Although I have a few students who might disagree, I wasn't around on July 4th, 1776, when the signers of the Declaration of Independence started signing the document that declared our freedom. I realize they didn't all sign on the 4th, but it the day the United States has chosen to celebrate.

It's funny that on the 4th most of us equate it with fun -- cook outs, family and friends get together, good food, and fireworks. It sure wasn't a picnic when those brave souls decided to give England a piece of their mind.

I believe we are indeed fortunate to live in a country that has so many freedoms.

We are celebrating with steaks, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, 3 grape tomatoes from my husband's garden, blueberry muffins, and strawberries, blueberries and bananas...the closest I can come to red white and blue salad. Sounds like party food to me!

Be true to your foooood! OK, think of the Beach Boys’ hit, “Be true to your school!”

Yesterday I went to one of my favorite places…the library. I checked out an assortment of DVDs, magazines, and books. One of the books was a nonfiction tome entitled, “True Food”. It was published by National Geographic and came out this year.

I woke up early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to read instead of toss and turn. The purpose of "True Food" is to give 8 simple steps to a healthier you.
In a nutshell:
1 Eat local food
2 Eat a variety of foods
3 Aim for organic
4 Eat lower on the food chain
5 Eat fresh food
6 Eat whole foods
7 Stock your pantry
8 Green your kitchen

Most of these are pretty easy to figure out. Chapter one was try to buy food grown locally or grow your own. Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6 were very similar – eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat and processed foods. There was quite a bit of information on herbs which was good as well as vegetables and their nutritional value.

Stock your pantry was instructions on buying less processed foods like all purpose flour and more foods that are natural.

Green your kitchen had some ideas such as use kitchen towels instead of paper towels, reuse glass bottles instead of plastic, and make your own cleaning supplies instead of purchasing harmful chemicals.

It was an adequate book, but I didn’t really learn anything new. I guess I had hoped to find some new truths. Fortunately I did not purchase, but borrowed the book from our local library. I'm sure for a newbie, they would find some merit in reading it.
I guess it pays to be a cheapskate!

I did, however, see a recipe I want to try tonight: shoestring zucchini with rosemary:

1 very large zucchini
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour or unbleached all purpose
1. Cute the squash lengthwise into halves, then cut into ¼ inch slices, then cut those into 1/8 inch slices
2. Sprinkle and toss with salt in a colander and set in the sink to drain for 30 minutes. After draining, squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands
3. Heat oil in a skillet – you want the oil very hot, but not smoking
4. Toss zucchini with flour in a bowl, and then add it to the oil in batches. Cook for about 5 minutes until zucchini is just golden, then toss in a few leaves of rosemary. Cook for another minute until zucchini is golden.
5. Drain zucchini on paper towel and served immediately.

If nothing else, I am true to zucchini!

I had to do it. Almost forced. I broke down and bought some fresh green beans at the grocery. They weren't on sale even. Yikes!

You see, my husband planted green beans, but the bunny ate them to the ground. They came back and he did it again. And again. So, bunny 3, hubby 0.
However, a couple of weeks ago we bought poles and some fence wire and so far the game is bunny 3, hubby 1.

Except the beans are delayed from being chomped so many times. Almost like a Pac Man game. And it doesn’t seem like summer without fresh beans.

So, I succumbed to temptation and bought the beans. They smell good as they cook on the stove.
Maybe the score will be different: bunny 3, hubby 1 and wife 1. At least until the other green beans come up! Dumb bunny!

We just returned from 5 days in Michigan. The highlight of the trip was a stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. It was the setting of the old flick, “Somewhere in Time” if the name sounds familiar. Anyway, this is where we enjoyed the delightful 5 course meal in the main dining room where everyone had to dress up or be sent away. We were on a bus trip which insured us a reasonable rate.

Beforehand we walked around the business district of the island and there were the numerous shops. I think the type of shop that outnumbered any had to be the fudge shops. One brand had more than one store on the same street! They also gave us a free sample before we took the ferry ride from Mackinac City to the island.

The fudge was adequate, but not superior. It was almost a bit dried out yet people were raving about it. I realize things are a matter of taste, but why settle for “ok” when you can have delicious? People were lining up at these shops purchasing fudge. It was fairly hot and humid last Tuesday so I can only imagine what that fudge came back as…probably a lump, unless they ate it before we left.

That being said (typed), I am going to offer a fudge recipe that is smooth, creamy, and rich. Very rich. It needs to remain refrigerated to maintain firmness and will dry out if left uncovered, but my dear husband, after eating the freebie turned to me and said, “Yours is better.” This was my grandmother’s recipe and each holiday season she would make pounds and pounds of it to sell. If you try it, you’ll see why!

Grandma’s Fudge
4 cups of sugar
1 can of Milnot
18 oz of semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick of butter
1 13 oz of marshmallow crème
1 tsp vanilla
Chopped nuts (optional)
Mix sugar, butter, and Milnot. Bring to boil; boil 5 minutes stirring constantly. Take off fire, add chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallow crème and vanilla. Stir until creamy. Pour into buttered pans. Cool. Cut into squares. Keep cool and tightly covered in pans until serving.

