Lack of sunshine AKA I've been depressed!

Well....

I've been a little depressed....

Winter always does that to me.

Short days, lack of sunlight, working indoors?

All of the above?

Yep!!!

Anyway....

I was in need of a little brightness in my indoor home life so I decided to lighten things up a bit.

A few pieces of furniture were banished, a few rearranged and some renewed.

This dresser, rescued from a thrift store eight years ago,

functions as a sort of buffet/dining room storage unit.

Originally, I removed the mirror and painted it all white.

Bor-ing.....

Then I went through my dark green phase.

Then I marbled it a black/green/gold/white.

Today it's marbled blackish/red with the mirror re-attached

and has a new home in the hallway.

This is my vanity, rescued from the thrift store also.

I've had this baby since 1980.

She also has gone through several transformations,

Black on white, dark green on white, brown.....

Today she's sporting a bright, sunny yellow.

Hairstyler Barbie and Mr. Peanut approve of their new digs!



New kitchen window treatment

The windows needed a little help also!

The kitchen has two windows and the office/sewing room has three.

Needless to say, there was a lot of curtain making going on!

I used the fabric from the old office curtains to make a new

table cloth for the soap display table.



New office window curtains

And Soap, lots and lots of soap,

craft shows are right around the corner!

Soap curing

I feel a little better now.

 Thank you Better Homes & Gardens

for getting me out of my funk!

Maybe I need to do some canning too,

I'm a little low on jam!

Till next time,

Bonjour



The Lion , The Witch and The Wardrobe

OK...

So I lied, there is no Lion or Witch, just "The Wardrobe"!

*** :) ***

I found this lovely piece in an antique store about five years ago.

$1oo.oo

We had "house guests" at the time and needed more closet space.

It still has the original hanging rod, 

with weird hook things that slide across the rod,

 kind of like bathroom robe hooks.

(wasn't sure how to use those) 

We just slid them to the side and used wire hangers.

There wasn't enough clearance between the rod

and upper shelf for plastic hangers.

Anyway...

"House guests" are gone, so now it's a pantry.

I didn't want to alter the piece so we just put a shelving unit inside.

When things are on sale at the market I buy extra and store in  "The Wardrobe".

Those cans of tomatoes, tuna, and such were really a good price!



I've had these forever, cheap, Wally World bookshelves.

There's one on either side of the kitchen island.
I don't know if you can see but,

 I had to put a piece of wood between each shelf for support.

Still room for a few more jars!

(Ignore the 5 gal. buckets in the background, that's just my soap oils).


This is the only closet in the house, although it is pretty big.
No, we don't have that much coffee,
I save coffee cans for food storage silly:)
More on sale food items in here also.
Bulk purchases are divided up into smaller containers.
Beans, rice, sugar, flour.....
I scored a large, laundry basket full of jars, canisters
and popcorn tins for $5.00 at the thrift store a few months back.
Plastic shoe boxes also come in handy.
YES!!!

Weird...
Something I have noticed at the market as of late.
Staple food items?
Not really being put on sale.
 It's mostly, what I like to call, "the garbage food".
Pre-seasoned, pre-cooked fast food, just heat and eat.
Then there's the plastic packages of meat swimming in marinades,
and the plastic tubs of pre-sliced veggies and fruits.

I don't know, I guess if you work, have three kids with after school activities,
get home late, ETC, ETC, ETC,
maybe this is your only option besides Mickey Dees?
But...
Seems to me, for the price of the fast food stuff,
you could probably hire a sweet, grandma type, retired person
to come over and cook wholesome food for your family.
I'm just saying....

Please, don't tell "The People Eater" or "The Food Police"
about my food stash!!

Oh yeah, weird again,
have the check- out clerks at your market been
commenting/asking about your bulk purchases?
They have at mine!

Need to go make soap, shows start in October.

Till next time, happy hoarding,
Bonjour

More Canning? More Cooking? Why Yes, I Beleive So!



skins be gone - pizza, pasta, stew starter - turkey roaster waiting station





OK....

Remember those tomatoes from last week?

The ones I had to put in the freezer?
The ones from the farmers market? ($7.00 for about 20 lbs).

 Well yesterday we had  time.

 Let's get them canned up, I said!

We left them whole, more or less, and used the pressure canner.

I was running short on jars so we used a combo of quarts and pints.

Would have preferred to use all wide mouth, but....

