New Vintage Cookbooks For My Collection

 

Recently I stumbled upon not one, but two vintage World War II era cookbooks.  Both of them had been donated to the thrift store at the senior center where I work part time.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to purchase them and add them to my vintage cookbook collection.  I don’t keep many books in my home, but I do have a shelf in my hall closet where I keep my treasured vintage cookbooks.

 

I’ve always been enamored by cookbooks from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, the 30s and 40s being my most favorite.  I love the simplicity of the meals they prepared using pantry staples and their own creativity, especially during the war when ration books dictated what you could buy at the grocery stores.  They had to be resourceful and make those groceries stretch every way possible and that gave way to some pretty interesting recipes, to be sure.

 

The first vintage cookbook I purchased was Victory Recipes dated 1943.  It was published in the U.S. and is filled with tons of recipes geared toward rationing along with tips to get the most mileage out of your rationed groceries.  It is also filled with lots of advertisements of food and household products of the day.  I just love it!

 

The next day one of my co-workers showed me another cookbook, much, much larger and it literally has every recipe a person could ask for along with nutrition and cooking tips of the day.  It is three inches thick and in fantastic condition.  The color illustrations are what sold me on acquiring this book.  I have spent an entire weekend ready through it and I’m more than ready to put it into practice and incorporate it into my meal plans and preparations.  It even includes a hefty menu section from which I’m sure I’ll find a ton of inspiration.

 

I am super thrilled to have these gorgeous vintage cookbooks to add to my collection.  Let me know if you’d be interested in having me share the desserts, meals and menu plans I am inspired to make.

 

Writing Your Story – Start With You

 

In the classes I am teaching at the senior center I am helping people to write their stories and get them down on paper.  It is something they have the desire to do, but often find it difficult to get started.  The overall task, especially for someone that hasn’t done a lot of writing, can seem overwhelming to the point that they can’t even get that first word down on paper.  To get them started I tell them to “start with you”.

 

You are the one person in the world that you know the best.  You’ve been together 24/7 and have gone through good times and bad.  Of all the people in the world you are the one who truly knows your secrets, your desires, your hope and dreams, your aspirations.  You had a front row seat in your life all along.  Only you can tell your story and get it right.

 

There is no right or wrong way to tell your story because it’s your story.  However you choose to do it is completely fine.  Whether you write it down on paper in a composition book or a notebook or you choose to hammer it out on the computer and print it out it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that you do it.

 

Talk about fond memories

I suggest they find a baby picture and write what they know about the day they were born – name, place of birth, time, weight and length, city they lived in, hospital information, anything they know or were told about.  Once they have that down they can expand from there.  Add in you earliest memories, favorite toys or activities.  Favorite books, your siblings, friends or cousins you played with, sports or activities you participated in.  First day of school.  By this time they are on a roll and ready to go.  Wherever that leads is completely up to them.  Talk about parents or grandparents or your first love.  College days or military service.  Did you get married and the details of the engagement, the wedding, where they went on their honeymoon, their first home.  Then perhaps move onto your children and how you chose to raise them.  Embellish with stories of their upbringing and their silly antics.  What did you love most about each child?  What made you proud?

 

Tell the stories behind all of those photos you have

While we may not think the details of our life are all that particularly interesting I can tell you they are and they will be.  Right now your family may not be seem interested (or maybe they are), but down the line your grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-greatchildren will be.  By reading your story they’ll be able to have those conversations with you that you are no longer around to have with them in person.  You will leave them a legacy.  Your story is important.  Write it down.

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 111

 

On the Friday leading up to Mother’s Day we had a celebration at work.  I even received a couple of flowers, a rose and a carnation, to bring home along with a giant cranberry oatmeal cookie which was delicious.  It was the beginning of a gift shower that lasted throughout the weekend and I was feeling very loved and rather blessed, to be quite honest.  Plants and flowers were definitely the theme.

 

An unexpected surprise from some friends of mine
Just gorgeous!

After arriving home from the nursery with a huge load of perennials and a blueberry bush (to replace the one that didn’t make it through the winter) I spent the majority of the Mother’s Day weekend planting, cleaning up debris, pulling weeds, watering, flushing the pond, raking and digging.  It was absolutely perfect.  I enjoyed myself immensely.

 

It is a good thing I have myself a little part time job so I can go to work and get some rest.  Otherwise I’d be at home and just a go-go-going!  I do so love a project and keeping busy.  More importantly I love making progress in my yard and seeing all of my hard work coming to fruition.  It is so pretty, I can hardly believe it.  I sometimes feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure this is really my yard.  After all these years I finally have the yard I’d always imagined I’d have.  I just love it so much!

