Easy Crafting for a Semi-homemade Birthday Card

So I'm sharing this little bit of creativity because I think many of us have a large supply of blank greeting cards. Sometimes, we want the cards to look a bit more special, or we want to tailor them to a specific occasion. 

We receive a lot of these blank cards for free from charitable organizations. So my price point going in is zero. 

I needed a birthday card this month but wanted something that wasn't just a blank card. I wanted a card that would have the look and feel of a birthday card. Using just a couple of materials from my craft and sewing supplies, I embellished one of the blank greeting cards and made it into a lovely birthday card.

I chose this nice, but plain, "sunflower" card from my stack because it looked sunny, and the person I'm sending this to is a "sunny" person. 

To embellish the card, I smeared a small amount of gold glitter glue on the front in spots where the sunlight might normally reflect, such as the blossom's center and along the petals. It's just a small amount of glitter, but it's enough to make the card sparkle here and there.

Then for the interior of the card, I used my computer and printer to make an insert for the card. I used my computer's document program to craft a meaningful birthday message, then printed it out on standard printer paper and trimmed it to just slightly smaller than the blank card.

To attach the insert, I used yellow embroidery floss and a needle, sewing it into the fold of the blank card.

I left a 6 to 7-inch length of floss at each end of the exterior of the card's fold after sewing the insert in place. I brought these ends together along the "spine" of the card and tied a nice little bow. After tying the bow, I trimmed the ends of the floss to my desired length.

The entire process required minimal artistic skill and about 20 minutes of time, from start to finish. The end result is a blank card transformed into a birthday card, just what I was needing. 

March 2024 Grocery Spending -- It Was a Doozy!

Wow, all I can say is it was an expensive month for us. Between getting another order of beef, my twin daughters' birthday, our wedding anniversary, and Easter, I felt like I was spending money every time I turned around.

I shopped at Fred Meyer 3 times, Grocery Outlet 1 time, WinCo 1 time, and Walmart 1 time. My arrangements with the rancher for beef are handled online and delivered to us.

I spent $65.54 at Fred Meyer, buying coconut milk, deli salads, bananas, strawberries, taco shells, potato chips, watermelon chunks, rye bread, tossed salad kits, cheese, butter, green cabbage, sparkling water and milk. A lot of these items were for a picnic celebrating my daughters' birthday and the cake that followed, plus a nice anniversary dinner at home.

I spent $16.61 at Walmart, buying corn tortillas, milk, prune juice, canned olives, Roma tomatoes, and bananas.

I spent $25.71 at Grocery Outlet, buying Cheez Balls snack, canned beets, canned pumpkin, graham crackers, saltine crackers, and a bag of apples. This was a stop after church. We discovered they mark a lot of items down on Sundays. Everything on the list above was significantly reduced in price, such as graham crackers for 49 cents/box, canned pumpkin for 25 cents/can. I stocked up! 

Last but not least, I spent $55.16, buying milk, dried dates, smoked salmon, eggs, cheese, grape tomatoes, sliced pepperoni, 2 bags of apples, tofu, peanuts, radishes, bananas, asparagus, celery, and strawberries. Most of what I bought on this day was for Easter dinner.

So, in grocery stores I spent $163.02. Our beef order came to $359. So in total, I spent $522.02.

April shouldn't be too bad for grocery spending for us, much, much lower than March. We do have 2 birthdays this month, and those always add something to our grocery spending. However, we are trying to empty one of the freezers, so I can defrost it before I begin to harvest and freeze garden produce. And that effort will encourage us to use what we have on hand.

How did grocery spending go for you in March? Do you tend to dine out for special celebrations, or do you cook at home? If you use a budget, how does holiday and special occasion meal-related spending fit in with your regular grocery budget? I used to keep a separate budget for holidays and special occasions. I dropped that a few years ago, mostly to simplify the budgeting.

Savory French Toast Sticks

This was another food I made for Easter dinner. In lieu of making scratch dinner rolls, I used some thick homemade bread slices from loaves I baked earlier in the week to make these, saving me some time and effort in making a bread side for our dinner.

Savory French Toast Sticks are just what they sound like they would be. They're thick slices of bread cut into sticks, then dipped in an egg, milk, and savory-seasoned batter before frying in olive ad/or vegetable oil. 

For my batch of Savory French Toast Sticks, in addition to the beaten eggs, I used coconut milk (both DIL and I avoid cow's milk), salt, black pepper, fresh parsley, dried oregano, garlic powder, and a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan cheese for the batter. I rolled the dipped bread sticks in additional Parmesan cheese before frying on four sides in a skillet with a combo of olive oil and vegetable oil. 

