Free Custom Business Cards for my Friends!!

For several years I've been ordering my business cards from an Internet company called VistaPrint. They are in Massachusetts, and offer a pretty good deal - 250 cards for just shipping costs alone, which amount to about $8. Over the years I've probably ordered at least 10 different styles for both my antiques business and my husband's massage therapy business, and have always been satisfied with my orders. The card shown here was one I used when I had an antiques shop a couple years ago. Since you can change the wording around as you please, I've used these cards as a discount promotion card for my antiques business, and I've given them as unique surprise gifts for customers, too. (How can you go wrong for only $8???)

Sometimes I'll order a couple different groups of 250 at a time, with each costing only $8 per order for shipping. There's about 40 or so different free designs - hundreds more designs in their "premium cards" if you wish to pay a slight upcharge - and lots of room on each card for your own individual wording. You can change it around however you wish, as it's really easy to customize your own cards.

They allow many options - you can get a matte finish card (that's included in the free card, and looks good, so I use that) or a glossy finish (there's an upcharge for glossy). You can also order more than 250, but since I regularly change my wording and information around, I like to order them in the 250 count free order.

Since I'm a regular customer, recently VistaPrint gave me a special link to pass on to my friends. It will lead you to their site, and give you a first-time customer special discount, plus it gives me a small credit towards my future orders. VistaPrint is always sending out promotions to it's customers - a couple weeks ago they offered me a free rubber stamp with wording of my own choosing ($15-20 value) with my order. I definitely took them up on that freebie.

They ship pretty quickly. Their "slow shipping" costs around $8 - I use that because it almost always gets here in 10 - 14 days. You can also get faster shipping, at a slightly higher cost.

If you think you'll need business cards anytime soon, give this company a try. They've been a solid company to work with, very reliable, and their designs are very professional. Once I ordered four different sets of free cards, ending up with 1000 cards for their shipping costs of $32 total, delivered to my door by mail. Try to order 1000 business cards from your local printer for that price!

They have plenty of interesting patterns and designs, from classics like the above card, to gardening and many other topics. They also offer their customers Specials that are useful, like the rubber stamp for free, also custom Thank You cards, note cards, magnets, post cards and similar products that you might be able to use. Please use my link - I'd appreciate the small credit for my next order!

Vintage Jewelry, just for fun

In the past few years, I've been collecting vintage jewelry. None of it is very expensive stuff, maybe $10 - $35, but it's different and interesting. Almost all of it is circa 1900 - 1940s, although once in a while there's a piece from the 1950s that catches my eye.

I inherited several vintage pieces of jewelry from my Mom, and it was the start of a lovely collection. She didn't feel very strongly about diamonds and rubies, but she surely was one who liked those eye-catching, oddball pieces that no one else had. Some came to her from relatives, while others were found way back in the 1950s and 1960s in places like the Salvation Army stores, or at the Goodwill shops. She didn't have much money, but she had a great eye for the uncommon.

What's nice about finding more of these small treasures to add to my collection is that I didn't pay a huge amount of money for them. They always seem to bring a lot of compliments, mostly because they are not anything seen today in modern jewelry, yet stand out in their style or design. There's even been people who have tried to buy them right off my lapel! (Ooops - "sorry - this one's a keeper!")

I especially enjoy wearing figural pieces - cats, dogs, horses, angels, just to name a few in my collection. I find them all over the place - estate sales, from other dealers in shops and shows, even the occasional garage sale will yield a fun find. If it speaks to me and it's a fair price, I usually go home with it.

I have friends who have started their own "theme collections," and have had a great time hunting for their favorite pieces. The hunt is always the best part of collecting, except with jewelry you can wear pieces of your collections out in public and share your fabulous finds.

One of my friends especially likes 1900-1920s cufflinks, since there were so many different kinds. She has a good variety - gold-plated, sterling silver, porcelain, mother-of-pearl, plus some figural ones like horses and dogs. She wears them on pretty blouses that are designed for cufflinks, or sometimes just inserts them into button holes on everyday blouses at the neckline.

Another friend owns a collection of old pocket watches, which was a collection started for him by his grandfather many years ago. He then began collecting 19th century watch chains to go with his old watches. Some of his chains are plain, some are quite fancy, and many of them have unusual watch fobs attached. He has quite a few now, as his family members quickly caught on to the birthday and Christmas gift possibilities!

