Never be afraid to consider those marked down meats and produce at your favorite store. Check the appearance of the food and how far from the “use by” or “good until” date, but then take advantage of the great bargains to be had. That is advice I heeded last week when I found a package…

Homemade mincemeat? Doesn’t sound especially frugal, fast, or fun, but this one meets at least two of the three criteria for this blog. It isn’t especially fast, though it doesn’t take as much time as it may sound, and one batch (or maybe two if you have lots of green tomatoes) will provide plenty for…

The time has come. A killing frost finally shut down my tomatoes last Thursday, while I was again out of town. Thanks to my daughter-in-law, however, I have pounds and pounds of fruit she picked and boxed up, ready for me to use. The first order of business was sorting. I took the best of…

Here’s a quick dessert to make, using up some of that bread that is getting too stale for sandwiches. This recipe is a little more like a cake than a custard, and is best served warm with ice cream, whipped cream or even just some warm coffee cream poured over it. Raisins or nuts would…

It was one of “those days,” the ones that seem to be just non-stop meetings and chores. I started with 7 am and 9 am meetings and then would be having friends over for lunch, so I needed something that would be pretty low maintenance and as much make-ahead as possible. We are finally having…

Pork is particularly well-priced right now, a perfect season for it since it pairs so well with many fall fruits and vegetables. I was able to buy this roast for only $1.39 a pound so have enough for at least 15 to 20 servings at a remarkably low price. With the continuing impact of the…

Our family had a grand finale to the summer with a trip to a beautiful lake house, for a week of fishing and relaxing, the latter involving playing lots of board games, reading, and just hanging out together. We took along all kinds of groceries for days and days of meals together, and the gardeners…

Over the weekend I mentioned my latest trip to the local farmers’ market, including reference to a 5 pound half cabbage. Well, that was an estimate; when I pulled out the scale to get the real weight, that half weighed in at a whopping 6 pounds, 14 ounces–really glad I didn’t buy the whole head!…

Sometimes you just need a rich little dessert to top off a summer meal full of salad and veggies or grilled entrees. This is a quick and easy bar cookie, especially if you have some pre-soaked dried apricots. I had an extra pound that I cooked up after last Christmas’s baking and then froze. Though…

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the Farmers’ Market, with an opportunity to test the bag I had just finished for carrying things like produce or books or whatever. Good thing that I made it strong, as I ended up with a 5 pound half cabbage, two large butternut squashes along with…