Goodbye November!

 

This fall has presented so many challenges - from my son being rear-ended and totalling his car, to finding out I had some strokes to hubby getting a severe ear infection and flu, a broken sewer pipe in my son's home (that we still can't locate the problem part of the pipe) plus so many odd things in between. Will I miss this autumn? Still yes. All the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the autumn colors, the skunk that visits the cat dish and compost bin every day. my son's search has ended and new to him home has been found (with lots of fixing to do)... There are so many things that I am grateful for and will miss. And this month held 2 days of snow - the first on November 11th where we had about 1/2 inch and November 20th with just a dusting - either way, it was still white. Black Friday bestowed black ice for the travelers and many local accidents. So we are having more seasonal weather than we've had in years!

I purchased most of my baking items yesterday. Usually this is the time of year to find some decent deals. If you use evaporated milk, Walmart has their GV brand on sale for $1 a can and they also have their GV brand of Sweetened Condensed Milk for $1.77. (maybe different in your area). I use a few cans of each for baking so I need to stock up on these at this price. I cannot remember Aldi's prices, so I will be checking there first. I know the Aldi's online prices are different that in store.

Today is preparing to can all the broth day and then refill the roaster with beef bones. My local farmer gave me lots of beef bones to make broth with. He says no one else usually uses them. I find that interesting, since bone broth is so expensive. I have to buy more onions, celery and carrots for the beef broth, so will be picking up some this week. I'm freeing up space on my shelves and moving this around for all the broth that will be canned. There's going to be a lot!

The monstrous bird is now pack safely away in the freezer. I'm searching for recipes on top if the tried and true ones in my recipe box. Turkey potpie will be tasty this winter as well as other favorites!

One more month to go. I really can't believe it. How did this happen? It seems the year has flown by so quickly. I'm now in the mood for baking and candy making. I haven't had the itch to do that in a long, long time. Sadly, chocolate has skyrocketed, so I won't be making a lot with chocolate, but there are so many other cookies to make that I don't think anyone will miss them. I pulled out my grandmother's Betty Crocker Cooky Book and did a flip through. So many wonderful recipes and memories. I'll be putting it to good use this year.

I dug out my cookie press and my rosette iron. I forgot these recipes were both in this book. And so many others that Grandma had made for the holidays (not just for the Christmas season). Chocolate Crinkles were one of my favorites as well as the Spritz. Now I'm going down the memory path of when we were children and all gathered at Grandma's house. Everyone is pretty much gone now, but the memories still live on. See what opening a cookbook can do?

Next month will also hold some planning time. I usually do it through the month when I have some time. I know already that I want to complete some knitting, crochet and cross stitch WIPs. I have this need to get a lot done and not really start much. So many things are kitted up, and so much yarn and floss to use, plus all the crafts to get done that I have wanted to do, but have not so far. 

I love this time of the year!

Black Friday - Just Staying Home and Enjoying Family

Black Friday is a day I normally don't venture out in. I never really saw the draw, and after working in retail, I certainly don't get it! People start shopping on Thanksgiving now, and will go all the way through into Black Friday. I've talked to some shoppers that don't even have Thanksgiving until the weekend, so that they can shop! Sorry - I was brought up that Thanksgiving family time started on Wednesday evening and went through to Sunday - when everyone had to return home. I long for those days when spending time with  family was more important than rushing out to stand in line for sales of items one really doesn't need anyhow. But that's just me.

I've been pouring over online seed catalogs, trying to decide what we will be planting next year. I am a Sustaining member of Seed Saver's Exchange and an heirloom gardener. I prefer seeds with stories that are open pollinated and love collecting seeds from the plants I grow. It is so much more satisfying for me to do that than to have to buy packets of seeds every year. Don't get me wrong - I still buy and trade seeds, because there's always something different I want to try.

I came across some asparagus seeds at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I've been wanting to plant some asparagus, but the plants can get a bit expensive. I chose the Precoce D'Argenteuil as they can be harvested in their second year instead of the normal three! The packet holds 75 seeds and has a lot of good ratings stating they are easy to grow and delicious, so I have a decent chance of succeeding with them! With them being an heirloom, I'll be able to collect seed and make a really nice bed of asparagus for $3!

