(a weekend update, and an answer!)
Debate over the Vintage Mixer continued on Friday evening and we made a plan for Saturday morning. Our plan… if and when it became too full to move around and still maintain safe distancing that would be our key to leaving. We arrived a little after the doors opened, hoping to avoid the initial rush of opening, but we still got hung up in a bit of a line. And from roughly 10 am to noon we had a wonderful time. We looked at so much fun stuff! We people watched all the “Vintage-dressed” people! (They are just so fun!) We had a beer and some Pie Bird Potato and Leek Breakfast Pie (yes, beer for breakfast!) and we did a tiny bit of shopping before it became almost impossible to move at all. It got so busy and so full. I have to confess that the female portion of the attendee’s seemed to have major issues with keeping your mask on correctly, despite there being signs EVERYWHERE about covering your nose and mouth. The men did not seem to have this issue at all, and frankly… I was a bit outraged at the women (can you say stupid??)
I was sad that I did not see a number of vendors that had previously attended… and most notably, Rick Sebak was not there. And we only bought 2 things! But what fun things they are! We got a set of vintage cocktail glasses and a very old little cast iron pug. I have plans to put out the Dickens Village this year and I thought this little pug would be perfect companion for Fezziwig!
Last week, Patty expressed curiosity about my Cinnamon Syrup making so I thought I’d share my little concoction with you all! Years ago I found a recipe on Pinterest for Cinnamon Syrup but it was way too sweet for my taste… so I tweaked it quite a bit. My recipe: 1.5 cups of water, 1 – 8″ length cinnamon stick or 3 small sticks (note… I buy cinnamon sticks from Costco, they are larger, fresher, and less expensive that the regular grocer – but they don’t always have them in stock) and 3/4 cup brown sugar (not packed… just loose scoops). Bring the water with the cinnamon stick to a boil and once it is boiling, turn off the heat and cover the pot and let it steep for 20-30 minutes. Remove the sticks and add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Voilá, the perfect hint of cinnamon-y sweetness to add to your coffee. (And if you froth your milk and sprinkle it with a tiny bit of ground cinnamon, you have yourself an incredible treat!)
And finally… my question of the week involves those ever-present stacks of paper that live in a house. Sadly, Steve and I are both paper collectors… but different sorts of paper. I like to print out recipes because I can make notes on them, but the kitchen drawer is overflowing and so this morning, I am culling the recipe herd and only keeping the ones we really love and I will be putting them in a new recipe book. Steve’s paperwork is a bit more “all over the house” than mine – he is a receipt and coupon hoarder. He doesn’t know it, but they are all going in the trash this morning… but how long do you all keep receipts? (and I am not talking grocery or fast food receipts… and yes, he keeps those too… sigh) I am talking ‘big ticket’ items, warranty items, etc.
But really, I want to know… how do you battle the Paper War?
That’s all I have for this morning… the stacks of paper are calling!
I love those cocktail glasses and your pug! Your Dickens village will be complete and drinks will taste better.
I have basically given up on the paper war. This is embarrassing, but we have a 12-ft table in the dining room, and John and Justin have covered it with piles of paper. Deer magazines, notes, reminders, receipts, but the whole surface is covered. I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to have to decree that if it’s not cleaned off by the Monday before Thanksgiving, it all goes in the trash. We have enough people coming for Thanksgiving that I’m not serving it at the smaller kitchen table. I do file receipts for big ticket items along with warranty paperwork, but that’s in a file cabinet that I go through once a year. When I was managing the lab in the hospital I went to a time-management seminar and the only thing that was stuck with me was handle a piece of paper once. I pretty much do that, but I just happen to live with paper hoarders!
Oh gosh those cocktail glasses are so fun! And what a great little pug. I live with a paper (and everything else) hoarder. Makes me crazy! Years ago I used to periodically put all his “piles” into one big pile and then put it “away.” That made him crazy. My feeling is if you haven’t looked at it in 6 months (or a year), then why keep it? Receipts with warranties are filed away. I primarily use a debit card rather than a cc, and once those receipts show on line when I look at my bank statement, they go in the trash. but I’ve given up the fight of trying to get Fletch to get rid of ANYTHING!!! PS the cinnamon syrup sounds fabulous (and I do froth and heat my milk every morning).
