christine-murphy dot net

Powder Milk Biscuits…

“…Buy them ready-made in the big blue box with the picture of the biscuit on the front, or in the brown bag with the dark stains that indicate freshness” ~ Garrison Keillor, “A Prairie Home Companion”
———-
No, it’s not a real product, it’s a fake commercial on “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show. We listen to it every Saturday night, it’s on right now as I type this. We’re hoping to get to see a live performance of it sometime this summer.

But I was teasing Mike, telling him that I’m making a chicken pot pie tonight. Instead of a flaky pastry crust, I said, I’d be making up a topping of Powder Milk Biscuits.

Actually, I’m making buttermilk biscuits for the pot pie topping. The pot pie recipe is one from Jacques Pepin, from the final series he did with the late, great Julia Child…“Julia & Jacques - Cooking At Home”. It’s made with leftovers from a recipe for poached chicken and veggies, which we had last night. We have enough leftovers from this meal to make both the pot pie and the soup that are in the book and on the TV show episode.  There is absolutely NO waste!

Our local PBS affiliate no longer shows reruns of this great show, but that’s okay…I have both the book and the entire series on DVD.
———-
I had a nice day watching the PBS cooking shows that are currently running. One of the best shows is “America’s Test Kitchen”. It’s from the editors of “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine. I like it because it’s a show that you can actually learn from.

One thing they do is product testing of kitchen equipment. Since neither the show nor the magazine accept paid advertising, they can be objective about what they like and don’t like. I have often taken their advice on what to buy, and I’ve not bee steered wrong yet.

Good kitchen stuff can be pricey. But if you shop around carefully, you can find what you want at a bargain price. One site I like is Buy.com…they have a lot of kitchen stuff there. Chances are, once you check their prices, you’ll find that you’ll find the best buy there on whatever you happen to be looking for. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of shipping…at Buy.com, many items qualify for their FREE shipping deal. Go and check ‘em out!

CKU in a Box…

Did you see this on QVC today? There is really no way to direct-link to the item, but you can go to QVC.com and search there for item #F03404.

CKU is Creating Keepsakes University. These are classes in scrapbooking taught by editors of Creating Keepsakes magazine, as well as other scrapping celebs, such as Tim Holtz. They had a CKU in Boston a few years ago, but I could not attend due to previous plans. I don’t think they are having here this year, and I can’t exactly afford to go to Chicago for the one coming up in March. I’d love to be able to attend someday, though.

I love taking crafting classes and seeing video instruction. Once in a while, I can get out to take classes at local stores, but those are few and far between, most of them are held during the week, when I have no way to get to the stores. So, the next best thing is this CKU in a Box package. It contains a DVD with three different classes, as well as everything needed to make the projects.

I ordered one today, and I can’t wait to get it. I hope that this sells well enough on QVC, so that they come out with more CKU in a Box kits, with different classes.

Even if you didn’t get to see the presentation on TV today, you can not only see a video of it on the website, but you can order the kit, for as long as they still have it in stock. So go and check it out…looks like a lot of fun!

Never shop without a coupon…

…if you can help it!

But if you can shop for something that’s already on sale, and then use a coupon, that’s even better!

For instance, Overstock.com is a great shopping site that has a large variety of items at greatly reduced prices. Shopping there is almost always less expensive than at other sites, if they happen to have exactly what you’re looking for in stock. But now, you can save even more by using these Overstock coupons. Some coupons offer free shipping, other offer X amount of dollars or X% off certain orders. They add new ones almost every day, so keep checking back. If there’s not one yu can use now, there probably will be soon.

Why pay full price, if you don’t have to?

Want FREE stamps?

I do! And I was just reading this post over on Annette’s blog about the Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration. From February 1-March 17, for every $50 you spend on Stampin’ Up! products, you can pick a FREE stamp set from the special Mini-Catalog.

Since I’m in one of her Stamper’s 10 Clubs, I order from her every month anyway…worth it to spend a bit more to get a few freebies. If you are interested in ordering anything from SU, but don’t have a demonstrator, go on over and visit Annette. She lives in New Jersey, but she has no sales territory limits, she will sell to anyone nationwide and ship to you (you will have to pay for shipping, as well as whatever the sales tax is in your state).

Annette does an excellent job…orders are shipped promptly, and her email newsletters are very informative. They are always filled with ideas for projects, as well as news about the latest Stampin’ Up! promotions, new releases, and such.

I need to start thinking about what to get in February, and I can’t wait for my Sale-A-Bration mini-catalog to get here!

HUGE sale at Sizzix.com

Hither on over there NOW, before the good stuff sells out!  They are clearing out their Savings Zone with a whopping 80% off the original retail prices.  I just picked up the Sizzlits Monkey Tails font for just $30.00….was originally $150.00.

Also, if you are looking to buy a larger machine that will work with any die from any company…you gotta take a look at this Big Shot Beginners’ Kit.  The Ellison Design Big Shot and the Sizzix BigKick (which I have) are basically the same machine.   They just look different from each other.  But the Big Shot kit is cheaper because all of the Ellison Design stuff is being discontinued.  But I promise, it’s the same basic machine that I have, which I can tell you will cut ANY company’s dies.  I’d just suggest getting the multi-purpose platform or the Sizzix adaptors if you want to cut wafer-thin dies like Quickutz with this kit.

The big sale runs until December 14.  If you order now, you can still get UPS ground shipment before Christmas.