 

I still had plenty of kitty cuddle time

I did end up working all week, three short days and two full days, after one of our full time employees was in an accident and they needed some extra coverage.  I was very happy to be able to step up and work those extra hours to help out.  It is always nice to be needed, appreciated and to have a purpose.  Plus, I got to spend time with some great people and it was a lot of fun.

 

Ways I Saved Money: 

I rode the bus all week long to work and back home.  Right now gas where I live is hovering at $3.89 a gallon.  Every time I am walking to the bus stop I’m grateful that I have the option to use public transportation.  I’m even more grateful that it is paid for by my employer. 

As I’ve been cleaning out and using up things in my freezers and pantry I’ve washed out a nice stack of Ziploc and vacuum seal bags to reuse later for food storage.  I have accumulated so many that I won’t need to buy any at the store for a good long while. 

I’ve continued to pull up weeds and give them to the chickens which has slowed down there food consumption and given them some more variety in their diet.  I also think it may have boosted their egg production a bit.  They sure seem to love it when they see me coming with a pile of greens for them. 

I planted a vegetable garden with high hopes for a good harvest this summer.

 

Meals I Prepared: 

On Mother’s Day I prepared a rib eye steak, a baked potato with sour cream and a nice green salad.  It was just perfect after a busy day of gardening and working outside in the yard.  By the time dinner was ready I was absolutely ravenous and ate every bite.  It was delicious. 

I got off much easier the rest of the week.  I had squirreled away a lot of leftovers in the freezer, to the point that I was out of food storage containers, so I pulled a bunch of those out and placed them in the refrigerator to thaw.  All I had to do was reheat my dinner in the microwave and fix myself a salad while it was warming.  Then I rinsed and popped the dishes right into the dishwasher and ran it at the end of the week.  It doesn’t get much easier than that folks!

 

It was a fantastic week, very busy and very productive.  Before I knew it, it was Friday again!  Those Fridays just keep coming faster and faster, I tell you.  I’m super happy with all that I was able to accomplish.

 

New Flowers & A Garden

 

I had the most fabulous weekend.  Saturday morning we took an early morning trip to the nursery where I was instructed not to look at prices and fill up my cart with all of the things I wanted.  I was also coached not to over think things and told that whatever hit the cart had to stay there.  I faltered only once when I thought I might be getting carried away and fretted about the prices of some of the larger potted perennials I had chosen.  Once I was told to knock it off I was good.  I’ve never had the opportunity to do that before and it truly was a blessing and very much appreciated.

 

It's always good to have some helpers

While the BFF spent the day golfing with his buddies I spent the day in my yard and garden.  Digging in the dirt and planting flowers to my heart’s content.  First up was to fill my flower pots and get those set in place.  I have one by the front gate and one on my porch.  Such a beautiful greeting as you approach my home.  Next, I was all about adding new perennials to my flowerbeds and sprucing those up a bit.

 

I couldn't resist these sweet little geraniums

Bell peppers, zucchini, cucumbers with a trellis
& garlic, on the far left

Sunday I still had at least half of the flowers sitting and waiting for my attention.  Before I got started however, I went outside and planted the vegetable garden - six tomato plants, five bell pepper plants plus some green bean, cucumber and zucchini seeds.  In my veggie garden I have my first ever crop of garlic that I had planted in the fall, a volunteer cilantro plant and my rosemary that I planted last year.  A good start and I have plans for more.  I hope to add more herbs very soon.

 

I planted the tomatoes alongside the deck this year
You can see the new flower bed next to the chicken coop

Ever since I built the chicken coop I’ve dreamt of adding a flowerbed and at long last that is what I did.  I’m super proud of this bed because I used items I already had by repurposing an old tree ring that I no longer had a use for and all of the soil came from my yard and the compost bin I built last year.  I added stepping stones I had on hand so I can still easily access the coop and planted lavender and salvia.  I added the angel with the idea that this could be kind of a memorial garden.

 

The front flowerbed by the gate is filling out nicely

I replaced the blueberry bush that didn’t make it over the winter in hopes that this one will be happy and grow strong.  I could tell by late August into September that the one I’d planted last year wasn’t doing too well so it wasn’t a huge surprise to find it had died.

 

I can't get over how big my rhubarb is this year

The view outside my kitchen window makes me so happy

I added a butterfly bush next to the backyard deck.  My hope is that between the salvia, lavender and the butterfly bush I’ll attract enough pollinators to my vegetable garden.  As I had stated this time last year my backyard is still very much a work in progress.  Over time it will change and evolve into the yard and garden of my dreams and so far I am absolutely loving it.  So what do you think?  It’s coming along quite nicely, wouldn’t you agree?

 

Summer Bucket List Challenge 2024!

