Frugal This and That

We're in another expensive period. So I thought I'd focus on areas that we are able to save. I can't help that the oven element burned out and the washing machine needs another part. But there are some frugal things that I can do in other areas. So here's where we've been frugal lately.

• I made a quart and a half of eggnog yesterday afternoon, giving away a pint to my son and daughter-in-law.
• I continue to bake cookies for the baking gifts that I'll be giving this Christmas. So far I've made gingerbread men, peppermint swirls, chocolate chip meringues, and today I baked caramel nut bars. Next up, I'll bake some shortbread, using the mold that my daughters gave to me for Christmas last year. Even with the high cost of butter and eggs this year, home-baked goodies are still a budget gift when you know the recipient will enjoy them. (We have several non-bakers in our circle who always appreciate these goodies.)
• We finally had the salvage yard come and tow away our old, old car. It hasn't run for many, many years. Repair work would have been cost-prohibitive. We hung onto it I guess out of nostalgia. The car belonged to my in-laws. My father-in-law passed away in 2019. Even as the car got older, FIL and MIL continued to think of it as the beauty it once was. So we never got rid of  it while they were alive. Then 2020 happened and many of our plans never materialized. We are finally now getting rid of it. And we got paid to have it hauled off! (For anyone wondering, yes, we did try to sell it. No takers.)
• I washed all of the plastic bags and used cling wrap today. I had gotten behind on this task and noticed we were using more and more new cling wrap. Washing the dirty bags means we'll go through less new wrap in the future and delay the purchase of a new roll.
• I baked 3 loaves of sandwich bread to get us through the week.
• I used ChatGPT to give me some suggestions on movies to watch when I was under the weather. I was able to stream several good titles for free and keep myself entertained during those days.
• I moved the "farm" indoors for winter. I brought 3 of the large plastic containers that I started with seeds in late summer into the kitchen and put them under lights. I have 2 radish tubs and 1 watercress tub. Outdoors I still have 1 more each radish and watercress tub. When we finish harvesting everything in these indoor three, I'll move those two inside. I'm hoping to collect seeds from the watercress. They had flowered while outside and are forming seed pods. If I'd left the container outside for very much longer, there's a good chance the seed pods would become moldy from the cold rains. In addition to these indoor greens under lights, I'm growing lentil sprouts on the counter once again. Between the watercress, radish, and sprouts, I can make a decent salad for myself to go with lunch everyday. Sometime in January I'll take a 6 week break from growing veggies.
• I skipped grocery shopping last week and have been making do with what we have on hand.
• I did go get gas for the car and used a 50 cent per gallon reward. I waited until the car was nearly empty so I would get maximum value out of that per gallon reward.
• My husband is repairing the washing machine and the oven himself. That right there is a savings of a couple of hundred dollars for the service call.
• We've eaten all of our meals at or at least from home this month. Both daughters and my husband take their lunches made at home to work. 
• I cleaned out the fridge last week so I could make sure we used everything up before it spoiled, using some beef fat, beef gravy, pumpkin stock, slice of avocado, wilted celery, softening potatoes, wrinkly apples, and eggs well past their expiry.
• We continue to keep the thermostat for the furnace set fairly low, about 65 degrees during the day and 60 at night.

That's about all I can think of right now. How do you handle those unexpected expenses when they just keep coming your way? Does it help you to focus on areas that you have more control?

Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie?

Do you share Christmas cookies with friends and neighbors? This year I'm adding a couple of neighbors and my daughter's boyfriend's family to my cookie list. I also gift a bunch of each type I bake to my son and daughter-in-law.

I bake mostly the same cookies every year. These are cookies that seem 'special" to us because I only make them during the holiday season. But I do prefer cookies that are on the easy side.

This is one such recipe. I modified one of my mother's recipes for chocolate-vanilla swirl cookies, making them peppermint and vanilla just for the holidays. They're so popular with my family that this year I'll be doubling the recipe. Here's the single recipe, in case you're interested.

Peppermint-Vanilla Swirl Cookies

These are a refrigerator cookie. You form the dough into logs or blocks, store the dough in the fridge for a days or two, then slice and bake when convenient to you. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening or butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use imitation vanilla)
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
red gel food coloring
peppermint extract, to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon

an extra teaspoon or two of flour for the red dough to stiffen

Thoroughly cream the butter and sugar.  beat in the egg yolk. Mix in vanilla and milk. Stir in the salt and baking powder, then stir in the flour a cup at a time. The dough should be fairly stiff.

Divide the dough into two portions. 

White dough: Wrap one portion in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours. 

Red dough: with the other portion of dough, mix in enough red gel coloring until you're satisfied with the red. Mix in peppermint extract to taste. Stir in the extra flour until the dough is as stiff as the white dough. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll each half into a large rectangle about 1/8 to  1/4-inch thick on waxed paper. Square up the edges and make sure both portions of dough are about the same size.

Turn the white half onto the red half (removing the paper) with the red extending about 1/2 inch beyond the white dough at the far end from you. Roll the dough up tightly, jelly roll-style, away from you. Gently seal the edge of dough to the roll. Roll this log in a fresh sheet of waxed paper, twist the ends of paper. Chill thoroughly, overnight is preferable.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Slice the dough into 1/4 inch thickness and place on prepared baking sheet, leaving an inch or two between cookies. Bake for about 12 minutes, until set. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet then remove to cooling racks. Yield about 3 to 4 dozen.

You'll notice that this recipe uses a yolk only. I save the white to make a small batch of chocolate- chocolate chip meringue cookies later in the week, using this recipe here.

Yesterday I baked the gingerbread dough (using this recipe) that I mixed and refrigerated on Tuesday. I know some people like to do a huge baking day and get all of the holiday cookies baked at once. I prefer to break the work up into manageable chunks and do a little each day.

Will you be baking any cookies this holiday season? What kinds? Do you have a favorite easy to make Christmas cookie? Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie to eat? Are you a bake-them-all-up-in-one -day or do-a-little-each-day sort of baker?