We had a great week with putting up food and getting things ready for winter. The garlic is in, the garden is ready, and most of the food has been put away. I still have a bit of squash and sweet potatoes to do.
I canned 6 quarts of pumpkin to try. I've read opinions on canning it, and some people swear by it and others don't like it and prefer to freeze it. The Ball Blue Book does not recommend it, but the guide from the Cooperative Extension has it listed. So, I tried a batch to see for myself.
I'm also planning on putting up some canned kidney beans using Garden Gnome's method. When I used the directions from the guide I got from the Cooperative Extension, the beans became thick and exploded and not in any type of juice like you'd buy in the store.
Taste Of Home Cooking Schools
We went to one of the Taste of Home Cooking Schools last week. We had a blast. Hubby and our son went along with us this year. This is the third year my daughter, my brother's girlfriend and I attended, and a first for the guys. My son met a historian/author that was promoting her book at the vendor show, and he got one of them signed by her. She also invited him to a some meetings that her society has, and an archeological dig to boot! He was flying on cloud #9 all night. He's been corresponding with her since the show. Cool, eh?
The show was nice but we ended up with terrible seats. We went early (like usual) to get the good seats, and instead of filling the middle first, they went across the rows from side then middle than side. Where we were, the audio was terrible and we couldn't really see the instructor, but instead the screen. DH and DS were on the inside end, so it wasn't so bad for them. In fact, DH won a nice prize of a bottle of oil, a bag of spices and baguette wrapped in a Christmas print towel. It was a nice surprise! DH thought it was cool :)
Our gift totes were nice and filled with items from the vendors as well as a few things from Reiman Publications. The one thing that confused me though, was they gave the recent issue of Taste of Home magazine. Well, almost everyone subscribes, so that seemed a waste. I wish they would have given another of their cooking magazines instead. But all in all, it was worth every penny we spent to go. (like every year!)
Even though I've cooked for a long time, I always find some great hints and come home with a little more knowledge than when I went. My best lesson was that chefs and profession cooks burn things, too - but they call it carmelizing! LOL
My brother's girlfriend gave me a wonderful surprise when we got back. She bought me the Taste of Home Winning Recipes recipe book, and it's fantastic! That is going to be one well used book in my kitchen library!
Showing posts with label Taste of Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taste of Home. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Gardening Season is Almost Over
Since my last post, all it seems we have done is run from appointment to appointment. I think about half my days of October are filled with one obligation or another. The children (or should I say teens) had their vaccinations yesterday, and they're a bit under the weather today. I decided to let them sleep in today, and will give them an easy day of it today. DS received 4 - 2 in each arm, and DD received 3. I hope DS is back in his game tomorrow, as he has an open house tomorrow at the college he is interested in attending. They have a whole day of tours and lectures planned.
After a long day of trying to get the doctor's visit and shopping done, we came home beat on Friday. I missed the weather report and never gave it another thought, and went to bed. We had a hard frost, and lost most of our garden. The only things left are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and horseradish. My Egyptian onions (walking onions) have done well and I have quite a few babies sprouting. I can't wait to be able to have enough to finally use!!
Now, for some really great news.... My update about Macy's @ Amazon....
We spent many hours on the phone with Macy's to try to get our order straight. Actually, my sweet husband took over and spent most of the time on the phone with them. We were promised 3 different times that they were going to ship out the pressure cooker and there would be an email stating that it was coming. There was never an email, and when we'd call back, there would be the run around again that they never offered that item!! Well, DH had a screen shots of the ad that he sent to them.
Now, there was no more argument, because there was the whole add - including the seller's name of Macy's with the price. (Thanks Barbara for sending the link!! I had no idea that you could do a Google Cash look-up.) Well, this one actually convinced one of the supervisors that we weren't making it all up and she told hubby that she would see if she could find something that was comparable. On Thursday afternoon, she called back and said that she found something and would be shipped out and we'd get an email confirmation. We never got one. On Friday, I found that Amazon LLC. had the same set listed for $34.95 with free shipping, so I spoke to my husband and he said I should order it, as he wasn't expecting Macy's to hold up on their end of the bargain (again).
