Weekly Menu Retrospective #13 (Halloween Edition)

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!  


Breakfasts: chocolate chip banana muffins, cornbread with jam, homemade granola, gingerbread muffins, pancakes and bacon

Lunches: perogies, pizza, leftover soup

Dinners:

Monday: Turkey & vegetable coconut curry

Tuesday: Lentil soup with cornbread

Wednesday: Ham, rice and cauliflower casserole (used leftover rice from Monday and made a variation of this Cheesy Vegetable Casserole)

Thursday: Omelets, Parmesan & Herb Potatoes, Creamy Cucumber Salad

Friday: Leftover buffet


Saturday: another leftover buffet - we had a lot of leftovers!!

Sunday: pizza

Snacks and sides: apples, grapes, bananas, sliced raw veggies, homemade yogurt, popcorn, banana bread

For more great meal ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

The Great Big End of Season Yard Sale Summary Report

Image by Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yard sale season is officially over for the year - and here, at long last, is my summary report of everything I found for the 2010 season. I have to admit that, much as I love my yard sale-ing adventures, I'm feeling pretty content to be sitting here in my jammies, leisurely sipping coffee at well after 11 a.m on a Saturday morning. for the first time since early April!

This year, I hit my first sale in mid-April and finished off at the beginning of October, for a total of 25 weeks of yard sale shopping. Here is everything I found during that time:

Books:

22 children's books*
10 novels*
4 holistic health books
4 2x4 furniture books
5 cookbooks
2 atlases (1 world and 1 Canadian)
1 craft book
1 home & garden tips book
2 spiritual books

Total books: 51 

*most of these were in brand-new condition and ended up in my gift cupboard

Clothing and accessories:

3 pairs of earrings (all of which I have worn a lot already!)
summer button-down shirt for hubby
light blue T shirt for hubby
2 dressy summer tops for me
3 T-shirts for me (white, navy, light blue)
1 camisole top for me
1 tank top for cycling for me
2 long sleeve T's for me (one white, one black)
black cotton skirt for me
black yoga pants for me
cream stretch denim jacket for me
white long sleeved, collared shirt for me
lightweight Nike jacket for me
5 pairs of shoes (including 2 pairs of New Balance runners and one pair of Columbia hikers)
lightweight Roots tote bag
wallet to match my summer tote bag
pair of slippers (brand new) for my younger son
pair of winter gloves for my older son
umbrella

Total clothing items: 29

Sports/Entertainment:

-baseball glove for my younger son
-Just Like Heaven DVD
-Rock Band Playstation game
-Aerosmith Guitar Hero game
-AC/DC Guitar Hero game
-drum kit, mike and 2 guitars for Rock Band

Total: 9 items

Household Goods:

Pyrex:
2 small coloured containers
4 cup sized measuring cup
meat platter with tree design
small dish
large casserole dish
Bundt pan
pie plate

Other kitchen items:
Full size stainless steel Thermos
single serving stainless steel Thermos
2 large Coleman cooler jugs
2 500 mL stainless steel water bottles
1 L stainless steel water bottle
4 drinking glasses
salad spinner
juice jug
corkscrew
cast iron frying pan
mini mold pan (for gelatin desserts)
heart-shaped silicone mold for ice cubes or candy
2 taco bowl molds
white serving platter
small glass pitcher
large glass pitcher
sunflower serving tray
8 matching five-piece settings of flatware plus sugar spoon and butter knife
set of 6 fancy glass dessert dishes
set of wine charms
4 stainless steel wine glasses (for camping)
stainless steel shaker
pot for melting wax
2 cast iron trivets

Decor items:
Outdoor light fixture
5 photo frames (4 wood, 1 pewter)
2 large picture frames (purchased for the mattes)
10 baskets (assorted shapes and sizes)
2 tea light holders
glass floral frog
2 sets of glass candle holders
decorative blue glass bottle
2 large ceramic planters
set of mini lights
mirror
four framed historic prints of our city
garden plaque with thermometer
metal star

Other
blank journal
photo album
handsaw
picnic blanket
set of 3 wire boxes (to use as recipe card holders)


Total: 104 items

Gifts & Wrapping Supplies:

