Thrift finds

Only one trip out this week. My daughter went on her lunch hour and found three items. One to add to the store and the others she gave to me.

The vintage brown plastic basket will be listed on the store, but the vintage cork hot pads she gave to me to add to my "canning jar" life. They are plastic coated on the front but the label on the back said that they are good for temperatures up to 500 degrees. I was not trusting that, but on Memorial day I used them and sure enough they worked. I just love them because they are so bright and everything in our rented kitchen is brown. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Saltine Crackers

The real reason saltine crackers are a staple in my pantry is not because they are wanted with ginger ale in the recovery of some major bugs going around, but because of stuffing. Yes stuffing. I hear so much about recipes and how people ate during the depression and during the recovery. I have been making this recipe for dressing (fancier word) for many years and never wrote it down. This year I finally wrote it down and placed it in my recipe box for friends and family to have. Here it is and don't feel like you have to make it. This is just something I grew up with and the reason I buy saltine crackers.

1 pound saltine crackers crushed in a large bowl

1.5 Tbs. poultry seasoning

1 large onion chopped

4 large celery stalks chopped

1 stick salted butter

2 eggs

2 Cups water

1) Saute butter, onions, celery and poultry seasoning together in a skillet until onions and celery are cooked through. 

2) Crush crackers in a large bowl, add sauteed onions and celery and mix well with the crackers. It will be dry but the crackers will cool the butter, onions and celery so you can use your hands if needed.

3) Mix in the eggs and water until quite wet, put in an 8x8 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

This was served with gravy and it was called our meatless depression meal. I make this about four times a year. It is my Thanksgiving staple, but is great with roasted chicken or pork. It also freezes well for a couple of months. I use vacuum seal bags to keep it fresh.

For the holiday yesterday I made strawberry shortcake in my daughters new to her lime green Pyrex round baking dish. I also used the square one for my stuffing. 

I have been saving egg shells and coffee grounds in a half gallon jar this week. They are going to be added to my tomato plants that I'm going to transplant this week. I have a place to grow them since I can't here at the townhouse. Whatever happens, happens, but succeed or fail I'll have given it a try. 

This is how far the tomatoes have come and I'm excited that they have done this well. These are container tomatoes so I'll post the progress over the summer. Wish me luck. 

That's what's going on at the townhouse as far as cooking and growing. I know someday I'll be doing more, but for now I have a place to garden thanks to a friend of my younger daughter. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog and have a great week. 

Thrift Finds

Life has been a bit busy growing the store and sewing and doing those things that we want to do. At this point there is never enough time to do what we "want" to do, but we did get out for a donation run because we are always purging and then took a quick jog through the thrift store. 

We found a vintage daisy floral sheet, a Vera scarf, a Vera napkin with the lady bug insignia, a hand embroidered linen for a future sewing project and for $1.99 we got six sets of double pointed knitting needles. Best bargain ever!

We got one canning jar, but the price was right, a bundle of mini embroidery hoops, a pair of Tiki vases, a doily, a white bowl that is not vintage or anything. It was used by florists and it fit in with a few other white pieces my daughter has collected and the final item was a vintage Pyrex baking loaf pan. Not bad for the few minutes we hunted.

Visit her at poetcharms.etsy.com

There is a sale going on at my daughter's on line store. Pleases feel free to stop by and check it out. There are many vintage items, fabric and hand made items. Hope you feel like looking. Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. I wish everyone a wonderful week.

Thursdays Threads

There's been some breaks in the kitchen activities lately and it honestly feels great. There are so many things that my daughters and I want to do and we are taking the time to do it. This past weekend I continued working on my memory tee shirt quilt. It is coming along well, but I ended up with enough shirts to make two quilts or a front and back. I needed one more shirt from my son's college he graduated from last May and it has been ordered and should arrive by this Saturday. I am excited to have one more item on the road to being finished. 

My eldest daughter finished an apron made from a vintage sheet. This is one of the many, many projects that she has underway and it felt good to her to have it finished. 