I made these earlier in the day, then reheated on a baking sheet and covered with foil in the oven just before dinner. These were very tasty, even as leftovers the next day we all thought they were good.

The bread I used was our usual homemade half whole wheat/half white sandwich and toast bread. However, I also think these would be tasty if made with whole slices of a narrow French baguette to use as a side for a soup or salad supper, like garlic bread but more flavorful and with the added bonus of protein from eggs and milk. Or, served as appetizers for a snack-y type of meal.

A week ago I mentioned I had scrubbed up several clay flower pots to use for serving foods on the Easter table. The Savory French Toast Sticks were one of the foods for which I used 2 plastic wrap-lined clay pots, one at each end of the table.

Have you tried a non-sweet French toast before?

A Simple Trick for Making Radish Flowers

How was everyone's Easter? If you made or enjoyed a special Easter meal, how did that go? 

I find I learn something new with the food preparation for every special occasion. This time, I tried Live and Learn's suggestion for spinach squares. I found a recipe online and made a batch for my family. They were well-received by everyone. I will be adding these to my variations on using leafy greens. Thank you, Live and Learn. I think these could also work well with kale, Swiss chard, and broccoli in addition to spinach. They reminded me a bit of Impossible Pies in texture and use of eggs  (also a great brunch or supper dish), without needing the prepared biscuit mix.

I wanted to show you a great trick for turning radishes (and other firm veggies) into blossoms. It uses a tool that many of us have in our kitchens, an apple corer/wedger.

After washing and trimming the tops and tails from radishes (this works best with larger radishes), I cut each radish in half. Placing the trimmed end (top or tail) down, I gently press the apple tool onto and through the white of the radish, not quite all the way down (that would break the radish into pieces). The result is a little flower. 

I used about 12 radishes, making 24 flowers, then placed them all into a lined clay flower pot for the table. Each flower took seconds to make and are beginner-easy. 

As you may recall, I themed this year's Easter dinner table and dining room decor to a spring garden. So, radish flowers served in a clay flower pot seemed just about right.

Not only do radish flowers look pretty on a vegetable tray, but they also make a lovely garnish for main dish salads. These would be an especially nice addition for platters for bridal and baby showers or ladies' luncheons, I think. The stem and blossom end of both cucumber and zucchini can also be turned into "flowers" using this technique. Cucumber flowers make a pretty garnish for a tossed salad or a sushi plate and zucchini flowers are lovely on top of casseroles or bowls of soup. Use about 1 1/2 unpeeled inches of the blossom or stem end of either cucumber or zucchini to make those flowers.

So, back to my original question, how was your Easter? Anything new to you on your menus?

Just in Time for Easter Dinner: My Latest Vintage Shop Finds

My husband was out of town over the weekend and into this week. So, my daughters and I ventured out to the vintage district one day they were both off of work. 

A favorite antique mall with many vendors had lost their lease, leaving the vendors to scramble to find new locations and sell off merchandise. The sign out front said it was their last day, and the discounts were deep. It looked somewhat empty inside, with just a few items here and there remaining. I checked every nook and corner to see if they had something I collected or was needing. 

Something that has always irritated me when we're entertaining guests is that we don't have enough serving spoons for the different dishes. I always make-do with a large tablespoon used for servings foods where portions might tend to be smaller. But I had always wanted at least one other serving spoon to go with the ones that are part of my stainless flatware set.

When I came across the basket of miscellaneous silverplate and stainless serving pieces, I pawed through the entire thing, hoping to find my pattern or a close match. Well, lo and behold, there was a pattern of silverplate that looked similar enough to my stainless flatware. In fact, there were 3 of these serving spoons in that basket. The vendor originally priced all of the serving spoons and forks at $3.75 each. With the moving sale, they'd each been marked down to $1.33 each! I quickly checked online and found an exact same piece for sale priced at $14 through eBay. I bought all 3 spoons. I'll be using them on Sunday in serving our Easter dinner.

Here's a comparison between my stainless pattern and these serving spoons. The handle on the far right is the stainless pattern. They look close enough, don't you think?

I also looked closely through the stacks of vintage books. Here's one that caught my eye, a Sunset magazine cookbook. The copyright on this cookbook is 1949 and the publishing date is May of 1963. It's old-school, complete with pen and ink illustrations in place of modern color photos. There are over 1000 recipes inside, and practically all of them are for cooking from basic ingredients. That's the kind of cooking I do. The cookbook was also on steep discount, with the vendor originally asking $10 for the book. I got it for $2.38. I'm sure I will find this cookbook not only entertaining but also very useful. And of course, I'll share recipes with you, as well. Just a P.S., in searching online, someone on eBay has the same quality of this cookbook (meaning in very good condition) listed for $11.99.

