Coffee and Doughnuts

When you’ve been driving for hours and are really getting tired of being on the road, it can really help perk yourself up if you stop for a cup of hot coffee and some doughnuts. The caffeine in the coffee will get the adrenaline going and chase the sleep away. The sugar and carbs in the doughnut will also give your metabolism a kick. Plus, it is good to get up out of the driver’s seat where it is dark and quiet, and sit at a busy, bright counter filled with people and noise.

The last time I was driving through New Jersey, I stopped at one of the turnpike refreshment shops and bought coffee and doughnuts. If you have ever driven through New Jersey at night, you know how boring and monotonous the turnpike can be. That in itself causes so many accidents that the state of New Jersey had to put concrete lane barriers between the northbound lanes and the southbound lanes. And they have rest stops every 15 miles or so.

There is always plenty of parking at the rest stops, and most of them have 24 hour gas stations, convenience stores, and either a Burger King or a Dunkin’ Donuts shop so you can take a break and get some food, like my favorite, coffee and doughnuts.

Enjoyed Out Fourth of July Weekend

This past weekend was really one of the best long weekends that I can remember. Everything was perfect. The weather was nice, so we were able to get outside every day. We grilled out on the deck, went to the lake every day, and of course we enjoyed fireworks at night. I grilled steaks on Saturday and then on Sunday I went all out and grilled $60 worth of pork ribs. Good stuff!

There were lots of free fireworks shows held all around town, plus the rednecks in my neighborhood all buy hundreds of dollars worth of illegal fireworks and set them off in their back yards every night. We have had free neighborhood shows every night since Thursday. Just when I think they have run out of cash for all those bangs and booms, someone runs across the county line to one of the fireworks tents and buys another hundred dollars worth.

Thanksgiving is almost here

Now that I have moved out from my parents house, Thanksgiving just isn’t the same.  I don’t get to go home every year either.  That’s the worst part of growing up I think.

I remember how amazing the house smelled the day before and the day of Thanksgiving.  Mom would start making potato salad or macaroni, deviled eggs and all of those cakes and pies the day before Thanksgiving.  Then on Thanksgiving day, she would get up way before any of us even thought of getting up to start the turkey and ham.

By the time we all woke up, she had it all in the oven and we would wake up starving because the house smelled so good.  We usually ate around 2 and the table to overflowing with food.  Green beans, corn, yeast rolls, and some years, we had roast duck instead of turkey.  Oh how I miss those days!!!  I can still smell my mothers cooking when I think about Thanksgiving.

Tomatoes

I’m not much of a farmer but I planted a couple of tomato plants this year in containers.  I love fresh vine ripe tomatoes.  They are so much better than what you get in grocery stores.  We have so many tomatoes right now that we are even freezing some.

All you have to do is put the tomato in boiling water for about 30 seconds and then put them in cold water and the peeling comes off really easy.  Then all you have to do is dice the tomato or even put it in a freezer bag whole.  Even if you freeze them whole, they won’t stay that way once they’re thawed out but man do they come in handy to make home made sauces and soups.

From the garden

With the summer months coming on, we have been doing a lot of planning for our garden. I have the grounds laid out and tilled and we are deciding what plants will go where. It’s a fun project for my wife and I and I think the kids will be glad to help out now and then as well. We have some great plans for this year’s harvest.

One idea I am interested in is called rain harvesting. That’s when you harvest the rain that runs off your roof into what is called a rain barrel. The water is stored there until you need to use it. I thought it would be the perfect way to save on our water bill. Instead of paying for water from the tap to water the plants, we can use the water that is captured in the barrels.

I went online in order to investigate the situation and I found a great site where they have rain barrels for sale. Although there is an initial investment, it will save me in the long run as well as being environmentally friendly. I believe we will have on heck of a garden this year and I am very excited about that. We will be able to put our own produce on our dinner table. Now that’s a good feeling.

