December Grocery Recap: Spent $77.98 for the Month

Santa brought everyone individual caramel-apple "kits"
that's a mini-tub of caramel dip under the apple

Sooner or later, it was bound to happen. I only grocery shopped once in an entire month. We simply had so much food in the house that we didn't need a second trip to the store. I went mid-month for a curbside pickup at Walmart. 

I spent $77.98 on groceries (food-only) for the month of December. This doesn't include grocery items that I bought for gifts but does include special items I bought for Christmas brunch, New Year's Eve dinner, and New Year's day dinner. Keep in mind, though, that I am relying heavily on my freezer and back-up pantry storage. 

It's now been over 2 weeks since shopping. I'll put in another order sometime next week. Aside from knowing I'll buy milk, I haven't given any thought to what to order. That's a pretty good indication that we're still well-stocked.

What I bought:

Dairy

8 oz Swiss cheese, $1.68 (for New Year's Eve mushroom burgers)

1 gallon whole milk (for yogurt), 6 gallons 2% milk (drinking/cooking), $2.18 ea

16 oz whipping cream, $1.98 (for making eggnog)

Produce (fresh, frozen, and packaged)

9 lbs clementines, $1.04/lb (they were out of oranges, so I got extra tangerines at the orange price)

2 heads cabbage, 40 cents/lb

10 bananas, 42 cents/lb

4 avocados, 58 cents/each

6-pack individual applesauce, $1.84 (for Christmas brunch)

20 oz frozen shredded hash browns, $1.76 (for Christmas brunch)

2 10-oz bags frozen mushrooms, $1.98 ea (for mushroom burgers and general cooking)

large bag frozen red and yellow pepper strips, $1.92 ( for Christmas brunch)

1 bundle organic celery, $1.26 ea

2 heads iceberg lettuce, 40 cents ea

3 lb-bag fuji apples, $3.23 for the bag

2 green peppers, 76 cents ea

2 6-oz bags dried apricots, $2.87 ea (for general eating, plus making a holiday treat)

Pantry

1 10-oz bag dark chocolate (60% cacao) chips, $1.98 (for making the holiday treat w/dried apricots)

2 boxes Toasty O's cereal (GV-brand Cheerios), $1.23 ea

6-pack individual caramel dip for apples (Santa's surprise), $3.58

36 oz honey, $7.92

Refrigerated non-dairy

14 oz tofu, $2.64 (for making Chocolate-Tofu Silk, New Year's Eve tradition)

4-pack canned biscuit dough, $2.14 (for making pigs in a blanket  some night and for making quickie donuts on New Year's day)

Easy shopping month. I expect January will be equally easy and limited -- we're still well-stocked with staples. Watch! Now that I've said that, I'll have a super-spendy month! We'll just have to wait and see.

How to Write a Meaningful Personal Thank-You Note (with Examples--AKA The Cheat Sheet)

Writing thank-you notes can be such a difficult task for almost all of us. Yet, these simple acts of gratitude really make others feel appreciated. Beyond making others feel special, your gratitude will benefit you by boosting your mood. It's a win-win opportunity -- you make someone else feel appreciated, and you feel better, happier, and have more general thankfulness in return. 

My step-mom is one of the best thank-you note writers that I've ever known. Not only do her notes reveal true gratitude, but her penmanship is impeccable, and her promptness is amazing.  I have learned a lot from her attention to this gracious act. I save many of her thank-you's, as they provide a springboard for my own notes. 

My thank-you note writing process

I begin before I begin. That is, I set my mood towards gratitude.

I take a moment to just think about the giver and their gift. I think of how thoughtful this person is and has always been in my life. I mentally recall my first reaction when opening the gift or receiving the kindness, finding that moment of excitement and gratitude that I first experienced. This last one is why writing a thank-you note is so much easier when done immediately after opening a gift. Finally, I boost my motivation with the following personal knowledge: as a person of faith, writing a thank-you note is an act of service to another human being and therefore is pleasing to my Creator.

Next, I often write a rough draft, using my laptop. Knowing that I can delete or correct anything I write opens the floodgates to my writing.

Finally, I follow a basic formula.

My writing formula (or the actual writing)

Your basic personal thank-you note should have 6 sections. (For relationships where you're more familiar with the giver, you can also share more personal life information in one or two lines at the end, such as "Did I tell you that . . .") Business thank-you notes have their own formula and should err on the side of formality. 

