I was wanting to buy a 3/4 teaspoon measuring spoon . . .

I've been needing to measure 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, often, when swapping out baking powder for baking soda/vinegar. 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda + 1 tablespoon vinegar = 1 tablespoon baking powder.

I searched around for a 3/4 teaspoon measuring spoon, and found a couple as part of odd-size measuring spoon sets. But I was reluctant to fork over my birthday money for one of these sets, just yet.

That's when it hit me. Maybe I already have a spoon that measures 3/4 teaspoon. Off to my kitchen I went, opened a drawer, began measuring the capacity of various spoons, and lo and behold, a Menchie's spoon measures 3/4 teaspoon. My new measuring spoon! Isn't that great?! An awesome find!

And I didn't have to buy a set to get one. Now I can get something much more fun with last year's birthday money!

just a note -- this only works well with a spoon with a level edge to the bowl. Many tableware patterns don't have this level edge (bummer).

Now -- there is something that I do need to buy. My daughters' sport socks are wearing really thin. I'll be looking to buy them new sports socks before Easter (hmmm, can you guess what the Easter bunny is bringing here?)
Do any of you have a recommendation for girl/women sport socks? I wasn't impressed with Hanes this last time around. I'm looking for durability in a crew sock and ankle sock. Thanks so much! You guys always know what's good.

Making cents, while making sense -- basic clothing mending that everyone should be able to do

As the mom and keeper of this house, I see all the holes, gaps, and missing buttons that occur in the clothing of my family. I've encouraged all the members of my family to be pro-active and self-sufficient, and take on the repairs themselves, including my husband and son. Of course, I'm here to help and, in a pinch, take care of a mend for them. What are moms/wives for, right?

There are 7 basic mending tasks that I think everyone should be able to perform. (Oh, one exception -- if you live in a nudist colony, you're exempt from needing to repair clothing!)

Sewing on buttons

Don't wait until the button has fallen off completely. Secure it with new thread when the button becomes loose -- less chance of losing that button. (Have you noticed, buttons never fall off while you're watching.) Just stitch right over the old thread.

Match the color of the thread to the color of the thread on the rest of the buttons, and follow the pattern of the stitches on the other buttons. Some buttons have just 2 holes. But you'll notice if your buttons have 4 holes, there will be a "pattern" to the stitches. Make diagonal stitches or parallel stitches to match those on the other buttons.

Stitches can be parallel

or diagonal (cris-cross)

or a combination of the two

If you do lose that button, you can often "steal" one from an unnoticeable place on the garment, such as the tail of a dress shirt that will be tucked in. Even if this isn't possible, it would still be more cost-effective to buy a package of buttons at the fabric store ($5), and replace all of the buttons, so that they match, than to discard the garment and replace with a new item.

Re-stitching missing top-stitching

The top-stitching on manufactured garments is often loosely tied off. One pull of the thread and your entire top-stitched edge is gone. Again, catching this early is the difference between a quick hand-stitch to secure the loose threads, or getting out the machine to re-do a length of stitching. Either way, one quick repair and you've restored your garment to it's original look. If you match your "new" thread to the existing thread, the repair will be undetectable.

A running stitch is basically your thread running through
the fabric in a line.
The top side of your stitching will look much like
the underside.
Use small, straight stitches to secure a torn seam, by hand
 and even tinier stitches to hand-stitch
missing top-stitching along a garment's edge

Mending a torn seam

This can be done by hand or machine. By hand, a running stitch over the original line of the seam will repair the tear. By machine, depending on the fabric and color, you can often get by with not matching the thread color, and just use whatever is currently threaded in your machine. A mended tear in the seam should be stitched on the inside, and it will be completely unnoticeable from the outside.

Hemming pants

Men's slacks often come unhemmed. Not a problem in a high-end store, as they throw the hemming into the (high) price of the slacks. On the second-hand market, however, finding unhemmed men's slacks can be a steal, as many men prefer NOT to try to hem them.

Women's slacks come in one or two lengths, generally speaking, regular Ladies, and Petite Ladies (there are also specifically Tall Women's shops with longer lengths). If your legs aren't exactly the 5'7" height standard, or the exact length of the 5'3" petite standard, then you'll be either dragging your hems, wearing high-waters or needing to do some hemming.

Doing your own hem, will save $20 off of having them tailored professionally. Hems look best if you can sew a neat whip-stitch, matching the thread color to the fabric, and catching only a thread or two of the outside of the fabric.

Try your pants on, have someone mark the hem-line with straight pins. Pin the entire hem. Try them on again to be sure of the length. Press and hand-stitch. The inner seam is a good place to begin your hem, as you can secure your knotted-thread, well, in this spot, without it being noticed from the outside.

whip-stitching the hem, as seen from the inside of garment

what the whip-stitch hem will look like on the
outside of the garment

It sounds much more complicated than it truly is, and should take no more than 1 hour. That's a cool $20 an hour you just made.

