Blog-Ruptcy

In his book The Art of Non-Conformity, Chris Guillebeau offers a suggestion for what to do when email has just become too much to deal with.  He says that, when all else fails, you should declare email bankruptcy.  That is, delete every message in your inbox, and send out something like, "Hey, I just declared email bankruptcy and deleted everything in my inbox.  If I missed replying to your message, please forgive me."

Extreme and scary, maybe, but effective.

So, The Frugal Hostess has decided to do something similar on this here blog.  FruHo is declaring blog-ruptcy.  What does that mean?

1.  No more ads.  After almost two years, TFH has made less than $20 in ad revenue.  Not worth the ugliness, IHHO (in her humble opinion).  So they're outta here.

2.  No more product reviews.  FruHo often gets sent free books and cooking equipment and all kinds of other stuff.  So much stuff, in fact, that it is overflowing from a giant box under her desk.  She will never get around to writing about all that free loot, and the guilt is killing her.  So, no more.  (Note to publishers, et al: feel free to keep sending free stuff; just know that, unless it is SPECTACULAR, it won't be making an appearance here.)

Listen, there is nothing wrong with trying to make money from your blog, and The Frugal Hostess has a number of projects up her sleeve that she hopes will do just that.  These are just not the methods she wants to pursue any longer.  FruHo will continue to post Amazon affiliate links to books and products that come up in the course of posts, because they aren't obtrusive and make it easy for a reader to find something.  And, you know, if you'd like to send a check, feel free.

OK, blog-ruptcy has been declared.  TFH feels so much better now!

The Story of Bottled Water

If you can't see the video in your reader, click through; it's worth it!

Do you know about this?

This is so cool.

For $10 a month, you get a box of makeup and beauty supplies.

What's not to love?

Maybe that.

UPDATE: A quick on the draw reader tried to subscribe and was told that they are sold out.  Birchbox answered FruHo's query about their sold-out status with this, "Yup, we're temporarily sold out of subscriptions. But not to worry — if you readers join the waitlist now, they'll be first in line when we have additional supply. We don't ask for any commitment and we'll email them as soon as they can join."  TFH apologizes for teasing you with a product you can't even buy at the moment!

Breakfast Tomorrow: Chocolate Chip Bacon Pancakes

The Frugal Hostess may not have ever mentioned this, but she has a personal chef* that prepares all of her meals.  Recently, when Coach Brother-in-Law was visiting, FruHo commanded the chef to prepare a magnificent breakfast feast.  Here is what FruHubs made.

Chocolate Chip Bacon Pancakes

Yep, you heard correctly.  Rad.

Ingredients:

Pancake batter recipe

Chocolate chips

Bacon (cooked)

Directions:

1.  Make pancake batter.

2.  Add chocolate chips.

3.  Add cooked, crumbled bacon.

4.  Cook pancakes in a cast iron skillet.

5.  Drizzle a tiny amount of syrup on them and eat.

6.  Remove defibrillators from closet and apply to chest to restart heart.

You'll notice in these pictures that CheFruHubs is using a weird looking bowl.  It's called the MixerMate, and it is shaped that way to keep the batter from flying all around when you use a hand mixer.  Really, The Frugal Hostess could care less about this bowl, based on having a personal chef and all, but the chef thought it was a pretty cool tool.  Thanks, Beater Blade, for sending FruHo that free bowl to force upon her chef slash husband try out!

*Total lie.

The Frugal Sandwich?

The Frugal Hostess spent a recent Saturday checking in on two of her favorite food pioneers in the city.

The Infidel

FruHubs

First up was a visit to the Irwin Street Market.  Home of Jake's Ice Cream, Candi's for Breakfast, and King of Pops, Irwin Street is an incubator for food entrepreneurs.  The latest and greatest to launch there is Picnic!, "comfort food, Southern style."  TFH and FruHubs accidentally ordered the same sandwich, the Infidel, which is the Picnic! version of a Cubano.  Good stuff, but they were pissed to miss the Fried Green Tomato BLT, which should actually be called the Southern South Sandwich of the South (pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, bacon, and pear pepper relish).

There are all kinds of desserts at Irwin Street Market, but FruHo had other plans for post-luncheon sweets.  She dragged FruHubs on a wild goose chase of carsickness and potholes to arrive at their next destination, because she was "sure" she knew how to get there.  Not so.  No matter, because now that's she's been, she'll never forget again.  The owner is a genius and, in the never-ending saga of all roads leading to North Florida, the true love of an old friend of The Frugal Hostess, which only clicked after meeting her three times.  Duh.

Sugar Coated Radical from Keith Roberts on Vimeo.

Now that you've watched the video, you will no doubt want to go there.  Here's how.  You're welcome.

So, word on the street is that TFH's friend Jake at Picnic! is going to name a sandwich after her.  What should be on it?  Leave your idea in the comments.

New Slow Carb Recipe - Faux Tuna Nicoise

This was really good, and a nice change from eating chicken and beans in a bowl.

Salad Dressing Ingredients:

3/4 cup canola or olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

One clove roasted garlic

Teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper

Directions:

1.  Put all of the above in a glass jar and shake until emulsified.

2.  The Frugal Hostess never measures this; just do it by eye, and taste it as you go.

3.  In other words, make vinaigrette.

Salad Ingredients:

Spinach 

Iceberg (or whatever lettuce you have.  It's prettier with the color contrast.) 

Can of cannelini beans

Tuna, one can per person

Red onion

Capers

Boiled eggs, one per person, quartered

Artichoke hearts, quartered (from the jar is fine)

Kalamata olives, halved, four per person

Anchovies to taste

Directions:

1.  Wash and cut the spinach and lettuce.  Chiffonade would be ideal.

2.  Mix greens and cannelini beans, then toss with vinaigrette.

3.  Toss tuna in a bowl with salt and pepper, a few drops of the vinaigrette, and an optional few dashes of Tabasco.

4.  After putting a bed of lettuce on the plate, make a small mound of tuna in the center.  Top with diced red onion and capers.

5.  Arrange remaining ingredients symmetrically around the plate, and then mess it all up by eating it!

This is certainly no culinary mountain top, but it's good.  Enjoy!

Five Essential Things

The Frugal Hostess is a blogger, so she reads a lot of blogs.  That makes it easier to rip off other people's ideas.  In today's episode, TFH is copying sosser from bricolagelife and detailing her five essentials for every day.  Here FruHo's Five Daily Essentials:

1.  Blackberry.  Listen, don't come calling with your iPhone siren song.  TFH needs a phone that can actually make and receive phone calls, and an iPhone that isn't.  And the Android that she mistakenly purchased over the summer could not send or receive email.  So there goes that, "smart" phone.  Blackberry it is.  FruHo may or may not have to take the battery out twice a day to reset the acid trip flashback the screen is experiencing, but she will always love it.

2.  Whey protein shake and/or boiled eggs.  These are the only things The Frugal Hostess can really swallow within 30 minutes of waking up without throwing up.  (See: Diet, Effed Up; by Tim Ferriss)

3.  Swim cap and goggles.  This is so she can looks as ridiculous as possible at the pool every morning and/or night.  It also helps when she gets a cramp in her right foot and starts swimming like a one-legged man.

4.  Earplugs.  To sleep.  And be awake.  Silence FTW.

5.  The F Word.  This should be obvious.  If not, you have accidentally reached the wrong blog. Please check the number and dial again.

OK, good.