Anyway, those were my finds this time in the vintage district. It's nice to know that I could resell any of these items and make a profit, if need be.

Wishing you all a very lovely Easter weekend with friends and family. I'll be back on Monday.

A Simple Easter Dinner Menu

I wanted an easy menu this year for our Easter dinner. So I specifically chose easy-to-make items. As a bonus, I'll be able to prepare over half of this menu on Saturday. My hoped-for result is an easier Easter Sunday.

Here's what we're having:

Easter Dinner Menu

Roast beef and gravy
Glazed carrots, will prep on Saturday
Asparagus-tomato salad, will make on Saturday
Chive-garlic potatoes
Little Smokies
Fresh radishes and celery sticks, will prep on Saturday
Dinner rolls, will make dough on Saturday to bake on Sunday
Honey butter, will make on Saturday
Strawberry-white chocolate mousse, will make on Saturday 
Unsweetened chocolate covered dates, will make on Saturday 

I finished the dining room spring garden decor, using items from the free pile box of faux florals and greenery that I grabbed from the curb in 2018.

Here's the chandelier entwined in the floral garland:

I swagged the boxwood leaf garland and some florals around the doorway to the dining room.

What are you planning for meals on Easter?

My Living Room Easter Decor

Hi friends,

I don't know what happened to my post from this afternoon. It was here in the evening and then it disappeared by 9 PM. 

I'm sorry about that. Here's a slightly different video. I hope it stays put this time.

My living room Easter decor uses a couple of Peter Rabbit items, a pastel colored set of string lights from my daughters' childhood bedroom, a pair of cement bird figurines, a "nest" of blown-out eggs that I painted and speckled several years ago, a bisque porcelain egg that my daughter gave to me recently, the print-out of a vintage image that I framed, and my collection of circa 1900 Easter postcards. I hope you enjoy the video.

I'll have more to talk about tomorrow. See you then. 

 

Styling the Easter Table With a Spring Garden Theme

Hello, hello, hello! I'm doing much better. Thank you for all of the kind words last week.

Over the weekend I began to get the Easter dinner table pulled together. I'm going with a spring garden theme this year. We will be 6 for Easter dinner and will be dining indoors. This is what I've come up with so far.

The tablecloth is a tan twill fabric, which makes it look less dressy, I think. The floral table square is placed on a diagonal under straw placemats. The placemats make me think of wicker baskets and straw hats.

I'm using the sage green napkins that we generally use in the kitchen at Christmastime. My mother gave me a booklet on folding napkins when I was about 20. In that booklet I found the instructions for this napkin fold. The booklet calls them pinwheels, but I think they look a bit like flowers, rosettes. I'll add the instructions at the bottom of this post for anyone interested. 

These were fairly easy to fold. If my napkin fabric had been stiffer (or I was using paper napkins), the folding and securing would have been even easier. 

This napkin fold calls for a napkin clip. Lacking napkin clips, I chose to tie raffia bows to hold the folds together. 

After trimming the raffia ends, I tucked an artificial flower into the folds under the raffia bow. To use the napkin at dinnertime, the raffia bow will simply untie and allow the napkin to open up fully. 

Napkin folds are a free and beautiful way to delight dinner guests. If you can't find a book on napkin folds at your library, there are tutorials for various folding designs online.

The centerpiece, so far, is this moss, ivy, and floral basket with a bird's nest that I made in 2013.

I have a large box of faux florals that I picked up from a free pile in 2018 or 2019. I came across 2 strings of floral garlands in the box and 2 rolls of boxwood leaf strings. I will be trying both out around the large window in the dining room and/or to add some garden-ness to the hanging chandelier above the table.

I scrubbed 4 clay pots to use in decor, as well. You can serve food in clay pots if the insides are lined with plastic wrap or waxed paper. I may use one of these on the table to hold dinner rolls and another to hold crudités.

That's where I am in styling the Easter dinner table so far.

Here are the napkin folds to make pinwheels (or rosettes, as they look to me):

Step 3 is where I used a raffia bow in place of the called-for napkin clip. I made the bow after pleating the napkin, holding the stack of folds together, and before fanning out the pleats.

I make these types of efforts because they please me. I expect the men at the table will be politely appreciative, but the ladies will find beauty in something like a napkin that looks like a flower.