Pulling a small hole in a knit together, and stitching closed

A tiny pin hole in a knit can be sewn closed by pulling the edges together and putting 5 or 6 quick whip-stitches into place. Examples are the tips of mittens, the toes of socks, the toe end of sweater tights, a pin hole in a sweatshirt or sweatpants, a pin hole in a t-shirt or thin cotton turtleneck. These can be wear holes, or simply something sharp caught on the fabric, or was stuck in the fabric (decorative pins, for example).

Use matching colored thread. Turn the garment inside out, and whip-stitch closed. I can get a few more winters of wear from my mittens by stitching the pin holes closed in my mittens each year.

Patching wear holes

Wear holes can be tiny pin holes, or large gaping affairs. Often times, these holes are in inconspicuous spots once repaired (such as the inner thigh area of stretch pants).

inside of fleece pants, with iron-on patch applied
 and zigzag stitching

Wear holes can be easily patched with iron-on patching material, followed up by machine zigzag stitching in a color matching the clothing color. I use patches that I make with Heavy Duty Wonder Under (a strong fusible web -- iron-on, heat-set "glue") and scrap fabric, in a color that matches the original fabric.

outside of fleece pants, after patching/zigzag stitching
this repair is on the inner thigh,
and unseen under normal circumstances

The iron-on patch, alone, will hold through several washings/wearings, but adding the zigzag stitching will "close" the hole in the fabric, as well as secure the iron-on patch. Before ironing on the patch, pull the edges of the fabric as close to closed as possible. (Larger holes won't be able to close all the way.)

Patching the knees in jeans/pants

This is so common in kids pants that every mother will encounter holey knees several times in her child's growth. With my kids, the first holes appeared long before the rest of the jeans looked worn. It's all that time spent playing on hands and knees, I guess.

You can buy heavy duty, iron-on denim patches to cover the holes, or sew on a large piece of denim over the knee with the hole. You can even find fun patches in a design your child would like, if you want to forgo that industrial-strength, denim iron-on look.

When iron-on patches come loose around the edges, re-iron. When the heat-set adhesive wears out, you can use a hot glue gun to re-adhere the patch.


If a person can perform these basic mending tasks, they will easily save $100 or more per year.

Replacing garments that have minor problems is costly. Holey-kneed kid jeans -- $20 to replace, $2 to patch (if buying a ready-made iron-on). Tailor-hemmed dress slacks -- $20 to have a pro do it, under a $1 (for thread and needle) if you do it yourself. Casual pants with pin holes (which soon become gaping holes) -- replace for $15 to $20, or patch and stitch for under $1. Small hole in the fingertip of your mittens? Replace the mittens for a couple of dollars, or whip-stitch that hole closed from the inside, for nothing but 5 minutes of your time. New sweater-tights in season will run about $16. Less than 5 minutes to stitch a hole in the toe closed is practically free (you do need needle and thread). Top-stitching missing on the edge of a shirt or dress? Replace for $15 to $50 (or more), or re-stitch for under $1 (cost of thread). Missing button on your dress shirt or coat? If you don't want side-glances from your boss, replacing the entire garment is a costly extravagance, compared to just getting out a needle and thread and sewing on a new button.

In all cases, catching the hole/loose thread while small will greatly reduce your work, and in some cases, save the garment altogether. A small hole in my daughter's favorite sweater tights could have become an all-out foot opening in a couple of wears. But instead, I was able to sew it shut, in under 5 minutes, while she pulled on her skirt and top.

There's a reason that in olden times, women sorted through the clean laundry and pulled out items needing to be repaired right away. They were maintaining the garments that they worked so hard to produce, by catching problems when small.


There are more involved mending tasks that can extend the wear of your clothing. But these 7 are the basics that everyone should learn to perform. And in my book, basic mending is not just for frugal folks, it's for anyone with an ounce of sense.

Fresh herbs in winter

Two of my favorite herbs to use fresh in winter, are basil and rosemary.

Rosemary is evergreen in the Seattle area. I keep two pots of rosemary on my deck, pulled close to the house when the wintry frosts are prevalent in December and January.

About once a month, I go out there and clip off a few sprigs, to keep in a drinking glass, with about 1 inch of water in it, in the fridge. I don't cover the rosemary, as I do with parsley, but leave open on a shelf.

When I want rosemary for cooking, I simply reach inside my fridge, and there it awaits me. Rosemary sprigs, kept this way, last about 1 month, for me.

Basil is my other favorite fresh herb to use in winter. I keep a pot of living basil on the windowsill of my kitchen.

In early August, I plant a pot of basil seeds, and keep outdoors for a month. Around mid-September, I bring this pot of basil into the kitchen, to sit in the sunny window on the south side of the house. I have fresh basil to pinch off when I want it all winter long.

