Chicago, Pierogifest and my family

Two days ago my girls, my mother-in-law and I returned home from our girls' getaway to the Chicago area. We spent two and a half glorious days staying on the Magnificent Mile and doing exactly what we pleased. We had lunch at the Walnut Room, saw Beauty and the Beast at the Oriental Theater, took Ferris Bueller photos at the Art Institute, stood on the Skydeck and wrote on the walls at Gino's East. The new Marilyn Monroe statue was fun to see, right after it went on display. There were beautiful, bright plants everywhere, giving the city even more life than usual. Our time there was a breath of fresh air and I loved every minute.

We left the city and headed East to Lake County, Indiana. That's where I came from. We made the trip specifically, the last weekend in July so that we could attend the Whiting Indiana Pierogifest. I've been before but my girls haven't. Neither had my husband's mom. She wanted us to come and planned most of the trip herself. She is a gift, even if she is my mother-in-law. We also came to visit my extended family. My dad moved my immediate family to Florida when I was three, and that's mostly where I grew up. I missed my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins always. Every trip we made back made me miss them more. I would soak up everything I could from them and carry it back with me. Sometimes it would be funny stories or family history. Sometimes recipes. Those trips were never long enough and I never brought enough back with me.

My mother is Polish. That's what makes the festival so special to me. My mother didn't cook much Polish food as I was growing up. When her grandparents came here, they were Americans and preferred for their children and grandchildren to be that way too. There are recipes that have been passed on and I treasure them, but I love that the reason that some of the traditions haven't been passed down is because of how much they loved this country. I'm thankful for their patriotism in many ways. During some family history research, I found record of my great-grandfather's registration for the draft during World War II. He was in his fifties.

The festival was great. We ate a little and laughed a lot. The next day was spent visiting my family. I couldn't help but notice that there were fewer people to visit this time. When I was growing up, we always saw "the sisters", my great aunts. They are all gone now. My mom's mom passed away when I was very young so her sisters were very special to me. One continued to send me a dollar in a card on my birthday even after I was married. They are all gone now. The girls and I had lunch with two of my aunts then went to visit my grandmother. That was a very bittersweet visit. She still lives in the same house she has lived in since the 50's, the house my dad grew up in. My grandmother has always been a very strong willed, independent woman but this visit was different. She forgot my name during my visit and I saw her as vulnerable for the first time. I drove away from her house in tears, the same way I left as a child.

We went straight to visit my uncle, aunt and cousin. When I was christened in the Catholic Church, my uncle was my godfather. He has made me laugh my whole life. When the Buccanners broke their cold weather curse in the 2002 season, I was with my uncle watching them beat his Bears. There is no one like him. He fought lung cancer and kicked it's tail. It cost him a lung and a leg, but he's a survivor and still has a lot of living to do. He just doesn't know it yet. Seeing his face after all he's been through was a moment I will never forget. I pray that he will have new dreams sometime soon and see how much living he still has to do. His daughter, my younger cousin, was there with her children. She is an incredible mother and has incredible kids. I loved spending time with them all. It was an emotionally exhausting day but a good day.

Driving back to O'hare, there was so much on my mind. My expectations of this trip didn't meet the reality. I left with a heavy heart but the feeling of being so blessed as well. When I was young, my grandparents were younger than everyone else's. When I was in the sixth grade, they had an Atari, a water bed and a Moped. My grandpa has been gone a long time and my grandmother is finally getting old. I have to start being okay with that. My uncle beat the cancer that took his father at a younger age. He still has a twinkle in his eyes. I believe he's going to open them soon and start living again. We brought home lots of good memories, Garrett's popcorn and a "Polish Mafia" t-shirt for my son. He said it was the best shirt he's ever seen.

