Thrifty Thursday

Hello dear friends!   I thought I better hurry up and get a Thrifty Thursday post out before I run out of Thursdays for the month! 

First a picture of the sun shining through the kitchen window, because it has been so long since the sun has shone, I want to remind myself, that it does.  It has certainly been a mild, albeit drab winter so far. 

I've been doing a lot of canning this week.  There's been some really great buys on meat.  I bought hamburger for $2.99 a pound and bacon for $2.50 a pound!  Are prices going back down or is this the calm before the storm?  Are the prices on meat going down because the farmers are culling their herds because they cannot afford to feed them?   Or because there's less demand as fewer people can afford to buy it? Or is it because things aren't as dire as many have predicted?  I have stopped trying to reason why things are the way they are, and just take advantage of the windfall. Whenever you find a bargain, be ready to take advantage of it!  Another thing I bought this week was shortening.  We use a lot of shortening for baking bread and because if I'm going to bake something, it is usually a pie, not to mention we love our pot pies and I bake a lot of biscuits and scones instead of buying store-bought bread (which is getting scary expensive). Anyhow, for the past couple of months the six-pound cannisters were priced at $24!  And that was if I could find them.  That was quite an increase from the $13 I was used to paying.  That's just crazy! Shortening was almost expensive as butter (which is another astounding price).  Then the other day, I was in my Mennonite store and they had it priced at sixteen dollars.  So, I grabbed a couple of cans up, straight away. So, most of my grocery budget went to meat, which I canned, and shortening this month. 

Oh!  A funny thing about shortening.  I been seeing a lot of YouTube videos about making cake-release for greasing your pans.  Basically, it is shortening and flour.  Oh, you mean like greasing and flouring your pans?  What a novel idea! Then it occurred to me that most of the people born after 1980 have never actually greased and floured their pans, since those cooking sprays have been around that long.  I remember when they came out, I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Ha!  You see, when I was a little girl and I asked to help with the baking, the chore that was eagerly offered to me was to grease and flour the pans.  The job that no one wanted.  That and chop the nuts in one of those spring-loaded contraptions, that never got the nuts all chopped in the same size. So much chopping and jar shaking!  It is a wonder I ever learned to like baking with those two things as my introduction to baking.  

Just as vital as carefully shopping is to use all your resources.  During the winter when our woodstove is burning all day long, we keep a tea kettle atop it and always have instant hot water for tea or cocoa.

I've also become quite adept at cooking atop the stove and even bake things like biscuits and scones. Just place the pans on top, when the bottom is baked, carefully turn them over and bake the tops.  This week I've baked beans, made a stew and some soups.  No electricity or gas needed.  At the moment there's a fruit compote bubbling away. We had some apples and oranges that were becoming wizened in the root cellar, so rather than throw them out, use them up.  I also had some cranberries left over from baking Andrea's orange-cranberry bread (which was delicious, BTW) and some dried fruits also. Here's the recipe, but it's very flexible and you can use whatever fruits you have on hand.

Warm Winter Fruit Compote

1/4 C. butter or margarine

1/2 C. confectioners' sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 C. orange juice

2 tsp. grated orange rind

1 C. pineapple chunks, drained

1 C. mandarin oranges, drained

1 C. peach slices, drained

1 C. apples, peeled and chopped

In a large saucepan, combine butter, sugar, orange juice, cornstarch and rind.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened.  Stir in the fruit. Simmer until warm. Serve warm with a dollop of cream atop.  

Or you can use it for a topping for your oatmeal.  Use whatever fruits you have at hand and think would make a tasty combination.  Since I was using my home-canned fruits which I can in syrup, I omit the sugar. If you think it would be too sweet, use less sugar.  If you like really sweet things add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar.  

Oh!  While speaking of oranges, kind of, here's a thrifty tip from my friend Matty.  She slices and dries her old oranges and uses them in her tea. Drying fruit is another way to use your fireplace.  Just slice them thinly, string them up and hang on the fireplace fender.

I get teased a lot about my constant rearranging of my furniture.  I even make rooms into entirely different rooms.  Sometimes our dining room becomes our sitting room, and the living room becomes our dining room to suit our needs.   You might not think of this as a money-saving thing, but the reason I do it because it keeps me from becoming bored with my surroundings.  It's a lot cheaper to stay home and rearrange the furniture than it is to go out and spend money.  I rarely have the urge to go on expensive vacations just because I need a change of view. Ha!  This week I rearranged my kitchen cupboard:

Another good thing is by putting all my collections in one place, in this example it's my redware collection, I can see that I have enough.  No need to collect any more. That is, unless I find an amazing piece, say from the 1700s, for an unbelievable price.  I have purchased all   these pieces from garage sales and thrift stores.  When I do find a better piece, I gladly donate a lesser piece to the thrift store, so that someone else can have the thrill of finding something they wanted. And it keeps my collections from becoming too much.  We simply do not have the space in our tiny home for large collections.

Another thing I do to keep from climbing the walls during the winter is to have lots of projects going. This week I made a small quilted piece and knitted this tam;

We've been watching the Road to Avonlea series in the evenings, and I always admired those floppy big tams the children wear, so I knitted this one up from two skeins of thrifted wool and mohair yarn.  Total cost, one dollar.  

How to Knit a Victorian-Style Tam

With size 7 16-inch circular needles cast on 80 stitches.  Work K1, P1 ribbing for 10 rounds. 

Next round increase stitches by: * knitting three stitches, then knitting into the front and back of the next stitch, repeat from *until the end. 100 stitches.

Knit 32 rounds plain.

Crown: K 18, K 2 together. repeat to end. 

Knit next round.

K 17, K2 together. repeat to the end.

Knit next round.

Continue in this pattern, decreasing 1 stitch between the K2 togethers, until you have 10 stitches remaining, changing to double-point needles when the stitches can no longer be worked on circular needles. 

K 2 together, repeat to end.

Break off yarn and thread the remaining five needles through the needle.  Pull tight and tie off.

Block your tam over a dinner plate to give it that classic tam shape.

Thrift stores are an amazing source for crafting items.  When Ran and I make our big day out, we always stop at a few. Here's my thrift haul for this month:

Sorry about the lighting.  As I wrote earlier, it has been dark, dark, dark here lately.  I spent a total of just a little over $15 and here's what I got:

A woolen scarf made on Wales.

Over 1 yard of a pretty plum corduroy fabric, that it will be enough for a simple skirt.

2 skirts for summer.  Always be thinking ahead.

A Kim Diehl quilting book (sells for $24 in the quilt shop)

A gray t-shirt for Ran

2 stacks of vintage Workbasket magazines for ten-cents each.

Several cross stitch leaflets, including a nice one that is just alphabets for making up my own samplers.

A package of elastic. 10 cents.

An antique tracing wheel

2 earthenware plates

A purple wool blazer for using the wool for crafts

A little vintage device that guarantees making buttonholes "as easy as sewing on a button" (the instructions are twenty pages long, I think not)

2 pairs of silver earrings for 75cents each.  Must have more than 75-cents of silver in them.

A little woolwork pillow for Spring

And this pretty vintage wool tartan blanket made in Scotland:

Blackie loves it.

So that has been the past couple of weeks in thrift.  Always look for sales and ways to reuse and use less. Rejoice in the little things.  And find ways to creatively make your dreams come true.  It's not the things you have or don't have it's the ways you use and enjoy what you do have!