I also like MIgardener. Luke offers some amazing seeds at an unheard of price of 99 cents. He has over 500 varieties to choose from and everything I have purchased from his has always performed well for me. He also has a fantastic YouTube channel that has so many wonderful and informative videos. I have followed his channel from almost the beginning. I've learned so much and it's been great watching him grow.

The other place I get open pollinated/non-GMO seeds is from Fedco Seeds. Their prices are good and you get a nice amount of seed for the price. I've also had great success with their seeds in the past. They are out of Maine and have a lot more than seeds. They have trees, plants, tubers, berries, bulbs, etc. The most exciting thing for me is they offer root stock and scionwood for grafting as well as supplies. After I get out gardens established, I'm going to put my grafting classes to good use. Definitely worth a look at their catalogs!

First Snow of the Season

Yesterday at 4:45 am, I woke up to a brighter than normal morning and wondered why. I got up to have a peek and was surprised to see a dusting of snow. It looked a bit more impressive in the wee hours of the morning after the snow. By the time I thought of taking a picture, it was already melting. 

Saturday was a busy day filled with some much needed shopping. First we went to Sam's Club to pick up some of the sale items like peanut butter and raisins. Sam's is never a quick stop because I have so many friends that work there on both Sam's side as well as those that do the demos. Thank heavens hubby is a patient and understanding person!

From there, we went to Tractor Supply because he had to return some tires he had purchased for his garden cart that weren't what he needed. While he was off doing that, I found the clearance section and picked up some crocuses and some organic fertilizer that was on there. I didn't have any clue there would be snow when I woke up yesterday. I may not have gotten them if I had. With that said, the ground isn't frozen yet, so hopefully they'll have a chance and I'll see them next spring.

We discovered the outdoor Amish Farmer's Market was still opened and stopped to see what they'd have this late in the season. It was getting near the time to for the day and they were out of a lot of things, but they had quite a few winter squash left. I got a decent deal on the squash, so I ended up getting about 3 bushels of a mix of spaghetti, acorn, butternut and Kabocha squash for $48. That may seem high to some, but in this area, it's a good price. 

Ollie's was next because we had a 15% off coupon. We had some good finds - like a package of 8 Jello sugar free butterscotch pudding for 89 cents! That's what one costs on sale. We had a few good finds like that and then a few of the normal groceries we get there. 

For the grand finish, we went to the Thanksgiving dinner put on by the local fire department. It's a free dinner for the community, but is all actuality, it's a good fundraiser. I don't think anyone had a dinner without donating something. Personally, I love these kinds of dinners! The menu consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, roll and a dessert - oh yes, and a beverage. 

Overall, it was a great weekend! Nice and busy on Saturday, snowy start yesterday and the rest of the day was filled with church, laundry, and working on the pantry shelves.  Nothing earth shattering, but still busy and at the same time peaceful.

Frugal Valentine's

Every year since the time we met, my husband gives me a single rose for both Valentine's Day and on our anniversary. He has been creative with giving the roses - especially on our anniversary. Not all of them were alive or single long stem roses. In the past, I've received a necklace, pin, water globe containing a real rose, a Capodimonte rose, a rose plant, etc. Usually though, Valentine's Day brings a single long stemmed rose. This year, he gave me a chocolate one!

Valentine's gifts have always been so expensive, and when we were first married, hubby used to feel badly about not being able to afford a nice gift. I soon talked him out of seeing things that way by showing him just how wonderful it could be the day after. Everything is marked down at least 50% and really, what's one day? We started hitting the sales the day after and even stocked up on our chocolate for a few months. So many times you can find other things - not just the overpriced boxed hearts, but things like Hershey Kisses, Snickers, Reese's, etc. as well as baking items and even apparel. I've come home with some really nice sleep pants and t-shirts at a huge savings - just because they had hearts on them or were marketed for Valentine's Day!

This year, I got to the store later than I wanted to, but still found a few good deals. I picked up 7 bags of Hershey Kisses at $1.44 each, 1 bag of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate strawberry filled squares and a couple of Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranate and Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai each at $1.50.  All roses - actually all cut flowers were marked down and I ended up bringing home a dozed peach colored roses for $2. They look gorgeous displayed in the glass holder that my after Christmas purchase of the 98 cent Amaryllis was housed in.

Remember, being frugal does not mean you have to give up the finer things in life - it just means you know when to purchase them.