How to Cook Without A Book

Besides dumpster diving and mooching off your friends, the ultimate frugal cuisine is--yes--COOKING. Especially if you use what you have. I have been using my leg of lamb for many meals, too many. And today, Funny About Money posted about a luscious-sounding soup she made with odds and ends.

Of course, the reason that Funny can do that is because she knows how to cook. I know how to cook too. That's why I can do it. I did not learn to cook till I was an adult. Like many, I slavishly followed recipes. Now I can put together many things sans recipe because I have some basic templates in my head.

I've written about this book before, but it is worth mentioning again. Pam Anderson put together a book of templates.

Another book I have--though I seldom use it--directly addresses the Mother Hubbard syndrome: what to cook when you have nothing to cook.

Hey! You can get that tome for a mere penny plus shipping. That's pretty frugal. This is a skill that's even more critical these days when we are all short of time AND money. Plus, of course, the gas to get to the store grows ever more expensive.

What do you cook when you have nothing to cook?

Frugal Bathroom Remodel: Aesthetics vs Frugality

Still in the thinking stage. We had our kitchen contractor out for a look-see. He liked my idea: to add on to the larger of our two inadequate bathrooms by bumping out another small space. This would lead to a two-part room, with a sink in the entry space and the bath and toilet in the new space. Plus we could put in a little storage space. The current space does not have room for a towel rack.

The bid wasn't too bad. We could do it. And maybe we will. But then I realized how we could bump out the other bathroom and put in a tub. The current shower--which probably cost under $100, I kid you not--is tiny and the cheapest plastique. Mr. FS won't even use it and he's on the thin side. Anyway, that shower could be removed and turned into a closet! Mr. FS estimates that the cost would be around 40% of the other plan.

As usual, I start out by trying to do the conventional thing, but then my frugality comes up against the norm. That is why I don't have a backsplash in my kitchen (I don't like them and they are expensive). In spite of dire predictions, the wall looks fine.

The contractor said that we would need a tub surround and that decent quality surrounds cost about $1000 for material plus labor. Tiling--the beautiful solution--is much more expensive. Oh no! I don't want that ugly surround! I also don't want expensive tilework.

I know! Let's put in a tub with no shower--or a little hand shower.

So the combination of my aesthetics and my frugality is going to lead--once more--to a choice that will mystify others. I love my kitchen, which satisfied both aesthetics and frugality, but my sister-in-law, extremely conventional, said, when I showed her pictures, "OK, so where are the AFTER PICTURES?"

Here's what I'm reading.

Any words of wisdom?

Frugal French Lessons from Monoprix

Frugal Son learned a good bit of French at the market in Nantes. Being frugal--we're not sure if it's by nature or nurture--he also paid attention to prices. He noted that, while in the USA, some meat is very cheap (chicken, pork), some is medium-priced (beef), and some is very expensive (lamb and veal), in France, all meat is about the same price: expensive. He advised us to buy the meat that's expensive or unavailable here. Good point for our own sojourn in Nantes.

Now that I've discovered the Monoprix site, I can peruse it to practice my French. I was looking at a tank top and learned a new verb. That's not so unusual for me, whose French was forged in an American high school (excellent teachers, btw), but it was new for Mr FS also and his French is or was at the level of fluency.

On craque pour ce beau débardeur à cotes en coton. Indispensable pour l'été, on le porte dans toutes les couleurs et on l'associe avec toutes nos tenues estivales. Une jupe, un pantalon, un cardigan ou une petite veste : il va avec tout !

Craquer pour: Google translates as "We love," but it seems stronger than that in context. Also of interest: the price. This cotton tank is under 5 euros. Similarly, a cute striped tee shirt (very French, a mariniere) is under 10 euros. Remember that in France, all tax is included. These are far less than similar items would be in the USA, even on sale.

Other items on the site are much more expensive, at or-usually above--prices here.

Not that we bring much back. We are one-bag travelers. We usually bring back sea salt (in a neat box), sugar cubes (ditto), and almond-scented soap (Frugal Son likes this).

By the way, two elegant bloggers have recently given their imprimatur to Monoprix: see A FEMME and UNE FEMME. In fact, they went to Monoprix together: how I wish I could have tagged along.

Here is the French sugar. See why we bring it back from France?

So...any other bargains to be found in France for the frugal traveler?

Supper of the Lamb Part 2

Yes, we still have lamb. Frugal Son--and his big appetite--left for his summer job at the ADVANCE Program at his beloved high school. He will be eating cafeteria food. We will be eating lamb, forever, it seems. We took a few days off from the lamb.