I continue on my new adventure knitting socks. I know some of you wonder when I find time, but we live in a rented townhouse. I have some not so nice neighbors who will keep me up late nights with the noise. They can start being noisy at 5:30 a.m. and go to well after 11 p.m. and no matter what we do it doesn't stop. We are close to our goal of finding a new residence, but it may be up to 16 months from now. Money isn't growing on the tree fast enough so in the mean time I reduce my stress with my knitting and am rewarded each time with a new pair of socks or other clothing item. I think I will probably have a few dozen pairs of socks by the time we can move.

The most challenging part of my life right now is growing my green thumb. It is a test, but I have one window that is small and can't be blocked (according to the complex rules) so I have a small table with my Christmas Cactus plants on it. My white Christmas cactus is growing leaps and bounds and it is actually blooming "one" bloom and it's May. I guess it likes that window. I'm calling it my prime gardening space.

Life in the townhouse has it's challenges. Too small but workable, bad neighbors but the reward is socks, and taking the time to look and grow into the new life we so need and desire. Counting our blessing every day and taking advantage wherever we can to move forward. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

We are enjoying the sunshine and the rain here. I would love to put my herbs out but it's going to get colder again later this week and they have to wait. I think it will happen over the holiday weekend. In the mean time we're doing the things we can and not pushing outdoors yet.

I put some of that chicken we found on sale up as a soup base along with some of the vegetables I got at the farmer's market. I thought it would make four quarts, but I ended up with five and a quart of chicken broth. I like bonuses in the canning department. It also made using the caner in hot weather worth the effort.

I made up a large bowl of barbecue pulled chicken. Then I tried my skills at making a Stromboli. Most of this week has been trying new recipes out on my daughter. Some came out okay others didn't, but it's all an attempt to build a meal plan with a good rotation so that we are not eating the same thing all the time. I've sent her meatless recipes to read that I've found on Pinterest and she sends back recipes that include meat. We had a great chuckle about it and as yet we have not settled on any. That's what happened in the townhouse kitchen this week. There's been so many other things to do and the kitchen has not been top priority with this heat. 

Thrift finds

With all the wonderful weather we had this past weekend it was very hard not to get out and enjoy it. Sunday morning at 6:45 we were up and out the door to run errands, have some breakfast and head to a couple of flea markets. 

It was a wonderful trip and the Pyrex treasures were awesome. The four red pieces were only $10. The large Cinderella bowl is in the worst shape, but the square bowl and refrigerator dish are decent and usable. The set of three green casseroles with covers we got for a steal at $16. She is going to keep these and I don't blame her. They are in pristine condition.

There were many great finds and the prices on these ranged from $.50 to $1 including the Pyrex white opal casserole bowls. The fruit print clear relish dishes are Georges Briard. We couldn't believe the deals we found.

I dickered for the box of Christmas ornaments. The box had a few missing and odd colors so I got them for $1. The vintage towels were $.50 each. They had all the dust included from 1968 and 1975 to now, but the prints were still amazing.

My daughter also found a Wilhold sewing box, a Vera scarf, a vintage flower maker dickered down to $.50 and a few Tupperware items for her lunch box and straws for a travel cup.

My younger daughter walked for a few hours through a very large neighborhood sale that went on and on and on and brought me a few treasures this past weekend. Poly-fil is always welcome and I had been looking for a first aid book to have on hand. The new old stock canning jar rims and lids will be put to use this week when I put up my chicken soup.

Monday was a day out too. After an appointment we went to a Goodwill store just because it was on the way home. The finds were awesome. There is a set of Strawberry Shortcake sheets that will be used for cutter fabric, a Pyrex oval cover, an angel figurine that was made in France and matches a statue of Mary we already had, made by the same artist and I got very excited to find a new Tupperware strainer that I knew I could resell at a decent profit. Then the find of all finds was the Catherine Holm enamel bowl. I turned my head and said to myself I know that pattern and with a good football toss I took it off the shelf and passed it to my daughter the great teacher. It was priced at $1.99 and it was going home with us. After checking out and getting to the car she immediately researched to find that this enamel bowl was rare and one was listed on Etsy for $245 dollars and they were selling on eBay for no less that $87 auction price. However, this is a keeper for her. I'm glad because it washed up nicely and matches her green Pyrex collection. So, that's what our weekend thrift finds yielded and all I can say is WOW! It was a great.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Well it has finally arrived. Warm weather in the northeast. We had one of the most wonderful weekends and I made good use of it. On Saturday my younger daughter and I went to the Rochester Public Market. I filled a large bag of fresh vegetables that of course was too much for two people, but I had my motive to start a shelf of dehydrated vegetables for my pantry. I've done a bit in the past few months, but the deals at the market were incredible. 