I'll share more of my Easter plans as the week progresses.

Hi there!

pots of early spring flowers on the deck to brighten the mood of a gray day

Hi friends,

I'm sorry I've been absent this past week. I wish I could say I'm off enjoying a lovely holiday in the sun. But no such luck right now. I'm suffering from a serious case of fatigue and am finding it difficult to think, write, and post. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I should be back on track next week.

So, today is my 37th wedding anniversary. Right now I am getting dinner going. I'm making Swiss steak, brown rice, and garden Brussel sprout and kale greens. I baked whole wheat chocolate chip cookies earlier today for dessert.

I hope you all are having a great week. I'll write more soon. 

What Do You Do With Near Expiring Milk?

One of the challenges of keeping a household stocked with food when all members are adults and preparing most of their own meals is buying enough perishables without buying too much. 

When I was preparing 3 meals a day plus snacks for the whole family, I could keep an eye on what needed using soon and map out meals to use those foods. These days, we may have weeks where we run out of favorite produce items or milk, then for 2 or 3 weeks following, the bananas go black and milk sours before we consume those items.

Toward the end of last week, I thought we were going to have a banana situation. Then fortunately, my family picked up the pace in eating the bananas and we finished them all today. The milk, however, is a different story. I bought our current gallon a week ago Sunday and opened it the next morning. Milk tends to sour in my fridge about 10 days after opening, regardless of the expiration date on the jug. So here we are, 9 days after opening this gallon of milk, and there's still a lot left. 

So what do we do with near-expiring milk? Yesterday evening, one daughter made a double batch of chocolate pudding. Today, with about a quart to go and the clock ticking, I made a batch of granola. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that granola will be at the top of the snack list for my family this afternoon and tomorrow. I may be making pancakes for dinner tomorrow night, perhaps a double batch to freeze for another day. And if there's still some milk remaining after tomorrow's dinner, I'll freeze what's left to use in future baking. 

So what's your go-to way to use milk that's about to go bad?

Organizing a 30-Inch Wide Vanity Area

I hadn't planned on posting about this, as I was just cleaning up my space. However, I watched a lot of YouTube videos on organizing small bathrooms and vanity areas and didn't really see many ideas that would work for my tiny space and even smaller budget. I don't have room to add shelves anywhere. And I'm not interested in spending a small fortune on cupboard/closet organizers. I came up with some good solutions that didn't cost me anything. So, I thought there might be a few ideas here that could help someone else.

My plan was to use what we had. I admit, I did have a couple of good organizational tools already, such as the chrome under-sink shelf and slide out drawers (had one already under this sink and borrowed another from the other bathroom) and the over-the-cabinet door acrylic caddies. I also have a wall-mounted mirrored cabinet. But no base cabinet drawers. I don't know what you think. But I think 30 inches is really pretty small for a vanity.

As I mentioned yesterday, the first thing I did was pull everything out of the cabinet and clean off the counter. I sorted all of my junk into categories. I stored non-vanity items in better places in the house (I don't really need 14 trash bags under the sink). To my surprise, I only threw away a small bag of stuff. 

It really bugged me that there was no drawer space for holding unsightly items like toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste or hairbrushes, nail clippers, and tweezers. Drawers are such handy receptacles for all of those necessities.The over-the-door caddies are the next best thing for daily used items. 

I decided to use the caddy on the left cabinet door to house all of these basic items. Every daily essential is now handy at my fingertips. I found that I can stand at the sink with the left cabinet door open and access my dental care stuff or fingernail clippers or tweezers easily, and without bending over very much. The cabinet door caddy really is the next best thing to a drawer just below the counter. Although the caddy is sectioned, I added a couple of square plastic containers to the large section to corral and sort various items.

The other caddy (hanging on the right cabinet door) is for my sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and some specialty skincare products that I only use occasionally. The style of this caddy is one long tray without sectioning. It's also not as long or deep as the caddy on the left door.

In the hull of the cabinet I already had one of the chrome shelf and drawer units. I borrowed a second one from another bathroom cabinet to see if two of these would be good organizational tools for me. As it turns out the other chrome unit had been holding bath towels, which actually stack nicely on that cabinet floor. So a "free" shelf and drawer unit for me to use here. 

