Greetings from our home's dinner table in Arizona!
Thanks for visiting my blog today and welcome. I am sharing some fun new cooking things with you today as shown below, as well as a nice recent reader letter that warmed my heart.
Thank you to reader Cathy J. who sent me this nice message recently:
"Somehow I thought you were no longer on the internet, as of about two years ago. Just found you again and am glad. You and your husband have created such nice homes and have such great ideas." -- Cathy
It always makes me smile to know someone has enjoyed my blog posts and eBooks and found my dollarwise home ideas helpful.
If you have any questions, comments, or want to send me a reader letter, please send them here.
Okay, let's talk food and kitchen for a minute as I want to point out some kitchen helps that I am liking lately.
DOLLARWISE TIP: I put things I want in my Amazon lists and then usually wait 'til they are a good price and/or have a coupon. This saves a lot of money, and it's good to be prudent with our money, especially these days, you know?!
These dishtowels are wonderful. Pretty patterns and they are so soft you could even wash your car with them and not scratch it! I also like them to tuck into my top as a "bib" so I don't spill on my outfit and I use them for napkins as well as they are a nice size for that. I also put two of them on our small bistro table like a tablecloth, as shown above. They wash up nicely as well with no wrinkles at all out of the dryer.
If you are worried about glass breakage at your table, these acrylic glasses are really nice and won't break. A little pricey, but the quality is worth it, I think.
I mentioned my newly found love for sake sets when you just want a little sip of your favorite beverage for a small taste or maybe with a cookie or biscuit.
I bought these food storage containers recently and also these, and they are both great! I think I prefer the gray lids in style, but both work fine. They are made of a kind of glass that isn't so easily breakable and withstands high heat. As a senior, I am especially careful with glass breakage. These can be used in the dishwasher, oven, (not the lid though), and microwave. I am really liking these so far as the lids close and seal well and they stack great in our little freezer. Similar.
I am seriously loving my new casserole dish because it's lightweight and such a pretty color blue. Lightweight is great for seniors! Worked great for baking fish with kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes on top and broccoli on the bottom. I LOVE one pot meals! I was using so much foil that I went to this because of the lid and am so glad to save money now on costly foil and to not put it in the trash either. This pan cleans up like a dream, too.
Have you seen these things? They are quilted "hot pads" for pan lids! They work so great on our new oven casserole dish lid so you don't burn yourself.
Who knew?!
I am always experimenting with kitchen hacks to make our life easier and more pleasant. This set of flatware is really nice for the amazingly low price -- you would think they cost double, at least. Even hubby mentioned how nice they are to eat with and how nice they look with our nice smaller size Pioneer Woman floral pasta dishes.
Steve is working on another home project for us and NO, these are not "retro" tinker toys! :) (Remember those, Boomers?!) Steve loved Tinker Toys as a kid but now he has his "adult Tinker Toys," -- i.e. things his wife buys that need assembling! This was supposed to be an easy "assembly" project according to the product description online, but in reality it was basically like a whole build.
Well, home things seldom go as planned, yes? So you just learn to pivot and get creative!
Please come back to visit as I will show you how this project turned out in a future post.
May your home be cozy and your heart be happy during this holiday season!
Kathryn :)