So, here are the sections for a personal thank-you note:

1) opening 

Dear ___ (the traditional greeting, always appropriate, and should be the only greeting used in business thank-you notes)

Hi ____ (an acceptable informal greeting for very close friends and family members)

2) Briefly express gratitude and name the gift or act of kindness (1-2 sentences)

I wanted to take the time to thank you for the ____.

I'm so grateful for the ___ because . . .

I feel blessed to have such a thoughtful friend/aunt/neighbor in my life. Your gift of ___ touched me. Thank you!

3) main content (1-3 sentences)

Add details about his/her act of kindness or gift that inform of your future use of this item or how it benefited you

You know me well. The ____ is just my style/color/size. I'll be wearing/using this ____ all winter/semester/year.

I'll be able to use your generous holiday check for ____, which is something that I've wanted for a long time/needed for my upcoming ____.

The dinner that you brought to us was perfect in every way. We enjoyed the ____ and ____ so much.

4) personal recollection of time spent with the giver and/or event/opportunity that you anticipate seeing them in the future (1 -2 sentences)

I was thinking about the time when you/I visited and we had such fun. I look forward to seeing you again at/in ____.

5) restate gratitude

Once again, thank you so much for the ____. I am touched by your thoughtfulness.

6) closing

much love, with love, love from, (for close friends and family)

warmly, sincerely, (always acceptable with personal thank-you's)

regards, best, best regards, (appropriate for business thank you's)

7) (optional for personal thank-you notes) add something of you in your thank-you note

If you're known for signing your name with a flourish, add that. If you like to doodle, add a quick, little, and tasteful (like a flower, cat, dog or something that reflects you) doodle just below your signature. Or, include a personal photo in your note. Adding something of you takes any formulaic edge off of your thank-you note.

When is it okay to typewrite your thank-you?

Business thank-you's, such as for an interview, may be typewritten and can even be emailed where time is of the essence (a hiring decision or moving to the next level of interviews is imminent). I have read that both typewritten and handwritten business thank-you's are acceptable. This may vary according to your industry/field. If you do type a business thank-you, experts say that you should still hand-sign the note. 

However, a business-related social event or gift should always be handwritten, such as a gift from your boss/co-worker or a dinner party in your boss's home.

If you have some impediment to handwriting, such as arthritis, typing would be seen as acceptable for personal thank-you notes. Even then, a post script (p.s.) could be added with a message such as, "Sorry this is typed -- my arthritis is flaring.) It's more important that a thank-you be written at all, even typewritten, than neglecting to show one's appreciation.

Obviously, it's okay to type a rough draft. Typing may be considerably easier than writing out a rough draft by hand. I often type rough drafts for short correspondences. It's a trick to jump-start me into writing the actual thank-you or brief greeting.

When is it okay to substitute a phone call or email for a thank-you note?

According to Emily Post, it's okay to substitute a phone call or email if you received kindness (such as meals provided) or gifts when infirmed. 

I would also add that if handwriting a thank-you would make the other person feel awkward because the relationship is more casual or the act of kindness (such as sending an ecard) has a more casual nature to it, then a phone call, email thanks, or reciprocating the kindness (such as sending your own ecard to the original sender) is more appropriate. After all, saying thanks is meant to make the other person feel appreciated, not awkward.

I know writing thank-you's isn't high on our list of fun activities. When all else fails and I'm having trouble finding motivation, I remember that this act of gratitude is a good exercise for my heart and it brings joy to someone else. The bonus, if you're one who loves beautiful papers and cards or has lovely penmanship, here's an opportunity to use those lovelies. 

Wrapping Up 2020

Charles Dickens could not have summarized my experience in 2020 any better, from A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

For me, this was a year of many firsts, many of which I hope will soon be lasts. 

• the first time I ever virtually attended church
• my first Zoom meeting (although I did do Google hangouts for classes a couple of years ago)
• my first grocery home delivery (but not my first grocery pickup -- I did that one a couple of years ago)
• building my first seriously-considered emergency pantry, with enough to weather 6 months, if necessary
• the first time all four of us have been at home together, daily, for months on end 
• my first Mother's Day without my son present
• our first July Easter egg hunt
• my first time wearing a mask to go someplace and having the rest of my community staring back at me from behind their own masks
• our first Thanksgiving al fresco, in rain and cold
• our first garage Christmas brunch and dinner
• the first time I completely shopped online for a year's worth of birthday and holiday gifts
• the first year I missed the great clearance sales after all of the holidays

Some of the happenings from this past year were the best of times, such as: 