Just remember, this is very rich…don’t want you getting sick!

I rarely eat at fancy restaurants where you have "courses" and where the server puts your cloth napkin in your lap.

However, tonight was the night! We dressed up -- sports jacket and tie for him and a dress and hose for me. It was actually kind of fun to make this an event!

The dinner consisted of 5 courses. Five glorious courses served without the hustle and bustle of a normal restaurant visit. We had a chance to savor each and enjoy them and then anticipate the next.

Although we could have enjoyed extremely rich desserts, we chose to end our very flavorable meal with ice cream. Smoothy, creamy frosty ice cream served in a chilled metal dish! It was a perfect ending for a delightful meal.

Although I enjoyed this experience, I'm not sure I would want to eat this way every night. It was something to anticipate, and that is what made it so very special.

Not to mention the fact that 5 courses is very filling!

It’s Father’s Day and hot as blazes here in the Midwest. I’m sure if the weather stays sunny, there will be lots of cook outs this evening. The air usually is fragrant with various meats being grilled. Yum!

I’m always amazed that people love to cook over an open flame. I mean, I like to, but I like to cook period. But it’s funny that folks with fancy kitchens get excited about a grill. Of course these folks normally have an equally fancy grill, but whether it’s a little charcoal one or a mega stainless steel with propane, there’s something celebratory about having food with grill marks and that distinctive taste.

It really doesn’t matter whether it is a hot dog or hamburger or a pricey steak, we like our meat grilled and our mouth watering!

English as a language can be confusing even for those of us who have it as a first language.

For example, why do we have tuna cakes and crab cakes, but salmon patties? After all they are similar…you take some sort of seafood, chop some other things with it, bind it together with egg or mayonnaise, put in some bread crumbs, and there you have it. You then cook it and serve it.

It’s darn confusing, that’s for sure. I guess they are too flat to be a loaf and too thick to be like a pancake. But are they really a cake…I always think of a cake as something that is frosted. I guess I could put a bit of frosting on one…oh, never mind…I’m not that crazy.

That being said, I’m fixing tuna something or other tonight. I will use homemade bread crumbs, egg, a dash of mayo, some chopped celery, and bit of turmeric and sauté them in olive oil. I’m planning on making mashed potatoes with some leftover Parmesan cheese and a tomato-feta salad.

Who knows, I might really live it up and tell hubby they are…tuna patties!

We are back to everyday life after our big anniversary adventure to celebrate our 20 years together. And that’s OK.

I pulled chops out of the freezer last night to thaw in the fridge. We go to this little store in a crummy neighborhood every few weeks on Thursdays to buy meat. They cut and package it the way you want and give seniors (62+) a 10% discount. We buy what we need and put it in the freezer. We are going to have pork chops, roasted potatoes with green peppers and onions, roasted zucchini, herb biscuits, and fruit. The onions will come out of hubby’s garden. I figure if I’m going to have the oven on, I might as well make use of it.

Roasting the potatoes is fairly simple. I peel the potatoes and slice thinly. I chop the onion and the green pepper – all about the same size and add whatever spices I have handy. Today I think I’m going to add rosemary. I drizzle with olive oil and with clean hands make sure everything is covered. I roast uncovered in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes. Yum! You can do this with about any root vegetable so when I do the zucchini and onion, it will be the same way.

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. My husband would agree.

So, I better continue cooking so he’ll keep me another 20 years!

Besides cooking and eating, reading is a favorite thing to do.

I just finished a new nonfiction tome called “Lunch in Paris” by Elizabeth Bard. She talks about going to lunch with this Frenchman and their relationship and marriage and their families and friends while living in Paris. She’s a New Yorker and she adjusts to living in Paris. She isn’t a newbie to Europe, but she discusses how things are done and how she had to learn the culture to understand why.

I’m not a big traveler – I’ve never been out of the US, but I enjoy reading about different cities and how people live as told in their own words. This gal loves food and she talks about meals and foods and shopping for them. After each chapter she includes recipes. I felt like I had made a new friend. She has her own blog and the book cover encourages readers to continue the adventure at: http://elizabethbard.blogspot.com/

It was a quick and enjoyable read and for a couple of hours I lived through Ms. Bard’s eyes. After perusing many of the recipes I think I’m ready to eat!

Supper is in the Crockpot.

That’s always a good thing. I know most would say it is too hot for beef stew, but, that’s what we are having. I have a bunch of appointments today and we had stew meat and vegetables, so that’s what I fixed. I baked biscuits last night and made a fruit salad.

