Thrifting Finds #75: ...and to all a good night.

Whew.  Your ol' Uncle Veg has been a busy boy these last couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas.  There's been a lot of cooking and baking lately, which I'll get to in a minute but first, I have an actual Thrift Find to share with you!

Christmas Napkins!  Yes, I actually found some Christmas linens at the Goodwill.  I'm not sure how vintage they are--probably not very, but I couldn't refuse them at only 0.50 each!  I bought 8 of them.  There were 12, I think, but some of them were discolored.  There was a matching tablecloth too, but I didn't care for it.
Now here's the problem--I can't use them this year!  I'm using the Christmas tablecloth I found last Spring and my Christmas china.  I realized that if I added these napkins to the mix, it would go from "My, isn't that festive!" to "Wow, it looks like Christmas threw up all over your table!"  So maybe next year I'll use a plain white tablecloth and these napkins.

Speaking of that tablecloth, take a look:

It almost fits my table!  In fact, I think it looks pretty darn good, especially considering that my table is an odd size and no tablecloth actually fits it.  P.S.  I took the picture after I ironed it, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.  And please pardon the mess--Christmas is still a work-in-progress Chez Fondue.

We're going to my brother's for Christmas dinner, so I don't have to cook a big meal.  The Girl Child and The Boyfriend are coming for a belated dinner next Monday, so at least I get to use my Christmas china again, and I'll get to cook a little, at least.

Which is a strange thing to say, considering what I've been up to lately in the kitchen.

What I Made Department:

1.  An insane number, of cookies!  So far, I've made 2 batches of Cherry Jumbles, 2 batches of Platinum Blondes, two batches of Holy Crap, It's a Brownie!, and four batches of M&M cookies, with two more batches on the schedule for today. When you consider each batch is like 3 dozen cookies, that comes to...well, a lot!  I took some to work, and some went to the vet's office.  Many are for bro and his girlfriend, but there are still plenty for Hubs and me (good thing we've been going for walks lately!)

2.  Candy candy candy!  I've made two batches of peanut butter fudge (which might as well be called peanut butter crack, it's that good), a batch of chocolate fudge for Hubs, and a batch of Sponge candy for bro.  Tomorrow, I'll be making pink popcorn (AKA Mother Goose popcorn), also for bro.

I stopped counting how much sugar I've used this month.

And that's it, really, though I have a question:  I need a small microwave for work (there's only one for like 40 people and it doesn't get cleaned...)  So I was looking in the GW yesterday, and they had one for 15 bucks.  It was cleanish, but not immaculate.  Assuming it works, would you be squeamish about a used microwave?  I wasn't sure so I left it.  A new one would cost about 50 bucks.

Oh, before I go, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at Fondue Headquarters!

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #36: Good Reads!

How's everyone getting along with their Christmas shopping and other preparations?  While I'm not done (I tend to go right up to Christmas Eve), I'm far enough along that I'm no longer in a panic.  That's a good feeling.

Thrifting was again kind of thin, but I was not totally without any treasures.  Even Hubs managed to make a purchase this week--something that hasn't happened in quite some time.  So we're happy.

Boy howdy, though, I am sick of looking at ugly Christmas stuff.  My eyes were literally hurting from some of the stuff I saw--and there was lots of it this week.  Let me put it this way:  the top 10% of the stuff--the highest-quality, the absolute peak--originally came from Wal Mart.  That'll give you a clue as to what I was looking at.  There was nothing vintage, nothing charming, nothing I would allow in my house.  I might have to start shopping out of state for Christmas stuff.

But enough bellyaching!  On to the week's treasures!

1.  Questionable glass!  I picked this up on the off chance that it's a Swanky Swig.  Does anybody know?  It's 5.25" high and 3.5" across, if I remember correctly (and that's kind of a slim chance...)  The glass itself seems a little thin to have once been basically a jar, but what do I know?  The Goodwill had an even dozen of these, but I only bought this one.  Goodwill, $0.48

2.  Cooky book!  Good heavens, what the hell am I doing buying a cookie cookbook?  Well, I'll likely never make any of the recipes, but these old Betty Crocker cookbooks are fun to read.  Plus, I like the way Betty spells "cooky."  This is a 1978 printing of the 1963 (I think) edition.  Goodwill, $2.62.

3.  My Money's Worth!  I'm a little unsure about this volume.  It seems to be part of a set called "Woman Alive", but I didn't see any of the others when I looked.  It seems textbook-y, if you know what I mean. Like something that would be used in a High School Home Ec class.  Anyway, there are all sorts of tips for choosing healthy foods, how to dress well without paying a lot, the best time of year to buy certain things.  The kind of information I need!  Did you know that you can expect your sewing machine to give you 24 years of service, no matter how much you spent on it?  You heard it hear first, folks!  Goodwill (the one where we hardly ever find anything), $2.62.

What I Made This Weekend Department:

A.  Vegetable soup!  With beef, actually.  Had this simmering in the Crock Pot yesterday and when we came home from shopping, the house smelled really nice.  That's kind of the magic of using a Crock Pot.  Half the batch went into the freezer.

B.  Sausage Pie!  Hubs and I both love this, despite the fact that I don't care for sausage.  It's basically just sausage, potatoes, and cheese in a pie crust, so what's not to like?  Probably not doing our arteries any good, but what the hell, right?  It's a nice, hearty dish for a cold winter's night.

C.  Weird alien organ!  LOL no, this is actually a batch of sponge candy, if you can believe it.  No, it's not attractive.  No, it doesn't look much better when it's broken up.  I can best describe this candy as a puffy, spongy, crispy caramel.  Growing up in Massachusetts, we used to find this in the stores all the time.  It's something my brother really likes.  Me, not so much.  Turns out it's also a thing in Buffalo, so I made this batch for my friend Liz, who hails from there.  Unfortunately, I think I scorched it a little.  Better luck next time?   Hubs was grossed out by it.

D.  MORE cookies?  Am I insane??  Well, clearly.  Still, 'tis the season and all that.  Hubs and I both really love chocolate covered cherries, and I've been experimenting the last few years to create a cookie with that flavor combo:  I call them Cherry Jumbles.  These are about as close as I'll ever get, I think.  They're basically sugar cookies with chopped maraschino cherries and chocolate chips, maraschino cherry juice, and almond extract.  The icing is a simple powdered sugar glaze with more cherry juice and almond extract.

No more cookies in my future (I hope), but I still have to make another batch of the sponge candy and some pink popcorn for my brother and a batch of fudge for Hubs.  Then I think that may be it.  Whew.

This week I'm linking up at  Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm and We Call It Junkin