• spending an abundance of time with both of my daughters during a period in their lives when they might otherwise be occupied, 
• having more daytime conversations with my husband
• establishing a more regular correspondence with my son and daughter-in-law
• getting on track with my exercise routine enough that I stayed with it even through December
• not fussing about my appearance as we weren't going anywhere
• eating all of our food prepared in our own home 
• spending more time outdoors 
• spending more time reading
• more time to study scripture
• reconnecting with a church from my childhood and having two worship services to watch each Sunday and two mid-week group studies to follow
• learning new technologies
• walking in the next neighborhood over from my home, daily, and seeing their holiday decor -- 4th of July, Halloween/autumn, Christmas
• re-learning the art of written correspondence (sending cards and notes to distant friends and family)

And some of the happenings from this past year were the worst of times, such as:

• our vacuum died and we went without a vacuum for 5 months, because I had to evaluate replacements completely online (we did have a stick-vac for hard flooring as a back-up, but it just didn't get the carpet very clean)
• running out of yeast and white flour then having to make-do for several months; but at least we weren't among the many who couldn't find bathroom tissue (bread we can do without, toilet paper not so much)
• about the same time as I ran out of yeast, discovering bugs in my cornmeal, necessitating throwing away about 5 pounds of grains
• not seeing my church family, good friends, and extended family in-person at all for 10 months -- this has been especially hard for me
• having to put an interview to volunteer in a local art museum on hold, indefinitely, while the pandemic rages
• illness in the spring which left me exhausted and brain-fogged
• not taking a vacation or a day-outing in a year, although in summer I did go down to the beach occasionally for an hour at a time
• our only car's battery died in March, we ended up buying a year's subscription to AAA
• later, same only car got a flat tire and the jack wasn't working, at least we had AAA at this point
• we had a minor gas leak in our house -- of course, this was late at night; these things always happen late at night
• these last three things could have happened during a non-pandemic year, but they were made worse by not wanting to have repair people in our house/property

All of the above were merely trials and inconveniences. Sadly, we also lost a family member this past year, a cousin of my husband. My heart has broken for her husband and two daughters. The lesson for me in their loss is that no matter how difficult our own circumstances are, there is always someone else who has suffered more profoundly.

This sounds like such a downer on which to end this post. However, I know that this family member would tell us all to live our lives like we've never lived before. There's that famous quote (often inscribed on knick-knacks and placards for the home) from professor and author William W. Purkey: "You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, and live like it's heaven on earth." I'll take Purkey's sentiments to heart as I take on 2021, living my life as it's never been lived before.

How about you? Did you have many firsts in this past year? And how many of them do you hope will also be lasts? Do you have good takeaways as well as bad from 2020?

Merry Christmas!

the final Christmas postcard from my collection (see below for info)

 

Christmas Morning

    "Jo was the first to wake in the gray dawn of Christmas morning. No stockings hung at the fireplace, and for a moment she felt as much disappointed as she did long ago, when her little sock fell down because it was so crammed with goodies. Then she remembered her mother's promise, and slipping her hand under her pillow, drew out a little crimson-covered book. She knew it very well, for it was that beautiful old story of the best life ever lived, and Jo felt that it was a true guide-book for any pilgrim going on a long journey. She woke Meg with a "Merry Christmas." and bade her see what was under her pillow. A green-covered book appeared, with the same picture inside, and a few words written by their mother, which made their one present very precious in their eyes. Presently Beth and Amy woke, to rummage and find their little books also, -- one dove-colored, the other blue; and all sat looking at and talking about them, while the east grew rosy with the coming day."

    From Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888

Christmastide

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love Incarnate, Love Divine;

Worship we our Jesus:

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love shall be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and to all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

         Christina Georgina Rossetti, 1830-1894

The postcard at the top of this post is my favorite. It may look older than the others that I showed you, but I know from the stamp that was used that it is the more recent one. This green stamp was issued in 1940. The cancellation on the stamp reads "BUY DEFENSE SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS." The use of this cancellation began in 1941 and was replaced with "BUY WAR SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS" in 1942. There's a reverse image of a cancellation on the front side of the postcard, suggesting that the ink was fresh on the card or letter just before this one when this one was cancelled and then set on top of it. That cancellation: "New York, Dec 20, 1941" as best as I can make out. 

There is a pre-printed message on this card: "To add to your enjoyment at Christmas time and throughout the coming year. Christian Herald is to be sent to you as a gift." This is followed by "From: Mrs. Frank Panko." The Christian Herald was a weekly newspaper which began publication in the US in 1878. This was evidently a gift subscription notification postcard and holiday greeting postcard in one.