I always marvel at the person who came up with the idea of a Crockpot. What a wonderful invention. I know there’s a recipe booklet entitled, “Fix and forget it.” No kidding. I use my Crockpots a lot and feel they help us save money – we can buy cheaper cuts of meat and cooking all day makes them tender. Dinner is ready when you get home with not too much fuss and muss. And the newer slow cookers have the liners you can take out and put in the dishwasher – I remember having to try and clean the ones that you couldn’t do that with. I loved the cooker, but not the cleaning.

It’s nice to know supper is in the Crockpot.

I think that chefs have a secret.

I’m not talking about a secret recipe or spice. I’m talking about the good feeling one gets chopping up vegetables.The best part is I'm not a chef, but I can enjoy this little endeavor.

I discovered this year when I would come home from work feeling frustrated or disheartened, if I would take out my big “chef’s” knife and start chopping away, I would feel better. Of course the delightful aroma of the vegetables probably didn’t hurt, either. Who needs to buy expensive aroma therapy when you can find it right at your counter top? I remember a spice company would have a radio commercial and the husband at the end would say, “Why does it smell like pot roast in here?” and you could tell that was a good thing.

I could sit and try to pinpoint what made me feel better, the movement of the knife, the larger vegetable being chopped, or even the smell as they roast or are sautéed. But, why take the magic out of it?

It’s hot out there!

One of the local car dealers usually runs a commercial where the kids are sitting around a pool and say, “It’s hot, Bob!” since the car dealer’s first name is Bob. So my husband jokingly will say, “It’s hot, Bob!” when things heat up. And it was pretty warm yesterday (90 degrees) and it is supposed to be even higher today with a heat index of a 100.

Last night for supper I tried to think of things that wouldn’t require an oven. I had leftover bread I had baked earlier in the week. I knew I was going to fix scallops. So, I scoured the fridge, garden, and pantry and came up with these items for supper: grits, grape tomatoes, Feta cheese, cucumber, Romaine cheese, green onions, bread, olive oil, mustard, Balsamic vinegar, and leftover zucchini patties.

Supper was decent: we had scallops, a tomato-cucumber salad, warmed up zucchini patties, and cheesy grits. I sautéed some of the green onions in olive oil and then added them to the grits while they were cooking. When the grits were about done, I added the Romaine cheese.

I made a dressing with the olive oil, vinegar, and mustard for the tomato-cucumber salad – and chopped some green onions into it and some basil. I sautéed some of the bread in olive oil and then drained it for homemade croutons. I added Feta cheese for a garnish.

It may have been hot outside, but at least my kitchen wasn’t over heated!

Oven fried chicken is on the menu tonight. My husband really likes it.

When chicken breasts go on sale, I buy some and freeze them. The night before I wish to fix them, I soak them in milk with some Paprika and Turmeric. When it’s time to fix them, I dip them in egg and then bread crumbs and then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees on a greased baking sheet. Part way through I turn them over. They are moist and delicious. Not to mention very easy to prepare.

I know there’s nothing like honest to goodness fried chicken, but this comes close.

Happy Eating!

One thing my husband likes about summer is I have more time to cook. And yesterday I baked a loaf of herb bread and he was a happy camper. My dear hubby has a green thumb and he graciously grows herbs for me to use.

It’s actually a recipe I use from the bread machine recipe booklet, but since the bread machine was put to rest, I just mix the ingredients in my mixer, let it rise, and then put in a loaf pan, let it rise and then bake it. The thing I like is the fact I can change it around depending on the herbs I want to use. I also changed the recipe because I don’t use sugar like it says, I use honey. Yesterday I used chopped garlic, oregano and some dill in the recipe. You can use whatever herbs you wish, but here’s the recipe:

Herb Bread
1 ½ cups water
4 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar (or honey)
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp dried herb (or 2 tsp fresh herb)
2 teaspoons of bread machine fast rising yeast

Mix together and let it rest and rise for about 2 hours (I cover with a towel) until it doubles in size. Take out of bowl and form into a loaf and put in greased bread pan and let it rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degree oven 30-40 minutes or until top is brown and if you thump the top, the bread sounds hollow.

I use more herbs than it suggests since I usually add 2 or 3, but I think you can decide what you want. I have also changed things up on the flour – sometimes I use ¼ cup of whole wheat flour or ¼ cup of oatmeal to give it a different flavor and texture.

I feel baking this bread saves money because we normally have a bread of some sort at supper and if you price a loaf like this it can cost anywhere from $3-5 around here. It certainly didn't cost that much to bake. Plus, I can put in it what we have on hand!

Happy Baking!

It was a horrendous weekend for some as tornadoes hit and destroyed property. Our sirens went off at 11 p.m. Saturday and we immediately turned on the news to see how close. Fortunately for us the tornado wasn’t near us, but northwest -- just a few miles away from us some folks lost homes and property. I see in Ohio – a couple states over, another tornado touched down and destroyed so much.

The weather report calls for lots of rain and storms tonight and tomorrow and a chance of hail. My husband is dreading the prospect of hail. We have 5 tomato plants, green beans, onions, radishes, green pepper plants, and herbs that are really taking off and we hope to enjoy the “fruits” of his labor, not to mention the many flowers he planted for curb appeal. He said hail will destroy it all. I’m sure hoping we don’t get it.

