Overheard at the Thrift Store…

May 21, 2010

It’s been a busy week – but my to-do list is getting shorter!

One of the things on that list was to hit a few thrift stores for those last minute additions to the kid’s suitcases for their week away – a couple of t-shirts, some shorts, and a couple pair of capris.

Dagmar and I headed to Grant City to check out our favorite one there, arriving soon after they opened the doors for the day.

We had just started our search through the racks when an older lady came in carrying a sack and looking a bit frantic.

“Dorothy!” she said, “Have you sold that bag of clothes I brought in before?”

Dorothy (the lady working that afternoon) replied, “No, I don’t think so – I think they’re still sorting it out in the back – why?”

“Wilbur put the wrong bag in the car!” (She held out the bag she was carrying) “We brought home all the clothes that didn’t fit and donated  the bag with his best clothes in it! He tried to put his pants on this morning and he could barely close them!” our frantic woman said as she moved quickly through the store to the back room.

I was still speechless with surprise over this outburst, when, just a few minutes later an older gentleman came in slowly wearing some very tight pants, his rather large tummy hanging over the waistband.

Poor guy could hardly breath – it had to be Wilbur.

Dorothy just pointed to the back room, smiling.

We could all hear the excited voices of his wife – the frantic woman – as she feverishly pawed through the donated bags in the back room.

We all heard her shouts of joy when the lost bag was recovered.

We all watched her triumphant exit from the thrift store with the correct bag in hand – followed rather slowly by her husband Wilbur who still looked as though a deep breath would burst a seam.

Then and only then did I laugh.

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged | Comments (6)

The Princess & The Tomboy

May 10, 2010

It’s quite a dichotomy.

Within a 48 hour period in 2 different Goodwill stores in 2 different states – my daughter bought these 2 very different shoes.

One is a pretty and quite feminine pair of black heels.

The other is a clunky pair of insulated army boots.

And she loves them both!

I’m glad that she is comfortable as a pretty princess in pumps and as a tomboy keeping up with her brothers on the snowy trails.

I hope she never outgrows either one!

But I’m even more glad that she is comfortable – and even excited – to go shopping at a thrift store.

She’s not only a pretty princess and a tomboy – but she’s also a treasure hunter! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , | Comments (5)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2010

You must know by now that I love traditions – especially holiday traditions!

Valentine’s Day just happens to be one of my favorites!

Somewhere around baby number three we realized that finding a sitter and heading out to eat on Valentine’s Day was more expensive and stressful then it was worth.

So I made a special meal for the entire family – and served it by candlelight.

A tradition was born.

This year was no exception! But since we had a church activity on Valentine’s day – we celebrated early.  Dagmar was our chef for the evening and decorated the table with candles and napkins.

It is amazing how beautiful 25 cent silk flowers from the thrift store look in candlelight! It’s also amazing how candlelight covers up the baskets of unfolded laundry, the piles of toys, and the school books that never got put away!

Notice the napkins? Over twelve years ago I bought some nice red cotton material, cut it into napkins and hemmed them up. We’ve used them for Christmas and Valentine’s Day ever since!

The menu varies somewhat from year to year – but always includes red jello with Cool Whip. This year Dagmar got fancy with a heart mold and conversation hearts!

An Italian dish – like cavatini or lasagna is almost always our main dish. This year it was a yummy sausage lasagna! She added a lettuce salad and freshly baked baguettes. We filled our garage sale stemmed glasses with pink lemonade to drink.

Dessert is always cream puffs – always!

They are filled with French vanilla cream and topped with chocolate ganache.  Yummy! This year we fancied up the plates a little with Smucker’s raspberry plate-scapers.

There is usually a card or two to open, maybe a small gift or chocolate treat.

It’s a simple, but very special way to celebrate with my Valentine’s.

What better way to say “I Love You” then with food!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Holidays, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , , | Comment (1)

Cleaning the Refrigerator Casserole

February 9, 2010

using up left-oversMy refrigerator was stuffed.

I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow the left-over’s got out of control. I had lots of  little containers full of little bits of stuff.

It was time to be creative.

Buddy was my “sous chef” for supper – and he loves thinking outside the box! Normally he comes up with all sorts of wild ideas and I remind him to stick to the recipe.

But not tonight!

He grabbed different things from the fridge and together we figured out somewhere to use it!

He used up some of the extra milk we got on sale to make his favorite pudding. We put that in parfait glasses. Then he did a layer using the dibby-dab of cream cheese mixed with the chocolate ganache that I had hidden in the back of the fridge. He topped it with the last of the whipped cream from the dessert the other night.

Then he found two graham crackers in the cupboard and crushed them on to sprinkle on top. I grabbed the last two tablespoons of crushed walnuts that were in the freezer and added them to the crumbs.

Dessert was done, now it was time for the main dish.

We started with the left-over chicken and cream sauce.

I dug out the chicken and cut in up. Meanwhile, Buddy found some left-over turkey, some gravy, part of a container of mozzarella cheese, a bit of left-over onion dip, and some cold buttered noodles.

Perfect!

We cooked up the two odd packages of pasta that were open in the pantry. Mixed the whole thing together with the left-over cream sauce and added enough milk to coat everything.

I was just pouring into a casserole dish when buddy discovered a small container of crushed saltines.

We tossed them with a little Parmesan cheese and sprinkled the whole works on top.

It baked for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees and we had a one-of-a-kind delicious casserole – almost entirely of left-overs!

Don’t you just love an (almost) free meal!

Picture by Luigi Chiesa

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Main Dishes, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Crockpot Chicken Broth

January 19, 2010

crock pot chicken brothI hate waste.

I love turning something apparently useless into something wonderful…

…like chicken bones.

Last night Angel Girl and I made a chicken pasta dish for supper. After I had cut the raw chicken off the bones, I noticed that there was still some meat left on them.

Instead of throwing them out – I dumped the bones and skin into the crock pot and covered them with water.

I threw in a skinned and halved onion,  some celery, and a scrubbed carrot (cut in chunks).

Then I added a few peppercorns, some dried sage, parsley and thyme.

I turned the crock pot on low and forgot about it.

This morning I had a rich dark chicken broth waiting for me!

I drained the broth and refrigerated it.

The bones and vegetables went to the chickens since they had given up their lives for the sake of the broth and had no flavor left.

The fat will rise to the top of the broth as it cools and can be easily taken off and thrown away.

Now I have a nice broth to use in a soup, or in any recipe that calls for chicken broth.

It’s a good feeling to use up even the scraps – although I may never attain to Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s high standards…

“Anne’s a good housekeeper…I’ve looked into her bread box and her scrap pail. I always judge a housekeeper by those, that’s what. There’s nothing in the pail that shouldn’t have been thrown away and no stale bread in the bread box…”

Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Crock Pot, Main Dishes, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , | Comment (1)