Thankful Sunday--December 15, 2013

I am thankful for a warm house.

We have had three days of snow this week, and I am thankful that I got to stay in my warm house and enjoy it through the window. Also, I am especially thankful for the people, who were not so fortunate as I was, and braved it through the snow and ice to keep the hospitals and emergency services running.

I Spy--Christmas Ornaments

Can you find these ornaments?

1. One of the state I grew up in

2. A snowflake crocheted by my aunt

3. The cats' favorite ornament to play with (Hint: Look for low hanging fruit.)

4. A dried orange slice ornament that I made last year

5. An angel made from china (the plate not the country).

6. A wood carving of the manger scene made in Bethlehem

7. A cinnamon ornament of the state of Texas made by Wally in first grade

8. An ornament made from buttons from my grandmother's button can

9. An ornament made by Theo in preschool that he was not too happy about

10. A White House ornament depicting a scene from the wedding of the only president to get married at the White House

Do you have a favorite ornament or Christmas decoration?

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. (Thanks to Jo from Simply Being Mum for sponsoring FWF this week.)

This Week's Food Waste and True Food Confessions

One of the few meals that originated at home this week.

As you may have noticed lately, we haven't been very regular in achieving our goals of no food waste and meal planning and eating at home. The fall off the wagon started with our remodel beginning at the end of October and transitioned seamlessly into the Christmas season. We still have furniture piled on top of each other waiting to be returned to its normal places, but the kitchen is functioning. We're just not functioning very well in it. That's part of the reason, we've been doing okay in the food waste area--we're not doing much food cooking or buying here to waste. I will strive to do better in this area, but not worry about it too much if improvement is slow to come. "Tis the season to be jolly..."

And oh, for the nuts and bolts of this week. We had no waste and had a lot of leftovers including a couple of days from this meal of sloppy joes.

Animal Crackers for Christmas

or Now that makes sense.

I ran into a friend the other day while shopping. She was buying Barnum Animal Crackers and I was trying NOT to buy some Doritos. She told me that every year at Christmas, she buys a box of animal crackers for her kids since the crackers originally started as Christmas ornaments. Wow. I had never heard that. I guess that explains the string on the box.

Very curious, I went home (with a bag of Doritos) to see if this story were a piece of lore or truth. Here's what I found out. Animal crackers have a long history starting in England before the colonies were formed. After importing them for several years, they were eventually  produced here. There were various companies involved that eventually merged together to form the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). In 1902 they started to call them Barnum's Animals from Barnum and Bailey's Circus. That was the same year they had the idea of marketing them at Christmas with a colorful box and string to hang on a Christmas tree. I'm not sure how long the this campaign kept up, but the box, largely unchanged, with it's string is still around over 100 years later.

Guess what Santa is going to bring Ward, Wally, and Theodore for Christmas this year? It will be hanging on the tree waiting for them Christmas morning. A new tradition has begun.

Want to read more?

http://collectibles.about.com/od/advertisingstuff/a/blTFbarnums.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cracker

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artanimalcrack.html

A Second Look--December 11, 2013

For a Second Look this week, I watched out my window one day while it snowed--my favorite way to do Second Looks on cold, wet days. :)

Here's what I saw this week during my Second Look.

The morning started as a dry, cloudy day with a flock of crows making a morning visit.

Later it started to snow and other birds arrived.

I saw a tufted titmouse.

and a male downy woodpecker who steadily ate while the other birds were in and out.

First he was joined by a Carolina wren.

Next a white-breasted nuthatch showed up.

Soon a junco came to take a bath in the snow on top of the feeder. The woodpecker kept eating away even though the junco was shaking things up. Next, the junco took a bath on top of the squirrel baffle.

Usually the juncos were hopping around below the feeder.

Several chickadees were flitting on and off the big feeder. They'd grab a seed and then go off to eat it.

Elsewhere, this pansy was still able to peek out from the falling snow.

We eventually ended up with about four inches of snow before it turned to sleet and freezing rain.