Sometimes when we think we have everything under control, the weather has to show us otherwise, doesn’t it?

Cheap. Fast. Good!

No, I’m not talking about my lifestyle for those of you who have your mind in the gutter. That is the title of a book I checked out of the library. It’s basically a cook book and it has some interesting recipes.

The author writes that making things at home can be cheap and fast if you plan a little in advance and I think the good is a given.

I’m always amazed at folks who eat out most nights. I’m not totally opposed to eating out, but I like think it is something to look forward to, not something you do because you “have to”. A friend of mine would go home and take a nap after work and then tell the spouse how tired they were and they could eat out cheaply. I imagine they did at the local fast food restaurant. I guess folks over 62 could eat off of the senior menu, but I keep thinking of the fact how limiting that has to be – fried red meat and fried potatoes…although yummy, it would get tiresome after awhile. Not to mention how bad it is for one's health.

Anyhow, this book gives 275 recipes and many shopping ideas on how to fix meals that are easy and quick and nutritious. It is a primer on basic cooking. For so many folks, I can see where that would be a good thing. Cooking isn’t a big thing with a lot of folks. One gal I know talks about what a great cook she is, but says she isn’t going to peel potatoes and will use instant. I guess it is a time saver, but maybe I’m a prude – I think instant potatoes do not have the same flavor. Besides, I like to think I’m getting a vegetable while eating my mashed or roasted potatoes.

I would recommend the book just for the ease of reading. The authors are Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross.

Having checked it out of the public library I would add “economical” to the title as well.

How many of us read instruction booklets? Willingly?

Yet, those of us who cook do…Recipes are the instructions on how to make most dishes.

I have far too many cookbooks – I don’t use half of any of the cookbooks I have. I like looking through them when I’m trying to think of a week’s menu.
I have a friend who says she “collects recipes.” I think she has hundreds of them. I’m not sure she uses many of them because from what she says, she fixes the same things over and over.

We went to the library this week and I checked out a few mysteries and two cookbooks. One was about Midwestern cooking – appropriate since I live in the Midwest, don’t ya think? It was interesting to read over the recipes. I was looking at the cover and it was illustrated and it was very pleasing to look at. I wonder if that is a regional thing – do we like to look at things that make us feel at home? If I lived on either coast would I be more comfortable looking at something else? OK, I digress.

I decided a couple of years ago I wanted to create my own working cookbook. So, if I try a recipe and I like it, I type it into a Word document and save it on a thumb drive. I print it out, three hole punch it, and put it in a notebook under the correct category. Bet that was a dead giveaway that I’m a teacher, wasn’t it? The notebook and the three hole punching especially.

It’s sort of like my own cookbook. I’m not writing the recipes, but it does keep a record of what recipes I have found successful. I guess if I were really high tech I would just keep the computer in the kitchen and print out what I needed, but I think that would be a waste…printing it out each time. Yeah, I'm frugal. Or cheap. You choose.

I’ve seen those television shows where the counter top is connected to the Internet and you can search for a recipe and it displays right on the countertop. I wonder if you can save your favorites like you can on the computer?

Whoever came up with the idea of writing down a recipe was brilliant. If one can read a recipe, he or she can then recreate the dish with the instructions.
So, I think I’ll continue reading these little instruction booklets. Who knows, I might get creative and make something that isn’t totally Midwestern and like it!

We all say we want to do it. But how badly should be the question. How badly do we want to save money?

We have some friends who mew about not having a lot of money, but they continue to eat out. I don’t mean a couple of times a week. I mean at least once a day. Sometimes they eat out twice. Some of our friends brag about saving money by doing fast food…yet they then complain about the cholesterol medicine they have to purchase. Guess they don't see the correlation.

Every so often I get on a kick and try to figure out how much a meal costs us at home. For example, last night we grilled out steaks, had loaded potatoes, fresh green beans, grilled tomatoes, herb biscuits, cottage cheese, deviled eggs, and fresh fruit salad. The steaks cost us about $8. I imagine with the rest of the ingredients, we spent less than $16 total. These were decent steaks too, not shoe leather variety. Then I think back a few months ago when we went out with some friends who had to go to a steak house and I bet we spent way over $50 for a meal. Plus, our driving to that place which wasn’t in our town so that was an added expense. What a big difference in the cost of the meals!

We don’t eat steaks very often so when we do, it’s usually for an occasion. Normally we eat lots of chicken. I cook at home quite a bit because it saves us money as well as I control what we eat. We do go out and I feel we can afford to because of the other ways I save money. But, we just don't go out to go out. It's something we savor and enjoy.

Eating a healthy diet saves money as well – I took two sick days this past year. One I was sick and the other was because I had to – they were removing the braces off my teeth and you go in the morning and then back in the afternoon. I have a lot of health issues so for me to only use two sick days is nothing short of remarkable. I do think eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, little red meat, and hardly any fried food made a difference. Dear husband walks 5 days a week and since the weather has gotten better, I’ve been walking too.

