Be My Frugal Valentine

I just saw an advertisement for one dozen red roses with greens, wrapped or in a box for $50. Any other day of the year, long stemmed red roses run $2.50 each. They give me the greens and the wrapping for free, so presumably I could buy a dozen for $30 or less. If Sweetie brought me roses on Valentine's Day, I'd be mad. There is no danger of that happening since he's as frugal as I am. Other things I don't want: dinner out, tacky jewelry and bad chocolate. Dinners on Valentine's Day are usually over-priced and over-crowded. I like nice jewelry, but I'd prefer we didn't spend the money right now. Nice chocolate is fine; I'd rather have 4 pieces of premium chocolate than a pound of waxy, tasteless chocolate. But what I really want:

• to be verbally appreciated
• a few moments to reflect on our engagement which occurred on February 14, 1998
• a nice family time

I'm pretty easy to please.

Of course, I will be reciprocating with a wee little something for my Sweetie. I don't know what it will be yet, but I'll brainstorm over the next couple of days and come up with something thoughtful. My crowning Valentine achievement was a few years ago when I took a glass jar with a red lid, decorated it with heart stickers and put in little pieces of paper with 101 reasons why I loved him. I don't know how I'll ever top that.

Pipsqueak has a Valentine party at school on Friday and will be bringing cards to everyone in her class. We've always made her cards. Sometimes I design them with her; sometimes we get kits. This year, she chose these kits from Oriental Trading. She's been working on some little secret project that she won't share with us, so I expect we'll be getting something from her. I'll be making a card for her and choosing a little gift from my hidden stash of clearance and thrifted Pipsqueak gifts.

An Interview

I really appreciate all of your nice comments during my low period. Thanks to temps in the 40's this weekend, I'm feeling much better other than my sprained or wrenched left ring finger. I think it happened during the sled relay races at our town's Winterfest. I taped it to the pinkie finger for comfort, but it makes typing a challenge. I'm such a klutz.

Since I was feeling pretty happy, I spent most of the day doing tax prep, so I don't have any good material for blogland. Luckily, Tammie provided me with some. There's a new project circulating that's an interview. When Tammie did hers, she asked for volunteers. I was hesitant at first, but then though, "What the heck." So here's Tammie's interview with me...

One of your interests is thrift shopping---What's the best thing you've ever found while thrifting?

It's hard to choose, I've gotten so many good things between thrift stores and ebay. I guess my favorite is the item that has the most soul, this vintage train case.

Although it's impractical and I never take it on plane trips, I always wanted to have one. I do use it on car trips. It's in pristine condition, and it came with a heavy canvas zippered cover to keep it protected. But here's what gives it soul...
My train case was on a steamship from Africa to the US, forty-one years ago! I'll never tag that tag off.

You mentioned you're planning on opening an Etsy shop---I want details...what do you plan on selling?

I love making earrings and have a pretty large inventory. Here's a sneak peek. I want to package them nicely, so I'm waiting for organza bags to arrive from Hong Kong, and I'll be ready for business.

A little later, I'll be adding Rejeaneration Bags, which are bags made from recycled jeans. I carried one that I made when I was a teenager. They'll be all blinged out. I can't show you one because I don't have any made yet, but I've got all the "ingredients". I got nearly everything at thrift stores.

How long have you lived in Vermont and do you ever have the desire to move somewhere warmer?

I'm a native Vermonter... fifth generation. I lived in Vermont until I was three years old. I did my growing up in New Hampshire, but I could see Vermont from my house. (I hope that doesn't sound Palinesque.) I moved back to Vermont when I was 25, and I think I'm here to stay. In the depths of winter, I do get the desire to go somewhere warmer, but a week would be enough. Vermont is such a great place to live that I can put up with the sub-zeroes for a short time.

What's your favorite way to spend time with your daughter?

Boy, you ask tough questions! Pipsqueak is so much fun to be around that I love doing everything with her. I love shopping and going out to eat with her. Doing art projects or painting side-by-side is fun, too. The relaxed weekend mornings where we cuddle in bed and talk for awhile are special. I like time that isn't hurried and stressed, where I can just concentrate on her.
I have a lot of harmless celebrity crushes. Tell me one of yours.

I'm almost afraid to have a celebrity crush, because the ones I had a decade or so ago have really let themselves go. I used to crush on Sylvester Stalone and Nicholas Cage. But now... ewww! A few years ago, it was James Carvel (yes, the bald democratic advisor to Clinton), but he's looking too skeletal as he ages. Now, I would have to say George Clooney and Daniel Craig.


If you would like to volunteer for an interview on your blog, let me know in the comments and I'll send you five questions. I promise they won't be too probing.

Winter Blahs

I've taken a couple of days off from blogging. I've been feeling a little low, and since I want to amuse, entertain and inspire you rather than complain, bore and bemoan, I decided to keep my distance. Perhaps it is this

and the fact the temps are are still in the single digits. Or this

the wandering tendinitis that started in my heel this Fall, showed up in my elbow just before Christmas and appeared in my wrist a few days ago.

