What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

June 25th, Rudolph Day...

June 25th!  We are now at the halfway point between last Christmas and next Christmas.  Amazing.  And while I'm not a real fan of seeing Christmas everywhere so early, I do think that when you make things by hand, you have to get an early start, or things just don't get done.  

Pamela at The Lady of the House Speaking introduced me to the idea of Rudolph Day; that is designating the 25th of each month as 'Rudolph Day' and making ready.  That made sense to me.  I don't have to think about plans and preparations all month every month, but I can think about them on the 25th and take small steps to be ready(er).

So if you hate seeing Christmas pulled out mid-year, avert your eyes.  I am going to try to post one Christmas project on 'Rudolph Day' each month from now to Christmas.

One thing I have been wanting to do for awhile is to paint a canvas as a backdrop for our nativity scene, so this morning at 3:30 a.m. (yes, that's when I usually start on crazy things) I just jumped in.

This is an awful piece done at one of those wine-and-friends painting 'classes.'  They are fun to attend, but don't always render the best results.  I decided to paint over this canvas which heretofore has never seen the light of day.  (Frugal re-use!)

Did it turn out great?  Meh.  Do I want to re-do it?  Pretty much.  Am I going to?  No.  It is done, which is more than it was last Christmas, and done is better than perfect!

And it doesn't look too bad when set behind the stable made by my father in 1981 (which I dug out of the closet for this photo).  I think it will look even better when officially done up at Christmas.

Frugal Friday File, week 25...

Successes:
1.  Was sitting at a quarter tank of fuel when I was out and about on Monday.  Saw $2.20 per gallon, but continued on to a station that is usually much lower than competitors, and I was not disappointed.  I filled up for $2.02 per gallon.

2.  Made cards this week using only supplies on hand.

3.  Tuesday's inbox had a notice from Amazon that I have $24.20 credit as a result of anti-trust settlement.  That was a nice surprise!

4.  Somehow I ended up on Etsy looking at earrings.  When I was about to hit 'buy,' I decided to go have a look through my jewelry box instead.  I've gotten out of the habit of wearing earrings, so I was excited to come across some old favorites.  I decided I would wear the earrings I already own for at least a month to evaluate if I 'need' any new ones.

5.  No haircut, no puppy, no fabric.

Keep Tryings:
Oh my goodness,  I resorted to eating out entirely too much this week.  I haven't been to the store since the big refrigerator clean out after the door was left ajar all afternoon last week.  I must make a menu plan and grocery shop.  I need a personal shopper.

Frugal From the Kitchen This Week:
Saturday:  *pizza
Sunday:  leftovers
Monday:  *bbq
Tuesday:  *friends night out
Wednesday:  Waikiki Meatballs over Rice
Thursday:  Gnocchi Skillet with Chicken Sausage and Tomatoes
Friday:  *Chinese

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)

Nostalgic musings...

Today for lunch, I made tuna salad sandwiches.  As usual, as I was trying to decide what to put in the tuna salad (I like it with either celery, apple, pecans, sweet pickle relish, dehydrated onions, and mayo...or alternatively with diced hard-boiled eggs, dill pickle relish, fresh chopped onion, and mayo), I started thinking about a seasoning mix that was available when I was a newlywed, the intended purpose of which was to spice up and extend tuna salad.  I couldn't remember what it was called, but I was nostalgic enough to Google "80s tuna salad helper." 

The very first link that came up was a forum discussing Nabisco's Tuna Twist.  Yep, that was it!  Apparently there are a lot of people that still remember and miss it.  There were a few copycat recipes which I saved and may try someday.  I love the coupon photo I found:  7¢, wow!  :)

It got me reminiscing about food from my youth.

A few years ago, my friend, the other Kathleen, and I thought it would be whimsical to make a throw up throwback meal for her daughter's family, and used items that our mothers served when we were kids.  As I recall, that dinner consisted of fried slices of SPAM...  

pea salad...

photo credit: food.com

 and shoestring potatoes.

We did not produce a gelatin salad mold.  Blech!  No thanks.  My mother may have made a dessert jello mold with fruit and marshmallows occasionally, but olives?  ...shudder...  However the photo of the savory mold above brings back a flood memories related to magazine advertisements.

