The Olive Oil Place, Schaumburg, IL

I went to a terrific store today called The Olive Oil Place in Schaumburg, IL. As the name suggests, they do sell high quality olive oil. They also sell hard-to-find vinegars, jarred olives, olive oil soap, and more. It’s a small store located in The Streets of Woodfield shopping complex, right next to Carson Pirie Scott. The really cool thing about this place is that you can taste the oils and vinegar before you buy them. They also bottle the oils fresh in the store for you. I love that! The service was really friendly and efficient too.

I had read about this store online and then I received a coupon in the mail for 20% off my second bottle of olive oil. That settled it. I had to check it out. I went to their website before visiting the store to see what specific products they offered. I was thrilled to see they carry Tangerine Balsamic Vinegar!!! I bought a bottle of that as well as bottles of Hoji-Blance and Ascalana Extra Virgin Olive Oils. Even for a thrifty person like me, I thought their prices were right in line for the type and quality of products they carry. I am a firm believer in using good quality oils and spices when I cook (I highly recommend The Spice House in Evanston for spices).

I can’t wait to try my new goodies and I’ll definitely visit this store again. Their exact address is 601 N. Martingale Rd. #145, Schaumburg, IL.

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Crafty Mother’s Day Cards, Garden Dragonfly

Hi all. This week has been busy, busy, busy! Here’s a quick post of the nifty Mother’s Day cards I made for my mom, grandma, and godmother. I used a mixture of stickers and paper from my Provocraft Super Slabs along with some of my paper punches. My grandma loves purple so I made sure her card was full of purple! Above her name are three dragonflies that I punched out using my new mini-dragonfly paper punch.

Keeping with the dragonfly theme, here’s the latest addition to my patio garden. It’s suppose to glow in the dark but so far it hasn’t. It’s still cute either way, glowing or not. The wings are attached with springs so they move when the wind hits them. This purchase was an absolute impulse buy.

I’ll be visiting blogs this weekend. I haven’t been doing much cooking. Our dishwasher isn’t working due to an electrical problem. It should be fixed this weekend. A week without a dishwasher has been miserable.

Hope you have a lovely day

Soft Pretzel Sticks, Garden Plans, Grow Light

I made some soft pretzel sticks with pizza sauce (Muir Glen, canned) for a snack the other night. They were delicious as always. In the past, I’ve also used uncheezes as a dipping sauce. Of course, Rob likes to use mustard as a dipping sauce. Blah!

In addition to the sticks, I made some regular pretzels too. The pretzel salt I used was purchased from my favorite catalog in the whole world….King Arthur Flour. When using pretzel salt, keep in mind that a little goes a long way. It’s so easy to over-salt that I usually use a light touch. I can always sprinkle more on later if needed.

Now for some of my garden plans. I’ll be growing most of our veggies at our community garden plot. However, I will have a small container garden on our tiny patio. I had a $25 coupon for a catalog so I took a chance and ordered a blueberry plant kit, which came with the plant, soil, and a container. The plant didn’t look that great when I got it but it seems to be doing better now. I also ordered a Maximillian Sunflower. I’ve never grown sunflowers before so we’ll see how it goes. I chose that sunflower because of the name – Maximillian was the name of my beloved betta fish that died last year. In addition to the blueberries and sunflowers, I’m also going to plant a container of red bell peppers.

Blueberry Plant. I’m keeping it indoors for another week or two:

I also wanted to post a picture of the grow light Rob built for me in January. It’s made with PVC pipes and a shop light. It’s not fancy but it cost a lot less than store-bought ones! The light is adjustable too, although this picture is from the very first time we plugged it in, before I adjusted it. That’s the Chia garden I grew earlier this year under the light.

I actually took this picture back in January but somehow didn’t post it…until now. Currently, I have a 72 count Jiffy peat “greenhouse” under the light for starting some seeds.

Here are some of the things we’re going to grow in our garden plot:

• broccoli
• carrots (a few varieties)
• green beans (pole)
• radishes (two types)
• jalapenos
• Kung Pao peppers
• green onions
• sugar snap peas (the only peas I really like)
• pickling cucumbers
• lettuce (mesculan mix, several types of leaf lettuce too)
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• swiss chard
• Malabar spinach
• Thai basil
• chives
• cilantro
• tomatoes (depends on what we find locally)

This will be the first time I’ve grown swiss chard and Malabar spinach (it has a wonderful peppery taste). One of the carrot varieties I’m going to try growing this year is purple carrots. It should be interesting. I’m really excited and curious about the community garden experience. I’ll be sure to post pics of our garden progress.

And a question for my readers…what are you planting in your garden this year (if you have one)?

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

Vegan Chili, Thrifty Finds: Buddha Figurines

I made Rob some chili for his lunches this week using Boca Crumbles. I like chili but not when it’s made with TVP or Boca. You can add this to my list of idiosyncrasies…I don’t like “meat” soup, real or fake. Although I won’t eat it, I have no problem making it. Go figure. At the very least, making chili is always the perfect excuse to make more mini-cornbread loaves. I’ll spare you another repeat picture…and yes I do realize I’ve become a bit obsessed with making mini-loaves lately.

I went to a garage sale over the weekend and picked up two Buddha figurines and a blue and white “bamboo” dish for $3. I put the Buddha figurines on my desk. They are a nice addition to my collection. I bought the dish for my mom. My parents are coming to visit later this month so she’ll be able to pick it up soon.

Things have been a bit busy around here. We’re also in the process of choosing another realtor. To say I am thoroughly disgusted with Michigan and its’ downward spiral is an understatement!!!! I’ve also been getting my gardening supplies around. I’m even planting some items on our tiny patio in addition to our garden plot. Look for more gardening posts from me in the near future.

I’ll be visiting blogs soon. Hope you have a lovely day.