Don’t you hate it when you wake up and you are laying in bed and can’t go back to sleep? I do. I won’t stare off into the darkness of the room for long..I usually get up.

Well it has been unusually chilly in Texas this spring and I didn’t want to get up so I did the next best thing..I thought about something helpful I could add to the blog. I mean, doesn’t everyone contemplate their blog at 4 a.m.?

Frugality was once a trait that was admired. A cook that could make something out of nothing, that knew what was in her pantry and used it all..well she was admired. If you have ever read Anne of Green Gables series, perhaps you will remember Mrs. Rachel Lind commenting to Marilla in Anne’s House of Dreams that Anne didn’t have anything in the breadbox that shouldn’t be there..and there was a sense of pride in the comment.

We are such a wasteful society. What you find in the dumpster behind a grocery store is criminal. And with the economy doing what it is doing? Well, maybe it is time to admire frugality and wit once again.

This post begins a regular what to do with left over….. feature.

But…I thought that a cool way to do this would be to make it a round-up. So, every month we will have a new what to do with leftover…. roundup and link to all of the blogs. Cool idea? I thought so.

I will add the round up post, with links, to my pages section Under the heading of Leftovers. Imaginative, I know!

So…Here are the rules:

• Your recipe must include the leftover featured in a significant amount.
• For this month’s theme, eggs, you can use them in whatever form. Leftover egg whites, yolks, whole eggs, cooked, half cooked..whatever.
• You must post by May 21
• You post must include the banner and a link to this post ..You can reduce the banner size if you wish.
• You must send me a link to your post, I will grab the picture and format it for my blog.
• Send it to maryeaudet[AT]gmail[DOT]com

That’s it! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Image: MaryeAudet

Content:Marye Audet for Baking Delights

Post from: Baking Delights

Here’s something that’s enjoyable and frugal at the same time — make your own vanilla extract! I’ve only done it once, using very simple instructions — 1/2 cup of vodka, and pieces of leftover vanilla bean pods (from recipes where I was required to scrape the beans off the pod). I put the jar in the back of my cupboard so I can forget about it for several months. It didn’t turn out as nice as my favorite vanilla (Penzey’s Double Strength) but it was okay for some simple cakes and cookies, and the occasional cup of hot chocolate. It may have been that there wasn’t enough bean left in the pod; plus I wasn’t using “premium vanilla beans” — I’m getting my next batch from our local co-op, somewhat discounted from here, which I’m splitting with a couple of gals. But this time I’ll be following a recipe to the letter, hopefully with better results: Here’s a simple one from Emeril. More info on vanilla from Joy of Baking. Another set of instructions from Frugal Shopper. I’ve also gotten advice from people about refilling the container with more vanilla beans and vodka as you go along, basically making it an ongoing, maintenance type thing (hey, like a sourdough starter!). Sounds good to me!

Post from: Baking Delights