Dolls Gotta Have Heart; Raggedy Ann, Legends, and History for Over 100 Years - Ruby Lane Blog

Dolls Gotta Have Heart; Raggedy Ann, Legends, and History for Over 100 Years - Ruby Lane Blog: Raggedy Ann has been a beloved doll and literary character for over 100 years.  Her face has graced countless story books, coloring books, paper dolls, toys, radios, canned goods, and posters about Diphtheria and Smallpox vaccinations.  Raggedy Ann and her brother, Raggedy Andy, have starred in their own animated films, and Raggedy Ann has flown... Read more »

Tips to eliminate kitchen waste

Since becoming a writer and blogger who works from home full time, I've had a chance to notice what goes on in my pantry and refrigerator. I'm home more, so I cook more, which saves money on eating out. 

I use what we have more; I do casseroles and hot pots.  I like one pot or pan meals because they save on clean up, which also saves water.

Here are some tips for keeping waste down:

1. If you aren't using it; donate it to a food pantry.

2. Save veggie peelings and freeze them for stock. Also save chicken or poultry bones, beef bones, shell fish, etc.  Freeze if you must, and use later for stock.

3. Tip from Public TV;  plant green onions and even shallots and pearl onions that have languished in the fridge. I'd do the same with potatoes.  I am going to experiment, and will let you know.

4. Start flower and vegetable plants from seeds; you can get starter trays for $4 at Dollar stores, and you can also cut the bottom of milk cartons to start.

5.  Shop sales  Our Easter ham with bone was on sale at Dominick's/Jewel for $.29 a pound!  I paid $4.13 for it.  We had Easter Dinner, Ham and beans, ham and potato casserole with a Pinterest recipe, and all kinds of sandwiches and breakfasts.

6. If you see a deal on dry pasta, rice, etc., stock up.  Store brands are great for cooking  I found a lb. of spaghetti for$.77

7. Learn to make stuffing and bread pudding from stale bread.  There are awesome recipes in cookbooks and online,  Ask me if you want tips.  Marianna Esposito has  one using strawberries on her Ciao Italia! website.

8.  Try to grow herbs, tomatoes, strawberries in pots.  It saves a little money. You can boil tomatoes or make sauce and freeze it.

Assembled Greek Salad

Melted butter for baklava

Baklava ready for the oven

Finished Baklava

When you don't have time to Celebrate, Do it Anyway!

🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

Public Domain

Be careful what you wish for, or look forward to. After another grueling, sad year, I found myself looking forward to spring and to Easter.  I haven't looked forward to anything like this for a long, long time. When I was little, I loved Easter.  My mother was great at Easter Baskets, and we had places you could buy sugared eggs, decorated panorama eggs to save, chenille chicks and bunnies, all kinds of wonderful plush, you name it.   We loved our chocolate filled eggs, and we had lamb cake and made sweets.   We got into antique Easter ornaments, of course, and one year, I got all kinds of Easter décor for my birthday. We decorated our own eggs; one year, I even took a workshop on Pysanki eggs.  Easter trees were our specialty since I did one in Kindergarten.

Gourmet Sugar Cookies from Jewel-Dominick's

We also hit the road on Good Friday.  We would take off and go to Chicago, to the malls, or to New Salem and Springfield.  Once, we hit a snow storm and came home, our little dog Killer nibbling souvlaki from the old Skewer Inn, huddled in my lap, wrapped in his red check flannel blanket.  We drove home, and took a shorter trip the next day.  We were at a Holiday Inn near St. Louis one year; they had matsah and other Passover foods that evening.  It was a nice gesture.

We usually had adventures in Decatur when we went to St. Louis. My great grandmother is buried there, in the Greek section of one of the cemeteries.  We always get lost finding her.  My mom slipped one year; it was spooky.  My grandma wanted to be where she spoke the language.  Go figure.