I am making attempts to turn myself around. I bought this today

because there's nothing like the overwhelming scent of hyacinth to promise that spring is near.

I ponied up $12.99/pound for my favorite meat...loin lamb chops, rubbed with a paste of garlic, rosemary, course sea salt and olive oil, then broiled.

And I turned these ugly things

into this.

I hope to be back Monday with a cheerier attitude. And if you have any tips on turning a frown upside down, bring'm on.

Good to the Last, Um.... Blob

At times in the past, I had opened a can of tomato paste, used the one tablespoons the recipe called for, and wondered, "Now what am I going to do with the rest of the can?" I'd stick in the fridge until I saw gray fuzz peeking out of the can and then dump it. It didn't take this happening too many time, before I got smart. Now, I put a sheet of wax paper on a plate, make little tomato paste blobs on it that are about one tablespoon and freeze it overnight.

In the morning, I peel off the frozen blobs and put them in a labelled freezer bag. When I need some for a recipe, I just take out what I need and defrost it in the microwave. I do this with chipotle pepper in adobo sauce and thai green curry paste as well.

The Week at a Glance & Stuff About Me

I haven't blogged as much as I would've liked to this week, but it's been a busy week; I've been working hard to launch my Etsy shop (not quite ready yet), tidying up for weekend guests, gathering paperwork for taxes, plus all the regular stuff I do every week. On top of that, I've been mildly sick with a cold and Wednesday we got over a foot of snow, and both our tractors were not working. We have our driveways plowed by the professionals, but there are certain pathways that Sweetie plows with the tractor. Luckily, after a modicum of shoveling and maximum cussing and fussing (by me) one of the tractors was going. Good thing, too; they're predicting another big storm for Tuesday.

I've been tagged several times on Facebook this week for a "25 Random Things About Me" meme. Since I spent a lot of time thinking about it and writing it yesterday, I thought I'd share it with you. I'm not going to tag anyone. You can play if you want or not.

1-7. I borrowed from a previous blog post.

8. I love music... listening to it and playing it. I play clarinet and djembe drums. I tried to play keyboard with very limited success because I have a hard time making my hands work independently. Lessons would probably help. I got a vintage German concertina for Christmas which I hope to learn to play. I'm interest in trying a didgeridoo sometime.

9. I have a fear of falling since I fell off the gym rings in 6 grade onto my back. My whole body tingled for a few seconds. I'm not afraid of heights; I can be at the top of a tall building comfortably as long as I feel firmly planted, but a step ladder can terrify me if it feels precarious.

10. I never wanted children until I was 34, which coincided with my marriage to Sweetie. I didn't think I'd be a good mother... that I'd be patient enough. Now, Pipsqueak is the best thing in my life. I can't imagine life without her. I loved infancy, toddlerhood and I love her present age. She's just plain fun to be around.

11. I love to cook, but I don't like planning what to make. If someone would just hand me a recipe and all the ingredients, I would be really happy. My cooking has evolved from standard meat and potatoes to actual cuisines: French, Mexican, Asian, and my new love, Moroccan.

12. I'm am so glad I live in a place where nature resides. I just came inside from putting food for the deer under the apple tree. I love seeing deer, wild turkey, beaver, hawks, owls, blue heron and the occasional moose or bear. I love to watch Pipsqueak catch frogs, salamanders and newts. I love hearing the coyotes and owls at night.

13. I wear a nightguard at when I sleep because I clench my teeth.

14. I smoked cigarettes for about a year when I was in my early 20s. It was an accompaniment to drinking. (My mother never knew, so if you see her, don't tell her.) I decided one New Year's Eve that I wasn't going to smoke anymore because it was too expensive and not healthy. I never had another one. But I would smoke the occasional cigar until...

15. The night before Sweetie's cousin's wedding, we were smoking Cuban cigars. I smoked too much, and I felt rotten the whole next day. Food tasted horrible. That was my last cigar, and it was 7 years ago.

16. I still remember my first French kiss. We were at his house with a couple other kids playing spin the bottle by his swimming pool. He was a very good kisser for a 13 year old. His mother had just been raspberry picking, and we'd eaten quite a few. I can't eat raspberries to this day without remembering that moment.

17. I started writing a novel a couple of years ago. It's a suspense in the style of James Patterson. I did the outline for the whole thing and wrote of few chapters including a really steamy sex scene, but I've put it away for now until inspiration strikes again. It's a pretty daunting task.

18. I love thrift store shopping. It's relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores now. I get really good brand name stuff for next to nothing, like Gap jeans for $3.00, an LL Bean fleece for $2.50, and a Coldwater Creek dress for $0.10.

19. I used to drive around with my SLR camera taking photos on the weekends. The other day, I was thinking that I miss doing that. I took a few years off from taking photos at all and left it to Sweetie. I got a digital camera about a year ago, but I use it for my blog and selling stuff on ebay. I need to make the time for photography just for the fun of it again.