It started with mushrooms. I got three quarts of vegetables for $5, any variety of my choice. I chose two quarts (over flowing quarts) of mushrooms and one fresh green beans. The green beans we are eating with meals and as snacks, but the two quarts of mushrooms filled the dehydrator and condensed down to fill a one quart canning jar. They are all vacuum sealed and on the pantry shelf.

Next were sweet red peppers. They were two for $1 and very large so I got four and dehydrated them. Not quite a full pint, but there will be time to do more and they are now on the shelf. 

I got a five pound bag of carrots for $2 and four pounds of them are in the dehydrator as I am writing this post. It will yield one quart of dry carrots for the pantry shelf. I purchased a four ounce container of basil pesto for $1, zucchini squash and  yellow squash. I'm working these into my meal plan which is not going very well, but I am trying. 

I'm drying my orange peels because I have discovered that they are useful in everything from cleaners, to soups, to candy and even as a match because orange oil is flammable. It has become a matter of use everything to it's fullest before you dispose of it around here. Some people think I'm taking it to far, but if I can't compost I will make use of what I can. 

Chicken leg quarters are on sale for the next two weeks for $.59 a pound so we gathered up what we could afford and immediately put some in the oven to have available for quick meals and another few went into a pot to boil. In the refrigerator now are two large Pyrex measuring cups with my broth that I will be caning tomorrow along with barbecue pulled chicken. Eight leg quarters were put in the freezer. We aren't doing all that we can, but we are working on it. It's proving to be so economical but the work is constant and you have to be willing. That's what's happening with the kitchen and I hope soon to get ready to plant my herbs. Thank you for stopping by to read my post and I hope you all have a great week.

Thrift Finds

This past Saturday we went to a Church sale with the intention of finding one small item and coming home. It was close by and why wouldn't we find this one small always available item. Well, we didn't so we moved on to a thrift store. We found that item and it was only .99 and then the hunting bug hit her like an F4 tornado and look what she did!

She hunted and hunted and kept putting things in that cart. It was fun to be out, but I think that short trip turned into two thrift stores on top of the Church sale. 

She found a wooden box, bar ware that she sold within minutes of her purchase, shipping envelopes, a spice shelf, sewing notions, the card board book which was the reason for the adventure and a framed print of a female artist she adores, but cannot find any information about.

She continues to bring home vintage sheets and pieces of fabric to sooth her addiction and we found a primary print JC Penny Snoopy drape.

And may I say yes, she got me 15 more canning jars and let me tell you the Good Will was loaded with them, but we play the color tag sale for the 50% off items and the one's we left were not that weeks color. The cashier tried to say they may not be there when we come back, but anyone who pays $1.99 for a used canning jar can have them when you can get a new case with rims and lids for a lot less. I have not filled these. I washed them and put them on the shelf because fruit and vegetable season is coming and we are trying to get some empties on the shelf. This is what happens to her when she needs one very small, always available, most anywhere item. 

Thank you for stopping by my post and have a great week.

Thursday's Threads

So much going on that it's getting harder to keep up with the blog. My daughter collects vintage fabrics and linens and cuts them into fat quarters to sell on her store poetcharms.etsy.com. This is what will be listed in the next few days. They look so pretty all together.

I've been trying to get some of the projects done in the sewing room that have just been sitting there waiting. One of the biggest projects has been cutting down my collection of tee shirts to make myself a memory quilt. I need to purchase a tee shirt from the college my son graduated from before I can complete it and that's getting closer.

After cutting them down and making the squares so they will fit together I'm cutting down the excess pieces into ten inch squares for future projects. It's really beginning to look a lot more organized and uncluttered in my small bedroom/sewing room.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter traded a piece of her Pyrex for this wonderful skein of yarn. It comes from the Knitted Wit in Oregon https://www.facebook.com/KnittedWit and I have enjoyed making this fun pair of socks. All I need to do is weave the toe and they are ready to wear. That's pair number five this year since learning.