Preparations continue

I made about 1¼ quarts of eggnog Thursday morning and it has been chilling since. We'll offer it at brunch this morning. My cost was about $2.25 total, or about $1.80/quart. That's about $1 less per quart (when bought in 1-quart carton) or about 80 cents less per quart (when bought in 1/2 gal), Walmart's prices. The biggest part of the cost for homemade eggnog is the heavy cream. I used not quite 1½ cups of heavy cream and the rest 2% milk. It might be less expensive to use half-and-half instead of heavy cream and milk, but heavy cream is what I had on hand. 

I also baked a ham on Thursday to slice and reheat for today's brunch. Our brunch menu will be sliced ham, an egg, sausage, and cheese casserole (I assembled it the night before), pepper, onion and mushroom sauté, Crèche bread, applesauce and tangerines, hash browns, juice, and coffee/tea/cocoa/eggnog.

And I made a couple of pizzas on Thursday to use for Christmas dinner tonight (sending some home with my son and daughter-in-law for their dinner). Maybe this will surprise you, but I don't cook a big Christmas dinner for my family. Some years, we get take-out from the only McDonalds in our town that is open on Christmas Day. Other years, I make pizza or something simple like chicken pot pie. Side dishes for our Christmas dinner consists only of fresh fruit, like tangerines. Nothing fancy. By the evening of Christmas Day, I'm quite tired and don't have it in me to do a big dinner. I guess I start my Boxing Day a little before the 26th.

I just want to add . . .

Merry Christmas, all!

Merry Christmas Eve

another vintage Christmas postcard
text: "Dear Ada, I wish you and Mr Hing a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. from Russell
postmark Newark, MO, Dec 20 (can't read the year)

A Seasonable Sight

    "At last the Rat succeeded in decoying him to the table, and had just got seriously to work with the sardine-opener when sounds were heard from the fore-court without -- sounds like the scuffling of small feet in the gravel and a confused murmur of tiny voices, while broken sentences reached them -- "Now, all in a line -- hold the lantern up a bit, Tommy -- clear your throats first -- no coughing after I say one, two, three. -- Where's young Bill? -- Here, come on, do, we're all a-waiting -- -- --."

    "What's up?" inquired the Rat, pausing in his labours.

    "I think it must be the field-mice," replied the Mole, with a touch of pride in his manner. "They go round carol-singing regularly at this time of the year. They're quite an institution in these parts. And they never pass me over -- they come to Mole End last of all; and I used to give them hot drinks, and supper too sometimes, when I could afford it. It will be like old times to hear them again."

    "Let's have a look at them!" cried the Rat, jumping up and running to the door.

    It was a pretty sight, and a seasonable one, that met their eyes when they flung the door open. In the fore-court, lit by the dim rays of a horn lantern, some eight or ten little field-mice stood in a semi-circle, red worsted comforters round their throats, their fore-paws thrust deep into their pockets, their feet jigging for warmth. With bright beady eyes, they glanced shyly at each other, sniggering a little, sniffing and applying coat-sleeves a good deal. As the door opened, one of the older ones that carried the lantern was just saying, "Now then, one, two, three!" and forthwith their shrill little voices uprose on the air, singing one of the old-time carols that their forefathers composed in fields that were fallow and held by frost, or when snow-bound in chimney corners, and handed down to be sung in the miry street to lamp-lit windows at Yule-time."

                From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, 1859-1932

The Wind in the Willows was one of my favorite childhood books. I love the description that Grahame gave to the field-mice turned carolers. His words drew pictures in my imagination. 

                                     

About the postcard at the top of this post, using my phone as a magnifying glass, I could read the manufacturer's information along one edge. It states, "Christmas Series Number 546, 1910 A.G. Meeker, N.Y." I was just curious about the manufacturer info, so I googled this. I found another of this same postcard on ebay priced at $8. I bought this one for about $1. Interesting . . .

Finishing up the preparations

I baked the almond-filled Crèche Bread this afternoon. I made a full-batch of refrigerator roll dough, which meant that I had a half-batch leftover. 

So, I made a bunch of chubby-looking crescent rolls (16 in all) for the freezer. I can reheat these as needed to go with January's soup suppers.

