Antique Stores Aren't Just For The Rich

I like to browse through Antique Stores and find hidden Treasures. There is always something wonderful waiting to be discovered.

Last Fall,on our way back to Tennessee after visiting my Father who was about to pass away,we stopped at an Ole' Timey Store in Mississippi, just to stretch our legs on the long drive home. It was like stepping back in time 50+ years . I love this feeling. It instantly transports me to being a little girl again, waiting for my Daddy to get home from work so that I can kiss him and hug his neck. I asked the lady, behind the counter of this nostalgic store, if they had any of the gingerbread or spice cookies with the pink icing on top; it came 2 in a pack and had scallops all aound the rectangular cookies . She did. I told her that my Precious Daddy used to buy them for me and him sometimes on his home from work. It was nice. I bought one to eat and one to keep as a reminder of my Dad's thoughtfulness . (I will try to remember to take a picture of the cookies soon and upload them.)

I sure do miss him and Momma. They are in heaven now.
Enjoy the time you have with the ones you love and be sure to mend all fences while you still

can . I am so grateful to God that Momma and I mended our fences a long time ago.

While browsing,I uncovered a basket of Silver and Silverplated dinner utensils. The large spoons were oversized but, not serving spoons and the forks were huge too. They look like they were from 100 years ago and might have well been from that long ago. I love the patina on them. I like to display them . For some reason, I am so taken with the things of long ago. I bought some large spoons @ $.50 each .
I once was at the Salvation Army and found some similar dinnerware for $.10 each . I don't think that they realized what they had .
I was quite happy.

I also bought a Silver gravy boat at the 2nd hand store for $2.00 and a brand new copper collander for $2.00 at Goodwill. I saw the same exact collander at a kitchen gadget store for $22. Not bad, hon?
Tamar

OOOps Paint

I am sorry, but, I don't know how to move the pictures down , so that they coordinate with the

writings .

I get really tired of white walls so,I ventured out and started with the smallest
room in the house; the Bath Room.

I went to Lowe's and found some Oops Paint for $5 per gallon. TIP: Home Depot has it too. It is paint that someone had Lowe's mix for them but, decided they didn't like the color and did not buy it. I love it. The color was lavender.

Shortly after painting the Bath Room lavender, I was in the Goodwill and I found a shower curtain; White Battenburg Lace for $4. That was another one of my "Jesus Deals".
When I go shopping,I pray and ask God to lead me straight to the good deals and He always does. It is so amazing.

I bought some small picture frames at the Dollar Tree and painted them granny smith apple green, then used some brown acrylic paint and made a "wash" to go over it. It is called "patina green"...like the color you see on a clay flower pot when it's been outside during the Summer.

I then went to The Dollar General and bought some pretty blank greeting cards and put them in the frame $.50 each.
It looks so pretty.

P.S. If you find OOps paint in a color that is close to what you want,if you purchase the paint and a small plastic container,they can pour out just enuf to be able to add some of the color you want to match the colorcard that you choose.
Tamar

BBQ'ing in bulk

Some may think it's rather strange, but, when I fire up the grill, I get my money's worth out of it. I like to marinate chicken strips or chicken breasts, marinate baby back ribs, marinate country style ribs, and cook a whole chicken, and lastly, I marinate steaks for the grill, and I season alot of ground chuck and make hamburgers.
I grill all of it in batches and then bring it into the kitchen to cool off and then it goes into the freezer for quick meals . I am at the library now and will be leaving soon to take my daughter to "Youth Meeting " at a church, so, when we get home I will thaw 2 grilled hamburger patties and we will have delicious cheeseburgers that is fast and easy and will save me $.
We can eat the chicken stips in fajitas or in a chef salad.
The baby back ribs go well with baked beans and "Cajun" potato salad. It is similar to regular american potato salad, except you chop the whites of the eggs and mince about 2 Tablespoon of onion or more and add them to the hot potatoes which you have salted and peppered and add 1 Tablespoon of mayo and toss lightly,set aside . In a small bowl mash the yolks and add about 2 Tablespoons of mayo, and about 1 Teaspoon of mustard and salt and pepper to the egg yolks. Mix the yolks and stuff, then, add it to the potato mixture. It tastes like deviled eggs.
If you like deviled eggs,you will probably like this potatoe salad. We Cajuns like it served warm.
I sometime grill some sausages too.
The steaks go great with "Loaded baked potatoes". I bake the potatoes and then scoop out the potato, leaving about 1/8th inch. on the skin. I then mix the potato with butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, Real bacon bits, cheddar cheese , and chives and a little bit of garlic powder,then bake them again just til hot and golden brown , and sedrve with a salad with buttery, garlic croutons . Man, that sounds good!
Just be creative.
Tamar

Decorating on a Dime

Sorry for the glare . I am just learning how to do all of this stuff.