I'm going to use up more leftover skeins of yarn with the remainder of the rainbow to work on the next pair. It's been quite relaxing to me. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my quick blog post and  have a great weekend. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Yesterday a two page notice was slipped into our townhouse door to remind us about the clean up rules and the time frame we have to do it along with all the demands that no one enforces or follows. On the list in bold capital letters were the words "NO VEGETABLE GARDENING ALLOWED". I will put my herbs out again and I am going to sneak in carrots in a large pot on my tiny deck. I will tell them it's parsley. I really would love to find a place to grow more, but this too shall come and in the mean time I will use our farm markets. I did start tomato seeds thinking they wouldn't grow. I guess I was wrong and if I can't find somewhere to garden I will grow them in my window. These are container tomatoes. 

On the pantry supplies and canning end of the homestead I finished up my vegetable soup stock and ended up with six quarts. I can now take a jar off the shelf and make a meal in less than an hour start to finish. I have been trying new things and will continue working on my meal plan.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my post. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Thursday's Threads

There are a lot of evenings around this townhouse homestead when I am ready to turn in at the early hour of 7:30 p.m. but when I post to my blog, which has literally become my diary, I understand why I am tired. I am learning to make myself stop and sit, but to do this I have to have something to do when I'm sitting. Knitting is that thing. I would like it to be sewing, but sitting at the machine isn't quite as restful as knitting. 

I have absolutely no idea where this lovely and very soft coral colored yarn came from, but it's never ending and I still have a bit more to use. This week I came across a vintage knitting book and found the pattern for cuddle mocks, so I knit a pair. I made so many of these in every size when my children were younger, but this pair is for me. 

My new venture this year has yielded another pair of socks. This pair is a low cuff pair to wear with my sneakers. I have a very special skein of yarn coming to me via a trade my daughter made and I am so excited. It is multicolored and hand dyed. This pair makes my fourth pair, so that means I am averaging one pair a month. Not bad for a craft that is forcing me to stop and relax. 

Thank you for stopping by and peeking into my diary. Have a wonderful weekend and take the time to relax. 

Thrift finds and thrift economics.

To start this blog out I'm going first to thrift economics. I received a pressure caner for Christmas and it has earned it's keep already and it's only April. However, it did not come with a second shelf so that I can stack jars. The manufacturer says that it's okay to put the jars directly on top of each other, but that wasn't pleasing to me and I wasn't spending $12 plus shipping to get one. I searched high and low at all the thrift stores we went to and kept hoping I'd find something that would work even if it was a small pizza pan that needed holes drilled in it. Well everything was too large or too small until...

some imaginative sorter at a VOA thrift store put this wire rack together with a Pyrex pie plate. It was the correct diameter, but I only wanted the rack, but for $4 I took them both home and rushed to see if it would fit the caner. Needless to say it did. The rack has a one inch rail on one side and a half inch rail on the other. I used it in the caner with the one inch up and could put 7 wide mouth pints on top. One short but that was okay. I now had my extra rack, a holder for the pie plate and when I took the jars out of the caner I reversed it so I had a cooling rack one inch off the counter for my jars. I think I got my $2 out of the rack and imagine using it with vintage glass for a table centerpiece. Now about the pie plate. Yes it's Pyrex, yes it's vintage and I didn't really want it, but it happens to be an 11 inch pie plate. The retail value on line runs between $8 and $24 dollars. I'd say that this was a great find and I am keeping the pie plate.

After a great early Saturday breakfast out we headed off to spend the day thrifting and having fun. The findings included some doilies, plastic Easter egg rabbits, a stacking doll, vintage snowman and the most important find was the wooden shelf. It's been on the list for months. My daughter wanted something heavy duty enough to hold her essential oils and there it was. For $2.99 and with a little spray paint it will do the job. We also found a vintage red bed cover a very large yellow bath towel and a bright floral bed sheet. The color scheme here is yellow, orange, green and aqua. Can you tell?

We found a few books. The "Putting Food By" book I already owned, but it was 50% off and a big update from my version. We found wooden pant hangers, zippers, iron on patches and knitting needles and that bright flowered scarf. 