If you have friends or relatives who have a particular interest, you can always search for jewelry that they would enjoy owning. I've sold so many Scotty dogs pins over the years, and anything showing a cat moves quickly too. Horses are popular, and there are a zillion elephant collectors out there who enjoy wearing elephant jewelry. When you are looking for gift ideas, a piece of theme jewelry just might be the answer.

I encourage everyone to find something they like in vintage jewelry - there are so many different kinds to find and enjoy. My friends always ask me what I have in my inventory, and you should take a quick look too - I often put them on sale as I find quite a bit and offer them in my Ruby Lane shop, Red Moon Antiques.

If you've been following the news these past few days, you've probably seen something about the pet food poisonings from the Canadian company Menu Foods. Although they don't seem to know exactly what the problem is, they do know that thousands of pets across the country have been exposed to the many different cat foods and dog foods sold under dozens of brand names.

These pet foods are responsible for kidney failure and the deaths of at least ten cats and dogs. In our area, where many cans and pouches of this food was sold, there are several cats and dogs who only have days left in their lives. Specifically, it seems the style of food involved is cuts-and-gravy style.

It's sad, because if this isn't caught quite early, these animals have little chance of survival. Symptoms include vomiting, or not eating, also lethargy. If you think you've fed your cat or dog one of the foods listed below, please have your pet checked by a vet as soon as possible.

Recalled Dog Product Information

Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Award
4. Best Choice
5. Big Bet
6. Big Red
7. Bloom
8. Wegmans Bruiser
9. Cadillac
10. Companion
11. Demoulas Market Basket
12. Eukanuba
13. Food Lion
14. Giant Companion
15. Great Choice
16. Hannaford
17. Hill Country Fare
18. Hy-Vee
19. Iams
20. Laura Lynn
21. Loving Meals
22. Meijers Main Choice
23. Mighty Dog Pouch
24. Mixables
25. Nutriplan
26. Nutro Max
27. Nutro Natural Choice
28. Nutro Ultra
29. Nutro
30. Ol'Roy Canada
31. Ol'Roy US
32. Paws
33. Pet Essentials
34. Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
35. Presidents Choice
36. Price Chopper
37. Priority Canada
38. Priority US
39. Publix
40. Roche Brothers
41. Save-A-Lot
42. Schnucks
43. Shep Dog
44. Springsfield Prize
45. Sprout
46. Stater Brothers
47. Weis Total Pet
48. Western Family US
49. White Rose
50. Winn Dixie
51. Your Pet
    

Recalled Cat Product Information

Recall Information 1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Eukanuba
8. Fine Feline Cat
9. Food Lion
10. Foodtown
11. Giant Companion
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Iams
16. Laura Lynn
17. Li'l Red
18. Loving Meals
19. Meijer's Main Choice
20. Nutriplan
21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
22. Nutro Natural Choice
23. Paws
24. Pet Pride
25. Presidents Choice
26. Price Chopper
27. Priority US
28. Save-A-Lot
29. Schnucks
30. Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans
31. Sophistacat
32. Special Kitty Canada
33. Special Kitty US
34. Springfield Prize
35. Sprout
36. Stop & Shop Companion
37. Tops Companion
38. Wegmans
39. Weis Total Pet
40. Western Family US
41. White Rose
42. Winn Dixie

Around the World with Google Earth

I've just learned about the Google Earth program, which allows you to "fly" (that's really what it looks like) to any location on earth and see a true close-up view from satellite on the location you want to see. I plugged in my home address, and saw our own little two acres, house and barn.

You can zoom in or out, and see what's nearby the location you are interested in. This is a fabulous program for experimentation - how about looking up your next vacation location, or a city you wish to visit? Or, you can look up a specific restaurant, or any other business. You can get directions to places you wish to go to. I'm still exploring Google Earth, but it has a lot of possibilities and it's really fun to "fly" around the world.

For giggles, I just typed in "Great Wall of China", and "flew" over the Pacific Ocean directly to China, landing over the Great Wall itself. I zoomed in and out, and saw other terrain nearby. This is fun!!

I should mention that these satellite photos are not necessarily recent. The two addresses I pulled up were summer-time views. The one of my house showed it with the old roof (we installed a new red roof in Spring 2006), and the view of a friend's home showed a van in their driveway which is only there from Maya through September. If you are searching for the most recent satellite photos, this particular program may not have them.