Thank you for your patience.

As you can see, I love chickens and roosters .

I really enjoy decorating and so do most of my friends. Most of us want a warm, cozy, comfortable home that is inviting, however, I have two friends that don't really decorate and that is ok for them. Whenever I go to either of their houses, I find my mind wondering about all the endless possibilites I could come up with to decorate their houses. I have made some gentle suggestions, but , no fish were ever biting so, I just accepted that they are too busy with other things to care about decor.

I, on the other hand,have to have an outlet to be able to express myself and my home is it. I bought some gorgeous large gift bags (the black rooster on the left) at the Dollar Tree a few years ago, which had Roosters on the bags that looked like a Painting rather than a giftbag. I paid $2 and brought home a treasure. One bag, I have not framed yet.

Oh, and I bought 1 bag with a large pumpkin and a black crow and an old fence on it,for $1 and went home and framed them with frames I had purchased from the Goodwill. The larger one had a mat in it, so I painted the mat tan, using acrylic craft paint and then I got inspired.....

I mixed-in one drop of brown to the tan paint to darken it and painted "Roosters foot prints" going in one direction across the mat,making it look like marble (the 1st picture: this one was a reprint of a painting that I bought through an art shop $40, before I found the ones at the Dollar Tree for $1 each).

I enjoyed showing it to people just to see how many creative minds would notice the rooster prints on the mat. I had a few people notice it. Lots more did not notice it.

Think outside the box and frequent the 2nd hand stores and Goodwill and Salvation Army and Antique stores wherever you are able to. You too will find treasures.

I paid $5 for one frame and $1 for the rooster print and $.49 each for the 2 craft paints.
Not bad, $7 total.
I only paid $1 for the frame that has the pumpkin painting in it.

I haven't taken a pic of the pumpkin picture yet.

The 2 pics with the names "Chanteclair" and Le Coq" are $3 posters from Fred's Discount Store.

I bought the frames at the Goodwill for a few dollars each.
Tamar

I could've made alot of money, if I had only known

Back in 1979,31 years ago,I realized that I had to cook double batches of food to put in the freezer, so that I'd have something ready to eat when time was short and I was busy. I worked crazy hours at Sou. Central Bell and was too tired to cook every day. I stocked up on meat when it was on sale and cooked most of it to put in the freezer.
I could've made alot of money by writing a book about it and include recipes and instructions. Approximately 15 years ago, I saw 2 ladies on TV showing how they cook in bulk to save time and money and electricity. It made me sad. Oh well.
I cook and season ground beef, and add chopped onions (don't faint, but, I have cooked 30 lbs. of very freshly ground chuck roasts all at one time,). I then, have seasoned part of it for Tacos, part for chili, and saved some for Sloppy Joes, which we really enjoy, and some for spaghetti. You can also use it in soups .
I have cooked Chuck Roasts and then put them in the freezer after cutting the roasts, to eat as Roast and Gravy or to make Beef Stew.
I will post my Beef Stew Recipe on another blog.
This saves time and money and electricity and Saves You From Going Out To Eat When You Don't Feel Like Cooking. Eating-out is expensive.
I hope that I have inspired you today.
Be blessed.
Tamar

'Super Couponers' Clip Their Way to Savings at the Grocery Store - ABC News

Just click on the words below to go directly to the episode:
'Super Couponers' Clip Their Way to Savings at the Grocery Store - ABC News