Frugal Tool Kit (Part Two)

Okay, there is one monthly expense that I do everything I can to save money on. It's something that leaves us absolutely nothing to show for the money spent. Whether we use it wisely or extravagantly, it's gone at the end of the month. What am I talking about? UTILITIES! Three years ago we had a series of electric bills that were over 400.00 per month, accompanied by high water bills. Our natural gas bill is always lower during the summer but we're going after that in a big way. Every month we suffered from shock at the mailbox. The fact that blew my mind was that once that energy was used it was gone. That wasted energy didn't add any value to our lives. Sure, our food was kept fresh and we were comfortable with the air conditioning running. Reducing our bill wouldn't prevent either of those from happening but it would force us to look at what was important to us on a daily basis.

We were already using CFL bulbs but weren't doing much else in the world of energy conservation. The biggest sucker-of-energy in our home is certainly air conditioning. The summer of the 400.00 plus bills, we kept our thermostat at about 75 degrees. All day, every day. That was where I started. Every other day, I would raise the thermostat by a degree. At first, no one noticed. Then around day four, people started getting a little cranky. Within a week, our thermostat would be set at 79 degrees (higher sometimes) and everyone adjusted. The surprising added benefit would be that our youngest daughter, who has Sjogren's syndrome (an autoimmune disease that damages the moisture producing glands in your body) would stop having almost daily nosebleeds. Less air conditioning brought more than just the blessing of a lower bill. Sometimes, if we are going to have a bunch of company, we turn the thermostat down a bit temporarily.

We did install two additional ceiling fans as well as a whole house fan. The whole house fan was installed in our kitchen ceiling. When it is turned on, we crack the sliding doors and windows in order for the fan to suck the outside cooler air in. We also kick it on when I've been cooking a lot and the kitchen is extra warm. We've watched our inside temperature drop 3 degrees in fifteen minutes with that fan running. We installed it for less than 200.00. This isn't something we use in the heat of summer, but when we have cool mornings or evenings we make the most of cooling the house for a lot less money. We keep our blinds and shutters closed during the day. It's a sacrifice, but one more way we keep the heat of the day at bay. Before summer my husband will be putting up a sun shade on our air conditioning unit outside. Still allowing air to circulate, but keeping the sun from beating on it and heating it up is our goal.

In addition to keeping our cooling costs down, we started unplugging and turning everything off more consistently. I also changed a few things about laundry day. A lot of our laundry is air dried. In the great state of Florida, clotheslines are protected as energy saving devices, so no deed restrictions can prevent you from having one in either your back or side yard. Cool, right? Mostly I dry laundry on our screened lanai and in the laundry room on hangers. First thing in the morning, I do two loads and put them out to dry. The jeans are a little stiff, but my family has stopped complaining. According to the electric company, drying a load of laundry costs between 30 and 50 cents in energy. That doesn't include the fact that if your dryer is indoors, you are also raising the temperature of your home. My goal was to save a dollar a day in drying costs.

We made a few more changes to reduce our energy costs:

When the oven is going to be turned on, I plan ahead to bake everything needed for the week, reducing the frequency of heating up the house.

Cook outside, using slowcookers and roasters on the lanai, using the countertop grill instead of the oven.

Allow dishes to air-dry in the dishwasher

Replacing and adding weatherstripping to doors and windows

Adding extra attic insulation where needed

At the end of the day, it was all worth making the change. Our highest summer electric bill has been almost 100.00 less than what it was before. I keep an eye on our monthly kilowatt hour usage and challenge myself to lower it more. It will be interesting to see if we can get through the summer with lower power bills than we saw last year. That's my goal.

Frugal Tool Kit (Part One)

Lately there has been a lot of emphasis on using coupons. Not just using them to save a little money, but in EXTREME ways. I must confess to being too wrapped up with couponing at one point in time. After becoming too focused on the next bargain, I began to widen my focus on other frugal efforts. Everyone needs to save more and spend less. Not long ago we finished a year of a significant salary cut. There are certain tools that we used to help us make it through. Coupons were actually only a very small part of that effort, and I wanted to share some ideas that others might find helpful too.



