Saturday, December 26, 2020

Homemade turkey soup

Tom and I always have a turkey for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and a couple more times through out the year. At Christmas usually my aunt is here to help us eat the turkey, just not this year. But regardless  we love turkey and have leftovers the 2nd day and I cut up the rest and freeze for stirfry or tacos. The pets get some and the bones and whatever is left on the bones gets used to make my soup.
I think I got my basic soup making skills from my grandmother, with a couple of differences.
My grandmothers soup always started with potatoes and onions and turned into what we called the never ending pot.  (I'll come back to that in a minute). My soup starts with a base like hers, in this case it is the turkey, but my soup always has a start and a finish. The end..."gone" as they say "like yesterday's soup".
Growing up, I ate my grandmother's soup everyday. And after supper my grandmother would add any leftovers from dinner into the pot. Sometimes there were pieces of chicken or beef, she would add the leftover corn or baked beans, it didnt matter. And for the most part it was always good, nothing a little pepper couldn't adjust as needed. As I got older, I think my analytical brain kicked in.... I  was eating the soup and a lonely shriveled up green pea was floating on the top. At the time I was not overly fond of peas so I  just pushed it aside and kept eating but now I was searching for peas in order to avoid eating them. But there were no more peas in my bowl. As I glanced around the table I realized I had the only pea from what I could tell. Knowing that my grandmother always put the leftovers into the soup, I started to backtrack in time as to when we might have had peas that could have gone into the soup. According to my calculations it had been at least 2 maybe 3 weeks ago that we ate peas.(well that they ate, I didn't.) So, this lonely shrivelled pea had been floating around in the pot for 3 weeks? Needless to say, I never ate the soup again unless it was a fresh pot that was the potatoe and onion. But even then I was always suspicious. Haha, kids have incredible minds and imaginations. Sad, knowing now that was probably the best soup I ever ate. But my turkey soup is pretty darn good too! It is canned and sealed, and it will all be gone in a few days. Like yesterday's soup. Ohhh and yes, there are lots of peas in it!

Friday, December 25, 2020

And the winner is.....

Hi everyone,
Well the suspense has been killing me and probably you too, wondering who was going to win this big box of goodness.As you can see there is still some room and i will fill it with more goodies right to the top for the winner to have some surprises when she gets it. Yes I said she  so that narrows it down a bit. I did have a couple of fellows that had entries.
Here is what i would like to tell you next. I have many Manitoba friends that I see in a private journal group, and many of them had multiple entries in the box. So in fairness I did tell myself that if one of my friends was the winner I would pick a second winner. And even if you didnt win today, all of your entries will stay in for the next draw. I'm thinking I will do this each month while I can before we pack up to move and then once we are settled in our new home I will start up again. I dont know how big each box will be. The shipping will not be cheap on this box so might trim down in the future, but who knows.
Ohhh yeah, back to the winner....
I have listed all of the names in a book and you will see pics of the pages. Some of you had multiple entries. Note to self: start writing names on papers as you get them not all at the end. I had to cut up a ton of paper and write them all down. That took about an hour. 
then when the bowl was filled i drew the winning name. As it turned out I only had to draw one name, so I guess my friends all know now that they didnt win, cuz otherwise there would be 2 names. Dont worry gals, you will get a chance next month, same rules.
So now it is time to reveal the winner!
I only had one Julie M and she is from the Junk Journals Canada group. Not sure where she lives yet but will get in touch with her soon. Julie M if you see this post, be sure to contact me.
The rest of the entries are in a baggie to be added into the next draw for end of January 2021.
Thankyou everyone for participating, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and safe happy New year! May you have a year filled with creativity and inspiration.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

The last day box giveaway

Hi everyone,
While I tried to continue to sort through stuff on a daily basis, I wasn't able to post each day. Time just left me behind....
Today is the last day I will be posting pictures. There is still a little room and I will add a few things on top before I seal it up and mail next week. 
The box currently weighs over 20 pounds and I am guessing it will be about 24 pounds when I am finished. The winner will have a fun surprise of other goodies not posted on the blog that will be at the top. I have had over 200 entries, some of you have at least 10 entries in. I will make the draw tomorrow Dec 25th in the afternoon. You have all day today to get your last few entries in. And as a bonus, when I fill the next box which will be in January, all of your entries stay in except for the winner of this box. Here are the last few pictures. Good luck everyone!
Merry Christmas to all of you!

Monday, December 14, 2020

Blog giveaway box Day 6

Hi everyone,
I have been away working on my personal Christmas stuff but the box is still getting things added to the pile. 
Something Ive noticed, is I just may have a slight napkin hording problem. Back when the covid restrictions started, we laughed that if we ran out of toilet paper, we could always use napkins. Umm starting to realize that its not far from the truth that we could go for awhile, literally go for awhile with out being short.
In the pictures I have an assortment of 26 napkins. I'm sure that could last you awhile in a pinch, lol.
Other than that an assortment of papers, bingo cards, feathers, and more ephemera. All is packaged up to go in the box. Not going to show the box today cuz its awkward and still far from full. Hoping to work on some lace and doilies for tomorrow's show and tell. Remember to comment where ever you see this post shared and more entries if you share and tell me where to find it.