Now, as it was with my parents, there are only three of us. Orthodox Easter is a week later, following Passover as it must.  Other years, I sang in the choir, or there were big to dos.  My mother read the Bible in Spanish on Easter morning, and sometimes, we went to the potluck at church.

My husband and I have had a hard month.  I have been sick all month, and an worn out  He has ben working nonstop. We are still having Easter, both American and Greek.  For tomorrow, also April Fools Day, we are going to church.  It is Palm Sunday in the Greek church, and we will take palm crosses to my parents afterwards for their graves.

I bought a small ham, bone in, only $4.13, at .29 per pound at Jewel.  On Pinterest, I found a potato casserole recipe, with crumbled bacon nad cheese on top.  I assembled it tonight and will bake it tomorrow.  We'll have salad, with the sliced heirloom tomato, and the sugar cookies from Jewel pictured.

I baked a gingerbread loaf mix that I got for Christmas.  It was part of a Hallmark gift bag and very nice. It filled the house with fragrance, which we all needed. 

In keeping with tradition I did a big Easter Basket for all of us, including  mothball eggs, cream eggs, Reese's bunny cereal in a box, knick knacks, just fun things. My husband tells me he has some surprises for me as well.  This makes me very happy; no one has done this for me in a while.

All these little things have brought us together.  It ties in with the memories of my family.  I sent boxes to relatives and a couple friends, and a few cards.  My mother liked doing this, and I'm carrying on her tradition.  There is a sense of normalcy in it.  The point is that we have not spent a fortune, and have used a lot of what we have, but we have made it festive and it will give hope to everyone.

Tomorrow will be very cold, but perhaps the sun will be out, as it did today.  Maybe the daffodils will also come out, and we will see bunny or two. 

Kalo Pascha!  Happy Easter!! 



Sliced, this gorgeous heirloom tomato will make a beautiful, simple salad.  Dress it with balsamic vinegar and
drizzle with feta cheese.

Easy Southwest Bake with rice and chicken, black beans, cheese, and salsa.  This is a nice
side dish for Easter lunch, or a great main feature.

Beautiful cards like this can make place cards or decorations.

First flowers of spring 2018.  A few in a glass jar make a lovely table centerpiece.

Vintage plush bunnies like this are great to set the mood for a simple Easter egg hunt.

Why We Love Dollhouses (And You Should Too!) - Ruby Lane Blog

Doll houses are great ways to recycle and repurpose.  Read Margaret Graces Miniature and Murder series for tips and craft ideas on how to make miniatures from almost anything.



Why We Love Dollhouses (And You Should Too!) - Ruby Lane Blog: The first dollhouses on record are probably the Dutch cabinet houses and Nuremburg doll houses, meant more for adults as cabinets of curiosities than for children.  The novel The Miniaturist is based on these. One great example that still survives is Mon Plaisir, from the 18th century. The Nuremberg House open, 1673 via Victoria and... Read more »

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Give us a Follow: Ruby Lane Dolls on Pinterest

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Give us a Follow: Ruby Lane Dolls on Pinterest: Here is the link to Ruby Lane Dolls on Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/rubylanedolls/ . Our boards cover our Blog, specials like ou...

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: "Citings" on Wiki of Erzebet in Popular Culture

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: "Citings" on Wiki of Erzebet in Popular Culture: It's been awhile since I posted fresh finds on Erzebet, especially in the arts and pop culture.  While Wikipedia itself  notes that the ...

Leprechauns and Dolls in Green - Ruby Lane Blog

Leprechauns and Dolls in Green - Ruby Lane Blog: 1909 German St. Patrick’s Day Embossed Postcard Irish Lady in Green Dress St Patrick’s Irish Boudoir Bed Doll Red Hair Shamrock Dress It’s almost that time for all things green. Leprechauns all over are gearing up to wear the green and toast the emerald isle!  Dolls in green look wonderful displayed around shamrocks and other... Read more »