My computer is about 3-1/2 years old, and probably could use some resolution adjustment to get really clear up-close pictures, so I'm going to try to change that. Newer computers already have the finer resolution, so you might not need to make any changes.

Best of all, Google Earth is FREE. Click here to go to Google Earth for the download and have fun exploring our beautiful Earth!

Welcome Home, Jerry

I wasn't very happy about having some kind of virus which has kept me virtually sofa-trapped this week. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be the best "sick" I've ever had.

For two and a half days, I've been mesmerized as the ceremonies of President Gerald R. Ford's funeral unfolded. Being only 45 miles away from his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, I saw the local television stations center on the funeral events, placing all of it's news correspondents in every single funeral venue. Their interviews and observations were amazing, and I was transfixed on this live tv from morning to night for nearly the entire time.

Jerry Ford is so well-loved in Western Michigan that the locals consider him part of their family. They don't care if he was a Republican. They don't care that he only spent the first third of his life in Grand Rapids (the second third was mostly in Washington, D.C. and finally, his last third of life was in retirement in California). What they cared about and clearly recognized in Jerry Ford was his decency, his well-known fairness and honesty, and his genuine "love all and do harm to none" attitude.

He represented everyone in his congressional district for more than 25 years, and made many friends in both his district and in Washington. Some were famous, some were not; some of his closest friends were people now not particularly well-liked. It didn't matter to him; they were his long-time friends, and he was always true-blue to them, no matter which way the wind blew. He could separate his politics from his friendships, and it made him one of the most popular politicians the United States has ever known.

This might explain why a huge billboard was erected this past week, with a gigantic yet simple message. Grand Rapids loved Gerald Ford. The sign had only these words:

Gerald "Our" Ford




Ford family touched by public response

During these past couple of days I learned all sorts of things about Jerry Ford. He represented Michigan's strong, beautiful Midwestern values, and his reputation shined like a light in the pitch-black darkness during the Vietnam War days because of those values.

But back to these past couple of days. Prior to the funeral, local military veterans wanted to honor him during the processions (there were several motorcade processions, since President Ford's body laid in state at the Museum, and then was moved to Grace Episcopal Church, and then returned for burial at the Museum). WOOD-TV Channel 8 placed phone calls to local vets groups, asking that they come down to the Presidental Museum as the funeral motorcade arrived. They were asked to wear anything from their uniforms that they could still fit into - full uniforms, jackets, even just their hats - as a show of support.
By 8:30 am, they began showing up on the motorcade route next to the Museum. The hearse was not expected to arrive until after 2:15 pm. The Secret Service asked that the veterans limit their numbers to 50 - 100 total. By the time the hearse and it's accompanying 70+ vehicles arrived at 4 pm, hundreds and hundreds of veterans lined the street, including honor guards, flag waving vets in their 90s, and at least one recently-returned Iraq War veteran in full uniform. The Secret Service gave up.

Did you know that Jerry Ford is the only President to reach Eagle Scout status? The Ford family asked that Boy Scouts come down to the motorcade route next to the Museum, and more than 200 showed up in Scout uniform. The Gerald R. Ford Council of Boy Scouts is the only known Council named after a still-living person. The Scouts who were there during the entrance motorcade were the very first to be allowed to pay their respects at the Museum during the 18 hour Presidental repose.

Since the repose was available to the public from 5 pm Tuesday until 11 am Wednesday, there wasn't much time to pay last respects to their favorite son, Jerry. More than 12,000 were waiting when the Museum opened at 5 pm, and it was estimated that 60,000 waited in line during the night.

People from across the state drove hundreds of miles to give him a well-loved send-off. But they also came from Chicago, Indiana, Ohio and other states, and at least one fellow drove straight to Grand Rapids from Connecticut. They stood in line for 4 to 6 hours, quietly waiting for their turn to say goodbye. The long line of people, 6 to 7 deep, extended more than one mile. They waited patiently, sharing Ford stories - so many of them had in one way or another been touched by Jerry Ford during his many decades of being a local attorney and congressman.

Years ago, Jerry Ford said he didn't want a State Funeral when he died. He was a man of the people, and didn't believe in all that pageantry nonsense. He didn't want a Riderless Horse in the processional, and didn't want a caisson either. Referring to those days in the 1860s when President Lincoln was honored at his funeral with both, Jerry said, "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln."