We used the hot pack method,

keeping them between warm and hot in the turkey roaster.

Everything went well and we ended up with,

3 quarts, 8 pints and 3 juice.

The juice was the left over liquid in the roaster.

I'd say, we have quite enough tomatoes now!
(Remember, I canned some in January)...

 Anyone needing some of the "said tomatoes"

is welcome to come over and help themselves!

Let me back up!
Before we started on the tomatoes, I put a brisket in the electric roaster,
(about 10 1/2  lbs. for $1.49 a lb.)
and some dry (soaked overnight),  beans in the slow cooker.

OK, moving on....



Brisket waiting to be trimmed - all packaged up - meal size

 The Brisket
Typically, we don't do meat as a main course,
 use it for soups, stews, casseroles, tacos ETC.
I guess I get that trait from my mom, she was
trying to feed 9 people on a limited budget!
She did some wonderful recipes with very little to work with.
(Wish I would have told her, I love you, more often).

So, we packaged the brisket into meal size portions and popped them into the freezer.
(When I say meal size, I mean, big meal, several servings).
I would have rather canned it but I was low on jars, and by this time it was 5pm.

The Beans
My grand-daughter Lauren was over last weekend and
she was watching Nate and I make the crispy breakfast tacos.
(Not that Nathan was really helping, more like,
in and out of the kitchen while playing video games and watching a movie.
I guess he gets his multi tasking from me).

We were tossing around ideas for different fillings and she suggested
using re-fried beans as the binder, chorizo as the meat, and adding scrambled eggs.
Sounded good, might be ugly though, I'm not sure how the eggs will look.

And, as soon as I get my butt away from this laptop,
I'm going to smash some beans and give her idea a try.
I'll let you know how they turn out!

OH, and Sue,
I did at least manage to get the laundry done.
I might even get the dog hair swept up!!!

Yes, my grass is indeed that brown!

What are you guys going to do with your long weekend?

Till next time,
Bonjour

Pancake Zingers

Pancake Zingers

?????

You might be asking,

what are Pancake Zingers?

Well, I'll be glad to tell you!

They're a full meal deal.
 Meat, veggies and sometimes cheese,

all combined to make a yummy disk shaped treat!

No syrup needed!

I'm always searching for food to go.

I have to leave for work early in the AM

so on the road food is my only choice.

I try not to do the fast food places,

not good for my health or my pocketbook.

So here goes.

These are delicious.

Pancake Zingers

Ingridents for the filling:

1 small onion, minced

2 ribs celery plus some leaves, minced

1 small bell pepper, minced (any color)

1 small roma tomato, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup cooked ham, minced

oil for sautéing

Ingredients for the batter:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Directions for the filling:

Heat oil in a sauté pan, (about two turns of the pan)

add onion, celery, bell pepper and tomato.
Sauté  till limp, then add the garlic clove and ham.
Warm through.
Remove from the heat.

Directions for the batter:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
In a large measuring cup, measure milk first, then add the egg, then the oil. Blend.

Add the liquid to the dry, lightly mixing. Now add your sautéed veggie/meat mixture.
At this point you can add any grated cheese of your choice, about 1/4 cup.
Use a light hand to incorporate.
Let the mixture sit a few while you're heating your griddle.

When a few drops of water dance on the griddle you're ready to go.
I use a small gravy ladle to spoon out my batter, and I can fit three cakes on my griddle.
(I have a seasoned cast iron griddle so there's really no need to grease the pan).
When bubbles form on the top of the cakes, flip and cook for another a minute or so.
Remove to a platter and continue on.
Makes about fifteen cakes.

You could sub cooked ground pork, diced cooked chicken or any meat of your choice.

I package these up three to a baggie and eat them cold.

Sweet and savory!

If you have any suggestions for one handed, on the road food, let me know.

I'm always looking for something different!

I mean it!!!

Till next time,

Bonjour

Grinding Pork, Making Breakfast Sausage

Well....

Ground Pork

I'm experimenting again.

I haven't used my meat grinder in quite some time

but a great deal on some "pork roast" 

 made me pull it out again.

This meat was labeled  "for Carnitas", (a Mexican dish).

Heavily marbled, it seemed the right type of meat for breakfast sausage.

I ground it up, sort of,

the fat keep clogging the grinder,

added herbs and seasonings, then fried it.

It was ok, not great, dry tasting,

I guess I need to experiment some more.