During the school year I plan our menus ahead and make lots of casseroles or use the Crockpot. Yes, I’m sure I could be doing lots of fun things over the weekend besides that, but I feel committed to making meals ahead. And to be honest, I don't mind. It's kind of a challenge to figure out what I can fix without doing the same thing over and over again. For about an hour or two, I can make 3-4 meals ahead so when I get home, can pop something in the oven and we can have supper at a decent hour.

I have tried to convince some of our friends we should take turns hosting each other for meals to save money. Or we could have a potluck. We have some friends who do that with their Bible study group and besides the good company, they all save money and get to try new things. Unfortunately our other friends don’t want to do cook at home – they would rather go out and then complain about lack of funds in their daily life.

I claim to be frugal and I am to a point. I guess the definition depends on how you look at it. I will not sacrifice good nutrition for the sake of saving money. We buy lots of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes we buy fruits out of season because we need the nutrients. I figure I save money by cooking at home to more than make up for the cost. Our suppers aren’t soup and a sandwich – my husband is old school and he wants a regular sit down dinner so we have it – a meat, a starch, a vegetable or two and some fruit and of course some bread. My herb rolls are a steal and easy to make – 1 cup flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder,(or 1 cup of self rising flour if you have it), 2/3 cup milk, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, and then whatever herbs you have on hand. I change out the recipe depending on what I have. Last night’s was dill, garlic, and oregano. I’ve also put shredded cheese and garlic together and they are very similar to the ones you can get at a popular fish restaurant. Grease a muffin tin, bake at 400 until they start to brown, and you’ve got cheap, easy rolls.

So how badly do I want to save money – in the long run I do save money by cooking at home and feeling healthier. So, I guess I’ve answered my own question. How about you?

Ah, it’s Memorial Day - the unofficial kickoff to summer. People hope to fire up their grills and cook out and eat those foods they associate with summer.

If you have been watching the television ads, many show a staple of cook outs and that is baked beans. I know the grocery store ads had a well known brand on sale. And one brand even has a special grilling brand of them.

A few years ago I ran across a recipe for wonderful baked beans. It really isn’t that much cheaper to make them if you get the others on sale, but they have a better flavor and are worth the trouble. However, if the items in this list are already in your pantry, it might be more economical. I let mine bake uncovered until the sides start to caramelize and boy, are they delicious! They really aren’t a lot of work, just take a little planning, and you have homemade baked beans.

Baked Beans

½ lb of dried navy beans – picked over and soaked overnight in water to cover and then drained
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 slice of bacon, chopped
1 cup of ketchup
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large stalk of celery, chopped
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of yellow mustard
1 teaspoon of black pepper

Drain the beans and then put in a pan with plenty of water and cook until beans are tender, for about an hour. Drain the beans, but reserve the cooking liquid.

Preheat the oven to 350.
Heat the olive oil in a pan or large ovenproof pot or Dutch oven. When oil is hot, add the bacon, onions, and celery and pepper. When onions and celery are translucent, add the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar and stir together. Turn off heat and add beans, stirring carefully. Add the cooking liquid until the mixture is a little bit soupy – otherwise it will dry out when you bake it. You will have to basically eye ball how much liquid you will need.

Bake in the oven proof pot or Dutch oven uncovered for almost two hours or until it starts to caramelize at the sides. If it has dried out during the baking, stir in more cooking liquid to keep it moist.

If you haven’t made your own before you might think this is hard, but other than the initial chopping and cooking the onion and celery and keeping an eye on it when it is baking, it really isn’t difficult and it is flavorful. I’m sure you could experiment with different types of mustards or even onions and if you like some heat, could add cayenne pepper instead of black pepper. Anyway you try it, you can make it your own.

Besides, wouldn't it be nice to impress your friends and family and say you made it yourself?

I certainly have more than I use. Do you? What, you query? I’m talking salt and pepper shakers.

This came to mind as I filled up the old clear glass ones that look like tall, but small mugs. They are probably a collectible. I like them because they are easy to handle, easy to fill, and easy to keep clean. I have about 4 other sets and I don’t use them. One set is really old and matches my Blue Willow dishes. I don’t like the way the salt or pepper comes out. So, they sit in the hutch. I have another set that look like little Blue Willow coffee pots. I don’t use them because they are a pain to refill and they don’t hold very much. I have yet another set I bought my mom years ago at Carson Pirie Scott that looks like crystal. I thought they were the prettiest things I had ever seen. I was too young to realize they aren’t the kind of things you set out when you are using plastic plates and plastic placemats and paper cups. Dumb me! We weren't fancy and these puppies are!