Stop thinking everything is disposable. Several years ago, before grocery shopping, I took a look at my list in order to see if there was anything that we didn't need. Paper towels and paper napkins stood out to me. I had to have these in the house, right? We have kids and pets for goodness sake. I began to look for alternatives. First, we became cloth napkin users. I found them on clearance, dug them out of my attic and made some myself. I never noticed any extra laundry because of them. They don't match and some aren't pretty but they do the job. Next we said goodbye to the paper towels. We use newspaper for windows, mirrors and really messy stuff. I chop up old t-shirts into squares to reuse. I purchased a big bag of shop type microfiber rags and have used them for years. Occasionally, if paper towels are free with a coupon, I will pick up a few rolls. Paper products are definitely scaled down to a minimum, and are certainly no longer a part of our budget.

Then I began to look at re-purposing other things that we would usually toss without thinking. My favorite "freebie" would be the plastic bags inside cereal boxes. For real. We open them a little carefully, rinse and dry them. They are used for storing leftover bits of this and that (secured with a clothespin). I cut them in squares and use them to separate portions of meat when freezing. They are great for tenderizing meat, or coating chicken with crushed corn flakes to make baked nuggets. I toss them if they are used with meat, but if they aren't we wash, allow to dry and reuse. They are pretty thick and durable actually. Free storage bags work for me.



We've started to look at everything to see if it has a second purpose. Plastic meat trays are great for painting. Small glass jars are snatched up for my husband in the garage. A valance hangs in our youngest daughter's room made from old clothes. Cutting up t-shirts into rags while you are watching a TV show with your kids doesn't take a whole lot from your day, but it translates into a nice little savings.



Tomorrow's post will be about the one thing that irritates the MOST to spend money on. Seriously.

House Party, HSN and me

Over the last three years, I've been blessed to host nine different House Party events. If you aren't familiar with House Party, they are a marketing company that puts new products and information in your hands to share with your friends. It's the opposite of the traditional home party, your friends leave with free items, coupons, etc. They always send you a little something to keep for yourself as the host too. If you haven't yet, please visit their site for yourself and see if there is a party that you'd like to apply to host. Don't be discouraged if you aren't chosen often, eventually you will be what they are looking for as a host.

A few weeks ago, I hosted another House Party event for Philadelphia Cooking Creme and GreenPan cookware. They sent another fun party pack filled with goodies for my guests, along with a GreenPan stainless skillet for me to use at my party and keep. I was really excited to have been chosen. An email came in asking if I would be willing to Skype with HSN and Chef Todd English during my upcoming event. I sent them a couple of photos of my kitchen, and thought that I could surely pop my computer open and Skype for a few minutes. House Party has been good to me over the years, it was the least I could do. Well, it ended up being a bit more. First there was an interview and then a rehearsal with HSN, both via Skype. They told me what not to wear and how to get everything ready. Where to put my laptop, and asked me to please not use the tablecloth I had used during the rehearsal. I had a little bit of nervousness and excitement. Excitement because I have two sisters that live in Oregon, and they'd get to watch and see our family and friends. When the producer arrived with her stack of release forms for my friends, it seemed real. My guests were caught up in the fun and recorded the show at home too. We were on the air off and on for an hour.


Before the excitement started, I made several pizzas with pre-made pizza crusts and the Philadelphia Cooking Creme so that my guests would have something to try before I cooked with HSN. Their favorite was one that I threw together. The easiest recipe ever:

1 pre-baked pizza crust (I used Mama Mary's)
1/2 c. Savory Garlic Philadelphia Cooking Creme
2 slices crumbled bacon
1/4 c. chopped spinach (frozen, thawed, drained and squeezed dry)
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spread pizza crust with cooking creme, sprinkle with remaining ingredients and bake for about 10 minutes or until the shredded cheese melts.

I've used the skillet a lot since then and still love it. I like that it doesn't contain or release any harmful chemicals in it's non-stick finish. We've used the cooking creme since then too. I can see that it will help make my life a little easier once football season hits us. There is another House Party event that I've just applied for too. My friends and family are the best. I can't wait for another excuse to have them all over.

Local Strawberry Heaven!