Hugs

Jane

Another Jumbled Post

Hello dear friends!  Did you have a fun St. Patrick's Day?  About all we did to celebrate was to eat some Irish cheese that I had purchased at Aldis and I wore a green sweater, but I wear a lot of green, so I'm not sure that counts. Oh! and McDonald's Groceries handed out free root beer floats in honor of the day. Is anyone else having a hard time adjusting to the time change?  It seems like it is always 7:00 pm!  Well, at least it is still daylight out at that time.  Call me crazy, since we haven't had Spring or Summer yet, but the thought occurred to me that in six more months it will be Fall.  I know, I know; I'm nuts.  But I already lost one week this month.  When I went to write out the check at the dentist's office, I was informed that it was the 15th not the 8th.  How did that happen?  It reminds me of these two old farmers I overheard while on a ferry years ago, they were talking and one said, "What is it? The nineteen-eighties?" It was the nineteen-nineties. At the time I thought how on Earth could someone lose track of an entire decade , but now I can see this happening.  Still haven't gotten used to writing 2017 on my checks!

GARDENING

We started our seeds this week.   I once heard a  a so-called frugal expert on a podcast say that gardening didn't pay because by the time you buy the plants and all the soil amendments, you could have just bought the vegetables anyhow.  Well, I don't know how this lady gardens, but I beg to differ. Firstly, you don't buy plants, you start them from seed, many of which are saved from last year's fruits.  Even if you have to buy seeds, a packet can be had for as little as 25 cents at the dollar store. How many vegetables can you buy for 25 cents?  Plus there's the added pleasure of discovering truly old-fashioned goodness.  Fresh vegetables are the best.  And when you start your own plants you can experiment with the heirloom varieties, which I've found to have much better flavor then the commercial varieties.  People that say they don't like vegetables probably have never tasted an heirloom tomato; such as German Strawberry or Opalka (my two favorites) or a nice heirloom squash such as Mooregold.  

I don't know what soil amendments the expert was speaking of, but the only additions we make to our garden soil is good old-fashioned compost from leaves, peels, ashes from the wood stove, and garden debris. It costs nothing to make, just patience.  For the sake of your health, I'd caution anyone from using commercial compost or manure, many of it has pesticides  and herbicides in it from what the cows ingest.  I've even heard of people's gardens being ruined from it.  I do put compost on my flower gardens that I get from the village, they compost the leaves in the Fall, but I don't like to use it on my vegetable plots.  I always say error on the side of caution.  If you don't know what's in it, don't use it. You can plant a cover crop in late Fall and till it under in the Spring, also. Start small with just a little plot, big enough for a couple tomato and pepper plants, a couple of rows of lettuce.  Amend the soil with your own compost and extend the plot as you become more experienced,  a bit at a time. What you are working for, is nice dark soil that is friable;  you should be able to stick your arm into the soil up to your elbow.  If you have a lot of clay in your soil, you can add sand to make it less dense. In a way, we were very fortunate, because our area has some of the richest soil around.  But on the other hand, I wouldn't buy a piece of land without looking into the soil first, which is why I would never own beachfront property.  Too sandy!  But I suppose if you own beachfront property, you can afford to buy your fruits and veggies from the farmer's market.

NEEDLEWORK

I never can resist buying those cute little embroidered doilies that I find at garage sales.  I'm always thinking about how much time and love someone put into them.  Unfortunately, most have either stains or holes in them.  But for a dime or quarter, who can resist?  The other problem is that I live  and have always lived with a household of men and boys.  Men and boys and doilies don't mix.  So I cut the good parts out of the ones I had and made them into the vintage-looking  banner.

Here's a closer look at it:

Tied up and across the window, they lend a cheerful look to the bleakness that lies outside, plus no one can lay their tools on them up there.  I think I might sew some rick-rack around the edges, if I work up enough ambition.  I also found this very pretty knit fabric at the St. Vincent's thrift store this week.

Two and one-half yards for $1.  There's so many possibilities with that much fabric, I'm not sure what to do with it.  I work better when I have to make-do than when I have too many choices.  Another project I'm working on, is a temperature blanket. My dear friend Matty introduced me to the idea. In a nutshell, you knit a row  (I'm knitting two rows) each day, a different color me each ten degree increment in temperature.  By the end of the year, you should have in interesting patterned blanket.  I'm using the knitting pattern I gave here for the dishcloths, except on a much larger scale, of course. It sounds like a fun way to use up some of my yarn stash.  I might have to figure out a color for fifty degrees by the end of the week!

CHEAP EATS

Cabbage is cheap, cheap, cheap this time of year.  I've seen it as low as twenty cents a pound and three pounds for a dollar is common around here, any time of the year.  One of the ways, I learned to make it, growing up was in Polish cabbage.  I grew up in a community that consisted of mainly Poles and Germans, two very thrifty ethnicities. It was where I learned how to make a penny stretch. 

Polish Cabbage

4 C. cabbage, chopped
8 oz. egg noodles, boiled
1 large onion, preferably yellow, chopped
1/4 C. butter
1 tbsp. caraway seeds
1/2 C. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions in a skillet with the butter until brown and translucent.  Add the cabbage and continue cooking until the cabbage is limp and cooked through.  Stir in the egg noodles, caraway seeds and sour cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add more sour cream if desired (and who doesn't desire that?)

This reminds me, the other day,  I had purchased some sour cream from the reduced-for-quick-sale bin at the grocery store and it was the best sour cream I ever tasted.  Now, I can hear some of you saying, "sour cream. big whoop." but if you can delight in the little things like tasty sour cream or pretty thrifted fabric, then you don't need to go searching for the next big thrill.  It is the little things in life that bring me joy.  You'll never see me jumping out of an airplane or rappelling down a mountainside!

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Started a knitted blanket form my yarn stash.

Started our plants, many from saved seeds.

Sewed a banner from stained and torn doilies.

Watched  some Yukon TV on YouTube.  Finally!  Some people that end their questions with "eh?" as much as I do!

Made a huge pot of refried beans .  They are so tasty.  Much better than the ones that come out of a can.  And thrifty too!

Bought two and one-half yards of fabric for $1.

Found some more pop and beer bottles to return for the deposit.  So far about $7 this month.  That's enough for seven pounds of bean or rice for the pantry, for those that say they can't afford to stock up their pantries.  And I live in a little village of of 200 people in Winter.  Imagine how much more I could find if I lived in a more populated place.

Well, Ran is waiting for me to make some chocolate pudding (from milk I found in the reduced-for-quick-sale bin, intended for the cats).  So there you have another week at the old Zempel boarding house.   I hope that your week will be peaceful!

Hugs

Jane

THE THRILL OF THRIFT

Hello dear friends!  Didn't October just fly by?   I've been puttering about here trading out the orange and gold decor for more muted colors, transitioning into an early winter scheme, since some parts of our state have had snow, I think it's time to really  get serious about making things cozy.  Ran and Jamie were busy this week splitting and stacking wood as we purchased a couple more cords from the village.   As always, it's been a pretty quiet week here, if you are looking for excitement, you've come to the wrong place!  Each passing year I crave more and more serenity in my life.  For me, a thrilling day is finding a great deal at the grocery store or discovering a new spot to forage.  Or coming up with a clever way to use leftovers.

THE THRILL OF THRIFT

A few posts back, Leslie mentioned getting excited about discovering a new place to purchase groceries inexpensively.  Leslie and I think alike!  A few months back we found an Amish-run scratch and dent grocery outlet.  Not only is it an adventure because it takes us down some roads lined with Amish farms that is like stepping back in time,  but the store itself is like a wonderland to me.  You just never know what you will find.  This week we purchased lasagna noodles at fifty cents a pound and some K-cups (we have a Keurig but mainly use it to have a quick source of boiling water) ten cups for $1.75.  I'm wary of the canned goods, but some things such as pasta, coffee, tea and sugar are certainly fine with us if they are slightly beyond their expiration date. I guess our palates are not that refined.  They also had apples for thirty cents a pound, fresh picked from the orchard next door.

