Hi everyone!
I’m responsible for the exhibit building at our local county fair and have been absent from this blog too long! However, 12 hour days for 10 days straight didn’t leave me enough time to post.
Handy Tip
I thought I would share something I learned while getting ready for the flower department in the exhibit building. We usually ask a local florist to donate flower preservative and I put it off so long that we were getting ready for entry day and I still didn’t have any. My friend, June, suggested that we could make our own. I looked it up and sure enough you can! We had to make a large quantity but to preserve your occasional bouquet at home you could make a much smaller batch. It seemed to work quite well for us. The “recipe” is below.
Flower Preservative
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon household bleach
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
1 quart warm water
Stir together all ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.
Recipe
We are heading rapidly toward the harvest season in our neck of the woods. Here’s a neat little recipe that you can use with all those cucumbers, green peppers and onions.
This is something that my mother used to make. I imagine she learned it from her mother being that the term icebox is in the title and people haven’t used an icebox in many decades. My oldest daughter, Melanie, could just sit and eat these right out of the jar! I am sure that she will carry on the tradition of making them with her daughter, Sierra.
Icebox Pickles
7 cups unpeeled cucumbers sliced thin
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced green bell peppers
1 Tablespoon salt
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
Mix cucumbers, onions, green peppers and salt. Set aside.
Put vinegar, sugar, celery and mustard seeds in a pot and bring to a boil. Allow this mixture to cool for at least an hour.
When cooled pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Put the pickles in glass jars and place in refrigerator. They will keep for at least 2 months.
*When I am without celery seed I use just celery salt in its place.
Money Savers
When I look at saving money I take a global approach. One little money saving tactic might not save you that much but if you take advantage of several it adds up to quite the savings over a month. If you look at what you save over a year it is truly rewarding!
-Ask your pharmacist about the retail price of your medication. It might be cheaper than the co-pay when using your prescription plan.
-If you have homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance and haven’t had a claim in 10 years some companies will give you a discount on your rate. You have to ask because they won’t volunteer the information. It doesn’t hurt to ask. The worst that could happen is that they would say they don’t do that.
-When traveling by air the security check will let you pass with an empty water bottle. Take one with you and fill it once you’re through the check point at a water fountain. It beats paying up to $5 for a bottle in a gift shop.
-Before eating out look for coupons that might be available. You can do this on Google or at restaurant.com.
-Don’t pay for Microsoft Office. You can get a free download of Apache Open Office or LibreOffice. My youngest son used the Open Office Suite all through college. It has everything you need.
-If your car is paid off cancel the collision portion of your insurance. It will save you roughly $300 a year. You are required by most states’ laws to carry liability but not collision.
-If you have a teen driver and they have good grades in school it is possible to get a discount on your car insurance. Ask your insurer! You could save over $200 a year.
Homemade
I made a charcuterie board for myself and one for a friend. Charcuterie is a French term meaning cooked meats or a shop that sells them. It has come to be used as a term for more than just cooked meats when talking of a charcuterie board. As you can see from the image below, all manner of
hors d’oeuvres can be served on one.
You can literally put anything for your guests on a charcuterie board. You are only limited by your imagination. I created one for my family that was both colorful and tasty. I neglected to take a picture until they had devoured 2/3 of the goodies so I had to use a royalty free stock picture. My board held black and green olives, cheese, pepperoni, crackers, pickles, veggies and dip, etc.
When I was looking into making one the recommendation was to make it the length of your table. It was suggested to be that size so that guests could reach what they wanted from any place at the table.
I made mine 4 foot long and it worked out just fine. I felt that storing a longer one would have been difficult for me. You can decide on the size that is best for you and your entertaining needs.
I purchased a 1 inch thick and 8 inch wide board. It came in an 8 foot length. Before I left Home Depot I asked the gentleman to cut it in half for me. That made it easier to transport and I was also one step closer to making two charcuterie boards! Before I left the store I also purchased Howard food grade cutting board oil and butcher block conditioner.
I have an electric sander. I used it to make the board as soft and “smooth as a baby’s bottom”. I also rounded off the corners with the sander. When I was happy with the feel of the board I conditioned it twice with the butcher block conditioner. In between uses of the board I am cleaning it with a clean, warm, damp cloth and using the cutting board oil to treat it. That keeps the board from drying out and cracking.
The charcuterie board has been a wonderful addition to my kitchen! I know my friend has enjoyed her’s too.