Christmas Day Plans

We've invited my son and daughter-in-law over for Christmas Day brunch, al fresco once again. It may be dry in the morning through early afternoon. We're hoping to have brunch on the patio around the fire ring. The temperature should be close to what we had on Thanksgiving Day, so do-able, but chilly. If it does rain, we'll move into the garage. The garage is my least-favorite option, but as I have been telling myself for 10 months, it is what it is. I'm trying to see the possibilities and not focus on what we will be missing this year. We'll simply make the best of what we've been given.

How about you? How have your holiday plans changed this year from your usual? Have you thought of ways to celebrate and celebrate well, despite unfavorable circumstances? I was thinking about the book, The Diary of Anne Frank and the scene where the family celebrated Hanukkah.  I realized that I have a lot for which to be grateful. The minor inconvenience of eating a holiday meal in our garage pales compared to situations others have endured throughout history. A garage meal may not be pretty, but it will be with loved ones.

Have a Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Wednesday Before Christmas

Martineau, Robert Braithwaite, The Christmas Hamper, 1850

Turkey, Roasted

"Ingredients. -- 1 turkey, 1 to 2 pounds of sausage meat, 1 to 1½ pounds of veal forcemeat, 2 or 3 slices of bacon, 1 pint of good gravy, bread sauce, fat for basting.

Method. -- Prepare and truss the turkey. Fill the crop with sausage meat, and put the veal forcemeat inside the body of the bird. Skewer the bacon over the breast, baste well with hot fat, and roast in front of a clear fire or in a moderate oven from 1¾ to 2¼ hours, according to age and size of bird. Baste frequently, and about 20 minutes before serving remove the bacon to allow the breast to brown. Remove the trussing strings, serve on a hot dish, and send the gravy and bread sauce to table in sauce-boats.

Time. -- From 1¾ to 2¼ hours. Average Cost, 10 shillings to 16 shillings."

        From Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton, 1836-1865

I'll get that clear fire going straight away. Say, where do I put that sausage meat? I couldn't find bread sauce on Walmart's website. What can I substitute?

a few explanations

forcemeat  a uniform mixture of lean meat and fat that has been ground together, either coarse (like sausage) or fine (like pâté).

bread sauce  a seasoned, milk and cream-based sauce that is thickened with bread crumbs 

crop  a pouch at the base of the bird's esophagus just before the stomach. In live fowl, food is stored and broken down into smaller units in the crop before passing into the stomach.

value of 10 shillings  one shilling from Mrs. Beeton's era was equal to 12 pence. So 10 shillings were equal to 120 old pence (prior to decimalization). 120 old pence were equal to half a pound. To give some perspective on the value of 10 shillings or half a pound, a scullery maid earned 1 pound per month in 1860 England. It would take her 2 weeks of work to earn enough to buy a turkey. A bank clerk or shopkeeper might earn 1 pound per week. At his wages, it would take a half-week's work to earn enough for a turkey. I guess turkeys were never loss-leaders at the market in Mrs. Beeton's era.

Cooking and baking on my end

The baking (for gifting) is done and in the tins. I will bake Crèche bread (an almond filled loaf shaped like the swaddled baby Jesus) later today to serve at Christmas brunch. I'll make a cooked-egg eggnog on Thursday. Eggnog was outrageously-priced at Walmart this year, at $5.22 for a half-gallon. No thank you. I'll make my own. And with that, the special holiday baking and treat-making for the year will be finished.

Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday Before Christmas

https://freevintageillustrations.com/free-vintage-christmas-cards-with-decorated-tree/

 

A Christmas Tree

"I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers, and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with movable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs; there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men -- and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat boxes, peep show boxes, and all kinds of boxes; there were trinkets for the elder girls, far brighter than any grown-up gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smelling-bottles, conversation-cards, bouquet-holders, real fruit, made artificially dazzling with gold leaf, imitation apples, pears, and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, 'There was everything, and more.' "

                From Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens, 1812-1870

In addition to making treats, I've been busy wrapping gifts. One of my gifts is an Italian dinner in a bag, as I mentioned in this post on gifts to add to your grocery order. Here's how I wrapped it all up. I had a brown paper craft bag (reused from last year), red tissue paper (also reused), red ribbon (again reused), and a printed page of clip art (illustration of different pasta shapes) that I individualized.

After cutting out the clip art, I glued it onto the front of the bag, then filled the bag with the Italian food items, added the tissue, and tied with the ribbon. Simple enough.

For the next gift, I didn't have enough gift wrap. And the newspaper that I thought I had can't be found (we don't take a regular paper, but get one free every few months). But what I did have are grocery store ads. Colorful, but it doesn't quite say "Christmas". 