This last week, I added fresh basil leaves to an onion and cheese pizza, just as I pulled it out of the oven. And rosemary is a regular addition to winter favorites like oven-roasted potatoes, rosemary French bread, lentil soup, and focaccia.

Do you grow herbs indoors in winter? Do you have one of those fun aerogardens, for growing under lights? How about a sunny windowsill where you grow an indoor herb garden?

Some folks get their Christmas treats before Christmas . . .

. . . and other folks get them after Christmas! 

Out running errands on Saturday, and while waiting for my daughter to check out the yarn at Michaels, I checked out the Christmas baking/candy-making supplies. Everything 80% off.

I found peppermint candy-flecked, white chocolate chips, for making peppermint bark, for 59 cents a 10-oz bag. Perfect timing, as that evening, we'd planned our tree and house de-decking party. I usually prepare a few Christmas-y foods or drinks for the event. So, this year, I made some peppermint bark, to go with our marked-down eggnog (49 cents/quart).

While at Michaels, I also picked up a couple of Easter basket stuffers, and next Christmas's stocking candy. I buy our holiday candy on clearance, and save until the next year. I double bag the lot, and store in one of the holiday storage trunks, in a cool closet. That's not all. I found some fun baking things, too, like Christmas paper cups/liners (39 cents) for muffins, cakes and cookies, and a snowflake cookie cutter (19 cents).

Looks like we're set for next Christmas!

Anybody else buy next year's holiday treats at after-holiday clearance sales? Have you found a good way to store what you've bought, so you keep it hidden, but don't forget that it's there? Do you ever buy these after holiday treats to have right away?

You don't need to go out and buy special ingredients, to make something to bring to a potluck

Using what you have on hand can save you a bundle. When I'm invited to a potluck, and I want to bring something special, taking a survey of what's in my pantry, fridge and freezer can yield some wonderful treasures to add to a dish or two.

As so many of us on these blogs are, I happen to be good with bread-baking. So that is my first thought when invited to a potluck. Homemade bread is devoured at these sort of events. I will also offer to bring a dessert. Dessert is a very flexible category. It can be anything from a simple plate of cookies or pan of brownies, to a cake, pie or cobbler. Most potlucks seem to feature home-style cooking, so what may seem like an ordinary dessert, like a cobbler or crisp, becomes a star when you add one or two extras to the recipe.

To the potluck we went on New Year's Day, I brought a golden loaf of homemade rosemary French bread, 2 crusty whole wheat baguettes and a dessert. Believe me, the bread was a hit. People who normally eat shop-bought bread think that homemade bread is out of this world. There were just 3 small slices of the baguettes left (the rosemary bread was gone halfway through the afternoon) at the end of the night. The only addition to make my homemade bread "special', was 2 tablespoons of minced, fresh rosemary from the fridge. I took great care in the baking of the loaves, so that they would be both beautiful and delicious.

For dessert, I took a quick survey of my discerning staff (my two teen daughters). In our conference room (the family room), we "brainstormed" and made pie charts, bar charts, line charts, graphs, etc., and postulated theories as to the demographics of the intended gathering, and came up with this:

I needed to check the kitchen for ingredients, then work from there.

I still had some apples from last fall's harvest, some pecans from an earlier purchase, lots of sugar, flour, butter and spices. But no eggs. So, whatever it would be, it had to be egg-less. That's when I searched online for desserts, listing my key ingredients, apples, spices and pecans. I came up with a recipe for a pecan-apple crumble. It was fabulous. It had a crispy and nutty topping, with soft and spicy apples beneath. I used whole allspice and ground the berries myself, for the freshest spicy flavor ever. My hostess had some vanilla ice cream to go with it. And once again, this was a hit. The men loved it, the women loved it, and my kids devoured the extra little bit that I had made for us.

There was no need to run out and buy special ingredients for the items I brought to the potluck. I used just what I had in my kitchen. And I didn't need to follow any complicated recipes. I stuck with what I know and do best.


For you, appetizers might be your thing. Or maybe it's a salad that you make that's enjoyed by all. Whatever your specialty, use what you have on hand and stick to what you do well. You may have had it so many times that you're growing weary of it. But to others, it's new and delicious -- the hit of the party. There really is no need to pop out to the store for special ingredients. You likely have all that you need at home, to make your signature dish for the next potluck you attend.

A dozen things I did today to save money

In the comments the other day, Belinda from the Frugal Workshop mentioned that there are numerous small ways to save money, but only a few major ways. How true is this. I commented back that I think I must do a dozen small things a day, that save us money.

Well, later in the day, I got to thinking, "do I really do a dozen things per day to save us some money, or was I exaggerating?"

So, I wandered around the house to see what I could find, and took photos, as a reminder for this post. And yes, I did a dozen things, and then some. Here are the first 12 things that I thought of.