4 decorative glass dishes
set of nesting Christmas tins
silver star shaped box
floating snowman candles
2 blank journals
candle and scented oil set
Garden journal
Practical Gardening book
Niagara waterfalls book
2 hockey books
3 Bone books (kids' book series)
Simpsons book
wine server set
kids' jigsaw puzzle book
wooden matching game set
Travel Tangrams puzzle set
set of "finger crayons"
plush kids' bowling set
4 person Blokus game
Rush Hour game
500 piece Lord of the Rings puzzle
Harry Potter trivia game
Scrabble tiles (for making jewelry)

Total: 30 items

Freebies (stuff I got from "Free" piles):

muffin pan
metal serving tray
1 L Mason jar
wooden trivet
3 Christmas tins
dancing pig gift tin
2 storage cannisters
half a dozen white candles
kitchen scale
2 unopened rolls shelf liner
mostly full box of Christmas cards
cloth napkin
2 Neopets toys


Total: 18 items

All told, I spent $188.95 to purchase a total of 232 items (or just over 81 cents per item). Considering the Rock Band game and accessories are worth over $100 alone (even at secondhand prices), I think I did pretty well!

That sure sounds like a lot of "stuff", doesn't it? As I was reviewing my purchases while making up this report, I frequently had a smile on my face, thinking about how much use many of these items have already gotten around our home, or how pleased recipients were with the gifts I pulled out of my gift cupboard. In fact, other than a couple of clothing items which ended up in the "questionable" pile after I tried them on (neither of which I paid more than a dollar for), I've been quite pleased with all of my purchases. And if I should ever tire of any of them, I'll easily be able to sell them for at least as much as I paid, and likely more.

Also, a full 25% of the items purchased went into my gift cupboard stash, so they're not designated to stick around here, anyway (except the items for my kids and hubby, of course).

My favourite finds this season? 
I was probably most excited about finding the Rock Band game and accessories, as I knew it would thrill my boys. My favourite finds for myself were the like-new hardcover copy of The Fannie Farmer cookbook and the set of chunky glass candlesticks. These items were both purchased way back in April, for 50 cents apiece.

What was YOUR favourite find this yard sale season? Please share!

Making the Most of...Your Jack O' Lantern

Jack o' lanterns are one of my favourite things about Halloween - I enjoy them even more than the costumes. Checking out the spooky creations the neighbours come up with every year has always been a highlight of taking the kids trick-or-treating (the above photo is one of my husband's creations from a few years back when SpongeBob reigned supreme at our house).

The other thing I love about jack o' lanterns is that once you're done with them, you can eat them! While sugar pumpkins are the ideal type for eating, the large pumpkins sold at Halloween will still make an acceptable puree for use in baked goods (I've even made a respectable pumpkin pie with mine!)

Here's how to get the most eating out of your Halloween pumpkin:

1. When carving the pumpkin, scoop the soft "goop" into a clean bowl so you can save the seeds. After carving, take time to rinse the pulp away from the seeds. Once the seeds are thoroughly cleaned, they are ready for toasting.

2. Once you're done with your jack o' lantern on Halloween night, bring it inside (to protect it from pumpkin-smashing teenagers). Use it to make pumpkin puree the next day.

To make toasted pumpkin seeds:

I like to do mine on the stove top as I find it's the quickest and easiest method. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat then add the pumpkin seeds (the frying pan should be "dry" - do not add any fat or oil). Stir the seeds constantly until they are golden brown and pop open. Sprinkle the hot seeds with salt and/or other desired seasonings, then spread out on cookie sheets to cool thoroughly. Once they're cooled, transfer to an airtight container for storage.

To make pumpkin puree:

Cut your pumpkin into large chunks and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet or large baking dish. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the pumpkin is good and tender. Let cool to room temperature, then peel off the skin and puree in batches in the food processor (you can use a blender or mash by hand if you don't have a food processor, the food processor just makes the job a lot quicker). Freeze in 1 cup portions.

This puree can be used in muffins, quickbreads, pancakes, etc. If you have a favourite way to use pumpkin puree, I'd love it if you'd share it in the comments.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

RECIPE: Basil & Oregano Flatbread

Now that soup and stew season is here, one can never have too many quick and easy recipes for breads to serve alongside. This simple flatbread gets raves every time I serve it (and when I take it to potlucks, I get lots of "oohs" and "aahs") The best part is, it only takes a couple of minutes to put together if you've got some refrigerator dough handy! You can use whatever herbs you prefer - I'm not a rosemary fan but if you are, it would certainly work well here.