Sunday, December 06, 2020

Blog giveaway box - Day 5

Hi Everyone, 

Well today's post required 17 photos. I missed a few days so added lots today. Remember entries are by leaving comments 1 per post, but each day I share to many places and if you can find it you can post on it for more entries!

Someone suggested I use one of my cats to give you an idea of how full the box is. 
Ratatouie Stephan (aka Baby) luvs boxes and he was very willing to task up. As you can see he fits and I could easily fit a 2nd cat. The box is only have full so far. Ive added info at each picture so you can see what is new.
 
A friend of mine was at an auction and brought me a huge pile well actually a box, full of assorted receipts and ephemera. Most are from the 1950's but date back and forth from 1930 to 1968. I did keep lots but giving away in batches. Everything you see below is going in the box.
 
Card stock in a variety of colors and sizes, great for tags. A whole sandwich baggie full of file catalogue stickers, some packages not even open. Some vintage Christmas cards, random photos, 3 fabric bags, a note pad unopened, bag of puzzle pieces, baggie of seashells, art cards, tags in baggies, a leather boot keychain, 2 mini perfume bottles, die cut tickets.
 
Angel pack is stickers, diecuts, some foldup boxes. Not used. An extra pretty pink angel.  
 
Everything packaged up 
 
Everything in the box, still only half full. I'm scared to see what the postage will cost, yikes. 
 
Because you asked, here is my cat Ratatouie Stephan (aka baby) laying in the box. 
 
Lots of room to fill with goodness or maybe a cat or 2? 
 
I'm so darn cute, and I am very snuggley! I love shrimp, bacon and pepperoni slices.  
Thats it for today! Happy Posting!

Wednesday, December 02, 2020

Blog giveaway box Day 4

Hi Everyone! 

Well here it is, a little late but I am posting what I am calling Day 4 of my blog giveaway. While I will try to post everyday, there will be days when life gets in the way, but don't worry, regardless, this box will be filled way in advance of Dec 23. I'm actually starting to think that there will be box 2 and 3 and maybe 4? Its only Dec 2nd and this is only round 1 of a huge purge. Have I mentioned that we are moving cross country this spring? And have I mentioned that I used to own an antiques and collectibles store and when I closed the store I brought home part of it? Yeah...its gonna be a 12 step program...

Today I am putting this huge pile of vintage paper dolls into the box. I bought them at an estate sale and this is exactly how they looked, minus the box. Some of the dolls are decapitated and everything needs to be ironed out but, I do see a few heads rolling in the pile and with a little TLC someone could repair these for art sake, and they could be scanned to create some fun designs. Regardless, there are soooo many outfits that you could put heads of your own on, like bird heads, cat/dog heads, your kids, and other family members. Big big sigh! All things I was planning to do, but just didn't get there so I am passing the lot on to you, my blog giveaway winner, (you poor soul) LOL who ever you are!

The other item I am adding into the box, and ohhh trust me this is very hard to do, is fabric sample pieces. The large pieces are perfect size for making journal covers and with trims, beads, laces and more fabric they will be gorgeous covers. The smaller size (yet larger pile) is perfect to cut up for pockets or snippets etc. Lots of fun colours to play with.

Remember! Comments on Facebook and on this blog post as well as all of the other posts related to this giveaway gets you more entries into the box. And if you share anywhere (see the share buttons at the end of this blog) let me know with your link to verify and that gets you more entries. You can enter on each spot once per post but if you find the post in more than one spot ...more entries. As well, the more comments, the more I am interested in adding to the box! or boxes!

 Here in the picture is the pile of paper dolls stuff. I have turned over the pieces a few different ways for you to see that there are lots of these.

 
Here are the fabric samples large are approx 9 x 13 
 
Here is everything neatly piled 
Side view of fabric 
 
And here is what the box looks like today, omgosh its gonna take 
a while yet to fill and its getting heavy!
   
Stay tuned for more!

Monday, November 30, 2020

Blog giveaway box Day 3

Hi everyone, here is what I've added to the box today. Remember that leaving comments on this blog and on Facebook gets you an entry into the draw to be made Dec 23. You can enter on facebook once per day for each of the groups I belong to where I am sharing this post. Plus each day on my blog posts related to this draw.
Going in the box today:
A  baggie of vintage slides, some die cuts, trivia cards, several rubber stamps both acrylic and wood. Wood embellishments, llama stickers 2 vintage silk floral corsages, some coffee filters, a bag of pearl beads, a bag of metal keys, some bingo cards and a few other little things.
So here is everything packed
and here is what the box looks like today. Still lots of room way down there.  Stay tuned for more more more!