1) I made granola for the next morning's breakfast (we'll be out of bread by the end of dinner)

2) I made ham stock from the ham bone, and froze 6 pints

3) with the ham stock, I made split pea soup from scratch, a double recipe for lots of leftovers

4) I made croutons with the end of the French bread, 

to top the soup

5) I served crabapple sauce, made with crabapples from our tree, to go with dinner. It was too tart the last time I served it, so this time I rescued it with a mixture of cornstarch, sugar and additional water. It was not just passable, but delicious.

6) I washed 2 loads of laundry on cold/cold setting

7) I hung those 2 loads of wash to dry, on racks in the kitchen and family room

8) I washed baggies

9) I stayed home all day, keeping the car in the garage, and saving gas

10) I set up autopay for another account, saving postage each month

11) I made another batch of citrus and spice cleaning fluid. I now have 2 quarts stored in the laundry closet.

12) and I reconciled December's budget,

and set up January's budget.

I think we all do many, many small things each day, which wind up saving us money. The next time you feel down about your frugal efforts, see if you can't make a list of everything you've done lately. You might be surprised at just how hard you work at economizing.

The year is off to a great start, don't you think?!

Is this frugal, or is it just cheap?

Happy New Year! Welcome, 2014!

Not much today, just a question. . .

When I find a drinking glass with water still in it, (left by someone in the family), I dump the water on a houseplant.

Am I being frugal, or am I just plain ol' cheap?

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Do you have plans for today? Just hanging around the house, or are you going out? We're heading over to a friend's house later today. I've baked a loaf of rosemary bread (just my multi-purpose French bread dough with 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary added), and an apple crisp (about the last of the garden apples), to take with us.

Have a great day!

December grocery money journal

Dec. 6  Here we are, well into the first week of December, and I haven't needed to go to the grocery store. I had a surplus of whole milk, from Black Friday shopping, so I turned it into yogurt the other day. This will prolong the life of the milk for a few weeks, meaning I don't "need" to go shopping for milk right away. Yogurt will sub for our milk needs, when the fresh milk runs out.

We've had a hard freeze here, so the garden is toast. I'll look for kale, broccoli, chard, sorrel, mustards and watercress to return in March. And so, we're starting in on the frozen vegetables. Hopefully this will clear enough space in the freezers to stock up on hams, should their price per pound be great, later this month.

Items that I'm looking to stock up on this month: ham, cheese, butter, and onions. I will likely find good prices on oranges, pineapple and avocados this month, as well.

In November, we went over our grocery budget of $170/month by 19.53. This leaves us with $150.47 for the month.

December 7. Out running errands, stop in at Fred Meyer. Pick up their flyer at the door and find powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and whole milk on sale. I buy 3 2-lb bags of powdered sugar (3/$5), 2 lbs butter ($1.79/lb), 4 8-oz bricks cream cheese (89 cents ea), 2 lb block of cheddar ($4.99), 4  half-gallons whole milk (4/$5), and 2 bags of choc chips ($1.67 ea). Spent $25.47

December 11. Happen to catch Safeway's ad on TV, before the day's mail and flyer comes. Hams are 99 cents/lb for whole and shank half (limit 1 of each). I buy 1 whole and 1 half ham, total of about 30 pounds, for $30.19, for a month to date  spending of $55.66

December 13. QFC also has half hams on sale for 99 cents/lb, but this store has both shank and butt portions at that price. I buy 1 butt portion half ham, about 10 lbs. Also find 1/2 gals milk on markdown for 89 cents/ea (I buy 9), 1 gallon of skim milk marked down (1.79) and 1/2 gals of eggnog for 1.19 (I buy 1). That's all I buy. Total spent $21.27, for a month to date spending of $76.93

December 13. Stop in at Albertson's for canned pineapple (20 oz cans for $1, I buy 9), cream cheese (8-oz bricks for 88 cents, I buy 4), butter (1-lb for 1.99, I buy 2). Spent $16.50, for a month to date spending of $93.43.

December 17. Trader Joe's. Hoping to pick up bananas today. But their shipment didn't come in. Just get one 9 oz canister of cocoa powder for $2.49.

December 17. Also stop at the Cash and Carry restaurant supply. Needing onions. Buy a 50-lb sack of onions for $10.51. Month to date spending -- $106.43

December 17. The 30 oz cans of mixed nuts and cashews finally came in at Bartell's. This was a Black Friday advertised item that sold out within minutes of opening the doors. I got a rain check for 10 cans of mixed nuts and 1 can of cashews, at $4.99 ea. This worked out to $2.66 per pound for the nuts. I spent $54.89 here. Month to date spending of $161.32

December 21. AT Dollar Tree and decide to splurge and buy some oregano. $1. Month to date spending of $162.32, which is $11.85 over our budget for the month.