Ingredients:

1/3 of a recipe (1 loaf's worth) of Whole Wheat Refrigerator Dough (dough should have already completed its first rise in the fridge)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp each basil and oregano
pinch of salt and pepper
cornmeal for sprinkling
Optional: 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Line a pizza pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of cornmeal over top. Pat the dough out into a circle to fit the pan. In a small dish, mix the oil and seasonings. Brush mixture over top of dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan (if using). Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Slice into wedges and serve.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, the GCC Recipe Swap, and Friday Favorites.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #12

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!  

Breakfasts: apple oatmeal muffins, homemade granola, banana chocolate chip muffins, scrambled eggs/bacon/toast

Lunches: Leftover Spinach & Parmesan Bake, leftover lentil soup, cream of tomato soup, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, turkey salad sandwiches, pizza

Dinners:

Monday: Lentil soup, sliced multigrain baguette (from the discount rack)

Tuesday: Cheesy Mac & Beef Skillet

Wednesday: Zucchini & Cheddar Puff, sliced raw veggies

Thursday: Paprika Chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots

Friday: Leftover Buffet

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: West African Style Baked Beans, broccoli, carrots, Parmesan and Herb Flatbread, apple crisp

For more great meal ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

RECIPE: Spinach & Parmesan Pasta Bake

Any kind of baked pasta is sure to be a hit at my house. One day when I was trying to come up with a way to use up half a bag of spinach I invented this dish. If you happen to have some leftover ham, chop it fine and stir it into the pasta when you add the sauce and spinach mixture.

Ingredients:

1 lb of fusilli or rotini pasta
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 a 900 g bag of spinach (about a pound), thoroughly washed and chopped
2 1/2 tbsp flour
2 1/2 tbsp butter
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Topping:
Grated mozzarella cheese OR breadcrumbs (about a cup, mixed with 2 tbsp olive oil)

Instructions:

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain and return to cooking pot. While the pasta is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in a large frying pan until tender. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts (about 2-3 minutes). Remove from heat. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until it is fully incorporated with the fat. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly over medium-low heat (a whisk is ideal for this). Once the sauce has thickened (this might take a few minutes), add the nutmeg, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add the sauce and the spinach mixture to the pasta and stir until well combined. Turn into a lasagna pan. If topping with cheese, bake at 375F covered with foil for 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle cheese on top, then bake uncovered a final 5 minutes. If topping with breadcrumbs, sprinkle on before baking, then bake for 25 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Makes 6 servings.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #11

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!  


Breakfasts: gingerbread muffins, cornbread with jam, peanut butter toast, apple oatmeal muffins, "puffy muffins" (quiche-like topping on an English muffin)

Lunches: grilled cheese sandwiches, turkey salad sandwiches, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, pizza

Dinners:

Monday: Thanksgiving dinner leftovers (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and carrots, stuffing, cranberry apple pie, pumpkin pie)

Tuesday: Lentil soup, garlic and cheese biscuits

Wednesday: Choice of leftover lentil soup or lentil burgers, sliced raw veggies

Thursday: Sausage on a bun, creamy cucumber salad, oven fries

Friday: Sausage and cheddar quiche (using leftover sausage from Thursday), leftover cucumber salad, sliced baguette (from the discount rack)

Saturday: Turkey salad sandwiches, pan fried potatoes

Sunday: Spinach & Parmesan pasta bake, carrots, broccoli, apple gingerbread

Snacks and Sides: apples, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, blueberries and strawberries (frozen local berries from the summer), muffins (leftovers from breakfast)

For more great meal ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

A Quick Gift from the Garden (that will keep until Christmas)

Over the last few days I've taken some time to cut herbs from my garden to dry or freeze for the winter (I dry basil, parsley, and mint and freeze snipped chives in ice cube trays). I also made up a couple of jars of herb vinegar for Christmas giving. This is a simple and inexpensive gift that only takes a few minutes to do.

All you need is:
-assorted fresh herbs from the garden
-white vinegar
-quart size Mason jars with lids (you can reuse old lids for this project as they don't need to vacuum seal)

Simply fill the Mason jars with a few sprigs of herbs and top with about 3 cups of white vinegar. Put the lids on and let stand for about 4 weeks or so (you can test the flavour at this point and let them brew a little longer if you want it a bit stronger). Strain the finished vinegar into decorative glass bottles for gift giving.