I remember in my younger days before the discovery of scratch and dent  and bulk food stores, I used to  buy the Sunday paper and study the sales and coupons like they were a treasure map;  making menus that took advantage of what was cheap, mapping out my route so that I could do my shopping in the least amount of trips to conserve gasoline and time.  I get as much thrill from the hunt  of a good bargain as I would  on any safari.

What fun it is to go outside and forage for pinecones  and twigs to decorate  our home.

What a thrill it is to find the perfect something  at a garage sale or thrift store that speaks directly to your heart.  All the ironstone and pewter in my china cupboard was purchased for less than one dollar each.  The penny rug was made from woolen casts off.   Even the cupboard was a garage sale find that we repainted to look more colonial (it was baby blue when we got it).

 We  can't help feeling tenderhearted towards our little cottage when someone compliments us on how pretty it is; everything except the mattresses has been either purchased from thrift or garage sales or Ran has made, often using scrap lumber and thrifted hardware.  Goodness!  Even the house itself was a bargain.  We searched the internet for several years until we found a Dutch Gambrel type house within our very small (under $60,000) budget.  It was a wreck when we bought it, so much that it had been on the market for years, which all the more pleases us now that strangers stop to take pictures of "the cute little gray house".  There's such a joy in reviving something that everyone else could not see the potential in.  

The anticipation in waiting until you find that perfect item within your budget is better than Christmas!  I cannot explain how pleasing it is too find the perfect sweater than goes with all your skirts at the thrift store or a brand-new-with-tags-still-on-it cashmere sweater from Bloomingdales,  for the same price of $3.47, as the ugly Barbie pink and turquoise one from K-Mart.  I always say that when it comes to the thrift store it costs the same price to dress well as it does to dress cheaply.

Could Starbucks serve up a better cup of coffee than this?

I doubt it could be as cozy as our own, served in a pretty Villeroy and Boch thrifted cup and saucer with some nice homemade toast sitting beside the fire.  All this to say, go out and make each day your best.   Live richly and savor every moment. You can either find thriftiness a dreary chore or you can find it an awesome adventure.  I vote for adventure!

KNITTING

Another thing that brings me much joy is using up my yarn stash to make Christmas presents.  I knitted these  little slippers and a hat this week.

The hat pattern can be found in the Winter 2015 edition of Love of Knitting magazine and the slipper are a free pattern that can be found here.  I also finished this scarf:

Can you believe that it's been sitting in the bottom of my workbasket for two years?  I only had twelve rows to knit to finish it!  It's the same pattern that I wrote about way back here.

FREE KNITTING PATTERN

I also knitted these two dishcloths:

The yarn came from a cotton sweater that I unraveled.  It has pretty lavender specks in it that reminds me of some beautiful handmade writing paper I had a lifetime ago when people use to send letters.  Unfortunately, the sweater didn't work out for me.  Aren't cotton sweaters the worst?  They're so heavy and by the end of the day they are so stretched out the sleeves are practically dragging on the ground.  So I was thrilled to re-purpose the yarn for dishcloths.  The directions on how to unravel and re-purpose sweaters for the yarn is in the same link as the scarf above.

Anyhow, here's a quick and easy pattern to make the dishcloths:

Cast on 5 stitches.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K 3, YO, K 2
Row 3: K3, YO, K3
Row 4: K3, YO, K to the end of row
Repeat row 4 until your diagonal is as wide as you like. Now decrease:
 K2, K2 tog, YO, K2 tog, K to end of row.
Repeat last row until 5 stitches remain. Bind off. Weave in loose ends.

The size of the needles and the number of rows depends on what type of cotton yarn you use.  I would suggest that you use the size of needles that is suggested on the yarn's label and just eyeball the width.  It is a dishcloth after all!

I think some of these dishcloths will make a nice hostess gift when combined with some homemade soap and tied up with some red and white kitchen twine.   Maybe a handmade apron too?

RECIPE FROM THE PANTRY (KIND OF)

Well!  I couldn't let October pass without posting one pumpkin recipe could I? Here's a recipe for a pumpkin coffeecake that's quick to make up:

Pumpkin Coffee Cake
1 3/4 C. biscuit baking mix
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. butter (1/2 a stick)
2 eggs
1 C. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Combine all the ingredients and beat for 3 minutes.  Spread batter into a well-greased 8" pan.  Sprinkle streusel over top of batter.
Streusel:
1/2 C. coconut
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/4 C. biscuit baking mix
1/4 C. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Combine until moistened.

Bake cake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

DON'T BUY IT, MAKE IT

I know that "biscuit baking mix" or as we call it around here, Bisquick, may not be a pantry staple but it does come in handy from time to time.  I used to make a lot of those "impossible" pies; as in cheeseburger impossible pie, lasagna impossible pie, etc.  It made for a quick meal, I will not lie.  But did you know that you can make your own Bisquick from items you already have in your pantry?

Homemade Bisquick Mix

6 C. flour
3 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. salt
1 C. shortening

Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combines.  Cut in the shortening until it resembles fine crumbs.  Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to four months.

The beauty of making your own is that you can control the ingredients, i.e.: non-aluminum baking powder, sea salt, better quality flour and shortening.  Plus you don't get any of the ingredients that you don't want like non-caking compounds.

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Bought half a bushel apples from the Amish store for 30 cents a pound.

Bought 2 more cords of wood from the village for heating.

Knitted two Christmas presents from the yarn stash.

Finished a scarf .  One less work-in-progress.

Ran carved a pipe from some scraps of black walnut.  What will he think of next?

Turned down the thermostat and wore sweaters and slippers and heated the house via the woodstove.

Made some delicious pumpkin chili from our own pumpkins.  This was so filling we only needed to eat one meal on the days I served it.

Played card in the evening for entertainment.

Our neighbor gave us a bag of cat food to help support the strays.

Gathered some twigs, rosehips and pinecones for decorations.

Hung our laundry on racks inside to dry.

Baked a large batch of baked beans that also heated the house while the oven was going.  (We always leave the oven door ajar after baking - free heat)

Well, that's another week at the old Zempel boarding house!

From ye ghoolies and ye ghosties,
and ye long leggedy beesties
And things a'go bumpe in ye night, 
 Good Lourde delyver us .
Amen!

Happy Halloween!
Hugs
Jane

SMALL AND GREAT SAVINGS

Happy Valentine's Day dear friends!  Hope you are having a nice one!   It's beautiful and sunny here today, but cold.  The thermometer read zero when we woke up. 

But what does that matter  when the sky is such a pretty blue?  It reminds me of those old blue milk glass  candy dishes my grandmother had.  The other day we driving between Port Austin and the next town over when I was overcome with such a sense of serenity.  The snowy fields glistening , the red barns in the distant, the snow tipped pines and that beautiful sky; it was almost too much to take in!

Guess what I'm doing today?  Spring cleaning!   It finally looks like winter and I'm thinking ahead to the next season.   Ran went downstate to help our oldest son build chicken coops for his business and he took Georgie with him.   Which means it's the perfect time to clean and run the vacuum all day.  Corgis are notorious for the dislike of the vacuum cleaner.  I think they are trying to herd them.  Oh my!  Was this ever the year for the cobwebs!  Here's a corner of my spotlessly clean  kitchen bathed in the last of the evening sun:

Now no one better dare cook anything greasy in there for at least a month!