My mom and dad used to have a furniture store and then an antique shop and they bought and sold a bunch of things through the years. One of the things that was incredibly popular were salt and pepper collections. I remember ladies who had hundreds of them holed up in a China cabinet. The bobbers were kind of cool – they set in a base and you could take your finger and touch it, and they would bob up and down. I remember a lot of birds as bobbers. There were all sorts of things as salt and peppers, as they would call them. I’ve seen one that has the outline of Illinois for one and Lincoln as the other. I’m sure all states had something like that. I’ve seen plastic shakers, glass, China, metal, even cast iron shakers. I used to have one that was a Cherished teddie riding a polar bear. I used it until it was so chipped, I was ashamed to put it out. It was cute, but not really functional. Maybe collections are like that.

As much as I like to collect things, having a salt and pepper collection wasn’t anything I was really coveting. But like most collections, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Now days, I just want to add a little pepper to my eggs and I’m happy with a clear glass pepper shaker. Guess I’m not into the spice of life!

Men have their gadgets. I’ll grant you, that’s a generalization, but many men really like gadgets. Well, I think women do too, but we call them different things and often rationalize our desire to own and collect them. I guess we feel we have to.

I am happiest if we are out and about, looking at kitchen stuff. This week we perused Kohl’s on Wednesday because my husband could have gotten the senior’s discount. So, I happily made my way to house wares to fiddle with the pots, pans, appliances and gasp…gadgets! Just for the record, we didn’t buy a thing. But, I had a frenzy of looking and comparing!

My own kitchen probably has too many gadgets. I have 4 Crockpots®. Yes, they are Rival so they are truly Crockpots®.. And they are all different sizes. I use them for different things. My largest is usually used for a pot roast with lots of vegetables and potatoes so I can make 2-3 meals. My next largest holds a whole chicken with a few vegetables, again enough for a couple of meals. The second to the smallest is great for beef stew, chicken broth, or ribs. The smallest is fabulous for meatloaf, small pieces of chicken, or vegetable broth when I have a few vegetables on hand and can’t use them for anything else. I don’t use one of the tiny ones for dips – I guess if I entertained a lot it would come in handy, but at this point, I don’t need it. Up until yesterday, I had 5 Crockpots®.. I took one away – it was a weird story, but I bought one at a garage sale and wound up being gifted with another one. I used to have one at school so my total did ring up to six at one time. I gave that one away. I figured, why not share the joy!

Up until a few months ago I owned a bread machine until it wore out. I have a coffee maker, a microwave, a tabletop grill, a food processor, a mixer, and a countertop oven. I also have a blender and bright shiny toaster. My husband gave me that toaster for Christmas a few years ago because he watched me covet it at the store. Some women like shiny jewels; I like shiny gadgets.

Now comes the rationalization…I feel I use most of these items frequently. The blender is probably the least used. The coffee maker is definitely employed the most. The counter top oven is large enough for a casserole dish so I utilize it when the days are hot and steamy so I don’t heat up the house. I operate my mixer for my bread making as well as cakes and other things that need to be mixed or kneaded. The food processor handles lots of shredding and chopping that makes my life a little easier. Why buy frozen hash browns when I can use the fresh potatoes that are in my pantry? I can then chop some onions and put them in the hash browns…yum! Plus, I like zucchini cakes…run a zucchini or two in the food processor, mix with egg and bread crumbs and sauté … well, you get the picture.

As for my herd of Crockpots®. …well, I use them. A lot. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but I think a slow cooker is mine. Last night I made chicken broth. Quite a bit of it, in fact, so that I could cook some fresh green beans in it for supper tonight. The extra I will freeze for use down the line whether to use for soups, more green beans, and casseroles…the list goes on. I try to watch how much salt we use and my broth does not have added salt or preservatives. I put ribs in my slow cooker for tonight. It’s nice to use when the temps are hot so it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.

So, I have gadgets galore. Hopefully I won’t have to attend a meeting for my gadget addiction. If I do, maybe I’ll whip up some snacks beforehand!

I’ve been reading many blogs on this site and so many talk about groceries and personal items they get for free or next to nothing. And then there’s that delightful sentence that says that they will be donating extra to their local food pantry. I’m going to state right now that I think it is wonderful. Although this site is about saving money, there is the element of “I’m going to share my bounty.”

We have 3 full time food pantries in my city and I believe they are all busy on any given day. We have some churches that also give out food over and above this. One church, each Monday, gives a box of food that usually contains some meat of some sort whether it is a whole chicken or a couple of cans of tuna, some vegetables, and whatever else they have on hand.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I do have a slight hoarding problem. I tend to overstock my pantry. I believe it comes from growing up with parents who grew up in the Depression and talked about not having enough to eat so they overstocked their pantry. I grew up with that fear ingrained into me.

Normally we donate money to our favorite food pantry because they can buy food for so much a pound. I’m not telling you that to brag. I feel that we have been very blessed and we should share what we can.