Round Two!

I decided to grind some more to use as taco meat.

I trimmed away some of the fat this time and that helped getting it through the grinder.

I sautéed  the meat with some onion,

garlic and jalapeno peppers,

then added chili powder, cumin, diced

 tomatoes and tomato sauce.

I cooked until the liquid had reduced a bit,

then served in taco shells with grated cheese on top.

That turned out really good.

So the first batch, with the fat, turned out dry,

and the second batch with the reduced fat turned out great.

Maybe I cooked the first batch too long?

Maybe the acidity of the tomatoes in the second batch helped to tenderize it?

 Anyone have any opinions/suggestions?

Till next time,

Bonjour

I'm Laptop Challenged

OK....

I admit it, I have no skill with this laptop!

I'm typing away, I look up at the screen and

my text is all jumbled up or completely gone.

It took me 30 minutes to write a simple Email last night.

My, oh my, very frustrating..

Things have been very weird around here of late but I'm

embracing the changes and trying to go with the flow!

 NOT!!!

Read,

  Terry is a control freak and does not

like change unless it is initiated by her!!!

 Anyway....

My shower curtain of 8 years really needed to go

but me being the frugal (cheapo) person I am

wanted something really cool at little to no cost.

I was browsing the recycle box at work

 and found a catalogue from Garnet Hill.

(Pricy clothing and home decor).

Spied this shower curtain ($78.00) and knew

I could replicate it at less than a third of the cost. 

 

Pricy Catalogue Curtain!

I already had the fabric,

the pink fabric was from a secondhand store score

and the peace sign fabric was purchased a few months ago at

Wally World for $1.50 a yard.

The floral top and bottom fabric
are leftovers from I don't know what!



That thing hanging in the middle is a lei

 from my sister's b-day party!

My Version

Close Up

I found a liner at Ross for $3.99 so now I'm good to go.

 Ivy and Spike like it,

but....

No Face, Jamaica and Voodoo Girl are noncommittal.

What do you think?

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

 

Sofa Completed And I'm Still Here

Recovered Sofa

I guess I'm a heathen, cause I'm still here!

I was a little concerned today,

I knew I would be LEFT BEHIND

but,

what about my loved ones?

Would they be gone?

Everyone I know is still on Planet Earth,

so, 

I guess the nut doesn't fall far from the tree!

Really!!!

On to the sofa.

I purchased a total of 13 yards of fabric for this project,

1 bolt of each print. ($22.50 plus tax)
I like to purchase more than I need just in case I screw something up!

Happens, believe me...

I did all the cushions and pillows in the sham method to eliminate zippers, 

and still had enough fabric to make throw pillows
and cushions for the park bench.

In a previous life the seat cushions for the park bench

were the back cushions on a second hand love seat .



Park Bench

Even had enough fabric left to cover one of the chairs on the front porch! 

The pillows on the park bench and the front porch chair

were 50 cents each at the thrifty shop.

Free front porch Chair

What to do about the other chair on the front porch?

The cushion for this chair was purchased from Wally World

about five years ago....

Really bad shape but the top half was savable.

Snip, snip....

Another fifty cent pillow combined with the savable top half and,

VIOLA!



Other free chair

The covers for this chair were pillow shams given to me by my mother- in- law.

(Yeah, I know, I need to paint the front porch ....again).

So here we have it,
the deck is in useable condition,
(AKA entertainment worthy)
complete with seating for twelve,
dining area for six, bath for one, and dominoes for two.
Nathan always kicks my a.. at dominoes!!!

Lower half of deck

You're welcome to come over for some B-B-Que and dominoes,

just get here before July!!!
 
Till next time,
Bonjour

Neglect

I know....

I've been neglecting my blog!

That doesn't mean I've been lolling about doing nothing though.

I do have a few projects in the works!

Really, I do!

 Like this wrought iron sofa.

A guy I used to work with needed some trash hauled away and this sofa

and a matching chair were in the trash pile!

SCORE!!!

(Why we were hauling trash is a whole other blog post)!

Anyway,

Steve cut boards for the seats and I got busy with the paint.

I covered some bed pillows for the back cushions

and just used an old quilt for the seat cushions.

Well...

A few weeks ago I was at my local thrifty shop

and spotted these cushions in their trash.

Hum...

They were mine for the asking,

 and now I have comfy seat cushions for the sofa.