SMALL SAVINGS

This is also the week that the local thrift store starts their big winter clearance.  Most of the clothes were 87 cents!   This is the time that I start to look for interesting fabrics and buttons on clothing and nice sweaters to unravel for the yarn.  I found a very pretty plaid shirt with a zillion buttons on it.  How much  does a card of four  buttons cost these days?  Probably more than 87 cents!  Plus the fabric was 100% cotton and very soft.  I made three handkerchiefs from it and monogrammed them.  Yes, we use handkerchiefs at our house.  You don't think I'd spend money on Kleenexes do you?  So for 87 cents, I got three handkerchiefs and a dozen pretty buttons.

  I also found a sweater made of lambswool and angora to unravel.  Nice thick soft wool in a pretty gray and cream marl.  Should make a dandy pair of slippers and mittens.  BTW, I was very good and didn't buy any clothes for myself.  Didn't even entertain the thought.  I'll go back and check for more buttons and wool, once they knock the prices down to 95%  off, which amounts to about 17 cents a garment.  While I'm there, I always check for 100% linen blouses.  I use them for making samplers, like this one I made for this Valentine's Day.

CRAFTS

Speaking of knitting, while cleaning, I found my pattern for how to knit a ripple afghan.  These are great for using all those bits of skeins left over from other projects.  

Ripple Afghan

Cast on 210 stitches on your longest size 7 circular needles.

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit 6 place a marker then * K2 together three times, Yarn over, Knit 1 six times, Knit 2 together three times*  repeat between the *s 11 times. Place marker. Knit 6.
Row 4:  Purl 6. Knit to the last six stitches (the marker) and Purl 6.

Repeat these 4 rows until you have reached the length you desire, ending in row 1 and 2. Change the colors of yarn as often as you want.  8 rows per color is nice.

Another little project I just finished up this week is this cute little guy:

 The directions on how to make him can be found in How To Sew Little Felt Animals by Sue Quinn.  He's just a trial sample,  I couldn't find cotter pins in the right size.  I discovered that those little brass thingamajigs that you buy at the stationary store to attache several pages together work great in place of the cotter pins.  I hope to make an entire woodland family for my granddaughter for Christmas, but this little guy has some problems, so he'll be staying with us. 


SCRAPBAGS AND BUTTON BOXES

One of the most economical and fun things to do is to start a scrapbag and button box.  Any time you have a piece of clothing that is no longer wearable, rip it apart at the seams, cut out the areas with stains and remove the buttons.  The pretty pieces go into a bag for making patchwork, sewing doll clothes and potholders and making cute little guys like the one above for free.   The ugly and stained stuff goes into another bag for using to clean up spills and in the workshop. ( I don't buy paper towels either)  All the buttons go into a button box.  I don't think we ever bought buttons  when growing up.  My grandmother  gave us her button box and it supplied  us with buttons for over four decades of sewing.   Living through the Great Depression, she knew the meaning of "use it up".  She even meticulously picked out all the stitches and  saved all the zippers and hem binding.  I sort my fabrics into two scrapbags; one for cottons and one for woolens.  Here's my pretty woolens just waiting for me to start a new project. 

My fingers are itching!  BTW, see that pretty Hitchcock style chair circa 1820 that I bought at an auction for $20?  No one knew what a gem it was, except me.  Pays to educate yourself!

FORAGING

The winds were wicked last week.   You could feel them slamming against the house.  Being in direct alignment with the lake, we get some pretty brutal weather as the wind travels across the great expanse of Lake Huron.  But one advantage for us, was that it  downed a lot of branches, some pretty big, including some white pine, which gave us the opportunity to make some white pine salve.  (I'm sorry I called it a tincture last week.  For some reason I always think of salves as tinctures, perhaps because I'm thinking of tin-ctures, something you put in a tin. A tincture is an alcoholic extract of a plant, btw.) Anywho, to make the salve, gather the inner, white bark of a white pine. Place the bark in a pan along with a handful of the needles and pour enough olive oil over just to cover the bark.  Gently warm the oil for around 24 hours or until the white  bark starts to turn a rusty brown color and the pine needles lose their color.   We do this by placing the pan atop our woodstove.  The oil should just be warmed, never simmered or boiled

.   Once the oils from the bark have infused the oil, strain the oil through several layers of cheesecloth.  Now measure your oil and add an equal amount of beeswax, gently warming to melt the beeswax.  Pour into clean jars.  This makes a wonderful antimicrobial ointment.  My husband has serious psoriasis on the palms of his hands of all places.   He's tried everything to get them to heal, but so far this has worked the best.  He applies it to his palms and then puts on cotton gloves overnight while he sleeps.

HOW TO FEED A CROWD CHEAPLY

The other day while shopping I noticed a package of boneless pork chops on sale for $2.09.  It was slightly less than a pound.  Not enough for everyone but a great opportunity to make one of my son's favorite dishes, pork fried rice.   This recipe makes a lot and it tastes just as good as any you'd get in a Chinese restaurant.  The secret is in marinading the pork.  Here's the recipe:

First prepare the pork but cutting it into thin strips.
Next prepare the marinade:

Combine together in a quart sized zip-lock bag:
 1tsp. salt
3 tbsp.  brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
a dash of pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1  tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
and 1 tbsp. or so of hot water, just to thin the marinade a bit.

Add the pork strips and marinade over night.

The next day prepare the rice:

Cook 2 C. of white rice in 4 C. of beef broth until the rice is tender.  You may need to add more water (I also add some of my stealth health in the way of some powder kale, purslane and broccoli)

While the rice is cooling prepare the sauce by combining:
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. honey

Combine and set aside.


Next stir fry the marinated pork in a wok or large frying pan over high heat with a couple tablespoons of oil.   Remove the meat and add vegetables of your choice.  I use what I have on hand, mushrooms, green onions, carrots and celery.  Bean sprouts are great too, if you have some sprouted. Other vegetables that work are peas, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and broccoli.  Use as much and as many vegetables as you want.  The more you add the farther the dish stretches. Stir fry the vegetables until the are cooked but still crisp.  Add the meat back in with the vegetables. Add the rice and heat it through.  Now add the sauce and continue to stir fry until the sauce is incorporated and the rice starts to get crispy in spots. Add salt and pepper to taste.   There you have it! Pork fried rice and did I mention that it tastes better the second day? Make it a big meal by adding some vegetable egg rolls that a posted about a few weeks back.

GREAT SAVINGS

I just saw on YouTube a great way to save over $1400 this year.  It's really pretty simple.  Just get out your calendar and number all the Saturdays of the year, one through 53 (there's 53 Saturdays this year) . Now get out  a coffee tin or other container and  every Saturday put in the dollar amount that corresponds with that Saturday.  You'll have to play catch-up bit that's pretty easy because so far it's only something like $15.  Of course it will be harder to make the deposits when it nears the end of the year, when you have to put in 50 - 53 dollars a week, but by then you should become accustom to saving and are making adjustments to reach your goals.  Just knowing that you have to save $50  a week in December, with Christmas and property taxes coming due, ought to keep you from getting caught up in all the crazy spending that happens that time of the year.  

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Made pine bark salve from a fallen branch
Sewed a little doll from my scrapbag.
Unraveld a thrifted 87 cent sweater for the wool.
Made enough food from $2.00 worth of meat and vegetables that needed using up to last for three meals.
Made handkerchiefs from another 87 cent garment.  Salvaged a dozen buttons.
Found a frame at a thrift store for my sampler for $1.50.
Paid cash at the doctor's office and received a 10% discount.
Didn't celebrate Valentines Day
Got some free pallets for firewood.  Nice hardwood ones that burned for hours.
Got free shipping when ordering some plants from a mail order source.
Basically stayed home and therfore, didn't spend any money.