We are blessed to live right down the road from the winter strawberry capital of the world, Plant City, FL. My husband grew up on these beautiful berries, and no matter where the USMC sent him, he could always tell if he was eating a Plant City berry. He knows the difference between a Sweet Charlie and a Camarosa strawberry. Whenever we go picking, the variety of berry is important to him. He never met a local strawberry that he didn't like, but because of his family's background in local agriculture, he likes to know. We love to watch the process of the planting and growing season, pray for the crops when the hard winter freezes hit and wait to see just how good the next strawberry season will be.

Last year saw an especially hard winter for our berry farmers, and a mix of conditions led to a market that wasn't particularly favorable for them. We saw an early U-Pick season, where many fields could be picked for free. We repeatedly harvested berries from a local field and paid a whopping quarter for each quart. By the end of last season we had picked over seventy quarts, freezing many berries for smoothies and shortcake. Then there was the jam. I'm not certain how many batches we made, but it was more than ever before in one season. My husband's sweet Granny taught me how to make jam (always one batch at a time) going on a dozen years ago. She could make something out of nothing, but jam is something she is famous for in the family. I'm so thankful for the blessing of learning from her.

This weekend, we've done just a little strawberry picking. Most have gone into the freezer, but we did make some strawberry milkshakes and a new recipe. Last night I tried my hand at baking a strawberry quick bread. I couldn't find a recipe that made sense to me, so this is the one that I came up with. Surprisingly, it came out nicely.




Strawberry Bread
4 c. fresh strawberries, sliced and some slightly mashed
4 eggs
¼ c. olive oil (traditional, NOT extra virgin)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. sugar, divided
3 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans. In a medium bowl, stir together strawberries, eggs, oil, vanilla and ½ c. of the sugar. Stir until the eggs are completely combined. In a large bowl add all dry ingredients (including remaining 1 ½ c. sugar). Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly. Stir strawberry mixture into dry ingredients, just until combined. Divide batter between greased loaf pans. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour, or until crust turns golden brown and passes the toothpick test. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

If you try this yourself, please don't be scared if you check the bread while it's baking and it's a scary grayish color. By the time it's done, it's nice and pretty brown. Trust me.

Wearing of the GREEN!

Being of primarily Polish descent, I lived my life without giving St. Patrick's Day much thought. Until my bright boy turned five and decided that he was very Irish (which he is actually just a little bit). I took him to a local St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade, which took place on the Saturday before the holiday. Three days later, he awakened to a new green striped shirt for him to wear to school (no one would be pinching my boy) with great disappointment. "Where are the decorations, where is my celebration?" He was really sad that I skipped over his holiday. That's where it started. The next year, after he went to bed, I decorated everything that wasn't moving. He even found green water in the toilet that morning. I had watched for sales and purchased every over-the-top Irish looking decoration that I could find. He was thrilled. I was too. This was fun.

So that's where it started. Over the years, we've had huge parties and small parties with green bread and corned beef. I've bought Irish butter, Irish cheese and shamrock shaped everything. This holiday has become a part of us. I'm still not Irish, that I know of (there's a story there), but have come to enjoy the celebration. These are a couple of photos of my smiling boy when he was still small and some of our more subdued decorations. The explosion of green won't happen until the big day.

Shower fun

One of my dearest friend's daughter is getting married in a couple of weeks so I helped give her a bridal shower. It ended up being a lot of fun, and my first attempt at a mini candy buffet. I ordered tiny little polka dotted organza bags for guests to take a treat home with them. Extra long handled espresso scoops were great for scooping candy out of assorted glass jars. I've seen photos of beautiful, monochromatic candy displays, but decided that because this was a more casual events, that a classic combination of different candies would be fun. I used glass jars that I had already, jars from friends and even from a thrift store. Candy was purchased online and using really good coupons in different stores. Having a variety of different types of jars of different height made the display more interesting. Notice there were no lids on the jars, just in case anyone else is as klutzy as me, I didn't use them. The tags on each jar were printed on my computer and hot glued to ribbon. Putting the table together was SO much fun and the big smile on the bride's face when she saw the finished result was the best part. Be on the look out for more candy tables in the future.