Giant fish sales

The Japanese have been well known for their love of fish. This is especially true when it comes to the taste of tuna. They have proven their love of tuna when a Japanese businessman paid a record price of $ 750,000 dollars for a prized blue fin tuna. He plans to sell the fish to the customers at his restaurant.

The tuna weighed in at a weight of 592 pounds. The owner of the fish says it is perfect with just the right amount of fat and that the color is very good. I guess time will tell and we will see whether or not the tuna pays off.

Appeasing the Sweet Tooth

Some days I want a candy or something sweet, and other days I want something salty or crunchy. I wonder what makes us crave one thing over the the other? The time of day for me to crave candy seems to be after dinner. Did the invention of dessert have anything to do with appeasing a sweet tooth after a big meal?

I know that I used to love chocolate as a kid, and the Halloween and Easter holidays were two of my favorites because they are both big days for candies. I couldn’t wait to go trick or treating and bring home a huge bag of candy to sort through and eat as much as I could before my mom got alarmed and cut me off.

Nowadays I try to hold out for good candy, not just grocery store checkout impulse purchases. I like a quality chocolate and try to measure the good ones against the taste of the famous Sees candies that I used to have as a kid. If its not as good as Sees candies, then I don’t want it.

When my grandparents retired and moved to Arizona, they started mailing a box of Sees candies to my mom and dad for holidays and gift occasions, like birthdays and anniversaries. Since they lived out West, they could buy Sees candies anywhere, but back East we couldn’t buy them anywhere. Of course, now we can order Sees candies online have them delivered. But getting them as a gift from my grandparents was always a big part of the special occasion. Any time I see a box of Sees, it makes me think of my grandparents and their little adobe house out in Arizona.

Free Sounds Good

My niece and her husband are tightening their belts since she is pregnant again and isn’t going to be able to work for awhile. So thinks that they will be OK with bills if hey cut back on a few things and if she takes advantage of coupons and free samples by searching online for deals.

We talked about the real math of what she was earning after expenses and she was really shocked to see how little real money she was bringing home in her paycheck. She took 30% off the top for taxes, then had to take off child care, her car payment/car insurance/gas, oil, tires and then a lot more things she hadn’t thought of. Like the true cost of lunch away from home, the cost of convenience foods for dinners when she was too tired or too rushed to cook, the cost of nice clothes, dry cleaning and pantyhose. The actual net cash she was seeing was less than $50 a week.

We all believe that she could save that same net amount by looking for Free Stuff online and using coupons, and being more budget conscious if she stayed home with the kids instead of working outside of the home.  Finding Freebies is even fun – it is like a treasure hunt. She gets online in the living room while her daughter plays and finds ways to save money. I wish it were that easy for the rest of us!

 

The Derby

This morning I kicked myself for being so stupid. I totally missed the Kentucky Derby yesterday. I got busy outside and forgot about the time. I was cutting the grass and started hacking away at the shrubbery and I pulled up some morning glory vines that were taking over the whole side of the garage. The next thing I knew, it was time for dinner, so I washed up and drove down to KFC and picked up some chicken.

Never even turned on the TV yesterday until the 11:00 news came on and I fell asleep before the sports report. It didn’t even come to mind until I picked up the Sunday paper and read about it in the paper. Duh!

Pop Tarts

Pop tarts have been around for as long as I can remember. I know my mom used to buy them and keep them in the pantry so us kids could fix ourselves something to eat in the mornings. She and my dad liked to sleep in on the weekends and the kids were expected to fend for themselves for breakfast. And we were totally OK with Pop tarts and a big glass of cold milk.

Now I buy a box of Pop tarts once in a while because they are fast and cheap. They aren’t very portable though. I have tried to take them camping and fishing with me, but they always get busted up and I end up with a silver foil pouch full of crumbs. If there was a better way to package them and keep them whole, I would buy more of them and take them on the road with me. As it is, I grab one in the morning on my way out when I’m in a hurry.