So that's it for this week!   Hope you all are enjoying the day and have a fun-filled and thrifty week!

Hugs
Jane

SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

Hello dear friends!   Are you all getting shoveled out?   You probably have more snow than we do in Michigan.   Strange weather!   Although, after the last two brutal winters, it's nice to catch a break.  I'm already looking forward to spring and hoping that my Concord grapes will have a nice harvest this year.  The last two  years we have had to prune them back severely because the cold winds had killed many of the canes.  Ditto for the blackberries.  Just think!   One more week of January, then February is a short month and although March is still winter in this neck of the woods, it starts to warm up a tad.

CANNING

This past week was a really great one for sales on meat.  I bought a ten pound sirloin roast for $2.69/lb, hamburger was $2.19/lb  (probably never see that again) and chicken breasts with the bone in was 79 cents/lb.  I cut the sirloin in strips, browned them and the roasted them in their own juice. This made  eight nice pints with about a pound of meat in each.  The gristle and scraps were boiled with some carrots, dried celery and our own tomato bouillon  (dry paste-type tomatoes then grind into a powder with an old coffee grinder).  After this set for a day day to solidify the fat, I scooped off the fat and canned up six nice pints of broth.  The chicken I cubed and cold-packed for another eight one-pounds of meat, The bones and skin were boiled to make a broth.  I didn't flavor this because I wanted the fat for soapmaking.  Once the fat was skimmed off, I seasoned it with garlic, onion, sage, rosemary and thyme for a nice broth.  Again I canned this, making eight pints.  I only bought five pounds of hamburger because I feared it was going to be greasy, but it wasn't.  With one pound  I made a meatloaf for the guys' lunch and the rest was made into Swedish meatballs that I canned.  Oh!   There was also enough meat   culled from making the broths to fill a quart bag of the chicken for the freezer and about a half-quart of the beef.  These will make a nice base for pot pies or some soup.  When I finished all that was left were the bones and skin.  I tossed the bones and threw the skins out for the stray cats.

That took the  better part of Friday and Saturday and I was ready to put the pressure canner away when we stopped by our local grocery store.   They were having a sale on bacon for 10 pounds for $16.90.  Well!  I couldn't pass that up!   I canned up eight one-pound jars of it.   Some of the pieces were quite fatty so I set those aside and later rendered the lard by slowly melting the fat for several hours on low heat.  Once strained, this gave me about 3/4 a quart of lard for soapmaking.  All the little bits of bacon were culled and I ended up with about a half a quart of real bacon bits.

People always ask, why I don't just freeze my meat.  First, I simply don't have a freezer big enough and I don't want to have a  separate freezer because they take too much electricity.  Secondly,  our area is notorious for it's power lines  blowing  down.  Living directly in the path of the wind coming off the Great Lakes means we have some pretty powerful winds.  Being in a less populated area means that sometimes we go for days without electricity, not being a high priority for Detroit Edison.  Too many times have a I lost produce in the freezer due to an outage.  Canned never spoils when the electricity goes out!  And lastly, canned meat is very convenient to use.  You don't have to wait for it to thaw, it doesn't get freezer burn, it lasts a lot longer than frozen and it's already cooked. 

Learning to pressure can is probably the second most important skill you can master in your steps toward becoming self-sufficient, the first being, gardening, of course.  It's really not hard.  I urge you all to learn it, if you don't know already.   There's only so much you can do with hot water bath canning; pickles and jellies and fruits in syrup.  The real meat and potatoes (literally) of food preservation is in pressure canning.  There's oodles of tutorials on YouTube and on various blogs.  And all cannners will come with very detailed instructions.  It's simply not that difficult.  And the nicest thing about canning your own, is that you control the quality.


ANOTHER THING TO PRESERVE

My stint without a computer has taught me a valuable lesson.  Keep written copies!   Sure it's convenient just to Google whatever you want but what if your computer quits, or we do get that EMP attack they are always talking about?  Or the economy goes so far south that you can't afford the internet? Or even worse yet, they start censoring the internet?  Start today making copies of any information that you think you may need or want in those situations;   basic recipes, notes on foraging, how-tos on staying warm, building shelter, and making mechanical devices, natural health tips, canning instructions, etc.   I call it my survival notebook.  You can keep a copy in a three ring binder or just staple them together.  It doesn't need to be fancy. 

BARE BONES BAKING PANTRY

When the stock market looked like it was going to take a nosedive last week, Ran and I sat down and made out a list of groceries to buy in bulk to see us through hard times.   We have the money squirreled away for the purchases just in case.  So many of the things: such as,crackers,   noodles, tortillas, bread, baked goods, etc. that we buy, can be made just as easily at home and perhaps even better.  At least they would be made of wholesome ingredients.  Some things , such as pancake mix, boggles my mind.  Why would anyone pay to have a little flour, baking powder, sugar and  hydrogenated oil mixed together for them, when they can make a far superior  pancake in the same amount of time from basic pantry ingredients? This week we made crackers and bread from common pantry items.  It took probably as much time to bake  them as it would to drive to the store, locate the items, stand in line and drive back home.  When you factor in all that plus how much it costs for these type of things, it just doesn't make sense to buy them.   Here's a list of a bare bones baking pantry:


flour (plain old white)
baking soda and baking powder
vegetable shortening
vegetable oil (we use olive)
salt
spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves
vanilla
cornstarch
sugar
molasses (you can make brown sugar by stirring 1 tablespoon into 1 cup of white sugar)
yeast
dry milk (I prefer buttermilk for all my baking needs)
cornmeal
oatmeal
cocoa
honey

With those ingredients, you can bake just about anything with the addition of eggs and milk and butter, although in a pinch you can substitute the shortening for the butter. Heck!  You can even use the chicken fat, lard and tallow if things really get rough.  I have a couple old, old recipes that call for chicken fat and bacon grease.   Simplify, simplify!   Just get down to the bare basics of groceries, then buy them in bulk.  The less time you spend in the grocery store, the less money you'll spend.

FIRST THINGS FIRST, LEARN TO BAKE A LOAF OF PLAIN WHITE BREAD

The first thing you need to learn on your way to food independence is how to bake a loaf of plain white bread.  Once you've mastered that, you can go on to other types of breads or make additions of different flours and ingredients,  but this recipe will serve you well if it is the only type of bread that you ever bake.

White Bread

Combine and scald:

1 C. milk
1/4 C. butter
1/4 C. honey
1 tsp. salt
 set aside

Combine:
1/2 C. warm water
1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. honey or sugar
combine and set aside until the yeast begins to bubble.  This is called "proofing".

In a large bowl combine the milk mixture and 1 C. of flour.  Mix well and add an additional cup of flour.  Add the yeast mixture.  Add approximately 3 1/2 C. flour.  (This is something you learn start with a little less flour and add more if it is sticky.  There's so many variables on the amount of flour to use, such as the humidity, the type of flour, etc.)
Knead dough until it starts to fight back.  Poke your finger into it and the dough should come back.  The dough should be as smooth  and elastic as a newborn baby's behind.  ;)  Let the dough rise. Punch it down and let rise a second time.  Punch down the dough and shape into two loaves.  Place into well-greased pans.  Let rise until the dough forms a nice loaf.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden and when you thump on the loaf it has a nice hollow sound.  (or use one of those probe thermometer and measure the internal temperature to 185 degrees)

SPROUTING

We always try to eat some green leafy vegetables every day, but this past week we had to toss our lettuce because of the Listeria recall.  Winter can be hard on us veggie lovers!   Now I understand why the pioneers got so excited about the first spring greens!  Anyway, I started sprouting my own again.   With one batch, I made veggie egg rolls.