We came home with four dozen more canning jars. Here some have been washed, others in the box to be cleaned and as of yesterday and today twenty of them have been used. 

My favorite find was the heavy duty aluminum colander. It was $2 and now I have something to strain large amounts of food instead of a little at a time. There's the pie plate and rack under that wonderful Pyrex Butterfly Gold divided dish with a cover and we found another set of vintage lazy Susan pieces.

And look at the wonderful score of other Pyrex pieces. Cinderella bowls, regular bowls, another cover, and refrigerator bowls. I think it was an awesome day out and I think we found a well rounded assortment of goodies. Thank you for stopping by to visit and I hope all your thrift finds are good too.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

How busy this little townhouse kitchen has been. It's been busy taking care of leftovers from Easter dinner and preparing more for the pantry. When I want to cook I would love to have all that I need ready so I am trying to go through my recipes and see what I need to do to be ready for summer. 

This week green bell peppers were on sale so we bought three pounds. It was seven large peppers in all and I cleaned them and chopped them and put them in the dehydrator. Away I go. Three pounds of peppers condensed to one pint dehydrated. Great way for me to store them in this little space.

If anyone was wondering if dehydrating vegetables works here you go. I needed carrots for my soups so I put one cup of dehydrated carrots in water and within two hours they were back to normal. I could have just added them to the soup, but I needed to take a few pictures for some skeptic friends. 

Also if I may point out that I put my daughter's Pyrex to good use here. I'm waiting for her to break one first. That way I won't be so stressed while I'm using them. I do have to say though that it's fun to use them and they add nice color to my preparations.

I have three kinds of soup underway for today and tomorrow. The first is white bean and ham and this one came out so good that I didn't want to can it all, so we are eating some too. I filled the crock pot with split pea soup and I finally cleaned out my tiny freezer and put all the vegetable scraps I saved for broth on the stove top to boil to make vegetable soup. 

Split pea along with white bean and ham are in the pressure caner as I am writing this post and tomorrow I will finish the vegetable soup. Adding these soups to my shelf is helping with my meal planning menu. It's easier to take something off the shelf than it is to stand and cook after a long day. That's what's been cooking this past week at the townhouse homestead, Going to start my tomato seeds shortly and have them ready, but I may be lucky and found someone who wants help with their garden and will share what is grown. That's a future post. Thank you for stopping by and have a great week.

UPDATE

Fresh from the caner 10 pints of split pea soup and 4 pints of white bean with ham. Yummy!

Thrift finds.

We headed out to do errands this past Saturday and for a break in the routine we visited three thrift stores. Lots of stuff in the stores but we continue to be selective about what we're buying. It was just a fun hour and a half fit in to a routine trip, but what good finds.

We found this darling set of bowls that are decorated with Shamrocks. We will add them to our St. Patrick's day decor. My favorite thing about them is that they are small and fit right in with our small space. We found yet another lime green Pyrex 024, 2 qt. casseroled bowl. My daughter now has three for her collection, but she may use it to trade for something later.

We found a Pyrex butterfly gold casserole bowl that was in very "baked on" condition, but it got a basic cleaning and is now listed at https://www.etsy.com/listing/229071083/pyrex-butterfly-gold-large-casserole?ref=shop_home_active_5 and we always pick up Pyrex covers for future Pyrex discoveries. The aqua bowl has no name but my daughter has a collection of them that we use for soup and snacks so this one made number nine in her cupboard.

We found a large bundle of wooden and plastic pant hangers that we will sort through and clean up to list on the store and a vintage Strawberry Shortcake pillow case.

As we walked in the door and traveled to the first aisle of another thrift store there was an abundance of 8 oz canning jars and one lonely quart jar. I walked back for a large shopping cart to put them in. Conveniently there was a very large basket sitting next to them and we loaded it up and set it in the cart. If they are priced right they come home, get cleaned up and put away for when I need them. We actually found more, but didn't get them. We are following the sale tags and will wait for the right color to come up and if they are there when we go back they are, if not they weren't meant to be ours. Not a bad lot of finds for a short time looking. We are going out with friends this coming Saturday to search a few more thrift stores after we have breakfast. This is such an addiction.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope all your thrift shopping is as much fun as ours.