Save or Splurge? Kitchen Edition.

{ Worth every penny! }

It seems like money is tighter for everyone these days.  Or, at the very least, we're all trying to be smarter on how we save and spend.  In our house, that means we eat out less and think twice about unnecessary new things.  I buy store brands when I can and I've even become a pretty dedicated coupon user. { Gasp!  I know.  More on that later. }

But in all this saving, there are some places that the scrimp just isn't worth it.  I'm a girl who'd rather have one really awesome, really nice pair of shoes that I wear constantly { currently, it's these beauties } over ten cheap pair that hurt my feet.  It's cost per wear that counts in my mind!

I get what that means in my closet.  But what does it mean in my other favorite place, the kitchen?  I have to admit, I've bought store brand on some things and ended up throwing them away because the loss of quality just wasn't worth it.  But in other cases, I can discern no difference.  So here, in my experience, is where it's best to save and where it's best to splurge in the kitchen.

Save

Paper Products - We get all of our paper towels, trash bags and the like at Costco.  I buy their Kirkland Signature brand.  The major warehouse stores have crazy high standards for their private label items.  They demand that they meet or exceed the quality of the top national brands.  I have a good friend who used to market bath tissue, and packaged her expensive brand for a warehouse club as their private label!  Same stuff, much better price.  The same goes for trash bags, aluminum foil, etc. 

{ These even fit our SimpleHuman trash can! }

Wine - It doesn't have to be crazy expensive to be good.  And just because it's expensive, doesn't mean that it's good, either.  If you like it, that's all that matters.  There's no reason you can't get a good - even great - bottle for less than $15. 

Butter - Someone tried to tell me once that good butter makes a big difference.  I bake all the time, and I use the store brand stuff.  So does my mom.  As long as you're not storing it next to a cut onion in the refrigerator, I say save away. 

Baking Basics - From a chemical perspective, sugar is sugar!  Same with baking soda, flour and more.  I pour mine into air-tight canisters as soon as I get home, so it's not worth the extra money for ten minutes with a Dixie Crystals logo. : )

Splurge

Olive Oil  - Keep a small bottle of the the best kind you can afford for use in salad dressing, dipping bread, etc..  If you're just going to sauté something in olive oil, the lesser expensive varieties are perfectly fine.

Vanilla Extract - Avoid imitation vanilla extract { read: not vanilla }.  It's made from coal tar.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Coal tar. And it takes twice as much imitation vanilla to equal the flavor of the real deal.  A little bit of vanilla extract goes a long way, so a good bottle will last.  I love Neilsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla best.  Many specialty retailers carry it, including the Williams-Sonoma Outlet!

Organic Greens - I have a nutritionist friend who swears that the only time it's worth buying organic produce is for things that are hard to wash, like lettuce or spinach.  A good, quick scrub should remove pesticide residue from other vegetables, fruits, etc.

Organic Milk - We don't drink a ton of milk in our house.  I started buying organic milk largely because the expiration date is so much further out and I was tired of pouring out wasted milk.  But, the more I read, the more I prefer to avoid scary stuff like rBS and rGBH.  And although I buy organic milk, it's still Publix brand!

Honestly, though, it all comes down to what you value.  So where do you save and splurge?

There's a reason I love big hats!

Today's not about the kitchen.  More of a friendly PSA from yours truly.

Growing up in Florida, sunburn was a fact of life.  Sure, we wore sunscreen when we went to the beach.  But when you're sort of red-headed like me, and you pray that one day all of your freckles will run together so that you have a tan... there's only so much you can do to prevent it.

See?  I've always worn sunscreen!

Fast forward to this past June.  Spencer and I had just gotten home from our honeymoon and I went for my annual appointment at the dermatologist.  I've been going regularly for several years now and have had more biopsies than I can count.  Everything always came back benign.