All I need to do is cover them.

One has a broken zipper but, I think I will cover them in the pillow sham style.

A little more fabric is required but the need for zippers is eliminated.

The back pillows will also receive a redo.

I'll post the results as soon as I finish.

 Till next time,

Bonjour.

The Lavender Is flowering

Perfect for a bath  tea!

Till next time,

Bonjour

G Is For Good Food

Well....

 I'm not poisoning anyone just yet.

Friday was market day, my local AD  featured

boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.99 per lb.

and whole pork loin for $2.50 per lb.

Where is the chicken breast I ask the meat guy?

OH, we don't have "that here" he says.

Well, I got the "AD here" I say...

Humm, he says.

Humm I say.

Now he's lost!

What do you have that's comparable I ask?

(I'm not afraid to ask the tough questions.)

After a little hide and seek we worked it out!!!

Came home with  2 1/2 lbs of chicken breast

 and about 7 lbs. of center cut pork loin.

They also advertised a 5 lb. bag of flour for $1.79,

the shelf was empty but....

the 25 lb. bag was $7.42,

$1.49 per lb. not a bad price, but not great either.

Also bought a whole chicken for $.89 per lb.

Cut  the pork loin into roast size pieces and wrapped for the freezer,

cut and wrapped a few less thick pieces for steaks on the grill.  

The chicken breasts were sautéed for fajitas,

the whole chicken, one of the pork roasts 

along with potatoes and carrots, were baked in my electric roaster.

Most of it was packaged (in meal size portions) for freezing.

 The rest  was to be filling for fried meat pies for Steve's lunches.

And since it's almost 9:30

on a school work night, I'll tell you about the

fake, fried meat pies later.

No poison involved!



Till next time,

Bonjour

DIY Sweetened Condensed Milk

So....

I love myself a good cup of coffee.

 Not black, a good caramel color suits me.

I've probably been drinking coffee since I was about 5.

Mom and Dad were big coffee drinkers, they liked theirs with cream and sugar.

So, naturally that's how I like mine...... sort of.

I prefer the flavored coffee creamers as I've mentioned before.

Way too expensive... with ingredients I can't pronounce!!!!

A while back I posted a homemade coffee creamer recipe that is quite tasty.

But, me being me, I pondered, can I make this any cheaper less expensive?

Google was employed once again.

"How to make sweetened condensed milk?"

Success, I found a few recipes.

One was based on dry milk, another on whole milk.

I went with the whole milk recipe.

So I did the math,

is it really cheaper less expensive 

to make your own sweetened condensed milk?

Oh yes!!!

The Math...

Milk-$1.88 per gal. = .0146875 per ounce x 6 cups (48 oz.) = .705

Sugar-$1.94 per 4 lb (9 cups per bag). = .2155555 per cup x 4 1/2 cups = .9699997

Total per batch = $1.6749997

YIELD 4 1/2 cups total  (36 oz.) = .0465277 per oz.

Market price for 14 oz. can $1.36 = .0971428 per oz.

This doesn't factor in the electricity $$$ (Way too much math!!!)

So, if your interested here's the recipe.

Yield 4 1/2 cups

6 cups whole milk

4 1/2 cups sugar

Heat milk and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat stirring to incorporate.

When the sugar is dissolved raise the heat to medium high and hold at a simmer, stirring frequently.

(Don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan)

Cook for about 1 hour. The milk will thicken and turn to a beige/light tan color. Strain and cool.

(I didn't have any lumps so I don't know why they included the strain step??)
This will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

I wonder, if you used a double boiler, would it be less needy?

Also found a recipe for making homemade lemon pepper seasoning.

Nathan loves lemon pepper!!!

Till next time,

Bonjour

Sharing And Blogging

OK, OK, I confess,

 I read blogs.

I'm on a quest, and that quest is for knowledge!

I want to know everything there is to know and I don't care how I get there.

Google, blogs, books, whatever.

If you have something relevant to share, I'm listening.

I have so many interests, and you, my blog buddies,

are helping me gain the knowledge. 

Gardening, homesteading, crafting, canning,

emergency preparedness,

cheese making,

thrifting, fashion, books, 

so many things, so little time.....

I love the internet!

Maybe too much.... I really need to make soap!

(Shows start the end of March.)

Anyway, where all this leads to  is.....

Lynda at,

http://cortinacreek.blogspot.com/

awarded me a Stylish Blogger Award.