The same day that I ordered from Amazon, they shipped the package out and it was due here on Monday! YAY!! I patiently waited Monday afternoon for the package, and instead of getting one, I received 3!! There were 2 packages from Macy's plus the one I was expecting from Amazon. Macy's sent a beautiful Fagor double boiler with steamer, a cookbook, and a Fagor pressure cooker. These were a much nicer replacement than I ordered, so we called just to make sure the shipment was correct. YES!! I now have 2 pressure cookers, and 2 canning sets, plus so much more. It was difficult getting a correction to our order, but it did happen - but gosh... there was a lot of time and frustration doing it, however, my husband says it was well worth it. :)
The Big Grocery Trip
We don't shop like "normal people" or so I have been told. I take that as a big compliment :) Our shopping trips are well planned out, with the seasons, coupons, sales, and refunds/rebates. This week, we had to use a 15% discount on a grocery trip that came from using our grocery store shopper's club card. We paired up the sales with coupons, and took advantage of the 15% on top of it all. When we were finished shopping, we had $500 worth of groceries for $302, plus we got a couple of kickouts totalling $27 off our next shopping order. This was not $500 worth of prepackaged foods, but good staples, like meat, veggies, eggs, baking needs, etc.
One example of a good bargain for us was Classico Pasta Sauce. I don't grow enough tomatoes to make my own yet, so I buy spaghetti sauce (for now). The Classico was on sale for 2 for $4. If you purchased 12 of them, you received a kickout for $10 off your next grocery order. I had a $1.50 coupon plus we used the 15% off on top of it all, making the Classico 91 cents a jar! Mind you, I am counting the $10 off the next order in, because I wouldn't have gotten it, if I didn't buy the sauce. It's kind of like an instant rebate, if you know what I mean.
CVS & RiteAid
Last week we did great at CVS and RiteAid. In fact, everything that was free after rebates and kickouts was there (unlike this week!) and we actually had a few items that were money makers for us. No matter how many times I get things at these two stores, I'm still blown away by the fact that we now can get many of our health and beauty aids for free!
One promotion that CVS had that was neat was, if you purchased $20 worth of certain products, you'd get $10 off the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. I didn't pay too much attention to it, though, because my husband went to K-mart to get some tools and received a $5 coupon towards the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. We went to K-mart on Friday to get it. I had expected that to actually be cheaper than CVS, but the DVD was $24.99 AFTER the coupon! I went to CVS and spent $5 more and came home with some much needed items, including the batteries that we were going to get at K-mart on top of the cost of the DVD. Believe it or not, the batteries were the same price as those at K-mart.
Taste of Home Cooking School
I didn't make the 10 mile yard sale. sigh..... Instead, I stayed home on Saturday and waited to be able to call in for tickets to go to the Taste of Home Cooking School. Our local paper sponsors the show, and they have one day that you can call and get them - and only a few hours to do it. I so wish they would do it a different way, but I guess this works for them. This will be our third year going, and it's always a lot of fun. It does cost $10 but we get a nice tote bag filled with all kinds of samples, a Taste of Home Cooking School cookbook, plus lots of other goodies. Before the show, you can sample lots of yummy foods and there are vendors set up to visit. Usually my brother's girlfriend, my daughter and I go, but this year, our whole family is going. I'm really surprised that my huband and son want to tag along. I guess they are curious after hearing all all our talk and raves about the show. With 2 more bodies in our group, we will have that much better of a chance at winning one of the lovely prizes they draw for. (ok, so I'm being VERY optimistic!) If you have the chance to go to one, please consider it. They are worth the ticket price in just the things you bring home!
After a long day of trying to get the doctor's visit and shopping done, we came home beat on Friday. I missed the weather report and never gave it another thought, and went to bed. We had a hard frost, and lost most of our garden. The only things left are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and horseradish. My Egyptian onions (walking onions) have done well and I have quite a few babies sprouting. I can't wait to be able to have enough to finally use!!
Now, for some really great news.... My update about Macy's @ Amazon....
We spent many hours on the phone with Macy's to try to get our order straight. Actually, my sweet husband took over and spent most of the time on the phone with them. We were promised 3 different times that they were going to ship out the pressure cooker and there would be an email stating that it was coming. There was never an email, and when we'd call back, there would be the run around again that they never offered that item!! Well, DH had a screen shots of the ad that he sent to them.