Instead, Gerald R. Ford wanted a very small and quiet funeral for his family and friends. It took those family, friends and his post-presidential staff a long, long time before they finally convinced him that he must have a funeral that could be shared with the public. Although Jerry saw himself as an everyday kind of guy, the people around him knew how special he really was.

On the last day of the funeral, tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Grand Rapids, waiting hours and hours. They were there to send Jerry home. The Ford family understood the connection Western Michigan had to their husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and they carefully chose the motorcade route to drive slowly, at 20 miles per hour, along residential and then city streets so his friends could say farewell.



The hand-made sign along the motorcade said it all - "God - Country - Family". It was Jerry's personal motto, and he used it frequently during his 93 years of life. The message on his crypt is similar: "Lives Committed to God, Country, and Love." He meant that statement in exactly the order it is written.

The President Gerald Rudolph Ford Museum is on the banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. Several years ago, the Ford children planted spruce trees as a tribute to their father. The trees are grand now, very tall and stately. They line the location where their father is now buried, part of a living memorial to a man they know as "Dad".

Happy New Year!!!

The Sydney Harbour Bridge erupted with fireworks to welcome in 2007.

One of the first places to celebrate the New Year is Australia, which this year included more than 1 million people who attending this spectacular fireworks display. How appropriate - the Commonwealth of Australia was first official on January 1st, 1901!

Antique Folk Art Hooked Rugs

Those of you who've read my blog in the past know how much I love early antique textiles, especially hooked rugs. The ones which truly catch my eye are those which are original designs, drafted by an artist-hooker 100 or more years ago. Although there are many stamped pattern rugs which are beautiful, there's just something about a one-of-a-kind design that speaks to my heart.

Today I'm showing a couple of animal hooked rugs. Animal rugs are some of the most desirable designs to be found in the antique hooked rug world. Both of these were hooked by hand in wool strips, not yarn.

They were both made c. 1900, and each has it's own "character". The horse rug was made by an unknown hooker somewhere in New England. It shows the fine use of shading and color, which gracefully showcases the artist's view of this prancing, dancing horse. This rug has lots of action, yet not too much in over-powering details.

Typical of the time period, the colors are muted and primarily in soft tans and browns, with only a hint of bright color in the partial blue sky and the reds, blues and whites in the leaf & vine border. This is a fabulous, one-of-a-kind piece of folk art, clearly showing the artist's imagination and expertise. It deserves a special wall for all to enjoy, and belongs in a top-quality antiques collection.

It is quite large - approximately 5' x 5.5', and is mounted on a strong wood frame so it can be hung. For a hooked rug, it is somewhat uncommon in shape, being more square than rectangular. The last time I saw it, it was one of the shops in Wiscasset, Maine, priced at just under $6000.

The next rug is more stylized, also from the turn of the last century. This too is a one-of-a-kind hooked rug, and this particular hooker designed a silhouette of a black Labrador retriever with a shaded background. The light tan shades make this dog's image really pop, and it is a really superb rug.

Approximately 3' x 5', this simple design was well-done, with good outlines of ear and eye. The use of black color blocks in each corner provide a "frame" around this rug's main character - the artist wanted a quiet, pure vision of this dog, uncomplicated and easy on the eyes. The black color "blocks" draw one's eyes inward directly towards the central image.

This rug was found recently at a Michigan antiques show, priced at $3200. It originally came from Ohio, and - as the horse rug - was mounted as folk art.

Both of these rugs were in exceptionally fine condition, showing their age and textile "patina", yet without stains or other damage. If you are looking for a good rug to add to your collection, be sure to carefully search a potential purchase for damage, stains or dry rot. Those which are already mounted might be a bit harder to examine, but you should still be able to see any major problems. Don't worry about the minor stain or damage - it's just part of the rug's history and life. In the end, you as the buyer must decide what is acceptable to you personally in terms of textile problems, keeping in mind the price of the rug and how strongly it "speaks" to you.
Just remember that there are not huge numbers of early wool hooked rugs out there - time and owner care often compromise a rug's original good looks. If a rug speaks to your heart, and you know you'll love it, buy it and enjoy it. I can tell you from nearly thirty years of experience that I've never bought a single antique that I've regretted, because I only bought those which spoke to my heart and my heart has never led me wrong.