But this time, a seemingly harmless little freckle turned out to be melanoma.  Early stage, but not as early as it could have been.  I had surgery three days later and at this point I'm pretty much back to normal.  (Except that now I go to the dermatologist every three months.  She and I have a love / hate relationship.)

I went this morning for a secondary excision of irregular cells from my back.  It's just part of being vigilant in keeping the cancer at bay.  I'll be doing this sort of thing for the rest of my life.  You see, early stage melanoma is very treatable with nearly a 100% survival rate.  But left to grow... this stuff is seriously bad news.  It's like an iceberg.  Small on the surface, but much larger underneath. (My little smaller-than-a-pencil-eraser freckle left a five-inch scar!)

In fact, melanoma:

• Is the fastest growing cancer in the United States and worldwide.
• Is the deadliest form of skin cancer.
• Is the primary cause of cancer death in women ages 25-29.
• Can strike men and women of all ages and all races, even people with naturally dark skin.

(Love this red hat.  And the Dawgs.
Even when they lose.)

I started going to the dermatologist four years ago because my friend Lisa told me about her brush with melanoma and it made me make an appointment.  If I had waited until I had something scary-looking to make one... well, I'm glad I didn't.  My mom's been in for a check now, as well as my sister, my hairdresser and who knows who else.  So like Lisa, I tell my story in hopes that someone else will catch theirs early, too.

For more information about melanoma and other forms of skin cancer, check out The Skin Cancer Foundation.  And if you see me at the beach, please don't make fun of my enormous hat. : )

Perfect Pancakes

Happy National Pancake Day!


Let me start off by saying that up until a few months ago, I was a waffle fan.  Hardcore.  I think my dad is the only person on earth who can simultaneously burn the outside of a pancake while the inside is still raw and gooey.  It's a talent.  My sister knows what I'm talking about.  She reacted by starting to make the pancakes at our house, and I reacted with a serious love of waffles.  (I'm older.  There were a good few years with our sweet Dad and his dual pancakes before Kates came along!)

{ Not my photo.  Not my recipe, either. But YUM! }

But, one Friday morning recently, I came into work to the sounds of quite a party in the breakroom.  Now, spontaneous parties aren't entirely uncommon in our office and they usually involve food.  This party in particular was the birth of the Pancake Posse.  We're talking electric griddles, colorful aprons, Motown music, and the pancakes that converted me.


This recipe comes from the kitchen of my sweet coworker and baker extraordinaire, Anna Queen.  I'm so glad she was kind enough to share it with me!  And if you work with us... don't fret.  There's another spontaneous pancake party in the works.  Just listen for Motown.


Pancake Posse Pancakes


These pancakes are perfectly fluffy and they hold their own with a variety of mix-ins.  My favorite?  Crushed Nature Valley granola bars (the crunchy ones... just pop them in a food processor for a few seconds) with blueberries.  My sister would vote for chocolate chips.

• 1 egg
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together and allow it several minutes to rest.  Then, pour and flip away.  Enjoy!

Just Peachy

Nothing says Georgia like peaches!  As a kid, my grandparents would take us to Montezuma in the summer to pick our own, and we'd bring back a whole bushel.  We'd have cobbler and ice cream until we popped.  (Unless of course I managed to get the rock salt into the ice cream instead of onto the ice... which may or may not have happened once or twice. : )

We had friends over this afternoon to send summer out in style (and let the boys watch football), so I thought one last peach cobbler would be the perfect way to end the season.  While I love the crumbly, strudel-like topping my mom makes, I went for a Paula Dean recipe today instead.  Something about the way that the crust starts out on the bottom and yet somehow winds up on top is just fun.  And it's perfectly thick without being too dense.

I used a mixture of traditional and white peaches, as I couldn't find enough traditional peaches that were ripe to my liking at the grocery store.  That, and I didn't realize I'd gotten three regular and and two white ones until we got home.  Apparently it didn't matter much, because between the seven of us we nearly ate the dish clean!

Paula's Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.
2. Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.
4. Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
5. To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.