I wrapped the box in the ads and took it out to the garage.

Using silver spray paint, I covered the ads.

I added some diagonal swipes of gold to the silver to help obscure any ad markings that might peek through. And finally, I topped the gift with a bow.

In the kitchen, I'm still whipping up goodies for gifting -- Monday, a batch of thin mint cookies and some individual cocoa mixes.

The cocoa mix is simply powdered milk, cocoa powder, and confectioner's sugar. Layered in the plastic cone on top of the cocoa mix are mini chocolate chips, then holiday-colored baking sprinkles, and finally mini marshmallows. When I decorated cookies over the weekend, I saved the baking sprinkles that didn't stick to the icing. I think they look festive layered in the cocoa cones.

I hope your week is off to a great beginning!

The Monday Before Christmas

https://www.freeimg.net/photo/68446/blizzard-snowflurry-snowflakes-snowfall

   

Snowfall

    "It was a fortnight before Christmas, and everyone agreed that this would be a real Christmas, such as had not been seen for many years. There was a delightful cold nip in the air, as exhilarating as good news; the sky was grey and overcast, and the streets were covered with a thick layer of snow.

    Few sights are more charming than that of a town covered with new-fallen, clean, white snow, and how pretty it is to watch the tiny flakes drift downward through the air as if they were a wedding in the sky and the fairies were throwing confetti.

    At this time of the year the afternoons are short and the daylight quickly fades, so that the narrow streets which lead off the main roads of a great city like London assume an air more and more mysterious. The passer-by looks anxiously about him as his business takes him down some dark alley, for this is the season of goblins and pixies and elves -- perhaps even the will-o'-the-wisps are in town."

           From The Mysterious Toyshop by Cyril W. Beaumont, 1891-1976

Not real snow, but snow-flocking in an aerosol can lightly spritzed over cedar boughs and pinecones from my yard. Ribbon-tied candle jars with LED tea lights adds a gentle glow. This evergreen centerpiece is on a sideboard adjacent to the dining area.

Some very quick and easy candy -- Dark Chocolate-Dipped Apricots

I used a 6-oz bag of pitted dried apricots and 3/4 cup of dark chocolate baking pieces for some very easy to make fruity candy. I melted the chocolate pieces in a bowl in the microwave in short bursts of time, beginning with 30 seconds and reducing to about 12 seconds, stirring in between each cooking period. After the chocolate was throughly melted, I quickly dipped each dried apricot, about 3/4, and laid on a sheet of waxed paper to harden. Here's how they turned out.

The batch yielded 26 pieces or about 10 oz of candy.

Have a great day!

Baking, Baking, Baking

While I know many people begin their holiday baking around the first of December, I try to delay holiday baking until about the week before Christmas. I do so for several reasons:

• having Christmas cookies feels more special if we only eat them for about 10 days of the year
• I stay on my healthy-eating track until later in December (and do far less damage to my waistline as a result)
• I'm busy with gathering and wrapping gifts in the earlier part of the season and therefore don't get around to holiday baking until relatively the last minute
• the treats are fresher for gifting on Christmas day to my son and daughter-in-law and to our neighbors, as well as for our family's consumption on Christmas
• that last week blitz of cookie and treat making, with Christmas music playing in the background, really gets us all in the Christmas spirit

So those are my reasons for not baking until this last week before Christmas. Now, onto my list of what I'm baking. It looks like a lot, but we hand these out to a lot of friends and family.

• gingerbread men, using this very frugal recipe
• decorated sugar cookies (a family favorite -- we all decorate the cut-out cookies)
• caramel nutty bars, recipe here
• thin mint fake-outs (like the Girl Scout cookie, but only uses 4 ingredients: Ritz crackers, chocolate chips, vegetable shortening, peppermint oil)
• spiced nuts, using this recipe
• chocolate covered pretzels, coated with crushed peppermint candies
• dark chocolate-dipped dried apricots
• white chocolate-dipped oatmeal, cranberry, pecan drop cookies, using this recipe

What's on your holiday baking list? 

Do you have a favorite holiday cookie or treat? Mine has always been gingerbread men. Now that I'm older (and have a much slower metabolism), I opt for mini gingerbread men and women, using tiny cookie cutters that my daughters played with as young girls and later found their way into my cookie cutter jar.