The Super Couponer

I enjoy watching "Nightline" on ABC;one episode on March 25, about Super Couponer, Nathan,who,when given $50 to spend by Nightline, bought $526.00 worth of groceries.
Nathan had to build strong wooden shelving to house All of the merchandise he gets for free and the ones he pays a little bit of money for. Needless to say,his garage is chock full.
I was so inspired by him, that I went to the local Newspaper and bought 2 Sunday papers and then went to CVS with coupons in hand,bought $40 worth of shampoo(2)(buy one,get one conditioner free for each,Downy Fabric Softener(2),stirofoam plates),(2)packs gum....I had received a New CVS card with a coupon "spend $20 get $4 back"...
I used the instore ad to maximize my savings and at the end, the $40 worth of merchandise cost me $19.oo (tax included)and I had forgetton to give the girl my $4 coupon; she gave me $4 cash....plus, the items I bought produced $4 in in-store credit,so it really cost me $11 for $40 worth of good, useful, needed, name brand products.
Man, I was happy.

Just look for my post of ABC's link and click on it.
Tamar

When money is Tight....

You all know that when money is tight, you have to get creative with whatever you're doing, be it cooking, decorating your home, storing things, or buying supplies that we all use everyday, such as paper towels....

My friend, Kim , has introduced me to something she is doing to eliminate paper towels completely and save money . Kim uses cloth napkins instead of paper towels that you just throw away and then have to haul to the dump or put in the trash recepticle every week, to be picked up at the end of your driveway.

I took it a step further and bought some large tablecloths that I found at my local 2nd hand store called " Second Source";which the proceeds go to help the unwed mothers in our area and helps the local Samaritan House (for abused women and children). I paid $2.00 for each one.
I got 24 dinner napkins/dish towels from the dark green checked tablecloth and 12
Autumn dinner napkins from the other tablecloth. Not bad, for only spending $4.00 total. The Autumn print dinner napkins will be saved for Thanksgiving and the others will be used for wiping up spills, dining, or washing and drying dishes.

I hope this inspires you.
Tamar

Treasure Hunting at Goodwill

I enjoy seeing just how much I can get for my Nickel. haha
At the Goodwill this past weekend,they had a half-price sale on their already Low prices.
I racked up. I purchased :
1 Bedsheet,white with beautiful big blue roses on it, $.49


4 Autumn dinner napkins, $.25 (I call that a real deal)

1 Beautiful white patterned dinner plate, $.49 (I am eclectic)
2 Nice dish towels, $.50 each
1 Small potporri pot/lid , $.49 each
2 Tall Pilsner glasses, $.49 each ( to drink coke and milk in,ha)
4 Brightly colored plastic plates, $.19 each (now, that's a steal)
4 Cobalt blue plastic plates, $.19 each
2 Tennis rackets (for killing the Wood Bees), $1.50 each
1 Lunchroom Tray, $.49

Not bad at all.
I will use the blue and white rose printed sheet for a special project in another blog. Check back to see what I am up to .
Tamar

Tricks of the Trade

I love to bake. When I was a teen, I used to bake Chocolate Chip Cookies.
They are my favorite,but, sometimes they would spread on the cookie sheet and sometimes they were perfect and beautiful. I wondered why. I learned that you should always wait until the end to add the egg to the batter so that you don't overbeat the egg


and never microwave the butter to hurry things along;it should always be at room temp. unless you have a heavy duty mixer that can handle the cold butter. Everybody loves my cakes and cookies . I've even been asked by Men, if I'd give them the recipes . I love to bake almost more than I love to eat what I bake. My all-time favorite cookie recipe is as follows...


CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 bar butter or land o' lakes margerine, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup butter flavor Crisco shortening
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed firmly
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
2 Tablespoons PURE vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 12 oz. bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips(Nestle's,Hershey's or Ghiradelli's)
***Pecans are optional.
Cream butter and crisco til well blended ,(NEVER ever use the microwave to soften the butter;it will make your cookies "oily" and flat. Now, add sugars and salt and baking soda and mix until it is all incorporated.
Next, add in the flour a little at a time until all blended well.
Lastly, add the PURE vanilla and egg , but, only mix it until the egg is nolonger visible. Do Not overbeat or you cookies will be flat and thin.
Fold-in the Chocolate Chips gently.

Chill the dough.
**I use my medium ice cream scoop to shape the cookies easier and faster.
BAKE 350 degrees til golden , but still gooey.
Remove pan from oven and let cool 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet. Remove to a platter, using a spatula.


Enjoy!