More Thrifty Tips

I've recently been doing some spring cleaning, which always includes deciding if you really need such and such, or whether you can happily toss it in the Goodwill bin. And, as I've found, the less you need to stock, the less you buy. So here are a few more tips of cheap items with a variety of uses.

1) Woolite fine washables detergent: Great for hand washing delicate items. Also, a great stain remover. Use for removing everything from ketchup (dried on) to fabric dye.

2) Baby Oil: Scummy looking faucet? Remove water stains with baking soda, then rub with baby oil. The oil will make dull faucets sparkle again and will keep the metal from water deposits.

3) Pond's cold cream: Use this as for facial soap and makeup remover (as long as you wear washable mascara). Very gently on skin, and one jar lasts a long time.

4) Olay facial moisturizer: This only has one use, but I had to include it. Moisturizes wonderfully, never greasy, and reduces redness, esp. in winter. Highly recommended!

The Distant Land of My Father, by Bo Caldwell

Set in Shanghai in the 1930's, this novel is narrated by Anna, daughter of a millionaire and grandaughter of missionaries, who gradually learns to understand the mixture of talent and weakness that is her father. Anna spends the first seven years of her life living in the International Settlement of Shanghai, going on weekly excursions with her father, who teaches her Mandarin words, the names of trees and flowers, and gradually introduces her to the larger world of Chinese culture. When her mother flees with Anna to her childhood home of California to escape Japanese occupation, Anne must learn to adapt to a new culture, a new grandmother, and the realization that her father may never join them.

I enjoyed the haunting quality of this book. The characters were so real that I didn't want to book to end. It also offered an interesting look into the day-to-day life of living in Shanghai and how a city was changed by the occupation of the Japanese and the coming of communism. Caldwell is also a master of showing how deeply place can affect a person. Joseph Schoene, Anna's father, is driven much of his life by his love for Shanghai, a love that for a time overrides his love for his wife and daughter. Anna, in learning to say goodbye to her father and the life she had in Shanghai, grows to love her new home in California, a process which changes her and protects her against uprootedness. Because of this, she is able, later in life, to understand what drove her father to make his earlier mistakes..

March Snowstorm

Our kitchen window





















First Street
















Tree gnomes in front of the 1912 Center

Winter Snapshot

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

My brother used to tease me about the fact that I had not mastered the art of making chocolate chip cookies. Now that he is married, he teases his wife (and still makes the chocolate chip cookies himself). I have now found the perfect recipe for these delectable morsels, one that I hope will save myself and my sister-in-law from any future teasing. They are amazingly chewy and soft, and the finished cookie is perfectly rounded. The end of my brother's cookie superiority is at hand.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp.flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled until just warm

1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg, plus 1 large yolk

2-3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients, set aside. Cream butter and sugars, add egg, egg yolk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry ingredients, beat until just combined. Add chocolate chips.

Form a ball of approximately 2 Tbsp. of dough. Break ball into two pieces, then mash two pieces together again with both jagged sides up. This will make the cookies spread correctly when baked. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating trays from top of oven to bottom halfway during baking time. Enjoy!

Teddy Bear in the Wild

Thriftiness

OK, I admit it. I can occasionally be a complete cheapskate. Having a husband in college has taught me to be creative about meals, shopping, and home decor. And frankly, often I find this to be more fun than spending lots of money. I'm not saying that spending is bad in and of itself. But we all have a limited amount of money, so why not save it for more important things than weekly groceries and monthly heating bills? With this thought, here are some of my favorite tricks for spending less.

1) Instead of buying a scented candle to give your home that fresh scent, mix a 1:2 solution of lemon juice and water and microwave on high for several minutes. Not only will your apartment smell beautiful, but any caked on food in the microwave can now be wiped off easily.

2) During the summer, buy lots of those cheap fruits and veggies and freeze them. Most will keep for months in the freezer, and you will save lots of time when making soup, smoothies, etc. Stir-fry is amazingly quick this way. Also, chop up that whole head of celery and freeze it. You will never have to throw out limp celery.

3) No money for books? Go through your bookshelves and find those books that you have neve read or will never read again. Take them down to your local used bookstore and turn them in for store credit. This can be a great source of books for gifts to friends (lots of used books are still in excellent condition) or simply a fun weekend outing to get more books.

4) Forget those expensive scrubbing cleaners. Use plain old baking soda to clean faucets, sinks, and tubs. Works on everything except dark mineral stains.

5) Buy tissue paper at the dollar store. You can get a huge stack for a dollar. Spend a fun half hour at the fabric store gettting 1 yard lengths of several fun ribbons. Personalize your presents by taping ribbon initials on your wrapped gifts, matching colors and styles to the recipients.

Christmas Preparations

Celebrating the four Sundays of Advent has been a yearly tradition in my family. In addition to lighting successive candles each Sunday, Andrew and I decided to add a few more traditions. The First Sunday of Advent, we picked out a tree and decorated it. The glass rectangular containers with the red bows (there are more than are shown here) have now become our Advent 'wreath'.















My sweet husband noticed my slightly glazed look when I was finishing the last of these packages, and hid my duck Pato in the top of one. He was rescued before the trip to the post office.














As my office always gets rather insane around the end of the year, Andrew welcomed me home one day with this surprise.




















What to do when a friend sends you a massive box of fruit? Redecorate, with lots of fruit bowls.


Last week, for the Second Sunday of Advent, I tried out the Rosemary-Dill Potato Soup recipe from Hot Providence. Delicious! Very easy to make. too. For those interested, here's the recipe, with a few of my own tweaks:

Rosemary-Dill Potato Soup

2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 heads garlic, finely chopped
2-4 Tbsp. butter.
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp each rosemary, dill, nutmeg, basil
8 red or Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1" cubes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Saute the celery and garlic in butter. Add salt, pepper, spices, potatoes, broth. Bring to boil, simmer 20 minutes. Add sugar, milk, sour cream, cook until soup is heated throughout. Serve with a garnish of green onions, bacon, cheese, and/ or a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!