On these units I used containers that we already had, such as round plastic shortening and Rubbermaid containers, cardboard boxes cut down to the right height, and a lidded plastic bin. I organized items according to their purpose and placed those that I needed often near the front and those less frequently used at the back of the shelves. In between the shelves I have a tall round tin where I store a hair straightener, a curling iron, and my hairbrush standing on end. I keep my scrunchies on the barrel of the curling iron, one stacked above another. Behind this tall tin and under the sink's pipe is where I store the sink plunger. I only rarely need that tool, but I can get to it when I do.

The one bulky item that simply would not fit in the cabinet now that I've reorganized is a wastepaper basket. For now, this bin sits on the floor up against a wall 6 feet away from the vanity.

Above the sink is a wall-mounted, mirrored shallow cabinet. I grouped like items and housed them in repurposed freezer containers and smaller square plastic containers that came as packaging for sets of toothbrushes over the years (we went through a lot of toothbrushes in the orthodontia years). The freezer containers are ones that had developed cracks and so could no longer be used to freeze liquids. 

I have containers for hair products and accessories, nail care, and extra moisturizers on the top shelf. On the middle shelf I keep essential oils, extra tubes of hand cream, foot care products, and medicines/first aid products. The bottom shelf of this cabinet has all of my cosmetics. On the left is an acrylic make-up organizer that had previously been sitting on the countertop. It was very functional when out on the countertop, but it tended to look unsightly as products and brushes spilled out around the edges or didn't get put away when I was in a rush to get out the door. I used more of the small square plastic containers for cosmetic brushes and for eyelash and eyebrow related items. The far right container behind the tinted moisturizers contains miscellaneous travel-sized cosmetics. 

I have a lot of stuff here, I realize that. When my husband looked into my cabinet, that was his comment, too. I tend to keep products forever. When something expires or just gets old, I repurpose it. I found several purse-sized containers of hand lotion. I now use those in the shower in place of soap or mixed with a bit of shower gel. I also found numerous partially-used, purse-sized containers of hand sanitizer. I am currently using these as cleaning agents for the sink area. Ditto on an expired container of ear piercing solution. I do throw out expired medications without hesitation, though.

I've worked to make the counter look as attractive as possible.  I haven't mentioned this, but this sink area is in the master bedroom. So, I don't want it to look all junky. My CeraVe moisturizer and silver cup of faux flowers is on the right, and the cut glass tray of perfumes and colognes, the glass sundae dish for holding hand soap, and my towel is to the left.

the 1970s towel ring I plan to paint a creamy white

The whole area is still a work in progress. As mentioned, I have a towel ring that I will mount on the wall after I paint. That will get the hand towel off the countertop. The phone charging cord still hangs there to the right. I'm working on a solution for where to keep and charge my phone.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the organization has worked out. I can find things easily and am still putting them away in their spots without trouble. I used items we already had in our house, tidied up the messy areas, and sorted and stored items according to purpose. Successful organization of a tiny space without any expense.

From Empty Candle Jar to Embellished Face Cream Jar

In February on a Saturday, I started a thing. I was in the throes of Pinterest-envy after seeing a photo of an absolutely beautiful vanity area. I studied that photo for a long while, trying to determine how I could improve my own vanity area.

This area is my own personal space. No one else uses it. I fix my hair, wash and make-up my face, and take care of general above-the-shoulder grooming in this space. Unfortunately, I allowed it to become terribly cluttered with my stuff, leaving me with great dissatisfaction in its appearance. I wanted to redo my space, but this project is cosmetic and therefore not a spending priority. I needed to do this with minimal expense.

One of the aspects of the Pinterest vanity that was very doable for my circumstance was it had a clean look to the counter space, no clutter. On the counter was a small vase of flowers, what looked like a bottle of body spray or cologne, a small soap dish for hand soap, and a lovely decorative jar, perhaps containing powder or moisturizing cream, but nothing else. My counter, in contrast, had all of my makeup, a toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, hair straightener and a bunch fo scrunchies, and my phone.

I work on personal space/ personal belongings activities on Saturdays. So this first Saturday I cleared off the counter, and reorganized the cabinet under the sink and the wall cabinet. It already looked tons better. I was unsure if I'd be able to maintain this streamlined look. But here we are, a month later and yes, I have been able to keep it tidy. 

The next Saturday I went through my craft supplies and found some faux white flowers and a silver mint julep cup to use as a vase in imitation of the floral bouquet on the Pinterest vanity. I also collected my prettier perfume and cologne bottles and lined them up on a long and narrow cut glass cracker tray that had been my parents. 