Just stir fry the sprouts, some shredded cabbage and carrots until tender but still crisp.  Add about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and half a packet of one of those stir-fry seasonings mixes that can be found in the foreign food aisle.  Place on wonton wrappers and roll up.  Fry in a small amount of oil until all sides are nicely browned.  Drain on paper towels (or in our house, an old tea towel).

CHEAP BEAUTY TIP

Lately I've been concerned about my gums receding.   It's just one of the many "joys" of aging.  So I've starting oil-pulling, which is supposed to clean all the toxins and bacteria out of your mouth and clean and whiten your teeth.   It's simple enough to do.  Just take 1 tablespoon  (I use a little less because I have a major gag reflex) of organic coconut oil and put it in your mouth.  Chew it until it liquefies, then swish the oil around for 20 minutes.   Do not swallow the oil!  Spit it out into a waste basket (don't want it clogging your pipes).  That's it!   It really does make your your teeth feel clean.   That combined with flossing and brushing twice daily and rinsing with good old Listerine keeps the dentist away!

CRAFTS

Every winter I get the desire to make a quilt.  The only problem with that is that I'm not a very good quilter and I hate the actual quilting part.  I love picking out the fabrics from the scrapbag and I don't even mind the piecing, but the quilting?  Ugh!   So I made this little doll quilt to satisfy my yearning.

Now all you quilters out there, don't laugh!  This tiny quilt took me an entire week to make!   I did it the old fashioned way, just like my grandmother; making templates and tracing them, hand cutting, hand stitching and hand quilting.  I'm always in awe of you ladies that can make a full sized quilt in a weekend.  I salute you!

Speaking of scraps.  My husband keeps busy  during the winter making these wooden utensils.

Any time he spots and interesting grain pattern in the wood while he splits it, he sets it aside for carving.  Along with some  handknit dishcloths, a handsewn apron or potholders, they make a nice shower present or hostess gift. 

I'm also knitting a Tasha Tudor style shawl.  It's a simple pattern:

Cast on 3 stitches
Knit 1 row
The next row and every row after: Knit 2, yarnover, knit to the end of the row

Continue on in this manner until the shawl is as wide as you like.  Cast off.

The size needles depends upon the yarn you use and your patience.  Eventually you'll need to switch to circular needles, but I always find knitting with them awkward, so I start  out on regular straight needles until the stitches get too crowded. I'm using size 6 and some merino wool that my friend Mary gave me.  It will take several hundred yards of wool I suspect, so  I wouldn't use expensive wool.  I think it would be pretty in a tweedy type. I'll show you a picture next week.  It got too dark too soon for me today.

BTW, a yarnover for you beginning knitters is simply bringing the yarn to the front then over the needle to the back, thus creating an extra stitch.

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Wondering when I was going to wind it up, were you?

Made a doll quilt from fabric scraps.
Started knitting a shawl from gifted yarn.
Baked crackers and bread.
Sprouted my own "greens".
Sewed a Christmas present (yeah, I start this early)
"Fixed" my computer.
Mended a vest.
Watched a TV series every evening from a DVD that I bought at the Tractor Supply Company for $3.  (Cheap entertainment)
Canned a boatload of meat.
Bought a few things at the thrift store's 50% of sale. (Waiting for the 95% off sale)
Ran did some plumbing rather than call in Jake the Plumber.
Filled up the gas tank for $1.49/ gallon.  (Can you believe how cheap gas is?)
Hand washed a wool skirt in cold water rather than having it dry cleaned.
And all the usual things like heating with wood, using the wringer, line drying our clothes, etc.

Well I hope you all have a safe a cozy week.  Remember that the easiest way to avoid  most winter accidents is to STAY IN THE HOUSE! 

Hugs
Jane

  

ADVENTURES

Hello dear friends!   Hope you all are having a jolly time.   Today we awoke to a heavy frost and yesterday we had a freezing fog, but no snow yet.  The weather  forecast, which is about as reliable as a dime store barometer,  isn't predicting any for the foreseeable future, either.   Bah humbug!  I just wish it wasn't so green out.  Looks more like spring than winter.  Green can become tiresome after a while.   Oh!  But we did spy several flocks of swans flying overhead and spotted a flock of about thirty grazing in a farmer's field.   That always gives me a thrill.  I'm so happy to live where swans stop by for a visit from time to time. Rejoice in the little things!

ADVENTURES IN SHOPPING

Another little thing I'm rejoicing in this week is that I found some great bargains at the grocery store.  At our bulk food store they had a bag of ends from the deli meats for $1.49/lb.   I took them home and sliced them with my handy-dandy  extra-sharp paring knife and we had enough for a dozen sandwiches from a two dollar purchase.  It was a mixture of different flavors, so we had fun with the different varieties.  Soup and half a sandwich is a grand meal.

The point being, be adventurous in your grocery shopping.  Don't just stick to the normal big name stores, whose names begin with a W. and  a C., if you catch my drift.  I find the best bargains at independently owned grocers, the big stores never have anything that is reduced-for-quick-sale except for bakery items, I've found.   Don't know what they do with the deli ends but they sure don't offer them for sale for $1.49/lb.  I always look at grocery shopping as a fun game.   It's exciting to see how much I can buy for the least amount of money.   It's time consuming, for sure, but since it has to be done anyhow, might as well make it fun!

Try different places, too.   The Middle Eastern grocer has the best price on rice, chickpeas and lentils.  The little Mexican grocer has wonderful prices on pinto beans and corn meal.   Big Lots has bargains on pasta, canned vegetables  and coffee.   Nobody beats Aldi's for cheese.  There's also the bakery outlets for inexpensive bread.  We practically lived off of that bargain bread when we were first married and budgeted $17.50 a week for groceries.  We'd buy those cheap meat pies (back then they were 4/$1 when on sale) and sop up every last bit of the gravy with outlet store bread.  We survived!  And didn't have any weight problems back then either!

Be adventurous!  Make a day of grocery shopping.  Take only a certain amount of money with you and see how far you can make it stretch.  Plan your menus on the fly, by what bargains you find.  You'd be surprised at how much fun it can be! Thriftiness can be a fun adventure or drudgery, it's all in your attitude!

ADVENTURES IN DINING

Today we had one of those make-do meals, using up a lot of things in the fridge.  I commented to my husband that it tasted and looked like one of those meals that you see in vintage war-time rationing cookbooks.  Was it a gastronomical wonder? No, but it filled us up and was nutritious  with its brown rice and vegetables.  And isn't that what food is supposed to be after all?   Something to keep you from being hungry and supply you with fuel to keep you going?   With all the TV shows and magazine emphasizing  how grand food is, we sometimes forget  the purpose of food.   No wonder we have such obesity problems in this country.  Food has become our entertainment, companion and medication.  I shudder to think of what would happen if something catastrophic happened here and we had to start eating like  many people in third world countries do. I fear some people wouldn't be able to cope with a diet of rice, beans and vegetables from the garden.  I know one thing, I'd be a lot skinnier! Ha! Sometimes, good enough is good enough!

ADVENTURES IN COOKING

Soup is one of the most economical meals you can make; one large pot can last for several meals and it can be as soupy or as thick as you want.  My pastor used to tell me all the time, "you can always add more water to the soup.".  Plus it's a great way to get the kiddies to eat their vegetables.  We try to make at least one potful a week.