20. I've eaten of few strange things: alligator, pigeon, frog (they all taste like chicken), and sea urchin (skip it; it's nasty). I'll try anything once unless it smells bad, or it's still moving.

21. I never drank coffee until I was about 30 years old. My former boss got me into it. He drank Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and would try different flavors. It always smelled so good. I tried iced coffee first. It was all down hill from there. Now I drink a 1/3 caff cappuccino every morning made with our vintage La Pavoni machine, but it's still made with GMCR coffee.

22. The things that bring me the most joy: the sound of Pipsqueak's laughter or her saying, "I love you, Mommy," the feeling of her arms around my neck and the sight of her snuggled in her bed asleep.

23. Things that peeve me: people that think it's ok to wear "dress" jeans to a wedding, people that plunk their cell phone down on the restaurant table next to the plate like it's a piece of silverware and leave it there throughout the meal, and people that don't heed the turn off your cell phone and no flash photography requests at events.

24. I am never completely satisfied with anything I do. I always evaluate and over-analyze it, looking for ways I could have done it better. (I've come up with other/better ideas for some of the 25 things since I posted this on Facebook yesterday. I'm hopeless.)

25. I was surprised at how difficult it was to come up with 25 things that I was willing to share with everyone. Maybe I'm not the open book I thought I was.

Something Old Will Be New Again

Something has been bugging me lately. Actually, a lot of things have been bugging me, but I can only de-bug one thing at a time. I am in a de-bugging mood, so expect more projects soon.


Our dining chairs are family heirlooms over 100 years old. I love them for their soul and their profile... they're comfortable and not too big and clunky. However, (here comes the bugging part) the fabric seats are filthy. That's the worst one, but none of the eight are great. I tried a couple of home upholstery cleaners that barely made a difference. When we had our carpets cleaned a few months ago, I had them try to clean one, but the suction pulled up the candlewicking. Monday, I decided to remove the fabric from one and try washing it in the washing machine. I could see from the tack holes in the wood frame, that the fabric had been replaced a few times. While I'm fixing them, I'm going to tighten the support straps and check the padding, too. Some of the seats feel a bit saggy.

After washing, it got cleaner, but not as clean as I'd hoped. It was a lot of work removing all those tacks, so I decided it was time to find replacement fabric. I picked up some samples at Joann Fabrics yesterday, and held a secret ballot family vote. Each of us got to pick two favorites. And the winner was....

Both Sweetie and Pipsqueak had chosen it. I did not, but since I picked all the choices, I guess I can be happy with any of them. They chose it because it was the most similar to what we have. I, on the other hand, am trying to conquer my fear of color in decorating, but there are plenty of other areas where I can use color, like that ugly yellow kitchen floor that I can't wait to replace.

I'll post a photo of the finished product in the future.

Entertaining Friends

We do a fair amount of entertaining, but it's usually the out-of-town family and friends that visit for a weekend, and I tend to do very little local entertaining. I decided it was time to turn that around and invited some friends for dinner Saturday night.

I love to cook, but I also love to talk, so I didn't want to spend cocktail time chained to the stove. I also find it hard to cook well after I've had a cocktail. I made a delicious roast chicken called Poulet Provencale (recipe below), with roasted fingerling potatoes, and pomegranate and citrus broccoli salad. The chicken was in the oven an hour before they arrived, the potatoes went in the oven just as they pulled in the driveway and the salad was prepared and chilling in the fridge. The table was all set and I used my thrifted table runner from Zimbabwe that has all sorts of colors in it so I can mismatch the table cloth, place mats and napkins and have it still look pretty. I even loosened the reins and allowed our guests to bring something other than wine. They contributed dessert, which was all the fixings for banana splits.

I got to visit with our friends, drink a yummy Cosmopolitan (or two) without fear of burning something or slicing off a finger, dinner appeared effortless (and it practically was), and since I was making old favorites there were no glitches or unpleasant surprises. It was a great evening. I can't take all the credit; Sweetie helped with the preparations, and inspiration came from Sandy at 4 Reluctant Entertainers.

And now for the recipe (I made two chickens for 6 people and had enough leftovers for chicken burritos for 3 the next night)....

Poulet Provencale

• 1 pound tomatoes (3 to 4 medium), cut into wedges
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges, leaving root ends intact
• 1/2 cup drained kalamata olives, pitted
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced, plus 1 teaspoon minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 whole roasting chicken (about 5 1/2-6 pounds)

Preheat convection oven to 400°F for regular oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
Toss together tomatoes, onion, olives, sliced garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 13- by 9-inch or other 3-quart shallow baking dish. Push vegetables to sides of dish to make room for chicken.
Stir together minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining teaspoon herbes de Provence, and remaining tablespoon olive oil. Remove excess fat from chicken and pat dry, then rub inside and out with seasoning mixture. Tie legs together with string, then put chicken in baking dish.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables and pan juices.