.

It was one busy weekend, but full of fun and fellowship. What were the highlights of your weekend?

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