I don't expect anyone here to know why today is a special day for this blog. But, today is the 10-year anniversary of when I began blogging (April 18, 2012). I haven't mentioned anniversaries in past years. However, I do think 10 years is remarkable for me (maybe not other bloggers), as I didn't really know how long I'd blog, or where I'd take this website. I just started one afternoon. Though I have to say, this anniversary belongs to you, as well. You've contributed content, links, recipes, directions, inspiration, and encouragement, not only for my benefit, but for all of us. Thank you.
Since what I really wanted to celebrate about this anniversary is you, here are some insightful, helpful, and informative comments from you for each of these past 10 years:
May 2012 -- in talking about making tastier rhubarb sauce
"Mmm, love rhubarb, too! We just can't seem to grow enough, but I have experimented and discovered that replacing half the rhubarb amount with blueberries makes a super yummy sauce that I have to fight my kids for! (we live near many blueberry fields so we have a plethora of blueberries in our freezer)."
This comment got me thinking about other flavors I could add to rhubarb sauce. I've since made raspberry-rhubarb sauce, blueberry-rhubarb sauce, and my family's favorite blackberry-rhubarb sauce.
August 2013 -- how to make microwave scrambled eggs with easier clean-up
"I like to put a slice of ham or Canadian bacon in the bottom of the bowl I'm cooking in and put the egg on top of it. None of the egg sticks making clean up easier. Cooking takes about a minute this way in my microwave. Sometimes there is a little raw egg that has to be moved to the edges to cook a bit more and sometimes there isn't."
August 2014 -- using meat fat in cooking later, a great salad dressing recipe
"We don't have bacon very often now, but when we do, we save the drippings in a container. My favourite way to use it is for a very yummy salad dressing. The recipe calls for cooked slices of bacon, but it is just as good using a couple of spoonfuls of the bacon drippings in a frying pan, add about three tablespoons of brown sugar and three tablespoons of vinegar. When dissolved in the frying pan, pour over a mixture of leaf lettuce, red pepper strips and sliced fresh mushrooms. serve immediately."
February 2016 -- about gift-giving dilemmas
"This is one of those tricky questions. I love giving gifts much more than I like receiving gifts. I have found a lot of times the gift presentation is worth as much as the gift itself. Several years ago we were facing a very difficult financial time and it was right at the time my friends kids began to marry. I made a few "go-to" gifts that were well received and years later I still get an occasional call about what I put in them. It seems presentation can make the difference between a simple gift and something spectacular.
One gift was a cast iron medium skillet. ($7-8 bucks) I put a wooden spoon, cornbread mix, homemade potholder and trivet (tile square with glued on felt bottom) inside the pan. I wrapped a red check dish towel (Dollar Tree) around the pan part, gathered the remainder at the handle and tied a big red bow around it. It was very well received.
Another go-to I used was an inexpensive metal colander filled with an inexpensive cruet, salad tongs,vegetable brush, a bag of croutons, a shaker (dollar store) of spices , homemade lettuce storage bag (made from an ikea dish towel,
$.59) I had a ton of muslin on hand so I sort of encased these in the muslin and pulled it up over the colander creating a Pebbles Flinstone "pony tail" I tied it off with kitchen twine and attached a couple of nylon scrubbers as the bow.
The 3rd go-to was a variation on the colander theme but was filled with spaghetti noodles, and items for a spaghetti meal
All of these idea has very little cost but all the brides really did love them, they looked cute and I didn't exceed my limited budget. Plus they remember the gift rather than just being another dinner plate or goblet."
August 2016 -- getting labels off of containers
"with all those jugs you are re-using we have to revisit removing the sticky labels. We discussed this a while ago but I found the answer. Ready? Spread a layer of peanut butter over the sticky stuff and wait an hour or so. It comes off like magic! Plastic or jars."
May 2017 -- on stretching butter
"If you watched the second episode of Victorian slum house you can use milk to stretch that butter. The grocer said it took him two hours though so maybe just limit the butter. When you do watch it, let us know what you think."
July 2018 -- repurposing glass jars
"I have too many jars and my husband thinks so too. The problem is that they are very pretty and very useful. The big carafe-like glass jars that had a special juice in them are now re-purposed as water jugs and milk jugs when I want to freeze a gallon by first pouring some off. Marinara sauce sometimes has the measurements on the jar which makes it useful for a careful liquid measurement. All other jars hold pasta, rice, beans, flour and make great drinking glasses."
So, this past weekend I was cooking up a storm and needed a clean liquid measuring cup immediately. All were dirty. I fished through the jar cupboard and came across a pasta sauce jar that had the liquid measurements on the side. canning jar -> measuring cup
May 2019 -- two separate comments on preserving onions for cooking to take advantage of seasonal low prices
"Do you freeze onions? I diced them all up and flash freeze on a cookie sheets. When frozen, I package them up in zipper bags for use for many months. We love getting lots of onions and freezing them diced. A handful here and a handful there and I don't have to dice them."
"I’ve mentioned before I chop and sauté over a weekend at the end of summer a 50 pound bag of onions when they get to the rock bottom, buy in bulk price. I use an ancient roll of aluminum foil and put the onions in packets. Future me when cooking way in the winter thanks present me for having done the onions:)"
October 2019 -- on changing my perspective
"When I taught high school in Eastern Europe, I saw plenty of cheerful teens who rotated, at most, 2 sets of clothing. They didn't own any mobile devices. Their large families often lived in one-bedroom apartments. In spite of that, those kids were well-adjusted, happy and unspoiled. It was a real eye opener for me and really put things in perspective. Most of us here live with much, much more than I ever saw over there."
January 2021 -- a recipe for homemade laundry soap that doesn't leave a funky smell after laundering
"Another success is homemade laundry powder and after researching before making it, I have used a box of gain detergent as part of the mix so that I wouldn't get funky smell some talk about when making homemade detergent. So its a success.
1 box borax, 1 box arm and hammer washing soda, 3 bars pink zote soap (shredded)
1 box of gain (or your choice of powdered detergent), 1 container of laundry crystals.
I put all of this in my food processor to make it more powdery. We like it and it doesn't smell funky after several washes like I have heard some say."
July 2021 -- several comments on developing a waste not, want not attitude and eating those leftovers eventually
"Both our parents lived during a time when food was scarce so they wasted nothing and that's how we grew up. I still do the same now as well as when the children were young. I told my kids "you'll eat it one way or another"! Something not eaten was always transformed into a more desirable offering."
"We (hubs and I) are notorious leftover eaters. That is how I raised our five kids as well. . . they know that we will eat anything left so we are the recipients of quite a few meals - both purchased and home cooked."
"I worked most of the weekend and we had potlucks to make it more fun. My coworkers kept leaving baked products uncovered and I was making jokes about being the mom and covering them back up. I wonder how much food goes to waste simply because people don't take simple steps to keep the food safe and fresh."
"Add me to the crowd of eating everything on your plate - however not at once if you're not that hungry, so as not to encourage overeating. That's the way my mother did it and the way I did it with my kids, and we continue that today."
Thank you for so freely offering your thoughts, advice, suggestions, instructions, and recipes.
