A Lovely Sunday Outing That Didn't Break the Bank

It has not been warm enough to take our adventures to the outdoors. Instead, this past Sunday, one daughter and I spent a lovely afternoon visiting the Seattle Art Museum. This daughter had to visit the SAM for a class assignment, and I went with her for company and a nice outing for myself.

An afternoon at the art museum can be almost as expensive as a matinee at the theater. If there is a special exhibition one is wanting to see, the price of admission is even higher. I knew for certain that my daughter would receive the student discount, but I was unsure if I would. I asked anyway; and I was delighted to be told that yes, indeed, I qualified. The rules for discounted admission vary from one museum to another, and one never knows until he or she asks. So, I did, and we saved $10.00 each on our admission.

To save additional money, we took the bus into town (no parking or gas costs), and we brought a late lunch plus thermos of coffee to enjoy at the tables, just outside of the cafe in the museum. The SAM offers free coat and bag checks with in and out privileges, so we didn't even need to carry our lunch around. We avoided buying souvenirs from the gift shop (although I think that is a wonderful way to support museums), and brought home the two complimentary brochures that they offered. And I brought a camera and took photos of the works, plus object labels, of those that I particularly enjoyed.


(The special exhibit was the Paul Allen (Microsoft founder) collection of landscapes. It includes paintings from the 1600s through the 1900s.)

For YHF:

Satisfying My Sweet Tooth with Homemade Almond Bark

Chocolate and almonds are good for heart health. Really! Almonds help prevent oxidation of fats, which leads to arterial plaque formation and chocolate improves blood flow to your heart and brain (healthyeating.sfgate.com). Does life get any better than this, with a medically-approved excuse to eat chocolate covered almonds? With this fantastic information, I set out to quench my sweet tooth, and on a budget, no less! I used grocery store semi-sweet chocolate chips and whole roasted almonds to make this confection, in my very ordinary kitchen; with mere minutes of hands-on effort; and using just my microwave, a sheet of waxed paper, and a glass bowl.

What I Did
I melted the chocolate chips in short bursts, with vigorous stirring, until the chips were a swirling, melty mass. After roasting the whole almonds, I spread them on a small sheet of waxed paper, followed by spooning the melted chocolate over all.

I tossed the coated almonds from the outside edges, and into the center, until everything was covered in chocolate. I let it sit overnight and that was it. Just to enhance the sense that this is indeed a treat item, after breaking into bite-size pieces I stored them in an empty See's chocolates box. "Make believe" is good.

The Exciting Part: Cost Breakdown

This product was probably the closest in quality to what I made at home. My candy had a higher proportion of almonds (the more expensive ingredient), but perhaps a slightly lower quality of semi-sweet chocolate.

I used about 1/3 cup of bulk bin whole almonds, roasted and unsalted, and 3/4 cup of WinCo semi-sweet chocolate chips. 1/3 cup of almonds weighs approximately 2.67 ounces, and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips weighs 4.5 ounces. My end product weighed about 7.17 ounces.

My almonds cost 75 cents for 1/3 cup, and the chocolate chips cost 63 cents, yielding a total cost for my candy at $1.38 for 7.17 ounces.

The Special Dark with almonds sell for $3.84 in a 12 ounce bag, at Wal-Mart. 7.17 ounces of Special Dark w/ almonds nuggets would cost $2.29, or 91 cents more than my homemade version.

Another way to look at the cost breakdown is this: the standard size Hershey bar with almonds weighs about 1.45 ounces. My product yields about 4.94 standard size bars. My cost per equivalent size bar is about 28 cents each bar. Not a bad deal for this chocolate-loving girl.

You already know that I am trying to stick to a budget and not buy luxury foods this month; making treats with the ingredients that I have in my kitchen is helping me maintain my resolve. I think I have some bags of milk chocolate chips in the pantry. Next time . . . homemade peanut butter cups!