How to Make an Arrow Gift Bow from Strips of Gift Wrap Paper

I linked to a star bow made from gift wrap in my post on gift wrapping using recycled materials. Today, I wanted to show you an easier bow to make from strips of gift wrap, an arrow bow. 

In a previous incarnation, I did a stint in the gift wrapping department of a boutique department store. We made our own bows for our packages, using ribbon. We had a big poofy bow that we used on packages to be taken by the customer. But we also had a flatter bow for the packages that were to be shipped. As I said, we used ribbon to make these bows. However, strips of gift wrap paper work well on the flatter arrow bow. A single bow takes about 5 minutes to make, and they get quicker and easier with each successive bow.

Here, I've used a long scrap of gift wrap that was leftover after wrapping a box. The strip is not quite 2 inches wide by about 18 inches long.

For a small to medium size box, I cut my paper into two 3/4-inch wide strips. (For a large box, I would cut the scraps into 1.5-inch wide strips. With the wider strips, I would also need more  length to each strip, perhaps about two 30-inch lengths.)

At one end of a strip, wrap and turn the end of the paper around and under the rest of the strip, making a point, as below.

Use a small piece of clear tape on the back side to hold the point in place. Every time you turn another point, use a small piece of tape to secure it. 

In the gift wrap department, we were using woven ribbon which was easier to hold in one's hand as we turned points, therefore not needing to tape each turn. However, gift wrap paper tends to slip around and curl up on itself and taping is an easy solution for holding in place.

With the long end of the strip, turn an equal-sized opposing point and tape in place on the back side. It will look like below when flipped right side up.

Form an additional pair of opposing points, making them slightly larger than the first pair, taping on the back side.

To make a third pair of opposing points, you'll likely need to extend the length of your strip by taping the second strip of gift wrap to the back side. I chose a spot near the last point to tape this strip on, making the seam less visible. If you zoom in, you can see the merge point of the two strips is below the pointed end.

Complete a third pair of opposing points and staple in the center of the bow. (If you were making a bow of wider paper for a larger package, you may want four sets of points, total.)

Trim the extending end to about 2.5 to 3 inches from the outside point and give it a decorative finish.

With a scrap of your last strip, make a small loop about 1-inch in diameter. Tape it on the underside.

Place the loop, seam side down, on top of your bow. As best as you can, fit a stapler into the loop and secure the loop onto the bow. Turn the bow around and staple into the other side of the loop.

The points on each end should roughly line up, as below. What made this bow our "mailing" bow was that when flattened inside a shipping bow, it still looked good.

My paper bows are never perfect, but I think they look nice on my packages, nonetheless. And as a bonus, the bows use a scrap of paper that would otherwise be thrown away.

Happy holiday gift-wrapping!

Vintage Christmas Postcards

I mentioned in the comments last week that I collect vintage postcards. That must sound like such an obscure thing to collect. For me, it makes perfect sense. I'm attracted to paper ephemera, especially vintage items. One of my daughters' and my favorite activities when on day excursions or longer is to cull through the inventory of secondhand/vintage shops. A vintage postcard, priced at 50 cents to $1 each, is an inexpensive souvenir to bring home. The images are charming and I find myself fascinated in reading the messages on the back sides.

Piecing together a superficial idea of the sender and recipient

Often times, these artifacts are no more than a simple "wishing you well" or "happy holidays". On rare occasion, though, I can glean enough information from the writer to then do some sleuthing about the recipient. By combining the address label, postmark, and some of the text on one card, I was able to uncover when the recipient lived and where they were born. I was also able to look up the address on a real estate site and see a photo of the house where this individual resided and when it was built (1908). BTW, the card is postmarked 1913, making it 107 years old! If this appears to be terribly invasive of another's privacy, consider that this postcard and a batch of other correspondences were sold or donated to a third party, with the complete knowledge that someone would read the contents. To me, this is no more invasive than reading excerpts from antique diaries.  

One of the surprising details of these postcards is that many writers used pencil instead of ink. In our ball-point world, we don't often think to use a pencil after our school years are over. However, pencils might have been more user-friendly than pens 100 years ago. No bottles of ink or blotting paper needed. In addition, fountain pen ink can smudge if the paper gets wet, and a postcard's text could be exposed to the elements when in transit by post. Studying vintage postcards opened a whole new line of study for me. 

