Long name but well, well worth the 30 minutes it takes to make it.
5 cups onion sliced thin
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 lb of bacon (crisp not burned)
1/2 C. Bourbon (use good bourbon)
1/2 C Real maple syrup
1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 C Sugar
2 Tbs bacon grease
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of chili flakes
pinch of salt
Brown bacon in very large skillet with high sides in batches if necessary, drain and wipe out pan and add 2 Tbs of filtered grease back to pan. Add onions saute for 5 minutes and add garlic saute for 15 minutes on med/high heat until the onions start to caramelize stirring frequently.
Add Bourbon (carefully) maple syrup, garlic powder, paprika, nutmeg and Chile flakes. Saute for 5 more minutes.
Add vinegar and sugar, stir very well and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently add salt.
Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes skimming any fat from bacon.
Put in sterilized jars and process in water bath for 15 minutes
Let sit (if you can stand it) for at least 1 day in the fridge for proper gel.
These make fabulous Christmas gifts, or stocking stuffers, or wine baskets additions, or just on counter with a box of Ritz:) I think that whats for dinner tonight….
~RHW of Maine
Just a few things to get ready for the Christmas season.
My Christmas shopping is done:) I know there will be a lot of haters but you get the best deals right after schools starts or the month of October when no ones shopping. Not only do I get great deals but my blood pressure is not off the charts trying to deal with other holiday shoppers.
Shop Amazon, this has been a godsend to me especially things that the kids specifically want that I don’t have to hunt down in the store, just point and click. I also have Prime which saves on shipping. If it’s not prime I don’t purchase it.
Wrap on Friday nights with a glass (or 2) of wine. Again have been doing this for years and can’t tell you how happy I am when the first weekend in December arrives and I have 3-4 christmas parties to attend every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until December 24th and know that I don’t have to stress about it all….I am done wrapping too.
Join a wine club and save your bottles throughout the year to give as gifts to the neighbors, not only to you get great wine deals/gifts you get to try them with you neighbors.
Make a homemade gift if you can.
If you come from a large family, draw names…My 5 kids have been doing this for about 10 years. Again cuts down on stress and saves money.
Take the months of October and November to de-clutter. I have been to Goodwill twice this week. It’s amazing how much one family can accumulate in 6 months
Have Christmas cards ready to go. I do mine ahead of time usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, especially ones that I need to write notes. I do have several family members that send nice letters about their past year. I personally enjoy reading those letters. It’s not fun to have to stress about getting out the Christmas cards. I got 2 last year on the 27th December doesn’t seem very festive.
I was not always this organized in 1998 I couldn’t get to shopping until December 15th. 4 kids, my husband’s family, in-laws, sisters, parents…I thought I was going to have a breakdown. Husband and I stayed up until 4 am Christmas morning putting together toys and wrapping, kids were up at 5:30 am and a dinner to cook for 15 people. It was the worst Christmas I can remember, I was exhausted and stressed. I never did it that way again. And I can say I love the Christmas season enjoyed with family and friends.
So with the Holiday Season upon us , take a bit of time to enjoy it.
Donate your time or to a local charity, that’s what it’s all about after all:)
~RHW~
I come from a long line of thrifty people, so I really hate wasting anything.
When I finish a house remodel or a rental update I always have a lot of paint left over. 1/2 quart here 1/2 gallon there, just not enough to do anything with except kids school projects.
So I mix them, and I have become quite good at it.
I know that some landlords keep sea-foam white in 10 gallon buckets in their garage, but I like to add a little color to my rentals, nothing bright, just soft greens, yellows and beige’s.
I have a rental that four 20 something boys have been renting…They pay on time, so I have let some things slide. However 1 has moved out and the remaining have fixed the place up and I am going over this week to paint with my gallon on mixed green. It’s quite pretty if you ask me.
So this gallon is going to paint a small living room of our 1850’s farm-house rental. There will be plenty to do 2 coats and now I don’t have to store 4 paint cans for the winter.
Will do a paint post later on this week and you can be the judge:)
~The RHOM
I had a day off the other day, shocking isn’t it?
I had some cabbage I needed to do something with, so I started looking up Kim-chi recipe’s
We don’t have Asian or Korean markets close by so some of the ingredients were not readily available to me, so I decided to make it my way.
I make a Sriracha pickle that is to die for! Adapted the recipe and here’s what I came up with.
Sriracha Cabbage…
Recipe:
2 head Cabbage ( I used one white and one purple)
2 quart Mason Jar
8 Cups white vinegar
4 cups sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup Sriracha Chili Sauce
3 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs chili flakes
1 Tbs celery seed
1/2 Cup salt
Core and quarter cabbage separate leaves and put in a large bowl add 1/2 cup of salt and let sit 1 hour. (this make the cabbage crunchy as well as helps preserve it)
Rinse thoroughly and pack into clean 2 quart mason jars
Mix all the remaining ingredients in a pour-able container making sure sugar is completely dissolved
Pour mixture over cabbage making sure it gets all the way to the bottom, cover and shake to make sure it evenly distributed.