We really didn't need a whole lot this month. I stocked up on ham (40 lbs), canned nuts (20 lbs), powdered sugar (6 lbs), cream cheese (2 lbs), cheddar (2 lbs), milk (7  1/2 gallons), and picked up some cocoa powder, eggnog, choc chips, and oregano.

Going into January, we are very low on eggs, and will need more milk, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, and that's it. If I find exceptional sales on other items, I have the budget to cover them.

We did go over budget by $11.85 for the month. But we'll make this up next month. We are very well stocked, which should give us a budget surplus at the end of January. I can roll this surplus forward into the mid to late spring months, typically more expensive months for us.

Doing the math on bedsheet repair

It's back to the basics of saving money, this week.

When my dad passed away, 11 1/2 years ago, I inherited my parent's California King-sized bed, sheets not included. I bought 1 set of plain white, cotton sheets for about $60. This included the fitted sheet, the flat sheet and 2 pillow cases. California King beds are not common in my area, and neither are the sheets.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I developed a thin spot in the fitted sheet. I patched it with Heavy Duty Wonder Under and scrap fabric, and my iron. This small patch has held just fine for the past year and a half, requiring occasional re-ironing of the patch.

A few weeks ago, I put my foot through another thin spot, this time tearing the sheet. I went out shopping for a new fitted sheet, and found I couldn't just walk into a store in my area and buy a Cal. King fitted sheet. It would have to be ordered, and at the minimum, would cost about $20.

I decided to hold off on buying a new sheet, and patch this one, one more time. We keep talking about replacing this bed with a smaller, Queen-sized one. And it looks like this summer could be the time to do so. Buying a new sheet, that we'd only use for half a year, didn't seem economical.

the math

A new sheet would cost $20, and would likely last 10 years, if alternated with the other sheet set for the rest of winter (a flannel set). At $20, for 10 years, the amortized annual cost of a new fitted sheet would be about $2 per year, or 3.85 cents per week.

At the fabric store a couple of weeks ago, Heavy Duty Wonder Under was on sale, and I had a coupon applicable for sale and non-sale merchandise. I spent about 25 cents for a piece of Wonder Under large enough to patch this larger tear and thin spot.

At 25 cents for the patch job, the sheet only has to last another 6  1/2 weeks, to recover my cost. And I still have a piece of Wonder Under large enough to make another patch, if necessary, in any other thin spots.

Does all this matter? Should I have just ordered the fitted sheet, even though we may not even need it in 6 months' time?

I think it does matter. I may have spared our budget $19.75, by not buying a new sheet right now. If we do, in fact, down-size our bed to a Queen in 6 months, I would have found myself with sheets in the wrong size.

I could have saved myself the 25 cents, and patched the sheet with stitching. But my time is valuable. An iron-on patch took 10 minutes start to finish, and I was able to work this mending job into a small chunk of time over the weekend.

I recognize that not everyone would be comfortable sleeping on a sheet with a patch. I got used to it within a couple of nights, on the last patch. I'm okay with this slightly imperfect solution to a worn bed sheet.

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I do the math, frequently, to see if something is worth the money. It may seem tedious to some folks, but it winds up saving us a lot of money in the long run. (We have several calculators around the house, and I keep an extra one in my purse.)

An example, is it worth the gas money to drive a few miles out of my way, for a sale? I will figure the cost of my gas and weigh it against the potential savings on the sale item. I often decide that the savings on the sale, are not great enough to warrant the extra gas expenditure. Avocados are on sale this week, for 50 cents each, at a store 10 miles from my house. That's a 20 mile round trip, just for avocados. There's a limit of 4 avocados at that price, and the store is not featuring any other sale items that I can use right now. So, I would spend about $2.75 in gas, to save $1 to $2 on avocados. Not worth it.

Another example, I can buy an LED light bulb, that will use 50 watts per hour less than an incandescent bulb, for about $10. If the fixture is in use for 6 hours per day, I can save 300 watts per day, or about 9,000 watts (or 9 KW) per month. At a rate of about 10.5 cents per KW hour, that's a savings of 94.5 cents per month, on our electricity bill. It will take about 11 months for the LED light bulb to pay for itself, then we'd see savings of almost $1 per month for the life of the LED bulb. So, in my mind, the investment into LED bulbs is worth the money.

My dad used to say, "don't sweat the small stuff, kid." But really, the sum of all the small stuff is what has allowed my husband and I to have the life of our choosing.

Overnight herb and cheese strata with marinara sauce & Apple, dried fruit and nut salad

These are two recipes that I used for brunch on Christmas Day. Both used only what I had on hand, and were very economical to make. Carol from CTMom asked for the recipes in the comments the other day. But also, this would make an easy breakfast for New Year's Day, so thought I'd post it in case any of you would like the recipes.

The strata, in particular, was sparing of my dwindling egg supply (I am now down to 2 eggs, total), and my small amount of cheese. Yet, it fed my family at brunch, and left us with snacking extras in the afternoon. You don't need to serve it with marinara sauce, but if you are a fan of polenta with marinara, then I suggest you try this. It adds a flavorful touch to the strata.