You can do an endless number of variations on this basic recipe. You can do single-herb vinegars (basil vinegar, oregano vinegar, etc) or come up with different herb blends. You can also add garlic cloves, mustard seeds, or peppercorns to the vinegar mixture to jazz it up a bit more. Get as creative as you want!

My recipe books say that these herb vinegars will keep for at least a year, so you can easily make them now and tuck them away for Christmas gifting.

Do you have a creative way to use the last of your garden herbs? I'd love to hear about it, so please share in the comments.

RECIPE: Turkey Pinwheels

I took a blogging break this weekend to focus on our family's Thanksgiving celebrations (for my international readers, yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in Canada). So now that I'm back - with a fridge full of leftover turkey - I thought it would be fitting to share this quick recipe. It's a fantastic way to use leftover turkey to make a lunch dish that looks much fancier than your standard turkey sandwich. If you don't happen to have a post-holiday stash of leftover turkey, you can use leftover ham or roast chicken in place of the turkey (or even a couple cans of tuna). These pinwheels also make a satisfying light supper with some soup and salad on the side.

Ingredients:

1/3 of a recipe (1 loaf's worth) whole wheat refrigerator bread dough
2 cups chopped leftover turkey
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 a red pepper, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2-3/4 cup grated cheese (mozzarella, Swiss or cheddar)

Instructions:

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the bread dough to a 15"x12" rectangle. In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spread turkey mixture evenly over the bread dough. Starting with the long side, roll up tightly, jelly-roll style, pinching the end slightly to seal. Put log seam side down and slice into 12 pieces (I find a serrated knife works best for this). Place slices on parchment covered baking sheets, leaving about 1-2 inches between them. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise for about 30 minutes. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, the GCC Recipe Swap and Friday Favorites.

Having Patience Pays Off

Photo: Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest keys to saving money is being able to wait as long as possible before you buy something. Predicting future needs and planning accordingly is an important skill for all frugalistas to develop! This way you have plenty of time to check out a variety of secondhand sources for the items you need, or to wait for a really great sale if it's something you absolutely have to buy new.

The ability to hold off on purchasing "wants" (things that might be nice to have, but are not essential to daily living) may be the biggest way in which patience ends up paying off. Since so many purchases are "impulse buys", there's a good chance you could end up deciding you didn't really want the item in question after all. If you hold off on the purchase and still decide you really want it, you may end up finding a very low cost or even free way to obtain the desired item.

A perfect illustration of this occurred at our house recently. My hubby and I had been discussing how it might be nice for us to have a second TV. We had one in the "games room" where our boys spend a lot of time hanging out with their friends. Since we don't have cable, this TV is used primarily for gaming and watching DVDs (we do get a couple of channels with rabbit ear reception and occasionally will watch broadcast TV). Often, we would want to watch a movie at the same time as the kids wanted to hang out with their friends and play games on their Playstation 3 (purchased with their own money). One of the nice features of the PS3 is that it will play DVDs and Bluerays in addition to the PS3 games. Since we already had a DVD player before the kids bought the gaming system, this meant that if we had another TV, we'd be able to use it with our original DVD player and give us adults the freedom to watch movies anytime we wanted without having to break up the kids' fun and games.

Although my husband and I agreed that a second TV would be a "really nice to have" extra, at this point in time, we were unwilling to go out and buy a TV (even secondhand) as there are several other items on our priority list to which all extra funds are currently being directed. I decided to keep an eye out on Kijiji and Freecycle for any free TV offerings that might come along. After just a couple weeks, I found one on Kijiji that was being offered by a household very close by (a 5 minute drive). They were thrilled to find someone to take it and avoid taking it to the dump, and we were thrilled to receive it. It was in just as good of condition as the TV set we'd purchased a few years ago, and was actually a larger screen than we already had. We decided to give the boys the larger one and take our original one to use up in our attic bedroom for movie watching.

Now all we needed was a nice TV stand on casters to hold our "new" set and the DVD player. Hubby had already been devising a plan to build us a stand out of scrap wood and hardware that he had lying around, but since he's got a few DIY projects on the go, he hadn't bothered starting to put anything together yet. This ended up being a good thing, as less than a week after we found our free TV, he trash-picked a TV stand that was exactly what we had in mind! All it needed was a good wiping down and it was ready to go. The only purchase we ended up making was one of those little connector doodads (highly technical term, I know!) to connect the wires for the DVD player to the TV. This cost us just under twelve dollars at a local surplus store.