Let sit on the counter for 2 days or longer until desired fermentation and spiciness.
We are enjoying this, I just had some with cheese and crackers.
Sriracha Cabbage
Unbelievably good!
Adjust the spice and heat to your taste, if you like blow your head off spicy add more Sriracha and chili flakes. This recipe is mildly spicy with just enough sugar balance to not set your mouth on fire:)
~Real Housewives of Maine
It has been one long hard winter in Maine and I for one am thankful that spring is on its way!
I will be thankful and won’t complain once when it’s 90 degrees and the humidity is 80%. Pinky swear.
But I have a problem that I need help with.
What color is my snow bank?
What color is my snow bank?
Is it white and brown? Or brown and blue?
Wink, wink
~The real housewives of Maine
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
I finished this book in a day ( I was on vacation at the lake)
A 19th century tobacco farm in Virginia with a white slave girl raised by black slaves in the kitchen.
Why do I love this book so much? The author really makes you understand that love knows no color or social boundaries. Love for a child is boundless:)
Kudos to Kathleen Grissom!
I really hope you like it.
~Real house wives of Maine~
I’m not sure how realistic this was going to be, but I tried it anyways.
I started this challenge a week before Christmas (not good planning on my part) but made sure I had all the things I needed for 30 days of meals, Christmas dinner, entertaining and emergency eating. All totaled I spent around $342.00. But as you read further, I didn’t make it, and was off on some of my food calculations. This is key to a successful once a month shopping haul.
This does not include meat or canned vegetables as you remember I bought 1/2 cow in November and can and freeze a lot of garden vegetables.
This does not include soap, shampoo or toothpaste either…I buy these items on sale with coupons every 6 months or so…Sometimes I even make my own soap, but that’s another story.
So this is just food related purchasing.
And I had to factor in that I would have extra children home over the holiday until the first week in January.
Your already thinking this is a lot of work. But really it just takes a bit of time, planning and forethought
And it’s totally doable.
But first why it didn’t work for me:
I work from home, which make life easy…I can throw a load of laundry in between phone calls. But I still have to work. So my plan was to make bread, rolls and etc during the day’s that were slow. However, I had very few slow days and other business related fires had to be put out and I found myself staying up to make bread. This is not the end of the world but when your tired and just want to go to bed, bread takes forever to rise and bake.
I don’t have a set schedule where some people work 9-5 they can count on their free time…So again I had to make time when I could find time.
I don’t like the same meal every day of every week…This is how I grew up and…..well it gets boring after the second week, this again takes more planning.
Snacks had to be made, again not the end of the world but I had to make more time.
My basic complaint was time or lack of it.
Why I did like this plan:
I didn’t have to grocery shop-which I loath!
I would know exactly what I spent for the month.
I had to become even more organized than I already am.
My younger kids learned a few things
We ate less
Wasted less
I learned a couple of new recipes my family loves, like homemade egg rolls and Crab Rangoon. I will post these later.
And a few we will never repeat-but the dogs loved them.
My kids love salad in a jar to take to school or on the go to practice.
So this is doable if you really are organized and plan. I made it 2 weeks 3 days. And the only reason I went was because I ran out of coffee.
What I did find a lot easier was using coupons. I had a list of everything I needed, took an hour and cut coupons and saved and extra $15.00
So after all was said and done I have decided a 2 to 3 week shopping plan would work for our family. It has made life a little easier.
If you really want to get a good idea of how to shop once a month, buy or down load “The complete Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyzyn
Tightwad Gazette
She did this back in the 90’s with 6 kids in Maine with a salary of 22000.00 per year.
I have read this so many times the pages are worn, it has saved me thousands of dollars.
It may be a little dated but the premise is still the same.
So if you have time and are able to plan meals a month in advance I would highly recommend this program.
Give it a try and let me know how you fared.
~RHoM
Whistling past the Graveyard is killing me.
I can’t get past the 1st chapter. And I really, really, really want to read this book!
Let me ask you? Do I need to push through or do I just let it go?
I’ve tried twice to start it and I just can’t concentrate enough on it. And I know it’s me, everyone is telling me how great it is.
Maybe I should wait until after the holidays or maybe take it on my vacation in February?
Thoughts?
I hate when I do this and it does happen every so often. The best book comes out and I can’t get through it, I pick it up 2 years later and can’t put it down….What is wrong with me?
~The real MHW
Happy Holidays, you all have made this a great year!
Merry Christmas
~The real housewives of Maine
I want to apologize for the lack of picture quality in my last couple posts I’ve had to use my I-phone camera.
3 weeks ago I took a walk with Blue to get some pre-holiday outside pictures and the dog was so excited, he jumped up and ripped the camera out of my hand smashing my 35mm lens. Yeah, all in the day and life of a Maine housewife.
I was just thankful he didn’t break my camera.
I have a 200mm lens but I’d have to stand across the street to get pictures in my kitchen.
So I hope I’m on Santa’s nice list and he will get me a new 35 mm lens. Hint, hint….
Thanks for bearing with me
Signed,
Cameraless in Maine
Camera
Real housewives of Maine 
