Garden & Flower Show

In March, I went to our local Garden and Flower Show. It is a yearly event, held at the end of March, usually before Easter. It is a time for gardeners to get ideas, buy seeds and bulbs and have a generally nice time. I usually try to go on Friday even though it runs all weekend. Friday is by far the slowest day, so parking is still good and it's not as crowded as on the weekend. The one downside to Friday is that sometimes schools and retirement homes come in large groups.

I usually pack a wheelie cart and bring a snack and a couple of drinks, and spend the day. My ritual is to usually start out in the vendor room, and wander through to see if there's anything that I want to buy later on in the day. There are also free things given away, which is always a good thing. There are free samples of herb/sour cream and oil dips to try and then of course, buy. There are jams and nuts, and this year, there were fudge samples. I tried the Irish Crème. That seemed to be a very popular flavor this year. They had it in fudge, nuts and a dessert dip. There was also wine tasting, but I opted out of that one. I did not see the honey man this year, but with the economy it is hard to tell who is affected by that. I was looking for some ginger honey, and I thought if anyone would have it, he would.

After my one trip through the vendor room, I will then head down to the floor for the floral/landscape displays. This is always fun also, and usually smells really good (unless, of course, you have allergies). There is always a theme – this year's theme was Renaissance. I also noticed that there weren't a lot of actual flowers. There was a lot of greenery, and water displays.

Here are a few photographs. Try and find Bob hidden among the flowers and greenery.

Recipe - Pot Roast

I think we'll be making this for dinner tonight, so I thought I would share since others are looking for new recipes.

This is actually my mother's recipe, which should say something about the importance that brand names played in our family growing up since I believe the original recipe is from Reynold's Wrap or Lipton.

Ingredients/Supplies:

Reynold's Oven Bags - size large (you will need one bag and one tie, so save the rest for next time)
Bottom Round Roast, anywhere between 3 1/2 and 6 pounds (you'll just have to adjust the length of cooking time if it's too big.)  (And another note, do NOT pay more than $2.99/lb for this meat.  I like to pay around $1.79-1.99/lb, and you can cook it frozen if you forget to defrost it - just add 45 minutes to an hour to the cooking time.)  (You really can't overcook a pot roast.)

1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (put the other packet away for next time)
Either a russet potato for every 1-2 people or 2-3 cans of whole white potatoes, drained
5 medium sized onions, cut in quarters
1 bag of frozen baby carrots
4-6 cups of cold water
4 sprinkles of arrowroot starch or flour

Directions:
Place bag in roaster pan.  Put the whole piece of meat into the bag.  Pour over the onion soup mix over the top of the meat.  Add the potatoes, onions and carrots at the base of the meat.  Add in the water until it nearly covers the carrots or about a quarter of the way up the roast.  Add the starch to the water.  If you use flour, you will need to dissolve it into the water before you pour it in or it will make lumps.

Close the bag with the tie.

Poke holes in the bag with a knife.

Put in oven.  If oven is electric, just turn it on now, set for 350 degrees and cook for 20-30 minutes per pound, adding an hour to the end.  Time depends on how soft you like your meat.  If the roast is frozen, add 30-60 minutes to the cooking time on top of the extra hour.
If the oven is gas, you may want to preheat, but the cooking time will remain the same.

As little as four pounds will feed a family of 5, which includes a teenage boy.  This will, however leave no leftovers.

Serve in a bowl, and if you like bread, any bread will go with this.  It should be soft enough to cut with a fork.

(When I finish cooking mine for the evening, I'll add a photo to this entry.)

Free Comic Book Day

My annual announcement is late, but no less enthusiastic.

This upcoming Saturday is the first of May. It is also Free Comic Book Day.

Go to your local comic book store, get to know the staff and get some free comic books.

Comics are one of the first places that our children learn to enjoy reading. Let's encourage that. For groups opposed to comic books, there are many for a wide audience. My kids always find something appropriate to read, and even for me, a non-comic reader, it is an enjoyable day out.

Last year, we (they) got to sit in one of the original Batmobiles and we met John Hebert, one of DC's artists.

Our local comic store also has costumed characters, signed artwork, goodies, cookies or other food (because really, what goes better with comic books than junk food?) and of course, the free comic books:

Check out this website: Free Comic Book Day and your local comic store.

And of course, HAVE FUN!

For those interested, this will be Bob's first Free Comic Book Day. We'll see where we can twitpic him from.

*Also, on a related note, Ironman 2 comes out in theatres in less than a week.* May is starting out with fun times.

Tax Day Freebies (or Cheapies)

Sorry that this is so late. I've been dealing with things out of my control, but that is about to change. And speaking of change, this should save you a penny or two, but remember if you're paying for something that you wouldn't ordinarily buy, then you're not saving anything at all.

First, STARBUCKS. If you bring in your own travel mug to a participating (they all have that disclaimer) Starbucks, you will receive a free cup of coffee. I believe that there is no purchase necessary. This goes on all day.

If you're interested in breakfast, McDonald's has a special. Buy an Egg McMuffin and get the second on for a penny. So if you go to Starbucks first and then the McDonald's drive-thru, you've got breakfast for about $2, depending on where you are in the country.

If you're not interested in breakfast, then try lunch. McDonald's has the same deal for the Big Mac - buy one at regular price, get the second one for a penny.

If burgers aren't your thing, you can go to Taco del Mar, but you'll have to download your coupon first for a free taco in their Taxes Suck, Tacos Don't promotion.

Subway restaurants and Chick-Fil-A have promotions in Virginia, but it never hurts to check your own.

Cinnabon's mall locations will give you two free mini-bite cupcakes between 6 and 8pm because Tax Day Bites.

Staples will give you 30 copies for free of tax-related documents.

IHOP has a promotion all month long for a free kids' meal with the purchase of an adult meal between 4 and 10pm.

Hydromassage in the malls has a free massage from Thursday through Saturday. They recommend calling ahead.

Boston Market - if you buy a meal, you get the second one free. This requires a coupon that you download and is good Thursday through Sunday.

Smokey Bones restaurant offers a free appetizer with any purchase.

These were all I found this year, but if you google free tax day food, check out other offers, but check the date on the articles. I kept getting last year's stuff, and read everything. Some require a printed coupon.

I have just found out that I made a mistake on my taxes that I mailed on Tuesday, so now I get to spend tomorrow on the phone with the IRS and try to figure out how to fix it. It will be okay. At least I filed on time. They didn't say you had to file correctly, and I won't owe any money. In fact, I may get back a little more, but at the moment, I'm not sure.

For me, the sad thing is that I don't drink coffee and my husband doesn't eat Big Macs, so we will probably abstain this year.

Sources: Retailer's own websites, http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-tax-free-stuff,0,1117447.story, http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-04-15-taxdaypromos15_ST_N.htm,