BUT - I can give you a list more than the length of my arm of wonderful antiques which spoke to me and that I passed up, and now definitely regret not buying. Some had a bit of damage, or were priced more than I wanted to pay. I wish I'd ignored the damage, or had negotiated time payments for those special antiques. My husband and I now whistfully talk about "the ones that got away." They are gone forever now, and I do wish I'd been more open and creative in arranging for them to come home with me.

Just so you have an idea of what mounting a rug costs, the current rate in my area is approximately $15-20 a square foot for a rug around 3' x 5' in size or under. Larger rugs are a bit more of a challenge to a professional rug mounter, and sometimes the cost is more just because of the extra time, materials and special care needed for quality work.

Before you hire someone to mount your rug, ask to see some examples so you are cmfortable with their work. There are good mounters and not-so-good mounters, and you want someone who truly understands antique textiles. Discuss in detail if there are any extra costs - cleaning, repairs, mounting design that allows both vertical and horizontal hanging (good for geometric rug designs), etc.

Above all, get a detailed receipt for your rug, including a written description. Remember to take a photo of it before you turn it over to a mounter. Last but not least, do ask for an approximate date when the rug will be finished to be included in your receipt.

Love to Cook? Try 101cookbooks.com

I'm a foodie - love to cook, to experiment in the kitchen, try new foods. My husband's the same way. In fact, he's kicked me out of the kitchen more than a few times while he cooks up some new dish he wants to surprise me with. He's pretty darn good in the kitchen, and I haven't been disappointed in any of his cooking yet! (But let's not discuss the after-cooking clean-up . . .)

There's been some very funny moments. Like the time a couple of weeks ago when he tried cooking chestnuts. You can boil them, steam them, roast them. I told him about a new method I'd just read about, where you take chestnuts still in their shells and cook them in the microwave. So one night, to surprise me, he decided to try this new method. Unfortunately, he'd never cooked chestnuts before, and didn't realize that whichever way you choose to cook them, you really do need to score the shells with an X first.

That night, I heard a few surpised curses coming from our kitchen, then quite a bit of laughter from my husband. He was microwaving unscored chestnuts, and when they got really hot they exploded. He wasn't prepared for the chestnuts blowing up, and it startled him.

Luckily, he didn't damage the microwave, and only made a minor mess in the microwave. We called it chestnut puree, but really, it was a zillion bits of chestnuts and shells all over that ended up in the trash. We laughed until we had tears in our eyes, but at that moment it sure was funny.

I've been having a lot of fun with the website 101cookbooks.com
It's a website which has a huge amount of cooking information, and a wonderful forums section where people who enjoy cooking share a lot of information, how-tos and recipes. Some of the recipes are quite unusual, and it's not uncommon for those participating in the forums to be living in other countries and sharing their regional insights and food ideas. There are many different topics, but here's some examples:

>> What is your favorite holiday breakfast?
>> Crock Pots
>> Smoked Butter
>> Heirloom tomatoes
>> Persimmons
>> Frozen Herbs
>> What cookbooks are you reading?
>> What is your favorite Brownie recipe?

This group of foodies share all sorts of superb recipes that you never knew existed. The Brownie recipe section was hugely popular, and there's enough choices there to have you making brownies for the next decade.

Here's the next recipe I'm going to try:(The notations are from website administrator/owner Heidi Swanson, who writes the articles for this website. She is a cookbook author and photographer, and is absolutely awesome. Be sure to read some of her articles - they are excellent!)

Lingonberry or Cranberry Jam

Depending on the tartness of the berries you may need to adjust the amount of sugar.

1 lb. 2 ounces (500 g) frozen or fresh lingonberries or cranberries

A scant cup (7 oz/200g) of caster (superfine) sugar (hs note: I just gave my regular granulated sugar a whirl in the food processor for 15-20 seconds)

Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 small apple, peeled and cored

Rinse the berries, if necessary, then drain well and put them in a non-metallic bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Leave overnight, turning once or twice.