I can clearly picture the cover of a Family Circle (or was it Woman's Day) magazine that had a winter-fruit pie...a lot of dried fruits and maybe some fresh.  Mom made it, and it was FABULOUS!  As I recall, there was no sugar in the recipe, it was just so good.  Sadly, the recipe was lost, and I have not been successful at searching it out either in cookbooks or on the Web.

This was the era when we began to see convenience foods.  Soup Starter was a shortcut to a homemade meal.  It still had to be simmered for quite awhile as I recall, so not really all that convenient.  I'm not sure I ever used it, but I do remember keeping a canister or two in the cupboard...you know...just in case.  So again, the photo makes me feel nostalgic.

photo credit and recipe - Apron Strings

One thing that my mother used to keep a jar of, and definitely needs to be reproduced in my kitchen, is Brandied Fruit.  It's fermented, and a neighbor gave her a starter of it.  It can be used in various ways, but I always loved it over vanilla ice cream.  Mmmmmmm.

So what do you remember fondly that has either been discontinued or gone out of style?  Please share in the comments.  :)

Cards in the mail...

Chloe and Caitlyn are at camp this week.  The camp encourages letter writing (a camp after my own heart!) so I wanted to get cards in the mail to get there in time.  Chloe is my little 'honey bee,' so that's what decorated her card.

I thought they would like pop-up cards.  Perfection was not a priority.

Caitlyn's card is also a pop-up.

Hers has a ladybug, because she's my Catiebug.  :)

And then there was a simple hello to a friend.

A bee-lated bee-day card for another friend.

A thank you card to the doctor, whose care I have just left, for her kind care and attention for the past two years.

And a hello to another friend rounds out the bunch and completes my goal for 6 cards made, letters written, and in the mail.

Little jobs...

Today is one of those days that I have a million little things to do...things that have evaded the Do-It-Now principle for too long.

make to-do list for the week
clean out fridge
take out trash
empty dishwasher
reload dishwasher
vacuum
mop
refill handwash dispensers
do shoulder exercises
do shoulder exercises
do shoulder exercises
make 6 cards (and write letters)
mail 6 cards
wash towels
dry towels
fold towels
wash a load of dark clothing
clean off ironing board
put new cover on ironing board
pick up prescriptions
organize meds for the week
fill the car with fuel
drink water
drink water

drink water

drink water

drink water

drink water

drink water

drink water

Okay, that may not be a million, but there's more that I'm sure I'll come across in the process.

Frugal Friday File, week 24...

Successes:
1.  I was supposed to go grocery shopping on Tuesday, but I had a headache and a couple of kiddos spending the night while their daddy was working and their mama had a two-day business trip come up at the last second.  (I, happily, am their frugal emergency baby sitting service!)  I nixed grocery shopping in favor of self-preservation.  I still needed an easy supper that I thought they might like, however.  I made Mexican Macaroni Salad.  The dressing calls for mayo, sour cream, and salsa.  I didn't have salsa, so I stirred together the mayo and sour cream and added half a packet of taco seasoning.  It worked great.  I also added browned ground beef to make it a one-bowl meal.  Sometimes being frugal means being adventurous with a recipe.  I left out what I didn't have on hand, and made substitutions of stuff in the pantry that I thought would work.  There was macaroni, corn, black beans, ripe olives, red onion, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheese, browned ground beef, and the dressing.  I got it pulled together without making a trip to the store.

2.  A pool = huge initial expense, ongoing pool chemicals, and ongoing maintenance.  Having a local family member with a pool = free access, no expense, no maintenance (for me)...THANK YOU local family member!

3.  The hubs got another free t-shirt for donating blood this week.  ALL of his t-shirts have come as thank-yous for blood donations.

4.  I've been waiting on the reserve list for two ebooks for quite awhile through library, and they both became available this week.  

5.  Still postponing a haircut.  And I haven't gotten a puppy yet either.

Keep Tryings:
I came home after being gone for several hours to find that the refrigerator door had been left ajar all afternoon.  Goodbye leftovers.  :(

Frugal From the Kitchen This Week:
Saturday:  chili dogs
Sunday:  Sunday dinner at Kasey's
Monday:  *sandwiches
Tuesday:  Mexican Macaroni Salad
Wednesday:  pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, green beans
Thursday:  *chicken
Friday:  ???

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)