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Pigeon Post Has Arrived, And I'm So Excited!

1/26/2016

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Oh, I love mail, and I've had my eye on this gem for a while. It's the Letter Writers Alliance Pigeon Post, and it comes with everything needed to mail it. Yep, you can mail the pigeon (no box necessary)—fits into the blue mail box on the corner. I'm so excited I may send it to myself and then to someone else when it comes back. I'll keep you posted!


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All That's It's Popped-Up to Be?

1/19/2016

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It's Popcorn Day!
Guest Post by Lisa Parker, Cakes for All Seasons

I love plain popcorn. I don’t need it slathered in butter or sprinkled with salt. Just plain popcorn for me, thank you very much. But not microwaved popcorn. Can’t stand the smell. I’d rather get out a heavy pot, put in enough oil to lightly coat the bottom, and add a single layer of kernels. Put the cover on and wait for the pop pop to start, shaking the pan until the popping ceases, dump it in a big bowl, and start munching. Yum.  

In high school I was on the “college prep” track which meant that we weren’t supposed to take shop or business classes. I rebelled and took both wood shop and a personal business class. My folks have a much-cherished butcher-block table to show for my efforts, and I learned to balance a checkbook.

Everyone should take these classes . . . but that’s another blog post.

One day our business teacher arrived with two kinds of popcorn:  the fancy Orville Redenbacher brand and the plain, store brand. We had just completed a week of discussions on buying store brands vs. name brands, checking unit pricing and bulk vs. smaller unit buying and assumed that popcorn was an end-of-week treat. It was, but it also provided a valuable lesson.

She poured a cup of each brand and proceeded to pop them separately. We checked the number of unpopped kernels and measured the amount of popped corn for each. Our findings? While more expensive per ounce, the Orville Redenbacher yield was higher and there were few if any unpopped kernels (aka old maids), left behind.  We did some algebra and determined that in the end, the Orville Redenbacher was a better buy than the less expensive, lower-yield store brand.

That lesson of 36 years ago was so powerful that when I buy store brands today, I still wonder if I’m really getting a better deal.

Yesterday, I decided to re-do the popcorn experiment and popped a half cup of each. Happily, nearly all the kernels in each popped, but the Orville Redenbacher batch yielded 30% more — it was fluffier. Today’s cost difference is far more than it was four decades ago: six cents an ounce for the store brand vs. 16 cents for Orville’s kernels.

So is 30% more volume worth almost three times the cost? Nope! 

And, if you dress up the popcorn, can you really tell the difference? 

Check out these recipes for flavored popcorn I found at the Food Network Magazine site.

What’s your favorite way to serve popcorn?

Lisa Parker has been playing with desserts for years. After 20 years of baking desserts and playing with cake, she attended the French Pastry School in Chicago and graduated, with honors, from the L'Art Gateau program. She creates “delicious, joyous cakes and desserts” for wedding couples, party planners, and party goers in southern and coastal Maine, southern New Hampshire, and the Mt. Washington Valley.

Lisa can be found at Cakes for All Seasons where she says, “Let’s meet, I’ll bring the treats!”


This is a Calendar of Days post.


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Spring Forward: Buy Yourself Some Flowers

3/12/2015

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Next time you buy flowers for someone, try this:
Go to a second-hand shop and buy an inexpensive container for the flowers . . . the flowers stay fresh and whoever you give them to has nothing to do but put them on display—and they can keep the container!

We were invited to a dinner party this past weekend. When I asked what we could bring, we were told to bring only what what we would like to drink. So we brought a bottle of wine . . . and a bunch of daffodils
(we knew our friends were planning a special meal and wanted to bring something more but didn't want to disregard their request, so we decided to keep it simple with some flowers).

When I bought the daffodils, they had unopened blossoms, were on display in small bundles held together by elastic bands. They sat piled high on the counter top, not in any vase, not in any water. Imported from Ireland, they came with instructions to simply trim 1/2" and place in water.

I decided to buy some for our hostess and some for me.


When I got the flowers home, I followed the directions—and though I was doubtful, they blossomed!

Spring is coming, but forcing daffodils from Ireland brings it a little closer, a little sooner.


And buying yourself (and someone else) flowers is always a good thing.

Do you make it a habit to buy yourself flowers? Tell us about it. Why do you do it and how does it make you feel?
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COLLECTING [Three for Thursday]: Vintage Packaging

10/21/2014

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Rummaging through the tool bench looking for small nails to tack down the linoleum floor that tucks under the dishwasher, these three packages caught my eye.

I can't remember if we bought them, or, more likely, they were included in a bundle of hand-me-down tools and supplies.

A bit tattered around the edges, each package has something that makes it stand out: the Atlas globe with piercing nail; custom lettering on the Superior brand name; and Arrow's target marketing for women . . . apparently well-manicured nails are a must when stapling!

It's a small collection, but a collection worth documenting. If you are interested, Forbes' Eight Ways To Make Collecting Pay Off covers some interesting aspects of collecting including value, what to avoid and what to look for . . . and some crazy expensive violins.

What do you collect? Tell us about it.
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