The one cosmetic/grooming item that I felt I wanted to leave on the counter is my jar of CeraVe moisturizing cream. I use this all day long and didn't really have a convenient alternative place to keep it.  But I did want to stick with a more elegant look than a plastic commercial jar. Then I thought of the decorative jar in the photo and I had an inspiration. I had recently emptied a Bath & Body Works candle jar. I've seen lots of up-cycled candle jars online and have wanted to do something with this one jar. 

As you can see, the jar of moisturizing cream fits perfectly inside the empty candle jar. With the lid off of the cream jar, I could simply lift the candle jar lid off to access the moisturizer, no unscrewing necessary.

Another Saturday later I began my own up-cycle. One requirement I had for myself in this jar transformation was that I could not buy anything new to do this. I decided to go with a white glass look, with additions of matte gold and pearl beads. I used ordinary white acrylic paint on the inside of the jar (about 5 or 6 coats). Acrylic paint on the outside of glass can look flat. Paint on the inside of the jar gives the illusion of white glass. Once all of the layers of white paint had thoroughly dried, I used painters' tape to spray paint gold on the outside of the jar and on the lid.

And finally, this weekend I glued the pearl beads onto the lid. I'm happy with how it turned out. I still need to spray a clear sealer inside the jar to protect the acrylic paint from chipping. But I can do that this next Saturday.

Once I began poking through my craft supplies I realized that I have a lot of useful paints and trims to use in projects. I had the white acrylic paint, the matte gold spray paint, the pearl beads, and glue to adhere them. I "borrowed" a foot of painters' tape from my daughter and the rest was just a matter of my time, which actually became a very enjoyable weekend activity.

I continue to work on this vanity space. I have a towel ring that I held onto when we spruced up a bathroom 20 years ago. It has a very 1970s vibe in its antiqued brass finish. I plan on spray painting this a creamy white. I also plan on painting the walls surrounding this little spot and finding a new place to keep my phone. For now, I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far. I must admit, the biggest improvement came from cleaning up the counter and using under sink and wall cabinet storage for everything I use for grooming. I've already adjusted to opening cabinet doors to access my stuff. While not as convenient as just keeping everything on the counter, the pleasure I receive from seeing a more inviting space makes that trade-off worth it. When I finish it all up, I'll show it to you. Or at least when I've made more progress.

Quick, Free and Easy Easter Decor

 

The image is a free download from The Graphics Fairy. It's repro of a vintage engraving. I had the frame in my stash of stuff. I simply sized the pdf into an image that would fit the frame and printed on ordinary paper. I've displayed the framed, printed image on our piano.

If you're not familiar with The Graphics Fairy website, it is full of free and paid images to download and use in crafts and decor. There are also loads of craft ideas for using these images on the website. I am limited to what I can use, as I only have a black and white printer. But I love this one image of the bunny in the wild.

I have a couple of other ideas for making free Easter decor, using some of the images from this website. I hope to get to those in the next week.

For those of you wishing me well this past Tuesday with my dental appointment, thank you so much. This was the prep work for a crown on the other side of my mouth, This was a tooth that cracked 35 years ago and was repaired a couple of times. My dentist recommended crowning this tooth to give it more integrity in the long run. The appointment was a long, long, long one, 2 hours and 10 minutes. But I believe she did a good and careful job. I've had zero pain from this. It was stressful for me, though. I tried to keep my focus on Jesus, fixing an image of Him in my mind and praying, singing hymns in my mind and thanking Him for carrying me through this the entire time. The time passed and before I knew it, my daughter was driving me home. So, thank you for good thoughts on my behalf.

Sourdough Plum Kolache and a Recipe for Sourdough Rich Dough (Suitable for Sweetened Buns)

 

Last week I mentioned that I had pulled my sourdough starter out of the fridge to see if it had any viability in it after sitting untouched for 3 1/2 years. And it did. I used it to make these plum kolache buns.

I used almost a full half-pint jar of plum jam in the topping. I also added some crumb topping on top of the plum. The next time I make these, I will spread the dough rounds out thinner and use a full jar of jam and a lot more crumb topping.

We all thought these were quite good. I used a rich sourdough dough for these, one that works well for cinnamon rolls as well as fruity buns. This recipe was passed on to me by the lady who gave me my first sourdough starter 35 years ago. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on making sourdough kolache and sourdough cinnamon buns, but I chose this particular recipe because it didn't call for as much butter or sugar as the recipes I saw online. So, I'll share this, for those of you who like to use sourdough starter in baking.

Sourdough Rich Dough

3/4 cup active starter

1 cup milk (I used soy milk)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup soft butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Stir sourdough starter, milk, and 2 cups of the flour together in a large non-metallic bowl. Cover and let stand in a warm place overnight.

