Hello dear friends! Well! We are finally having one of those cozy days I have been longing for. Fall certainly is slow at arriving this year, but it is glorious!
Which reminds me! We had a new wood stove installed this week. Our old one had some cracked soapstone tiles and was getting pretty old, so we took the plunge and bought a new one. By the time we factor in the costs for repairs to the old one and there's a tax rebate on the new one, we weren't saving much, so we thought it was wisest to just replace the old one while we were able. It's not as cute as the old one, but it is more efficient. And the nicest thing about it is that it has a built-in hotplate. Made sauerbraten on it today. Yum!
Penny Wise
Every year we see those bags of "deer carrots" at our local gas stations. Do they have "deer carrots" around you? They are twenty-five pound bags of carrots that they sell to feed the deer. The local commercial carrot farms bag up the carrots that are too big or have undesirable shapes that they can't sell commercially and sell the cheaply to folks that want to feed them to animals. Well, I was always curious about their quality, so I took the plunge and spent six dollars on a bag. Was I ever happy I did! They were beautiful carrots. I canned up thirty-six pints of carrots (that's six pints for a dollar!) and had plenty for eating fresh. Nothing at all wrong with them. As a matter of fact, they were so good that Ran and I decided we won't grow our own carrots next year, as the seeds for our own cost about as much as a bag and we always have a frustrating time getting a good crop to grow. So next time you are filling your gas tank, check out the "deer carrots", you can save yourself a lot of money. If you don't pressure can, you can always cut up and blanch the carrots and freeze them.
There's always so many ways to save money on groceries. It is the custom around here for the neighbors to put out excess produce from the gardens in a box by the curb with a "free'" sign. I could have had all the grapes, plums and pears I could desire this year for no cost. Not to mention zucchini. Ha! There's always zucchini!
When I was younger, there was a dear old lady that allowed me to glean her tomatoes fields, she grew them commercially. I could gather as many tomatoes that were left behind after picking for $1. I usually picked more than a bushel. Bless that sweet little lady! Little did she know those tomatoes kept the wolves from the door many a time. Many old farms have abandoned apple orchards and some kind people will allow others to pick them. They might not be beautiful, but you can always cut off the bad spots and make applesauce with them. A friend of a friend was all too happy to allow us to rake up the walnuts from her lawn last year. It was a winter project for us to crack the nuts, but it yielded several pounds of nuts, which we froze. You know, nuts are a protein too. Walnut croquettes are a clever way to use nuts as a main dish. I need to look that recipe up again.
Sharon left a comment a few posts back that reminded me of another way we used to save on groceries back in the day and that was to form a sort of informal co-op with our friends and families. You may not need or want twenty-five pounds of carrots (although I can't see why you wouldn't), but perhaps if you go in with a few family members and share the cost, you might enjoy having five pounds around. I shop at the Mennonite bulk food store and buying in bulk saves so much money. You can buy a big wheel of cheese for less than two dollars a pound. Split among several family members it isn't so daunting. They have twenty pound pails of peanut butter, split five ways, most families can handle four pounds. The trick to forming an informal co-op is to work only with people you trust, that is why I suggest family members. And have everyone chip in the money before shopping, no IOUs. We liked to have a little get-together and agree upon what is to be purchased, then designate a few people to go shopping. After the shopping, everyone gets together and divvies up the haul. It can be fun!
Baking
I kind of regret not taking up the neighbor on the offer of free pears. With the drought our tree dropped most of its fruit before they ripened and the ones that clung on were on the smallish side. I had such high hopes for my pears this year. Well, what is that saying about counting your chickens before they hatch? I had just enough to give a few to my grandson, Felix (he loves pears) and make this one small tart:
Pear Tart
1 pie crust
Pears, peeled and sliced, enough to fit into your tart pan
2 Tbls. flour
2 Tbls. butter
3/4 C. sugar
Fit pie crust into a tart pan. Place peeled and cored pears over top. Combine remaining ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over the pears. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35 minute.
This has to be one of the simplest recipes ever. But it is very good, especially when served with a dollop of cream atop.
Knitting
It's been my goal to use up all those single skeins of yarn that I purchased at the thrift stores for less than a dollar. I just cannot resist when I find a brand that I recognize or has some luxurious fiber and its only fifty-cents. Finding projects can be challenging though. But I guess that's the fun of it. I made these mittens:
from a skein of some Irish tweed wool. They are ridiculously long! As you can see, the cuffs come up almost all the way to my elbows. No wind will be blowing up my sleeves! I was intrigued by the color, "Irish Coffee". I've never seen plum and turquoise Irish coffee have you? And I think if I did, I wouldn't drink it!
Other things I have knitted from my one skein stash are a tea cozy and a cowl.
I also sewed an apron from a linen tablecloth that I purchased for fifty cents and remade a skirt that was unflattering into another apron. I wear a lot of aprons. I have a sort of uniform: a long swirly skirt, blouse, tights, hand-knit socks, a classic styled wool cardigan or a hand-knit shawl, a petticoat with lots of lace, a headcovering, boots, and of course and apron to top it all off. Whew! No wonder I feel like I'm dragging around an extra ten pounds in the winter. Ha! No wonder people are always asking me if I'm Amish ( which I do not find offensive in the very least) Do you have a "uniform"?
Well, Ran just came in with a cup of coffee and a piece of warm gingerbread for me. Such a wonderful life I live in my little dollhouse of a home! Many may say that there is nothing extraordinary about my life, but I beg to differ. I am blessed beyond measure. I hope you are too!
Hugs
Jane