A bit of postcard history

In the early part of the 20th century, postcards were the inexpensive method of communication with distant family and friends. In 1898, the cost to mail a postcard in the US was 1 cent, whereas mailing a letter cost 2 cents for every ounce. During the war years, from Nov. 1917 through June 1919, postal costs increased to 2 cents/postcard and 3 cents/ounce for letters. For the most part, in the history of US postal rates since then, (there was a glitch from 1925 to 1928 where postcards were charged as much as a 1-ounce letter), it's been cheaper to send a postcard than to mail a letter.

Compared to making a phone call, sending a postcard was even more of a bargain. Long distance phone calling was not as accessible for the average American until November of 1951, when the first direct-dialed long distance call was placed. Prior to direct-dialing, phone calls had to be routed through an operator. Even with the added convenience of direct-dialing, long distance phone calls were an extravagance for many. In the 1950s, a 3-minute long distance call placed during daytime hours cost $3.70. (However, there were discounts for Sunday and evening calls.) During this same period, a postcard cost 2 cents. 

In addition to the cost advantage, postcards were often favored over phone calls because they left the recipient with something to hold onto after the correspondence was complete -- a memento to treasure. While you and I are accustomed to photo images on the postcards that we send and receive, vintage postcards were embellished with beautiful artwork and were often printed with seasonal and holiday greetings. This made them an ideal way to send a Christmas or Easter message to a distant friend or family member with minimal cost. 

Of course, the drawbacks to such an inexpensive form of long distance communication included a lack of privacy and space limitation. Often times, as much information as would fit was shared on the backside of the card, with tiny writing neatly scrawled across the card's back. Sometimes, the card would be the sender's only opportunity within a several-month gap of time to mention important details of life back at home. This last bit makes collecting postcards something that appeals to those fascinated by cultural history.

Here's the full text from the Christmas postcard at the top of this page.

postmark: Dec 17, 1913 Sidney Ind

"Sidney, Ind. Dec 16, '13

Dear Eva and Will, We wish you the Happiest Christmas you have ever had. I thought I had told you Lela was married. She has been married three months to a Mr. Mc Near. They live in Liberty Mills. He is a blacksmith and carpenter. Her address is Mrs. Ben Mc Near, Liberty Mills. Write her a card, we miss her oh so much. Aunt Manda"

Charming, yes?

Besides all of this nerdy stuff, my vintage holiday postcards double as decor pieces.

I tried the canned pumpkin and cake mix hack with my homemade spice cake mix!

Kris had mentioned using canned pumpkin with a box of spice cake mix in the comments from my post on gingerbread with homemade spice cake mix last week.  Kris said she uses 1 box of spice cake mix, 1 can of pumpkin puree, and 1/2 cup of water, mixed together then baked in a 9 X 13-inch baker. I said I might give it a try with my homemade spice cake mix. I did. And it worked beautifully and was delicious!

Here's what I did:

I had a little homemade spice cake mix leftover but not nearly enough for this application. So I made another batch and added it to my leftover mix, until I had about 3  1/3 cups of homemade spice cake mix (the amount that is roughly what you get in a commercial box of cake mix).

I stirred in one 15-oz can of pumpkin puree and a little over 1/2 cup of water (about 1 extra tablespoon until the mixture looked spreadable, like brownie batter).

I spread this mixture in a buttered 9 X 13-inch Pyrex baking dish. It was a thick batter, not thin like regular cake batter. 

I baked it at 350 F for almost exactly 30 minutes, using a toothpick to determine doneness.

After it cooled, I topped it with the cream cheese topping below.

Reduced-Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (enough for 12 cupcakes or a thin layer on a 1/4 sheet cake -- 9 X 13 inch)

Mix together until smooth:

• 4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter, very soft
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

After the mixture is smooth, refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up, then spread on cake(s).

This is a dense cake that I would say is a lot like a snack cake, but lower in fat (no added oil). With the not-terribly-sweet cream cheese frosting, the cake makes a decent breakfast cake in addition to being good for desserts and snacks.

Thanks Kris for sharing this idea. I'm happy to say that it worked well with the homemade spice cake mix.

If you're following a cake mix hack using a homemade cake mix, you'll want about 3  1/4 to 3  1/3 cups of your homemade cake mix. You may find, as I did, that homemade cake mix is possibly denser than commercial mixes. So slightly less mix (the 3  1/4 cup amount) or else slightly more water/liquid (as in 1 extra tablespoon for the recipe) may be appropriate.

If you are substituting pumpkin that you cooked and pureed at home, the 1/2 cup water may be just right for 3  1/3 cups of homemade cake mix. Home-cooked pumpkin puree is often slightly more watery than commercially canned puree.

Happy, healthy baking!