Now, there was no more argument, because there was the whole add - including the seller's name of Macy's with the price. (Thanks Barbara for sending the link!! I had no idea that you could do a Google Cash look-up.) Well, this one actually convinced one of the supervisors that we weren't making it all up and she told hubby that she would see if she could find something that was comparable. On Thursday afternoon, she called back and said that she found something and would be shipped out and we'd get an email confirmation. We never got one. On Friday, I found that Amazon LLC. had the same set listed for $34.95 with free shipping, so I spoke to my husband and he said I should order it, as he wasn't expecting Macy's to hold up on their end of the bargain (again).The same day that I ordered from Amazon, they shipped the package out and it was due here on Monday! YAY!! I patiently waited Monday afternoon for the package, and instead of getting one, I received 3!! There were 2 packages from Macy's plus the one I was expecting from Amazon. Macy's sent a beautiful Fagor double boiler with steamer, a cookbook, and a Fagor pressure cooker. These were a much nicer replacement than I ordered, so we called just to make sure the shipment was correct. YES!! I now have 2 pressure cookers, and 2 canning sets, plus so much more. It was difficult getting a correction to our order, but it did happen - but gosh... there was a lot of time and frustration doing it, however, my husband says it was well worth it. :)
The Big Grocery Trip
We don't shop like "normal people" or so I have been told. I take that as a big compliment :) Our shopping trips are well planned out, with the seasons, coupons, sales, and refunds/rebates. This week, we had to use a 15% discount on a grocery trip that came from using our grocery store shopper's club card. We paired up the sales with coupons, and took advantage of the 15% on top of it all. When we were finished shopping, we had $500 worth of groceries for $302, plus we got a couple of kickouts totalling $27 off our next shopping order. This was not $500 worth of prepackaged foods, but good staples, like meat, veggies, eggs, baking needs, etc.
One example of a good bargain for us was Classico Pasta Sauce. I don't grow enough tomatoes to make my own yet, so I buy spaghetti sauce (for now). The Classico was on sale for 2 for $4. If you purchased 12 of them, you received a kickout for $10 off your next grocery order. I had a $1.50 coupon plus we used the 15% off on top of it all, making the Classico 91 cents a jar! Mind you, I am counting the $10 off the next order in, because I wouldn't have gotten it, if I didn't buy the sauce. It's kind of like an instant rebate, if you know what I mean.
CVS & RiteAid
Last week we did great at CVS and RiteAid. In fact, everything that was free after rebates and kickouts was there (unlike this week!) and we actually had a few items that were money makers for us. No matter how many times I get things at these two stores, I'm still blown away by the fact that we now can get many of our health and beauty aids for free!
One promotion that CVS had that was neat was, if you purchased $20 worth of certain products, you'd get $10 off the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. I didn't pay too much attention to it, though, because my husband went to K-mart to get some tools and received a $5 coupon towards the purchase of an Iron Man DVD. We went to K-mart on Friday to get it. I had expected that to actually be cheaper than CVS, but the DVD was $24.99 AFTER the coupon! I went to CVS and spent $5 more and came home with some much needed items, including the batteries that we were going to get at K-mart on top of the cost of the DVD. Believe it or not, the batteries were the same price as those at K-mart.
Taste of Home Cooking School
I didn't make the 10 mile yard sale. sigh..... Instead, I stayed home on Saturday and waited to be able to call in for tickets to go to the Taste of Home Cooking School. Our local paper sponsors the show, and they have one day that you can call and get them - and only a few hours to do it. I so wish they would do it a different way, but I guess this works for them. This will be our third year going, and it's always a lot of fun. It does cost $10 but we get a nice tote bag filled with all kinds of samples, a Taste of Home Cooking School cookbook, plus lots of other goodies. Before the show, you can sample lots of yummy foods and there are vendors set up to visit. Usually my brother's girlfriend, my daughter and I go, but this year, our whole family is going. I'm really surprised that my huband and son want to tag along. I guess they are curious after hearing all all our talk and raves about the show. With 2 more bodies in our group, we will have that much better of a chance at winning one of the lovely prizes they draw for. (ok, so I'm being VERY optimistic!) If you have the chance to go to one, please consider it. They are worth the ticket price in just the things you bring home!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Girls' Night Out
Yesterday was our annual girls "night" out. (Actually it was more like an afternoon & evening.) Each year, my DD, SIL and I make a trip to see the Taste of Home Cooking School. We always have a good time, come back with a few new tips, and some samples and freebies. We wanted to take a picture for our scrap books, but this year they would not allow any photos, not even before the show - so we came home photo-less. :(
We were especially treated with our show being hosted by Taste of Home's own Patricia Wade Powell who was a real delight to watch and listen to. She has such a great sense of humor and gave so many suggestions for other ingredients that would go well in the recipe she was demonstrating. I loved her many comments that "cooking from scratch is wonderful" and "make this recipe your own". Too many times I've come across people who cook strictly by the book. I will the first time to get a feel for the flavors - but after that - it's fair game to get creative with it.
So now, I need to sit down with my nice package of goodies from the show, and go through everything to see what all we really did receive. There were cookbooks, catalogs, coupons, samples, little gifts and recipes that I saw in the tote last night. We were just too tired to go through them all after we came home. I'm really looking to take some quite time today to sort through it all.
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