I saw a recipe for Lasagna soup, but couldn't locate it when I needed it, so I came up with my own recipe.  Oh!   That's another thing about soup, it's very adaptable to whatever you have on hand.  So I just guessed at the ingredients, judging them to be whatever goes into a nice vegetable lasagna.  I started by reconstituting some of our dried peppers and  mushrooms (whenever I find a good buy on mushrooms, we buy as many as we can and dry them), which I sauteed with some onions and garlic.  I threw that in a pot of home-canned vegetable broth along with some diced carrots.   I had a can of spinach that was reaching its expiration date and some cannellini  beans, so I tossed them in too.  Then I added a jar of my own spaghetti sauce and tomatoes.  Added some homegrown oregano, rosemary and basil for flavor.  By this time it was looking like a lovely soup, but then we decided to kick it up a notch by adding some stealth health by the name of dried kale.  Well!  That made for some ugly brown soup!  It tasted great but wasn't the prettiest, so I didn't take a picture.  We served it sprinkled with some Parmesan cheese on top and garlic toast made from stale bread.   You can leave off the cheese, if you prefer to make it fully vegan.  BTW, I never was much of a cheese eater until I became a vegan for several years.  It was the only thing I really missed and now I love the stuff!  Guess my Swiss and Dutch genes kicked in!

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM THE PANTRY

Can you believe it?  We're already one week into December!   I'm finishing up making goodies for Christmas packages, as they need to be sent off this week.  Candy has always been  part of our celebration because when my father was a youngster, during the Depression, the only treat he got was candy in his Christmas stocking.   To him, Christmas wasn't Christmas without a big box of chocolates.   Fudge is part of our traditions too.  My sisters and I would make it by the ton to give to everyone; teacher, pastors, neighbors and boyfriends.   It was our "go-to" present.  There were only two things my oldest sister learned to make in home economics class; Spanish rice and fudge. 

I've become quite an experienced fudge maker over the years and have picked up quite a few tricks on how to make the creamiest old-fashioned fudge ever.  This is one of the more economical recipes for it;  most things  can be found in a well-stocked pantry, with the exception of the buttermilk.  I always keep buttermilk in my fridge for baking bread and biscuits.  We buy ours from a local dairy and it has beautiful flecks of butter in it.   Great for making salad dressings too.  Anyhoo, here's the directions.  Make sure you have some strong arms available!

Old-Fashioned  Chocolate Fudge

3 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
1/3 C. cocoa
dash of salt
1/4 C. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C. chopped nuts (optional)

1.  Combine the sugar, buttermilk, cocoa and salt in a pot that is twice the size of the ingredients.
     (The boiling mixture will expand)
2. Stir over med.-high heat until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
3.  Stop stirring (important or your fudge will turn out grainy) and lower heat to low-medium, maintaining a full boil.
4.  Cook until temperature on  candy thermometer reaches 238 degrees or  soft ball.You can test by    dropping a bit into a cup of cold water.  If the mixture forms a soft ball by rolling between your fingers without falling apart, it's done. Start testing around 235 degrees.  I like mine to be just slightly under the 240 degrees on the thermometer, hence the 238 degrees.
5. Put butter and vanilla into mixture.  Do not stir.
6.  Place pot in a pan of cold water to cool.
7. Once the bottom of the pot has cooled enough to touch the bottom but is still very warm, begin  beating the  mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. (No metal spoons)
8. Stir in the nuts.
9. Beat until the mixture loses some of its glossiness and becomes thick like frosting.  If you pinch some together, it should hold together. (This is a long and labor intensive procedure.It's good to have help.)
10.  Pour into a well-buttered 8 inch pan.  Cool before cutting.

CRAFTS

Getting my  gift knitting finished up.   Hopefully these mittens will be the last red thing I have to knit for a while.   This mittens knit up quickly, using bulky yarn and only two needles.  So if you have to make a quick last minute gift, these are for you.  It only took me a couple of hours to run them up. Here's the pattern:

JIFFY CABLE MITTENS

1 skein  bulk weight yarn
1 pair size 8 knitting needles
2 stitchholders

Gauge: 4 stitches= 1 inch

Right mitten:

Cast on 28 sts.
1st row: P14, K2, P8,K2, P2
2nd row:  K2, P2, slip next 2 stitches to an extra needle and hold in front, knit next 2 stitches,
                 Knit the 2 stitches from the extra needle, slip the next 2 stitches to an extra needle and hold         in back, knit next 2 stitches, knit 2 stitches from extra needle, P2, K 14
Row 3:  Repeat row 1
Row 4:  K2, P2, K8,P2, K14
Repeat row 3 and 4 once more than repeat row 2
Continue to work this way until 3 cables have been made, ending with 3rd row.
Increase for thumb:  Work across 15 stitches, increase 1 stitch, K1, increase 1 stitch, K to end
Work stitches on back as they come
2nd increase:  Work across 15 stitches, increase 1 stitch, K3, increase 1 stitch, K to end
Work stitches on back as they come
Continue to increase this way on every K row  having 2 more stitches between increases  until there are 9 stitches on thumb gore.
Work across 15 stitches and place them on holder
Knit across the 9 thumb stitches, increase 1 stitch on last stitch
Place remaining stitches on holder.
Thumb:
Work the 10 stitches in stockinette stitch for 10 rows, ending with a purl row.
K2 together across next row.  Break yarn
Thread a tapestry needle and and run through the remaining stitches twice.
Sew up thumb on wrong side
Back to mitten:
Place first 15 stitches from holder on needle, pick up and knit 4 stitches across thumb base.  Place remaining stitches on needle and work across.
Continue in pattern until 8 cables are made, ending with 3rd row.
First decrease:
K2, P2 together, K8, P2 together, K2, K2 together, K8, K2 together, K2
Work back as they show
2nd decrease:
K2, K2 together, K6, K2 together, K2, K2 together, K6, K2 together, K2
Purl back
3rd decrease:
K2 together across
Break yarn and finish as thumb.
Sew mitten on wrong side

Left Mitten:
1st row:
P2, K2, P8, K2, P14
Finish left mitten to correspond to right mitten.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly Merry Christmas.
~Peg Bracken~

THRIFTY THING WE DID THIS WEEK

Knitted mittens for a gift from my yarn stash.  Been knitting for almost half a century, I have an awesome yarn stash!

Made fudge for Christmas packages from pantry staples.

Bought deli ends for $1.49/lb.  For $2 I had enough for 10 sandwiches.

Made a casserole from things that had to be used up in the fridge.

Attended some Christmas doings in town for free entertainment.

Bought some woodworking supplies that we needed at an estate sale for $3.

Made a big pot of soup that lasted for several meals.

Ran made a cute Christmas sign for the house from some free pallet wood and paints we already had.  Got the idea from one we saw one in a store for $18.

Only used the furnace for heating the house during the night.

Decorated our window box from clippings from trimming our evergreens.

Bought a beautiful sweater ($3.50) from the thrift store that came from the Sundance catalog. Expensive stuff in that catalog!

So that's it for this week.  Hope you have a jolly and bright week!  A happy Hanukkah to my Jewish  and Torah observant friends! Get out there and enjoy yourselves!

Hugs to all!
Jane

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

Hello dear friends!   Hope this post finds you all well rested and contented.   My! the days are shortening, aren't they?   The other day it was pitch black at five in the afternoon.  Now I understand the phrase, "make hay while the sun shines", because they're so many things that need to be done by the strong daylight, such as fine knitting and sewing (threading the needles), once the sun starts it's journey to the western horizon, those things have to be put away.   This little cottage was built for keeping out the winds which it does admirably, but at the same time it shuts out a lot of the sun.   I can understand why some people get depressed during this time of year, frankly, it can get a little gloomy.  So to counteract the effect of long gray days, we decorate the inside and make a cozy little sanctuary for ourselves.   This week I started to bring the winter decorations down from the attic.  First, I set up a little woodland tableau on the mantle. 