However, that being said, I wanted to go a step further, especially after reading the newsletter we received from the above mentioned pantry. It said they are giving out at least 100 food boxes a day. Our community probably has around 75,000 to 80,000 people if you include the small towns around and 100 people need food a day. I don’t think the pantry is giving to the same 100 people – I think they have stipulations of how many times you can get food in a given month because of the need. Imagine, 100 boxes are given at this one pantry. The need is so great.

I work in a high poverty school which is very close to this food pantry. I have seen the faces of the hungry children who often depend on the free breakfast and lunch that the school provides. I would think that some of these families are getting these food boxes. At least if they need them, I hope they are doing so.

In America we should not have so many people in need. I know the economy has really hit so many hard. Here in my city, we usually have a higher unemployment rate because we went from having some major factories that were good paying jobs to just a couple. These were jobs that had decent salaries and decent benefits. We have plenty of fast food restaurants and two Wal-Marts – granted they give employment, but not big wages and benefits.

Anyway, I’ve decided to glean from my overstocked pantry some items to drop off today at the food pantry. I’m sure someone can use the soups and pasta and crackers. And I will rejoice that I have indeed been over blessed with my bounty.

This may be a girl thing. But then again, maybe not. I imagine some men are the same way.

What am I talking about? I’m writing about the concept of “Food is Love.” I really enjoy treating my husband to a meal I know he will like. I get the same pleasure of doing the same for my friends. My baking banana bread is also to give away. I like doing it because people seem to like getting it. When I baked bread with some students at my school, they loved the experience and really loved eating the bread. It was a nice time all around.

A lot of the time when I would bake bread at school in bread machines, people would stop by my room just for a sniff. With that whiff came a recollection of someone baking in their lives and they shared it. And it was a good memory that brought some joy to their faces. Again, “food is love” rang true.

So, maybe it’s the maternal part of me that loves to cook and share, or maybe it’s just a vital part that likes to love on someone with some edibles. I think men may have the same feeling so I don’t want to say it’s only a girl thing.

But it is, wouldn’t you agree, a good thing?

Bread seems to be a big deal at my house. More so than cake or cookies anyway, although they aren’t total strangers.

And, I’m always on the lookout for new bread recipes. I think I found a good one. I baked it last night and after it cooled a bit; our dessert was a slice of warm bread with some butter. It was delicious. My eyes lit up when I thought about how I can possibly change the recipe to make it a little differently with herbs and spices. Although I have no problem baking with yeast, sometimes it’s nice not to have to wait for the rising, and this bread uses baking powder and baking soda. It has a different texture and flavor of regular white bread, and it is rich with the butter. I imagine the cold butter put in the dough makes it pop in the oven when baking. Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Irish Soda Bread
4 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine eggs, butter and buttermilk, stir into flour mixture until moistened.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 5-6 times.
Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a round loaf. Place 6 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 2 loaves

Some say it’s the perfect fruit. It comes ready to eat, has its own carrying “case”, contains potassium, is naturally sweet, and is easy eat because you just peel. It is, of course, a banana!

For years I tried to get my husband to eat bananas. I like them, and they are easy to pack in lunches. They were my fruit of choice when I had braces because they were soft and unlike apples, I didn’t have to cut them up – I was told not to bite into an apple with braces. Husband refused telling me he didn’t like them.

So, being the sneaky wife that I am, I started cutting them up into the fruit salad I would make. Then, one day, I ran out. He asked me, “Where’s my nany?”

Besides winning him over in the fruit salad, he had been reading of the health benefits of bananas. And he decided he liked them. Hmmm. So much so that he keeps watch over the fruit bowl on the counter and if we get low, he’ll volunteer to get some bananas.

Bananas don’t go to waste in this house either. Some ripen more quickly than others, or so it seems, so every so often we have overripe bananas. The perfect solution in my book is to make banana bread. And apparently many agree because people never turn down a loaf of banana bread. One friend of mine always tells me she likes it because she has a “carb deficiency” that the banana bread seems to fill. One gal I work with said I should open up a shop and sell banana bread. Somehow I don’t think I’m going to give up my day job to bake banana bread, but I do appreciate the compliments.

Here’s the recipe I use for banana bread:

Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350 F

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
¾ cup chopped walnut pieces (optional)

Lightly grease 6x9 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil or butter

Peel the bananas, place in a small mixing bowl…mash

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and sour cream and whisk until smooth

Add the cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, mashed bananas, and walnuts to the egg mixture and whisk to combine

Add the flour and stir until just combined – don’t over mix.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake until golden brown and it has risen…about an hour and 10 minutes.

It was very tempting tonight. So very tempting. After a tiring day, dear husband suggested we go out and eat because I have been tired and stressed.

I’m proud of myself. I held out and said we should eat what we already have. Earlier this week I had fixed a turkey breast in the Crockpot and we still had some turkey left. So, I broke the turkey off into pieces, and sautéed some green onions and garlic, and mixed with a little barbecue sauce, ketchup, honey, and Dijon mustard. I don't know if the turkey was really a Tom, but I'm calling it "Sloppy Toms". We had leftover green beans so I heated them up and baked some potatoes. I served all this with sliced tomatoes, homegrown radishes, and fruit salad I had made earlier this week. I figure I saved us some serious money by not going out and eating what we had.