To make the strata more frugal than standard recipes, I use just a little cheese (many recipes call for 8 ounces of cheese for this amount of eggs/bread). I also use whatever cheese I happen to have on hand. (Some recipes call for fontina or other more spendy cheese.) And I use herbs from my summer garden, that I now have in my freezer. (I freeze basil, parsley and rosemary, instead of drying them. I think they have more flavor frozen, than dried.) You could substitute dried herbs, or change the herbs altogether.

A true strata is made with layers of bread slices. I prefer the "bread pudding" variation of strata, with cubes instead of slices of bread. The bread cubes allow the herbs, seasonings and cheese to coat each bite.

Herb and cheese strata with marinara

5 thick slices of French bread, cubed
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash red pepper flakes
3 to 4 ounces of shredded cheese (I used half cheddar and half mozzarella), use 2/3 of the cheese in with the bread, and 1/3 to top the strata
2 tablespoons fresh or frozen basil
1 tablespoon fresh or frozen parsley
marinara sauce (any leftover pasta, pizza or marinara sauce will work)

Butter an 8 by 8-inch pyrex baking dish.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Combine with milk, salt, pepper flakes and herbs. Add bread cubes and 2/3 of the cheese. Toss well to coat each piece.

Spread mixture in baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove strata from refrigerator about 30 to 40 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Warm marinara sauce and spoon over individual servings.

This recipe makes about 4 main-dish, breakfast servings. For us, it was part of a larger brunch, so it went much further. To serve 6 to 8 people, simply double the ingredients and use a 9 by 13-inch rectangular casserole.

Apple-dried fruit-nut salad

This salad has many variations on our table. I add celery when I have it, and alternate between raisins, chopped prunes or dried apricots or dried cherries (which ever I feel like using). My favorite nuts in this are either pecans (expensive here), or almonds (the budget alternative for us). And I sometimes add cubes of cheddar to this salad -- good with the apples!

For 3 to 4 servings:

Dressing:

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fruit vinegar (I use raspberry, blackberry and blueberry -- but plain vinegar will also give that tang)
1/4 cup spray whipped topping (if using real whipped cream or Cool Whip, 3 tablespoons may be enough)

In the bottom of your salad bowl, combine the above ingredients.

Toss dressing with the following:

1 large apple, skin left on and chopped
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped nuts (roasted or unroasted)

If I'm making this an hour or so in advance, I add everything but the apple, then chop and add the apple at the very last minute.

How do you spend Boxing Day?

When I was growing up, Boxing Day was the big after Christmas clearance sale at US stores. My mom stocked up on gift wrap, bows and cards on that day.

For me, I prefer to take a day off, and not go out shopping.

On the 24th, I stopped at the public library and checked out a stack of back issues of Martha Stewart Living and The English Garden magazines. I'll be spending today with my nose buried in magazines. I do this one day per year. We eat leftovers from the previous couple of days of cooking, and kids have always been very entertained with their new belongings -- the perfect set-up for me to have time to myself.

Have a great day!

Christmas Day Menus

Merry Christmas! Were you able to sleep last night? I am like a kid, I lay there half the night waiting for morning to come. Wherever you are today, I am wishing you the merriest of Christmases! Every year, I think to myself, "Christmas just gets better and better each year." New friendships, maturing older friendships, a growing up family -- all those those things make for Christmases that get better with each year.

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Today, I'll take 1 meal off, and we'll only have a brunch and dinner. I am told that all the clean-up is covered, so that after I cook, I can just go put my feet up. Now that's a Christmas present! Brunch is actually the bigger meal to prepare, today. We'll snack on brunch items throughout the day. My dinner menu is fairly simple (easy on the cook), and much of it was prepared in advance.

The menus for the day:

Christmas Brunch

pineapple chunks

apple-dried fruit-nut salad

overnight herb and cheese strata with marinara sauce

sausages

bacon

Austrian almond braid bread

mini blueberry muffins

orange-pineapple juice

coffee

cocoa

Christmas Dinner

baked ham

au gratin potatoes

pumpkin souffle

pear mousse gelled salad

carrot sticks, green bean pickles, bread and butter pickles

cookies

As I said, most of these items were made ahead. The pineapple chunks were canned. After draining, I added the liquid from the can to the orange juice. The marinara sauce was left over from batch cooking over the weekend. I pre-cooked the sausages the day before, then simply heated them through this morning. The bread and muffins were baked earlier in the week. The pumpkin souffle was made, ready for the oven, yesterday afternoon. And the gelled salad was prepared on Monday.

I like to have an easy day, too. A little preparation ahead of time goes a long way. Merry, merry!