I keep very little, probably because I’m married to someone who keeps everything! I do have a basket in the kitchen where I store all the big ticket receipts and warranty info but that’s about it.
I am so glad you went and enjoyed the mixer — I thought of you when they showed some footage on the local news! I really don’t understand why it’s so difficult for people to wear a mask correctly. Lately the new trend seems to be wearing it so that the top edge is lined up exactly with the edge of the nose. Technically the nostrils are covered, but all it takes is one breath to knock it down at some point.
Thank you for sharing your cinnamon syrup recipe! I am going to make a point to look for cinnamon sticks the next time I’m at Costco. I’ve never seen them there, but then again I’ve never actually looked for them.
As to the paper/receipt problem, we wage a similar war here. Every now and then we do some death cleaning and get rid of a lot, but my husband always seems to have a stack on his nightstand. He does need a lot of the everyday variety for work expense reports, especially when he travels for work, but he’s not always good about getting rid of them when he’s submitted the report.
Re: Paper. It’s all about the system & process… and commitment to both!
I finally have a fairly workable system for the printed recipes, so I haven’t had to print out a duplicate in a while! I actually have a file box (a recipe book isn’t big enough) with folders to organize within. The trick is re-filing after use. But even if they’re not re-filed in a very timely manner, they at least have a home in/on/near the file box!
I don’t even bother with coupons anymore, unless they can be saved electronically or are otherwise “paperless.”
Receipts for high-ticket items are usually filed with manuals/warranties. Other receipts (debit/charge) are recycled as soon as I enter them in my “checkbook.”
I still have piles of paper, though. It’s just endless.
Well, we have have file cabinet in the basement and that’s where we keep The Big Receipts. Out of sight, out of mind. Troy has a fondness for the side of the fridge, which is where he stores his coupons and receipts. Groan.
Here’s a funny joke on that topic, though:
“What do you call it when a guy uses a coupon on a first date?”
“Cheap.”
“What do you call it when a married man uses a coupon on date night?”
“Foreplay.”
Ah the paper wars. I am the neat-nik and my husband is the keep everything guy. He has an in home office so most of his stuff disappears in there. I have a two drawer file – in a built in kitchen desk and file the receipts and warranties for the big ticket items. I have three folders, one for the current month, one for each of the past two for small amount receipts. Every three months, I shred the oldest month’s receipts. Most are credit card purchases that show up on our monthly statement. I have a basket on the counter for coupons for a few stores but honestly I’m about ready to give that up. We rarely use the coupons.
What marvelous “finds,” Kat! Those cocktail glasses are stunners — and the little pug is perfect! I can’t wait to see him alongside Fezziwig! 🙂
When it comes to paper wars . . . we have a pretty good system. For me, it’s all about Immediate Containment when stuff comes into the house, which cuts down on a lot of piles. I also make good use of Evernote and actual binders. We don’t save receipts at all (except for big ticket items). When it comes to “product information” and warranties, etc. I use magazine files and just keep them all together there. It was a hard shift for me to move from files/filing cabinets to more digital filing, but now that I’m set up, it works much better. (And Tom is very organized with his own binder system. He’s a real analog guy, for the most part, but keeps his “poop-in-a-group” pretty well.)
I moved and I was/is a paper hoarder. I decided to get rid of my filing cabinet (which encourages saving papers) and picked THREE file storage boxes. If it doesn’t fit in those I have to go thru and shred.
I’ll let you know how that goes. When we moved I shredded at mobile shredding sites 6 boxes of sensitive stuff (1-2 boxes were my husband’s from his job).
I will save receipts for less than a year except if it is linked to a warranty then I keep until I don’t own the thing anymore.
My plan in January is to get rid of papers and such and wait for free shredding events in April.