Plus, I had some control over what we ate. The buns were whole wheat. We had lots of fruits and vegetables and turkey. So, with hindsight I’m glad I didn’t succumb to temptation. But I bet some local restaurants aren’t sharing the same feeling!

Something’s brewing at my house. What you query? It’s tea!

A couple of nights ago we met some friends for dinner and their daughter-in-law works for a major department store as a buyer. Part of the perks of her job is she gets samples. And some of these samples were tea bags. How fortunate for me because she sends these wonderful teas for me to enjoy. I appreciate the generosity and thoughtfulness of this gal and her in-laws for making her aware of my tea habit.

I will admit I do drink coffee, so I’m just not a tea lover. But I like both iced and hot tea. And I truly enjoy brewing a nice cup of tea and enjoying it -- it's relaxing and in my twisted mind, makes me feel sophisticated. I'm probably not, but we all have an imagination.

According to some of the reports I’ve read and heard, tea is especially good for you. So, besides the wonderful aroma and flavor, there’s the health benefit. How many foods or drinks can claim that?
It’s a damp, dreary night here in Central Illinois and I have the hot pot ready. I’m getting ready to brew a cup of tea. I wish you could join me!

There’s little fowl about turkey. At least in my book. We had turkey for supper tonight. I had put it in the Crockpot with some rosemary, a green onion, some spices, and water. It cooked all day on low and was sufficiently yummy! I took it out 45 minutes before I wanted to serve it, let it rest for about 20, sliced it, and then put it back in the broth in the Crockpot until I needed to plate it up. My husband and our dinner guest really ate it up. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that line!

We had mashed potatoes made with a little cream cheese and milk, fresh green beans I had snapped and cooked over the weekend, along with some radishes from the garden. Our dinner guest brought a yummy strawberry pie he had purchased. It was delicious, but we decided there’s an art to getting a slice of pie out without it falling apart. It tasted scrumptious even in pieces.

It was a pleasant evening…no harm or no fowl!

Ah, the scent of grilling meat! We’ve been walking in the evenings and the delicious aroma of meat roasting has wafted through the air and although we had just finished supper, our mouths would start to water. We kept saying we needed to get out the charcoal and do our own, but after I get home from work, it is a challenge to get the charcoal ready and the meat cooking and supper ready and still get to bed at a reasonable time. So, we would walk and covet.

But not tonight! It’s Sunday and we were home so although it was threatening to rain, I fired up the grill. I sliced Vidalia onions to cook on the grill as well as the Angus hamburgers. I even “grilled” the buns. We had roasted potatoes with rosemary, green pepper, and Vidalia onion (I fixed that in the oven, my grill isn’t very big), sliced some tomatoes, and picked some radishes. What a delightful dinner! We took our after dinner walk and didn't haven't to covet someone else's grilling.

Maybe it was someone else’s turn to have their mouth water!

My husband is an addict. It’s often not pretty and the ramifications are serious.

Dear husband went to the doctor for his physical. The whole ball of wax. Including blood tests and the “glove.” I’m sure all men are cringing at the last part. Believe me, woman have their own trials. Anyway, I digress.

A few years ago when hubby went, his sugar was high and his cholesterol was really too high. The doctor gave him a glucose test and fortunately he wasn’t diabetic. You see my husband has an addiction and it’s a bad one. It’s ice cream. Creamy, smooth, sweet ice cream that melts on your tongue and slides down your throat making your tummy happy. And serving suggestions on sizes mean nothing to him. He usually uses a big soup bowl and piles it up and sits there enjoying himself. And, did I mention he’s thin? Besides the fact it isn’t fair he can be an eating machine and not gain weight, he thought he was safe from cholesterol and such. Well, that year he wasn’t.
As with all things, ice cream has to be eaten in moderation. So, we’ve looked for alternatives that he can enjoy in place of two gallons of the creamy goodness. Plus, he continues to walk five days a week. He always walked when he was working during his lunch time. Now that he’s retired he can walk longer and he averages around 5 miles a day. And, our dinners have been filled with lots of fruit and vegetables. I haven’t truly achieved the Mediterranean diet which is considered to be very healthy, but we are getting close. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating foods like fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, high-fiber grains and breads, and olive oils. Meat, cheese, and sweets are very limited. These recommended foods are rich with monounsaturated fats, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Although the price of fruits and vegetables are more expensive than many of the cheaper filler foods, I feel we are saving money by not having to spend money on medicines and more health care. Apparently the doctor’s tests agree – his cholesterol was 167 and his good cholesterol was at a good number as was his bad cholesterol. And his sugar was in the normal range. So, I feel our eating well has paid off.
As for his addiction, although it’s not illegal or immoral, he has used moderation as a guide. And I’m proud of him!