My problem -- when I over-buy for Christmas

Never fails, every year, I slightly over-make, over-buy, over-plan for Christmas. It's not by much, but just enough that I think, "hmmm, we really don't need to saturate ourselves with treats and gifts." So, I set just a little aside until Valentine's, Easter and/or spring birthdays.

This year, I bought just a tad too much candy. Not a huge problem. I could just eat some myself, or put it all into the stockings. But instead, I chose to set some aside for Valentine's Day. I had a bag of foil wrapped candies, wrapped in green, gold and red foil. I pulled out the red-wrapped candies, and those will be added to the goodie bags for my family on Valentine's Day.

I also have a couple of small gifts that will be perfect for Valentine's and two birthdays. So, in essence, I've got a jump start on the 2014 holidays.

Now, that's a good problem to have!


Merry Christmas Eve!

Knitting headband/ear warmers plus the one thing I didn't need to buy this year

Last Thursday, I posted photos of two knit headbands that I've made for my daughters's Christmas stockings (that post is here). And I promised that I would come up with measurements and details of how I made them. So here I am, beginning a third one.I begged some yarn off of my daughter, yesterday. She has some plum acrylic yarn that I thought would be the perfect, go-with-everything-winter-that-I-own yarn.

This one may take me a few days, as I'm, uh, kinda busy this week. (And I bet you are, too!)

To start, I needed to figure my gauge. It's the gauge in width that matters, with the headbands. So, I started with yarn that I doubled, size 9 needles, and I cast on 14 stitches. I knit 6 rows, to get an idea of how wide this would be. The finished headband should be about 3  3/4 to 4 inches wide. It turned out that 14 stitches was just a tad too wide. So I pulled that one out, and cast on 12 stitches. This gave me a band about 3  3/4 inches wide, which I thought would be good for an adult (me!).

This is knit in the garter stitch, which is knit both sides. There's no finishing the edges, the knit won't roll, and it will be a thicker headband than if knit in stockinette stitch.

Once the gauge was established, I began knitting. I'll knit the band until it is about 20 inches long. At that point, I'll try it on my own head by pinning it together (leaving the knitting needle in place on the last row) and slipping it over my head. I'll use the highly technical jump-around-and-shake-my-head-about method of determining if the headband is the right size. If I need another inch, then I'll continue with the garter stitch a few more rows.

When the headband is long enough to go around my head, plus have an extra 1  1/2 inches of overlap, I'll finish the final row, with the traditional bind-off, leaving a yarn tail about 6 inches. After weaving the yarn tail into the edge, I'll stitch the headband together (with needle and matching-color thread), with the edges overlapping.

Now comes the embellishing part. I haven't decided if I'll simply sew on some buttons, or make a knit bow, or gather the headband just off-center from my face.

I'll continue posting photos as I progress. Yesterday afternoon, I spent about 1  1/2 hours knitting/untangling yarn, and got a little over half way done with the band (I've got about 12 inches knit). It will be close, as to whether I have enough yarn or not. I began with about 1/3 of a skein of yarn. (I used the highly precise method of scrunching the yarn up in my hands and guessing if it felt like a thick headband.) I think 1/2 skein would be a safer bet for one of these headbands.

For a girl-sized headband, I would think that 3 inches in width and probably about 16 to 18 inches in length would make the right size headband (you can do a quick measurement with a measuring tape, to get the right length).

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And the one thing I didn't need to buy this year?

Candy canes!

Every time I've stopped at a store, there's been a bucket of mini candy canes, free for the taking (one at a time, not the bucket). Over the course of the holiday season, I amassed about 10 mini candy canes! Woo hoo! Freebies are always nice!


I realize that many of you will be heading off to visit family in the next day or so. I want to wish you a very merry Christmas! (I'll still be here this week. It will be a family-at-home Christmas.)

The gifts that I am REALLY giving to my children this Christmas

If the advertisements on TV are any indicator of how Christmas morning will go in homes across America, many kids will be unwrapping iPhones, iPads, Wii game consoles, and Kindle Fires.

My kids won't be finding any of those under our tree. But they will receive several very nice gifts from their dad and I. As you know, this year is a tight year for us, financially. However, we've never been ones to buy over-the-top luxury gifts for our kids in past years, anyway.

Some of our "biggest" gifts that we gave to our kids in past years, included an easel for one daughter, a musical instrument for the other, and an Erector set for our son. We chose gifts that we felt they could use to continue pursuing their individual interests, and still provide years of enjoyment. It's not because we're cheap. It's because we think about which gifts could foster development in our kids' lives the most, without putting us into a financial hole.

But, you know, the equipment and playthings were really just tokens. The real gifts that we're giving to our kids this year are two parents who won't be stressed out in January when the bills roll in.

We're giving our daughters an education at the university that they chose. By giving them this education, we are also giving our daughters hope for their future careers.

We're giving our son the peace of mind that his parents are saving enough money for retirement, so that he won't have to support us in our later years. This is a gift of freedom, really. Our son won't need to choose the most lucrative career path for our sake, but can choose that which brings him greatest joy.