Coarsely grate the apple and put it into a jam-making pan or other heavy based saucepan with the grated lemon rind. Strain in all the juice from the berries (hs note: I didn't end up with a ton of juice, but scraped all the thick, sugary juice in) and add two wooden spoonfuls of berries, leaving the rest of the berries in the bowl for now. Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) water and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the apple is very soft and the whole lot has thickened (hs note: I ended up ~10 minutes). Add the rest of the berries and heat through for 5-8 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars. Seal tightly and turn upside down. Cover with a cloth and leave to cool completely before turning upright and storing in a cool place. The jam will keep for a couple months but, once open, keep it in the fridge and use fairly quickly.

Makes about 2 cups.

If you get a chance, do take a quick peek at 101cookbooks.com - sign in for free and become a participating forums member. If you see the name Antique Cook, that's me.

Our New Grandson

We're just back from a week in Florida, visiting our new grandson James for the very first time. James is adorable - just 2 months only, and already has his very own canine guardian. Here you see him with Mick (short for Michelob beer, as his father works for Budweiser). Mick is a Catahoula Spotted Leopard dog, and has volunteered to be James' personal protection. He wasn't trained to do this - he just loves James, and no one gets near this baby without Mick's approval.

You wouldn't want to argue with Mick. He's 60 pounds of solid muscle, and can do serious damage to someone if he chooses to. He's loving and protective, and has a very gentle nature. But you do notice him when he positions himself next to the baby. We never saw him growl or do anything dangerous. He just loves this baby, and stays near him, quietly watching, as others coo and play with James. As Mick determines that each person is okay and not going to harm the baby in any way, Mick settles in for a nap, always close by.

I just love this photo. Mick loves this baby so much, and you can see that James is giggling too!

We love Oriental Food

Since I travel a lot on business, I end up eating in restaurants far too often. Not that I have anything against restaurants - it's just that, depending on where I'm traveling, my food choices tend to be somewhat limited.

I rarely go to fast food chains. Maybe to McDonalds once in a while for their pancake and sausage breakfasts (an acceptably filling meal for an inexpensive price). Otherwise, I look for family-operated restaurants, especially those which offer nightly specials, or regional home-cooking.

But when I'm home, I love to cook. And since my husband also enjoys cooking, we often plan meals together. We both really love Oriental meals - Thai, Chinese, Indian - and experiment frequently. I'm not big on eating meat, prefering seafood and fish, with just a touch of pork or chicken once in a while. He, on the other hand, still loves meat and can eat it 2 or 3 times a day. (I'd rather minimize it to 2 or 3 times a month.) We've managed to adjust to each other's needs by cooking something Oriental, so that he can add meat as needed, and I can enjoy my meals with just veggies.

The other day we spent the better part of an afternoon at one of our favorite Oriental grocery markets. The local ones are very limited in their offerings, and we have to travel about about 100 miles roundtrip to do any serious Oriental food shopping. That means we go to at least 3 groceries, and we buy supplies to last us several months. It's worth the time and distance, not to mention the gas, for us to shop this way - we always come back with new ideas and interesting products to try!

This time we came home with a new game plan - I cleaned out one of our kitchen cupboards (for several years it was one of my cookbook storage areas) - and we filled it with our latest Oriental grocery purchases. We filled this three shelf cupboard completely - see the photo - and now I have to sort through my cookbooks to determine which are staying and which need new homes.

If you look closely at our Oriental cupboard, you'll see we bought a huge amount of dried Chinese mushrooms (they only take about an hour to re-hydrate, and they have a wonderful woodsy flavor and very meaty texture), fresh chestnuts, lots and lots of canned cream of coconut, a new-to-us curry powder, fish sauces, commercial-sized cans of oyster sauce and (my favorite) hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, and rice noodles. The groceries we visit are very moderately priced - we filled our cupboard for about $60 or so, and will have many, many meals over the next few months. We buy our fresh veggies, meats and seafoods locally, mostly dependent upon what's on sale.

There's also a bit of extravagance slipped into our shopping. I love tamarind candies, especially not the super-hot spicy ones. Can't find them near home, so I buy several boxes of them and they last for at least a couple of weeks. I also like ginger candies, not so much candied ginger, but the ones which are shaped like taffy candy and have a good strong ginger taste to them. They don't last very long either.

Anyhow, if you are into cookbook collecting, be sure to take a look at my
Ruby Lane website, Red Moon Antiques. to see which vintage cookbooks I have for sale. I'm just starting on sorting, so will be offering books from my collection over the next month or so. Take a peek and see if any of them speaks to you . . .