Third Meal: Syrian Lamb with Caramelized Onions in Yogurt Sauce. This is from Diana Kennedy and I usually make it with chicken. Far, far better with lamb.

Fourth Meal: Lamb risotto with eggplant and onions, from the internet somewhere.

Fifth Meal: I'm going a little crazy! It's 100 degrees and lamb seems so heavy. AH HA! How about a lamb panini? Various restaurants serve with feta and eggplant concoctions.

Here's the Diana Kennedy recipe, from my previous post.

Cook 1 onion in 2 TBS butter--caramelize it.

Put 1 beaten egg in 2 cups plain yogurt. Cook over lowish heat, stirring till it bubbles and thickens.

Add 1/4 cup (optional) broth to yogurt mix.

Add 2 cups cubed, cooked meat, salt and pepper. Stir till heated through. Sprinkle with dried mint.

Kennedy forgets to mention the onion again, but either stir it into the melange or use as a topping.

Serve with bulgur or brown rice...or white rice...or couscous. All would be better than pasta.


When it's 100 degrees out, I like to read Elizabeth David. Which book? Summer Cooking, of course.

We will have a few more lamb suppers. Any ideas?

Frugal Florence with Faith Willinger

I've only been to Italy once, but I am in love with the ethos of Italian cooking. It seems to me that there is an inherent frugality in Italian recipes. Miss Em is exploring the markets and shops of Florence and she's lucky enough to be residing in an apartment with a kitchen.

I just sent her a link to the website of the wonderful Faith Willinger, an American who is married to an Italian and has lived in Florence for many years. Here is her recipe for Aqua Cotta--or cooked water. Check out her website. Just some water, chard, eggs, bread...and a few other things.

I have this cookbook, which is a trove of the simplest recipes imaginable.

What would you cook in a kitchen in Florence?

How to Save Money on Food in Italy

I'm still decluttering books! Ridiculous, I know. I ran into Jerry, owner of a short-lived used bookstore. So sad. He had the bad luck of opening right before Katrina, compounded by a business sense so poor that even I could see things he was doing wrong. Perhaps running into Jerry after several years was a sign, of what, I do not know.

Until I make more progress, I will be unable to respond to your comments. Sorry, readers! Meanwhile, here is a post taken from Miss Em's email. She is exploring Florence and discovering that if you want to see Italian life you need to get away from the tourist attractions (after seeing the attractions, of course). Getting into areas frequented by regular people has the bonus of offering food just as good at about 1/3 the price.

Miss Em also offers the travel tip of prophylactic food: eating so you WON'T have to interrupt your adventures to eat something that is probably not very good.

My other roommate hadn't eaten yet today, and so said she wanted to grab something along the way. Ugh. Bad travel ethics.

Even eating some bread and cheese before you go is a better idea.

She bought a 15euro sandwich or whatever. They had better-looking ones in our neighborhood for 3. I know it's someone else's money and decision (or lack thereof) and shouldn't bother me, but it does, it does, it does.

(It's been interesting to price-gauge around here. In the most
touristy part of my neighborhood, a coffee is 2.5 euro. A little
farther out, down the street Borgo Pinti, they are 1 euro. By the
Duomo, they are around 4 or 5 euro.

Also, I did a market-to-supermarket fruit comparison, and the fresh
stuff in the stalls is actually CHEAPER than in the grocery! Now
that's what I'm talking about!)


The last sentence of the email: I am in Paradise.

For those of us stuck at home, there's always literature. How about this one?

And if you want the view, watch the movie!

Decluttering: Good Tip from a Good Book

Decluttering continues apace. After a bit of decluttering that brings a bit of cash in, we continue with plain vanilla decluttering: stuff out.

Some of the recipients of my weekend decluttering were closed for Memorial Day. The library will be receiving about 150 books, which they will sell for a paltry amount, making them a teeny bit of money and some readers happy. For the FREE BOX, Miss Em will be providing around 50 style magazines. That will make some people very happy also.

We will get the WHOOSH that comes from emptying out the clogged arteries of your space.

Because I am naturally a messy accumulator, I read decluttering books for motivation and the occasional tip. NORMAL people do these things naturally. For me, a heretofore unthought-of tip is as momentous as the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Cortez (really Balboa) in the sonnet by John Keats.

OK. Here's the tip. When you are decluttering use WHITE garbage bags for donations and BLACK garbage bags for garbage. That way, you never need to look inside the bag! Here's the brilliant tome where I discovered that tip by Susan Pinsky.

And for the work of another genius, check out this sonnet by John Keats.

On first looking into Chapman's Homer

MUCH have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told 5
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken; 10
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.