 

I’m coming up with a list of items I want to complete this summer and I’m almost done with it.  A new little challenge for myself.  Do you want to join me?  I hope you will.  We need to have some fun and do some things we otherwise might not get around to doing.  It is far too easy for the summer to get away from us.

 

Here is the challenge.  Come up with ten things you would like to do this summer.  It can literally be anything.  And!  You get to change your mind at anytime too.  If you decide there is something else you’d rather do you can definitely make that change.  And!  If you want to do more than ten things you can!  But for sure, at least ten things.  Come up with ten things you want to do and then do them.

 

I think it is going to be a really fun challenge.  If you want to share what you are doing, I’d love to hear about it.  I will share mine too.  So how about it?  Want to create your summer bucket list?  Let’s do it!

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 110

 

Boy oh boy did we ever get some stormy weather on this particular week.  They even said we might get some snow, but it never got cold enough for that to actually happen.  Thank goodness!  It rained so hard one night we lost power for only about a half an hour during the night.  We definitely need the moisture so I couldn’t complain, but it did hamper my original plans for gardening and planting some flowers.

 

It had been a good three weeks since I stepped into a grocery store and I was craving a fresh, crisp green salad.  My crisper drawer was looking pretty pitiful and I was getting low on cream (God forbid!) for my coffee so I decided it was time.  Due to the weather I decided to drive to work one day and made that trip count by stopping off at Winco on my way home to pick up groceries.  I made sure I got the heavy stuff that was on my list, such as flour and canned goods, since I had the truck to transport my groceries home.  I also scored a five pound bag of potatoes for only 98¢!

 

One of my projects this past week was to make myself a super comfortable sleeping pad to take camping with me this summer.  I want to get back into tent camping this year because I can go places you just can’t quite get to in a motorhome.  I ordered a cot sized mattress topper as well as a zippered washable cover from Amazon (my second order of 2024) and was able to use the foam I bought at Fred Meyer last year to make myself a nice little mattress.  I don’t care for the camp cots because they wiggle and creak too much for my liking.  I think I will be able to sleep quite well now even if I’m in a tent on the ground.  I’ll definitely let you know.

 

On Thursday I had invited friends over for supper.  I made a lasagna and a fresh green salad as well as a pan of fudge brownies.  I sent them home with half the pan of brownies and was left with two servings of the lasagna to enjoy the following week for quick suppers.  Spending time with friends is just the best!

 

Although I do not have any type of a travel budget this year I have been researching some travel options and making plans.  Since retiring I’ve yet to do any real traveling and I feel it is time for me to do something about that.  My biggest problem is that I have way too many travel options which makes it quite difficult for me to make a decision.  Poor me.

 

Meals I Prepared: 

With Cinco De Mayo last Sunday I used that as my excuse to prepare and enjoy a few delicious Mexican food meals.  Mexican food is definitely my favorite so I decided I’d start by making a big pot of homemade refried beans to have on the side as well as to use in making some freezer burritos for quick and easy meals in the future.  I also put away a couple containers of refried beans away in the freezer to use later on in recipes or as a side dish. 

Sopa Seca (literally translates as “dry soup”) was my soup meal last week.  I love that it is so flavorful and just the right amount of spicy.  My recipe makes quite a bit so I divided it in half and put one half away in the freezer and then enjoyed the other half throughout the week.  I paired chicken quesadillas with refried beans and a salad for three meals last week.  I also enjoyed a couple of the freezer burritos along with the Sopa Seca for a full week of delicious meals.

 

I do hope that all of you moms had a wonderful day yesterday and were showered with loads of love and appreciation.  I got to enjoy picking out flowers at the nursery, which has become a tradition for me, as well as some wonderful food.  It was truly a great day.  Feel free to share what you did on your special day in the comments. 

 

FYI - My retirement week runs from Friday through Thursday.

 

 

 

REAL Food Recipe – Pork Fried Rice

 

Fried rice is one of my favorite super thrifty meals.  It comes together rather quickly, especially if you have leftover rice already on hand to use up, making a great option for a busy day or evening.  Here is my recipe for one person or two if you use it as a side with another meal.

 

Pork Fried Rice 

1 cup steamed rice

2 Tbs. diced ham or 2 strips bacon, sliced

1 or 2 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup frozen peas & carrots

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbs bacon fat or oil

1 Tbs soy sauce 

Over a medium high burner heat oil in a medium pan or wok. Add ham and onions, cooking until onions just begin to soften.  Add peas & carrots and continue to cook until thawed.  Make a well and pour in the beaten egg.  Scramble egg and mix into the meat and vegetables.  Add rice stir fry to combine well.  Stir in soy sauce.  Serve.

 

I usually serve this with a green salad or a nice bowl of soup and some Asian condiments like garlic chili paste or sweet chili sauce.  It is definitely a much more affordable option than takeout and every bit as delicious too.