The next morning beat the soft butter, 3 tablespoons sugar and egg together until well blended. beat into the sourdough mixture. Stir together the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then combine with the wet mixture.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and satiny, and doesn't stick to the surface.

Form into chosen roll shapes, fill (if needed), place on buttered baking sheet, and allow to rise until doubled in size. Bake at 375 degrees F until golden (somewhere around 30-35 minutes, depending on roll size and shape).

I made 12 buns with my kolache using this dough. My plan to spread the dough thinner next time and use more jam includes making 16 buns instead of 12, as these were very filling in the size I baked. For kolache, I rolled balls then flattened into circles, making the center of each circle thinner than the sides. I then filled each with the jam. After allowing to rise util doubled, I sprinkled crumb topping over each before popping into the oven to bake. The powdered sugar adds a nice finishing touch and just a hint of additional sweetness.

Menu Plan for a Week With Appointments

Brussel sprouts leaves in the late winter
garden in my growing zone can be sliced
 thin and sautéed, then steamed as a side dish.

I have a couple of days this week with afternoon appointments. So I've had to think of meals I could make ahead or with less time. 

Tuesday afternoon I have a less-than-pleasant dental appointment. It's not the next "big" appointment, but I will likely feel wrung out by the time it's over. I'll still have to make dinner when I come home. Here's my plan. I made a soup today, Monday, that I can heat and serve along with garlic toast with minimal effort on Tuesday. 

Thursday, again I'll be out of the house for several hours in the afternoon and will need something quick to make. I have a tub of extra firm tofu in the fridge that I can work with. Tofu is great for quick meals, as it only needs heating through, no lengthy cooking. I'm thinking about how to prepare it. Rice takes a while to cook, so perhaps noodles, like a lo mein. I can add fresh and frozen vegetables at near the last minute. What would you fix using tofu as the base and if limited in preparation time?

Here's the meal plan for the week.

Monday (daughter's night)
Beef and vegetable stir fry over brown rice

Tuesday (my dental appt day)
Hummus soup
Garlic toast

Wednesday (other daughter's night)
Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes

Canned green beans

Tomato and cucumber salad

Thursday (other busy afternoon)

Tofu-based meal, lo mein perhaps?

Friday
Pepperoni, olive, and green pepper pizza

Sautéed Brussel sprout greens, onion, and garlic

Spiced apple chunks

Weekend Dinners:

Vegetarian enchiladas with chunks of fresh tomatoes and avocados one night and a leftover meal the other

Other meals and snacks:

Later on the week I'll bake something for the family. Right now, we're working on a pumpkin snack cake that I baked yesterday afternoon. Hopefully that will last for snacking through most of tomorrow. They rest of the meals will be catch as catch can for everyone. I won't have time or energy to prepare stuff ahead for our household. Some weeks just have to be that way, I guess. But still I feel a little bit guilty not doing more for the bunch, simply because I have other stuff going on.

Easy-to-Make Vintage Confection

Do you remember last month when I noted that some of my groceries would be used to make a vintage recipe? I said at the time that it was for a 1940s treat. I was mistaken. This is a recipe from WW1. It's from the cookbook Win the War, by Reah Jeannette Lynch, published 1918. I found it on archive.org, page 122 in a section on saving sugar.

I finally made this treat this afternoon. They're chocolate-dipped dried fruit.

Bitter Sweets (my batch yielded 11 candies)

I used 1 ounce of Baker's 100% cacao unsweetened chocolate, and 5 1/2 pitted dates.

I cut each date in half lengthwise to maximize chocolate coverage. 

Next I microwaved the chocolate in a custard cup in short bursts (15-30 seconds), stirring periodically.

Once it was completely melted, I used a fork to dip each date half, turning to coat the underside as well. The dipped dates hardened on a sheet of waxed paper.

I loved these. The dates gave just enough sweetness to the confection, while still allowing the dark chocolate flavor to come through. I appreciated that there is no added sugar, and the dates provide fiber and minerals in a piece of candy.

If you enjoy very dark chocolate, this may be just up your alley. And if you're counting calories, one ounce of unsweetened chocolate contains 140 calories, and 5 1/2 dates contain 126 calories, total. So each piece of candy has 24 calories.

If you make this recipe, please come back and share your opinion on these vintage confections.

Grocery Shopping for February

Before this week's snowfall, I cut some branches from the
native plum trees, providing us with an indoor taste of spring.