Thank you Lynda.

This woman is all over everything, sewing,

canning, cheese making, gardening....

So, after sharing 7 things about myself,

 I can pass this award on to 15 of my favorite blogs.

I think I've said enough about me so lets get on to other people.

These are in no particular order, just people whose lives I find interesting.

(There are a couple of notable blogs that I left out

because I felt they were too personal.)

So here goes!

http://lifeisshortsawn61.blogspot.com/

This blog is written by Sue, a very sweet and caring woman

who is a wiz at needlecraft, gardening and animal care.

Also manages to keep Pops in line.

http://www.clickclackgorilla.com/

What can I say, a girl who's doing  a lot of the same things I did 40 years ago!
And I thought I was the only one who dumpster dived!!

Nicolette, you rock!!!

http://bregleestate.blogspot.com/

I think brendie is on the same path as the rest of us,

only she lives in a more dangerous situation.

Also a talented crafter, chef, and frugalist.

Brendie also has some great ideas on emergency preparedness.

http://librarianismchronicles.blogspot.com/

If you need links to environmental, crafty,

or school stuff, Amber has it.

A Journalist recruited by Teach For America, 

doing her part to educate our youth.

Books are her specialty.

http://lillybeffersmaddielumpkin.blogspot.com/

Tami......

Doing things totally off the wall and making it work!

A table leg as the premise for a bookshelf?...

Way  inspiring stuff.

Her daughter is equally talented and I would

have noted her only, she's already been awarded.

http://lavenderchick.blogspot.com/

Been following Deb for quite some time.

She lives in a haunted house.

A woman who has an eye for vintage style and a way with words.

Have had many a chuckle from her blog.

Hope you check out the ladies who author these blogs.

They're willing to share their knowledge!

And being a person who rarely follows the rules, I didn't!!!

Till next time.

Bonjour

Food For Thought

Your ideas will keep pouring out,

write them down.

Remember that the joy lies in the process and

not necessarily the end result.

So...

This is my horoscope for today,

what do you think it means?

Till next time,

Bonjour

Illumination, Vintage Floor Lamp Completed



I'M STILL WAITING!



REMEMBER ME?





















 OK.....

I admit it, I have a thing for lamps, any kind of lamp,
although I am partial to floor lamps.

I don't know if it's from a lack of light in my childhood home, growing up in a northern latitude or for a fondness of illumination. The light created by the lamp illuminates the eye, the art illumates the mind.






ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!



PICK ME, NO PICK ME!























PARTS BIN

Restoring a vintage lamp is not an easy task. 

This lamp had a (non working) porcelain socket with a 1/4" thread,

today's lamp sockets have a 1/8" thread.

The choices are either to replace the all-thread type

central unit or find a reducer.

Reducer it is, Home Depot here we come! Also need a plug.
Been here, done this!

The socket I had on hand is a push back and forth, I needed a turn type.

Wait, I do have another lamp with a turn type socket, let's switch out.

The lamp in the parts bin gave up her socket after

I promised to restore her next.

The glass "globe" was purchased at Canton First Monday Trade Days.

The total cost of the entire project?

Lamp: $5.00

Socket: $2.00

Reducer $2.00

Globe: $5.00

Cord: $Free

Plug $2.00

Paint: $5.00 (with leftovers for another project)

The Shade $10.00 (purchased at Wally World about 10 years ago)

Labor ?

Total $31.00?

The three questions are,

Was it worth it money wise, 

with or without the shade

AND

the most important is,

does it qualify as a piece of art?

You be the judge.

Till next time,

Bonjour

My Sweet Valentine Gift

making Soap and Other Endeavors

SOAP, SOAP AND MORE SOAP!!!

WOW....

It's been a very busy weekend.

I have a show coming up at the end of March so product making was in order.

200 lip balms, 36 body butters, 60 bars of soap.....

that's just a start, I still have bath teas, bath oils and more soap to make.

I'm also revamping my show display. Most of my display pieces are

made of wrought metal so changing the look is quite easy.

Krylon is my best friend.
I'll post picks when I get everything finished.



ARE YOU GOING TO FIX ME?



I'm still working on the floor lamp and yes, I did find the missing piece.

ALMOST THERE!!!

Well it's time for me to re-enter that other world (work)
so I'll have to cut this short.
What was your weekend like?

Till next time,
Bonjour