In contrast, if we'd gone out and bought a new TV and stand the minute we'd decided we wanted one, we'd have paid around $200 for the TV and $79-$99 for a similar type of stand. With taxes, that would have put the total cost at over $300. I like $12 a whole lot better. Not to mention the fact that if we were going to buy it new, we would have chosen just to go without at this time, because we had higher-priority items to save our money for. With a little patience, we were able to find an extremely low-cost solution to get what we wanted!

How has patience paid off for you lately?

The Final Harvest of the Season?

We still haven't gotten a frost here yet, but I know it'll be coming soon! Unfortunately, the weather's been cool and wet for the last week or so, making it difficult for me to get out in the garden and tend to the last of my vegetables.

I managed to get out and harvest these end-of-the-season goodies:

-a few skinny stalks of rhubarb (my plant's still young; this is only its second growing season so the stalks are much smaller than that of a well-established plant)
-a basketful of Roma tomatoes, mostly green (these will be left to ripen gradually as I don't have enough to make a batch of green tomato mincemeat or relish)
-two red peppers and 11 jalapenos (that brings my jalapeno total up to 52 off one plant this year!)
-a handful of green beans
-roughly 3-4 dozen cherry tomatoes (still "on the vine" behind the baskets)

There are still a number of sweet peppers left on the plants that I'm hoping will finish ripening before the frost comes. I may get a few more jalapenos as well (there were some half-sized ones that I left on the plant). I'm hoping the cherry tomatoes will ripen for me, I'll have to wait and see what happens!

I also have some arugula and spinach (planted at the end of August) that may yield a small harvest if I'm lucky. They got nibbled on pretty heavily by our friendly urban wildlife. Currently they're nestled under a blanket of agricultural cloth to protect them from critters and potential frost. If it ever stops raining, I'll go out and see how they're doing. I still haven't brought my herbs in for drying because of the wet weather, either.

Here's hoping for a few sunny days before the frost comes so I can maximize my use of this year's garden bounty!

Weekly Menu Retrospective #10

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now! 

Breakfasts: zucchini bran muffins, peanut butter toast, pancakes, cornbread with jam, blueberry clafouti

Lunches: pizza, peanut butter and jam toast (with homemade bread), leftover lentil soup, perogies

Dinners:

Monday: Lentil soup

Tuesday: Pork and apple stew

Wednesday: Omelets with cheese and kielbasa (leftover from BBQ at dh's office), hash brown potatoes

Thursday: Lime and garlic chicken, cheesy vegetable bake, cornbread

Friday: Hamburgers and leftover cheesy vegetable bake

Saturday: Apple and bacon baked beans, leftover cornbread

Sunday: "Almost Pastitsio" casserole, peas and carrots, cinnamon rhubarb cake

Snacks and Sides: apples, grapes, sliced raw veggies (carrots, cucumber, sweet peppers), homemade yogurt, popcorn, banana bread 

For more great meal ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Yard Sale Report for October 2, 2010

Sadly, this may well be the last yard sale report of 2010. Next weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada, and generally there is not much in the way of yard sale action after that!

I only had one advertised sale on my list this morning and (okay, I admit it) I was tempted to sleep in. The weather was not all that promising - it was drizzling lightly - and I figured the odds were about even that the yard sale would even be running. I'm glad I ventured out, as I came home with one of the items on my "wish list" that had eluded me all summer:

A mirror for our front entrance way! I'd seen several of various shapes and sizes while making my rounds this season, but none were quite what I wanted (either that or they were outrageously priced for a yard sale). This one is not super high quality (the frame looks like it should be a heavy solid wood, but it's not, it's very light). It was the shape I was looking for, however - I didn't want anything perfectly rectangular as I wanted some curves to soften up the rather boxy lines of the area. The asking price for this was $10, which I thought was pretty steep considering the quality of the frame. I offered $5.00 and got it for that amount.

I also got these two cute Pyrex containers for $1.00 at the same sale.

Grand total for the day: $6.00 for 3 items, or $2.00 per item

I'll be wrapping up the yard sale season with a summary report of what I found and how much I spent over the course of the season. I expect I'll have this up in two weeks' time (I'll be too busy feasting next weekend!)