So the month of February is about over, and I'm done with grocery shopping until next month. I feel like I shopped an average amount of days in February. Some of these trips to stores were two-in-ones, going to two or more stores on the same run. I tend to grocery shop once per week. WinCo is further away, so I limit trips there to every other week. Walmart, on the other hand, is practically right around the corner, and Grocery Outlet is directly across the street from Walmart. 

WinCo is my preferred store, so even with the extra cost in gas, I still shop there, just less often. It's a more pleasant shopping atmosphere, even when crowded. WinCo has slightly better prices on many foods, an enormous bulk section, and better quality on dairy, eggs, and meat. While Walmart may not be as pleasant to shop in, they have some items, such as chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and vegetable oil, that are priced lower than anywhere else. In addition, I sometimes need to get milk or produce during the weeks I'm shopping local and will get those closer to home, meaning Walmart or Grocery Outlet.

The tally for the month

2 visits to Walmart

$40.74 - cabbage, bananas, Roma tomatoes, avocados, bell pepper, gallon milk, egg noodles, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, vegetable oil

2 visits to Grocery Outlet

$14.76 - graham crackers, strawberries (for Valentine's Day), canned beets, turkey bacon, smoked chicken-artichoke sausages

1 visit to Target

$14.76 - eggs, 4 18-count cartons

2 visits to WinCo 

$137.99  - red and green heads of cabbage, cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, avocados, bell peppers, carrots, bananas, Fuji apples, 2-pack of whole chickens, milk, sharp cheddar cheese, organic flour, canned tuna, mayonnaise, dried fruit, butter, 3 tofu, chia seeds, baking powder, pepperoni slices, corn starch, powdered sugar, flax seed meal, bran, pink M&Ms (for Valentine's Day), baking coconut, prepared mustard, garlic granules, roasted peanuts

Total spent for February -- $208.25

The last couple of months our spending has been on what may seem to be the low side. That will change for next month, as we get more high-quality beef again. It's expensive, but so worth it to us. To afford this, we're mostly sticking to the basics, cooking and baking from scratch, and buying in-season or budget-friendly produce (exception Valentine's strawberries). Anyway, our monthly grocery spending fluctuates significantly due to our periodic beef purchases now. 

What I bought this month

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables:

4 heads cabbage (green and red)

2 cucumbers

6 avocados

a dozen+ Roma tomatoes

3 green bell peppers

20 pounds carrots

several bunches bananas

4 bags Fuji apples

1 pound strawberries (Valentine's Day purchase)

Dairy/Refrigerated:

3 gallons milk

2 small blocks cheese

6 dozen eggs

3 containers tofu

4 pounds butter

Meats:

2 whole chickens

1 package turkey bacon

1 4-count package smoked chicken sausages

1 package sliced pepperoni (enough for 2 to 3 large pizzas)

For the Pantry:

1 gallon vegetable oil

1 package egg noodles

4 canisters cocoa powder

2 jumbo bags semi-sweet baking chips

1 bag baking coconut

2 bags powdered sugar

10 pounds organic flour for bread

1 box graham crackers

1 jar mayonnaise

1 bottle mustard

5 cans beets

2 cans tuna

bulk items:

pink M&Ms (Valentine's Day purchase)

dried fruit (dates, prunes)

chia seeds

baking powder

corn starch

flax seed meal

bran

granulated garlic

roasted peanuts

How is grocery shopping going for you in 2024? Do you drive out of your way to shop at a preferred store as I do? Are you still able to stick to your budget, or have you had to increase your budget due to rising costs or a new emphasis on eating better? It can be challenging, can't it?

To Commemorate the Four Year Anniversary of the Beginning of the Pandemic . . .

It's alive!

I fished the sourdough starter out from the back of the shelf of the fridge. It's been sitting there, untouched, for three and a half years. I wasn't sure if it would even be viable at this point. But I got it out anyway.

After giving it a good stir and a feeding, I set it on the counter for the night. Low and behold, that thing is still alive!

Anyway, I'm thrilled it's still viable. This afternoon I started a batch of rich sourdough to make jam-filled kolache buns tomorrow. I'm working through our stash of homemade jams this month and next. I think kolache sounds like a good use for the plum jam.

So, during the pandemic, did you ride the sourdough train, too in 2020? 

I ran out of yeast early on and couldn't get any until mid-summer of 2020. I made sourdough pizza crust (very good -- gave the pizza a cheesier taste), sourdough burger and hot dog buns (my son and his wife thought those burger buns were the best they'd ever tasted), sourdough bread, and sourdough raisin and spice rolls (favorite of mine) that spring.