The felted celluloid deer and the vintage bottle brush trees all came from the thrift stores back in the 80s,   back then you could pick up vintage Christmas items for a dime or a quarter.  I used to find quite a few boxfuls of those Shiny Brite ornaments from the thrift stores , unfortunately I threw the  boxes out.  Now they are worth a fortune!  I also brought out my grandparents ornaments and gave them a place of honor on the china hutch.  They are getting too fragile to hang on the tree.  Some are almost a hundred years old.

They represent the only tangible things I have from some  of  my grandparents.  Looking at them brings back  many wonderful memories.  I also brought down the creche, unfortunately many of the pieces need repairing.  Joseph completely lost his head! The figures are newer  but the stable was built by my Grandpa A back during the Depression.  It's seen a lot of hard knocks over the years.  When I was a little girl, I played with it throughout the Christmas season, reenacting the Christmas story.  I love it all the more for its imperfections.

BLACK AND BLUE FRIDAY

On the other spectrum of our quiet country Christmas, there's Black Friday.  To my friends in other parts of the world, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, when the stores have sales to help make the final push for a profit.  In the olden days, ledgers were kept with red and black ink.  The red ink indicated that you were losing money and the black  meant you had a profit, thus the term "Black Friday" means the store has turned from a losing year to a profitable one.  Anyway, the people go nuts for these sales; camping out all hours in the cold to be the first in the doors and stampeding when the doors open.  People have even been crushed to death.  I wouldn't go near one if my life depended upon it.  Fortunately, there are many offers over the internet and I don't have to leave home.   I took advantage of the sale at Pinetree Gardens to get my seeds for the spring. They have the best prices for non-GMO heirloom seeds I've found.  The sale isn't much, just 15% off your order and free shipping on $50 (who buys that many seeds?).  Anyway, if you want to take advantage of that sale, it's still going on until midnight Sunday (the 29th) and the code is BlackFri15.

I also stocked up on vitamins and supplements at Swansons .  They have some good deals.  We use turmeric with pepper (everyone should) and I take cranberry tablets everyday.  We also buy glucosamine  for our dog.   So that was our big excitement  for the sales! Ha!  By the way, I am not being compensated in any way for endorsing these companies.  They are just two companies that I've found to have good prices and service.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

By the way, lest anyway  shake their heads and mutter about Christmas being too commercial these days; it's been this way for a long time.  One of my favorite things to do in during the Yuletide season is listen to old Christmas radio programs from the 30s and 40s  on YouTube.  Almost all the story lines  center around how much to spend on gifts and who is giving what to whom.  Some things never change!

Another "blast from the past" is making Russian tea mix  for gift giving. I hope my dear Russian readers are getting a good laugh at this one!   It was a popular winter drink in the 1960s.  And it is nice and cozy, partly due to it's nostalgia.  This is the sort of thing that passed as sophisticated and urbane way back when. Ha! We bottle up jars to put it in our Christmas hampers.  It makes a lot! I would caution, though, the directions say to use two tablespoonfuls, but we only use one.  Two is just too strong. 

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Well, I'm at it again!  The butcher had hamburg at it's reduced-for-quick-sale bin at $1.79/lb.  Unfortunately, she only had a little less than a pound.  So to make it the meat stretch into several meals, I added our stale bread, which had me thinking of all the ways you can use stale bread:

Add it to ground meat to make a meatloaf, of course.
Make a bread pudding.
Toast it  with olive oil and herbs to make your own croutons.
Toast it and make your own breadcrumbs.
Make an impromptu  stuffing by adding celery, onions and herbs.
Make French toast.
Make a hole in the middle and fry an egg in it for a cheap breakfast.
Use it as a thickener for soup.
Make toast points. (triangles of toasted bread)

No wonder Rachel Lynde told Anne Shirley that a sign of a good homemaker was seeing that there was no wasted bread in the breadbox!

THRIFTY MEAL OF THE WEEK

Toast points reminded me of a meal that was popular with the boys growing up.

Mount Clemens Rarebit

1/2 lb. American cheese
1/4 C. butter
2 C. canned kidney beans
2 med. green peppers, minced

Melt the cheese in a double boiler.  Add the butter and when well-blended add the beans and green peppers.  Serve over toast points.

We served this with a big green salad.  I'm a big advocate of eating green leafies, daily.

CRAFTS

I'm knitting mittens for the North Carolina grandchildren.  They rarely get snow, but it's good to be ready.  This is an old pattern from the 1940s and it knits up quickly, without a lot of nonsense.

Children's Mittens

size 2-4.  Sizes 4-6 and 6-8 are in prenthesis.

2 oz of worsted weight (#4) wool.

size 2 and 4 double pointed knitting needles

Gauge: 5 stitches= 1 inch

With smaller needles cast on 28 sts. (32 sts. - 36 sts.)
Join and work in ribbing K2, P2 for 2 (2 1/2) inches.
Change to larger needles and knit plain for 3/4 (1) inch.
Slip next 4 (5-6) stitches to holder.
Cast on 4 (5-6) stitches.
Join and work  and knit plain for 2 (2 1/4 - 2 1/2) inches
Decrease for tip:
K2, K 2 together. Repeat across round'
Knit 1 round.
Next round: K1, K 2 together for round.
Knit 1 round.
Next round: Knit 2 together across round.
Break yarn and leave a 7 inch end.  Thread a tapestry needle with this end and run twice through the remaining stitches. Pull stitches together and fasten off on wrong side.

THUMB:

Pick up 4 (5-6) stitches from holder and 4 (5-6) stitches from cast on stitches.
Divide stitches on three needles (size 4) .
Work even for 3/4 (1 inch).
Knit 2 together across round.
Finish off as mitten tip.

Work other mitten the same way.

BLISS!

By rearranging the furniture we were able to fit my favorite chair in the woodstove room.  Now I can sit by the fire and listening to old radio  programs on the internet and knit.   Heaven!   The best thing we ever did was to get rid of our cable TV.  I used to be quite a news junkie and would fret and worry about the world's woes.  There was  little I could do about the situations, but still it left me anxious.  Until I stopped listening to the national broadcasts, I never realized how much propaganda there is on the news.  Now, I just read several news sources from several countries, some liberal, some conservative, and I think I get a pretty picture of what's going on in the world.  I say my prayers for those poor people that are in the middle of conflicts and those that are experiencing tragedies, then I leave it to God.   Never been more at peace in my life.

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Made meatloaf from reduced-for-quick-sale hamburg.

Bought our seeds for the spring at the Black Friday Sale

Stocked up on vitamins at another Black Friday Sale.

We've been trying to clean out the pantry, which makes for some interesting meals.

Made Russian tea mix for the Christmas hampers.

Restyled a $2 wreath from the thrift store and objects I had on hand to make a pretty wreath for the front door.

Made some window decorations from twigs we found in the yard.

Knitted mittens from yarn in my stash.

Heated our house with wood.  The furnace has only come on once this  season.

Cleaned out my closets for more clothes to be put aside for our annual garage sale.  Some are going to charity too.

Played board games in the evening.

Mainly, just stayed in and did a lot of putzing.

SO that's it, again!   I just wanted to tell you all, that when I count my blessing, every last one of you dear readers is among them!  I so appreciate all your support. You know, I started this little blog long ago to help others, but I've discovered along the way that perhaps the person it has helped the most is myself.  Your kindness has renewed my faith in the world!  Hope you all have a beautiful, peaceful and cozy week.

Hugs to all!
Jane