I love tablecloths

They are a cheap and super easy way to transform something that looks a bit

like this

to this

Our kitchen table is now 28 years old. It was a kit when we bought it. And has never been refinished. The kids did homework, painted, played with playdough, and colored at this table. The table top edges show years of wear.

Every summer, I vow to tackle refinishing this table. Maybe this summer will be the lucky one. But for now, a nice tablecloth conceals the rough edges and transforms the dining end of the kitchen to something civilized.

This tablecloth, by the way, is one that gets double duty. It goes on the table for the month of December, and then again in early spring. I made it, and the coordinating napkins, several years ago, from a piece of heavyweight fabric, the kind you would use for drapery.

It survives washing in the washing machine. And because of it's heavy weight, it comes out neat enough for family use, to not need the iron. (Okay, some might say a little ironing would be beneficial. But this is nice enough for us.)

Anyway, call me old fashioned. I just love the look of a tablecloth. It doesn't have the visual clutter of placemats/table top.

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When you have (and love) a thing long enough . . .

. . . something about it eventually gives out.

Repairing a plastic zipper coil which has come off of the fabric tape

This is my favorite jacket to wear around the house, most of the year. It's fleece, so it really holds in the warmth.

I've had it (and worn it almost daily) since 2004.

Some might say I should just toss it and buy a new jacket. But for me, it's just "perfect". Do you know how hard it is to find another "perfect" jacket?

The zipper pull attachment thingie came off a couple of years ago. No problem, I can still grasp the remaining part of the zipper pull, to get it zipped up snug as a bug.

But a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the teeth on the plastic coil zipper had come off of the fabric zipper tape. Bummer!! Never had this happen before. So I had no clue what to do to fix this one.

This isn't a "fix" often listed on sites like ehow. The usual zipper breakdowns are things like separating zipper teeth and missing pulls.

So I had to research the various zipper types, how they're made, and then half-guess what to do to fix my little zipping problem.

This particular zipper is a plastic coil variety. The zipper teeth are a part of a continuous, single coil of plastic, sewn to a fabric tape. (Who knew? I thought the teeth were all individually clamped onto the tape.)

Upon extremely close inspection, in the bright light next to a window, it appeared that the stitching had come undone in this 1-inch spot on the zipper coil/tape. I could see some small threads on the backside of the zipper.

So I got out a needle and black thread and carefully stitched the zipper coil back onto the tape, making sure to catch the zipper coil each time that I came up from the underside.

It was actually a pretty simple fix. And definitely one of those fixes that you want to do just as soon as you notice the zipper coil coming off of the tape. (Yeah, that's right, I kept wearing mine for a couple of weeks longer, and had to sew more than I would have if I had only listened to my own wisdom and fixed it right away!)

Anyways, my fave-of-all-time jacket is back in service!

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this past week's Cheap & Cheerful suppers

Potato-Spinach-Ham Casserole

Wednesday (about $1.60 for 5)
garbanzo bean soup, made with ham stock, garden parsley, carrots, ham, garbanzo beans, onions and celery
cornbread

Thursday (about $1.80 for 5)
Potage à L'oseille (sorrel and potato soup made with garden sorrel, potatoes, thyme, shallots, garlic, bay leaves, milk, stock, nutmeg, butter, dash of rosemary vinegar to replace white wine called for, salt/pepper) followed, but adapted, this recipe -- to suit my own ingredients
rhubarb crisp with a custard sauce (a thin almond blancmange)
French bread, slices of cheese, zucchini bread and butter pickles

Friday (about $2.15 for 5)
cheese, green pepper, onion pizza
carrot and celery sticks
deviled eggs (I looked at each plate and thought we needed one more item, so made some deviled eggs at the last minute)

Saturday (about $1.75 for 5)
bean, rice and cheese burritos with avocado, and food processor salsa
cabbage and herb slaw
brown rice with salsa topping

Sunday (about $2.75 for 5)
turkey in gravy
bread, onion, parsley and sorrel stuffing (garden sorrel and garden parsley)
brown rice (didn't make enough stuffing, so added some leftover brown rice to dinner)
cranberry-orange-celery gelatin salad (made with frozen, homegrown cranberries, 1 small orange and 2 large stalks of celery, along with a bit of sugar, lemon juice and plain gelatin -- pretty yummy, would've been awesome with the addition of chopped walnuts or pecans)
watermelon pickles

Monday (about $1.95 for 5)
hummus on fry bread
ginger-soy carrots
open-face plum pie (garden plums, frozen, 1/4 cup sugar, orange zest, 2 tablespoons flour)

Tuesday (about $3.50 for 5)
ham, potato, spinach, egg casserole (a modified version of a popular casserole, less cheese, no milk, one less egg)
cabbage slaw
watermelon pickles
prunes (from garden)
leftover plum pie for 2 people


Some nights, supper was much more expensive than other nights, about double the cost from least expensive to most expensive. However, we averaged about $2.20 per dinner for 5 people, not including beverages (milk for 3, water for 3). I think that's pretty good for our family. We do eat large lunches, probably equal in cost to our dinners.

On the odd night that I need to add something to one person's meal (usually my husband's), I add a slice of bread and butter, or a scoop of brown rice. We all eat about the same sized portion of protein and fruit/veggie. I adjust the carbs and desserts from one family member to the next.

What was on your menu this past week?

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