We're giving the entire family a savings' cushion, so that we can handle any misfortune that may happen in the coming year.

We're giving our children a fully-paid for home with heat, plenty of food, and family harmony.

We're giving all three of our kids living examples of how to be good stewards of their resources. Those are the real gifts our kids will receive at Christmas, and throughout the year.

Will my children be hindered in any way by not receiving iPhones, iPads, Wii consoles or the like? Not one bit. In fact, I think they will be better off, for the more modest gifts that we did choose. We put real thought into each gift. We chose items that filled needs for each child. I'd never send one of my daughters off to university with a new IPhone, but no decent coat to wear, or off in canvas sneakers to tromp through cold, wet grass, instead of good new boots. Gadgety electronic devices are fun, and we certainly like fun, too. But sometimes, I think parents have to be just that, the parents, and choose gifts that meet needs before wants.

Our Christmas morning will be full of the fun and excitement of giving and receiving gifts. I don't even feel sad or guilty that we're not buying more extravagant gifts. I feel like we've chosen some of the most appropriate gifts that our kids could receive, and that is a very satisfying feeling. When you know that you're doing the right thing, you can stand tall and have peace over your choice.

Hand-made stocking stuffers for my daughters

I wanted to share with you a fairly easy project that I've been working on this past week. These will go into my daughters's Christmas stockings. I know that they'll be pleased, and the headbands will fill some of that "stocking real estate". (Our Christmas stockings are too big.)

The couple of times that I've been down on campus at my daughters' university, I've seen all the girls wearing knit headbands. And they were even selling them in the general merch section of the campus bookstore (for about $15 a piece!)

We have a lot of yarn hanging around the house. I feel that we might as well put it to use. I made knit headbands for each daughter, using this leftover yarn, some wooden buttons and paint, and a small choker charm from my own girlhood (remember the 70s and chokers?).

One headband takes about a half ball of yarn. I knit these in the garter stitch (knit on both sides), and doubled up the yarns to make the headbands thicker, and knit faster.

And lest you think I must knit quickly or well, let me tell you, this is definitely a beginner's project. I knit like a 6 year old! One daughter keeps telling me that someday she'll teach me how to knit like a grown woman.

But these turned out pretty nicely, and didn't take too many afternoons of work (an experienced knitter could probably crank these out in 2 to 3 hours).

After sewing the bands into loops, I added some trim to each -- a knit bow with a center made from a piece of my girlhood jewelry (a china "cameo"that I stitched to the bow), and two doubled crochet flowers, with button "centers" (the buttons are wood ones that I painted with acrylic paints).

These projects were made entirely from materials that I had on hand, which makes me happy. You know how it is. If you knit, leftover yarn seems to fill the corners of the house.


Busy days! What do you like best -- making or buying gifts? I think I find fun in both activities. I was out shopping on Friday, and really enjoyed the "choosing" part. But I also take pride in the things that I make.

Pause

Just breathe.

It feels like there is so much that needs to be done. In truth, nothing really NEEDS to get done. I know that, I do. But the anxiety surrounding the holidays got to me yesterday. I needed to take a breath, close my eyes, and listen to something beautiful.

Do something special for yourself today, and take a moment to just listen to a favorite Christmas song. Slow down, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and forget about gifts to be finished, baked, bought or ordered, the wrapping paper, the cookies, the big dinner.

You will still have plenty of time to rush about, and get it all done. But for this moment, just pause.


There are many Christmas songs that I love. But there's this one song, when I hear it the tears flow. I thought I'd share it today. (If it won't load for you, here's the link)

Audrey Assad -- Winter Snow

A last-minute manly man gift

A shoe shine kit for my son, who works in an office and wears dress shoes every weekday.

The only thing that I had to go out and buy was the tin of brown polish. The rest I had, here at home.

The case was an old-fashioned men's shave kit case, the kind older gents used before 911. I bought it as a gift for someone, who unexpectedly passed away just a short time later, never even taking the tags off of it.

The mat is flannelized rubber sheeting. I had 2 large rectangles of this leftover from making crib mattress pads for my daughters, 18 years ago. I used pinking sheers to cut a piece large enough to place 2 dress shoes on for polishing, to reduce the risk of getting polish on the carpet. I rolled it up and secured with a large rubber band.

The polishing cloths are squares that I cut from flannel scraps leftover from making myself some pj pants. Again, I used pinking shears for the edges. I made two cloths, and placed them into a sandwich bag, just to keep the kit all clean and tidy.

The tin of shoe polish cost a whopping $1.86 including tax, at a local grocery super-store. When I walked in the door, I picked up the week's flyers. On the front page of the home and clothing flyer was a coupon for 15% off anything from the shoe department -- talk about good fortune!

A manly man gift. Almost done with my son's gifts.