Shopping in minutes, savings in dollars . . .!

I wonder why the smaller grocery stores are able to offer better prices than the larger, chain markets? I thought I was getting top value for my dollar until I ventured into a smaller one that was near our home. I just needed a couple of things and decided that spending a bit more to save some time would be worth it. It ended up being a lot cheaper with better quality. Decided to do my grocery shopping there, again, today and got enough chicken and meat for  five meals in addition to cereal, pesto, dried mushrooms, Italian bacon, onions, a watermelon and fresh asparagus for under $40. At my usual grocery store, just the meat would have cost that much.

After Mass, my son and I got an early start on the day. Earlier than I thought when we tried to enter the shoe store only to find out it opens at ten and it was 9:52 by our watches. We found the shoes he needed and avoided any other purchase temptations. I treated to a take-away lunch as we came well under budget on the shopping.

Now, I have an afternoon in front of me. My son is never hungry for dinner if he has a big lunch so I won't have to stop to cook this evening. Hmmmm . . . Now, I wonder what I could do to while away the time? Did anyone say quilting? Okay, if you insist! Only because my hand was forced here.

Good thought in today's world . . .

"And of what should we be afraid? Our captain on this battlefield is Christ Jesus. We have discovered what we have to do. Christ has bound our enemies for us and weakened them that they cannot overcome us unless we so choose to let them." ~~~St. Catherine of Siena

Progress in the Christmas sewing department . . .

Yesterday, I made some noticeable strides in catching up with my sewing projects. I still have a lot of hand sewing to do on a Christmas quilt for a friend. I also have a horse quilt that needs layering and stitching, too. So far, I'm happy with the way the Christmas quilt is coming along. I found a fabric with pictures from the Angel Gabriel through the Nativity. I cut them out individually and set them in a sort of abstract landscape in each square. Can't say I'll get much done, today, as my teenage son needs shoes and that requires a trip to the department store.

Going to have to have a serious discussion with the electric company. We can follow our usage on the computer and, for some reason, we are spiking way high up in usage around midnight! Uh, no one is up at midnight and the air conditioning is always turned off. This is a mystery to us and we sure don't want to pay for the glitch with the electric company's monitor.

Heard on the news that California is voting on a law that requires people to pay workmen's comp for hiring babysitters. In addition to that, if you hire a babysitter, you have to provide them with a break every two hours. They initially wanted to make it mandatory to give the sitter a paid day off after they have worked for you for 30 hours over time. That certainly takes away the spending money chance for teenage girls, doesn't it? It is like they want to find an excuse to set up a whole, new government office to monitor another aspect of our lives. Can the world get any stranger? Yeah, probably . . . stay tuned!

German Lebkuchen - my version!

Again, putting forth a Christmas cookie recipe you might have missed in a previous posting regarding filling your holiday cookie jar. This is one I evolved over the years and has been a favorite of both family and Christmas cookie recipients.

German Lebkuchen

3 large eggs
2 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
¼ pound mixed, chopped, candied fruit
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves.
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
Confectioners' sugar, Juice and grated rind of one lemon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8 x 10-inch baking pan, dust it lightly with flour. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, one at a time to the brown sugar, beating well after eaach addition. Stir in the candied fruit, spices. Into another bowl combine the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, combining well. Spread the cookie batter into the prepared pand and bake it for 15 minutes or until deep, golden brown.

While it is baking, add lemon rind, juice and enough confectioners' sugar to make a thick icing. Spread over the warm cookies. When icing has set, cut into serving size squares.

Back to summer . . . again!

We had a brief respite from the summer heat . . . Okay, 95 degrees does feel cooler than 105 degrees! We learn to appreciate the quiet nuances of life, don't ya know! Anyway, I'm back to thinking about summer fare, again, and like to reduce the amount of meat we eat but come up with a filling side dish that tastes good and is pretty good for us, too. This has become a favorite around here and even my children will eat it.

Cool Broccoli Salad

1 bunch uncooked broccoli (how much you make depends on your needs so add or subtract!)
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1/2 cup cashews
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup red onion, finely minced
Asian dressing of your choice - the salad dressing aisle has several choices these days!

 Cut the broccoli into bite-sized florets, not too small but not ungainly mouthfuls. Steam cook them until barely done but still very crisp. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, drain well. Add the broccoli and all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss with enough dressing to lightly coat the broccoli. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Ideas . . .

No dressing on hand? Try mixing mayonnaise, sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a heaping teaspoon of freshly minced ginger together. Again, this is a sort of decide the amounts as you need them. Toss with the above recipe ingredients.

Italian dressing and a tablespoon or two of Feta cheese works well, too.