Dec

10

Holiday Shopping Tips

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Happy holidays! Today I am featuring two places that can help you finish your gift shopping.

Chef’s Catalog specializes in high-end products and usually has the price tag to match; however, their Sale Items usually have some good deals and hidden treasures. Right now they have the following in their Sale area:

They have a free gift wrap deal on orders placed before December 12. Their recipe collection is also worth browsing.

Christmas Forest Cascade WreathChristmas Forest has been making and shipping beautiful handmade wreaths since 1976. I first heard of them in 1996 when I was living in Saudi Arabia (go figure). One of the teachers at the school placed several of their brochures in the workroom and said that she had been buying the wreaths as Christmas gifts for her family ever since she moved overseas. She said the wreaths were beautiful, and they certainly looked good in the photos. I took her advice and ordered wreaths for my family. All the recipients raved about how beautiful they were and how *good* they smelled when they arrived. They also said that the wreaths held up well throughout the holidays.

I ordered one for myself the first year I was back in the U.S., and I have ordered them every year ever since. They have lots of styles available, but the Cascade (pictured) is my personal favorite. The wreaths are made from boughs that are trimmed from the trees each year to help promote growth, so they are sustainably harvested.

Nov

2

Lodge Logic Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Set On Sale

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Lodge Manufacturing has a good deal on a basic 5-piece set of their excellent pre-seasoned cast iron cookware. The set includes:

  • 8-inch skillet,
  • 10 1/4-inch skillet,
  • 5-quart Dutch oven with lid that also fits the 10 1/4-inch skillet, and
  • 10 1/2-inch griddle.

The part number is L5HS3, and the set is on sale for just $59.95 until Monday November 12.

Oct

17

Amazon’s Deal of the Day

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Lodge Pro-Logic 7-quart Dutch OvenFor you cast iron fans, Amazon has the Lodge Pro-Logic 7-quart Dutch Oven on sale today in the Gold Box for just $39.99, a savings of 43%. The Logic and Pro-Logic product lines all come pre-seasoned and ready to use. Free Super Saver Shipping with this one, too. Offer expires October 18.

Oct

10

Great Source for Cookbooks: Jessica’s Biscuit, www.ecookbooks.com

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I began my cookbook collection when I was in high school with the purchase of Farm Journal’s Homemade Breads, the 1985 version. I wasn’t an avid cook or even an occasional cook, but I loved bread (still do) and thought that someday I would learn how to make my own. Well, I did learn how to make my own bread, and from that simple beginning my cookbook collection has slowly grown over the years to well over 100, although I’m not exactly sure of the current number. The last count two years ago come in somewhere around 130, and my collection has definitely grown since then!

I’m always on the lookout for great deals on cookbooks, and I’ve picked up used books from eBay, yard sales, or Freecycle, and years ago I belonged to a cookbook-of-the-month type club. Recently I came across a great source for cookbooks that has been alive and well for quite some time but is a new find for me. Jessica’s Biscuit® has been selling cookbooks for 27 years, first out of the family living room and now in a large warehouse in Massachusetts. This boutique bookseller focuses on cookbooks and caters to cookbook collectors. Their selection of over 14,000 titles runs the gamut, including new releases, bestsellers, out-of-print or hard-to-find, and the skills levels range from basic to gourmet. They do offer a few other genres of books as well as their own label of single origin coffee beans, but selling cookbooks is their specialty.

They offer everyday discounts at 20-75% off retail, and they have some nice perks for buyers Read more

Oct

9

Subscribe and Save on Amazon.com

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Amazon Grocery has a great beta feature called Subscribe & Save, which makes shopping much easier for those basic items that we use and restock frequently. It allows you to set up subscriptions to have items automatically shipped to you on a schedule that you specify, which you can cancel at any time. You only pay when an item ships. The convenience alone was enough for me to check it out, because I hate running out of certain things, but they top off the offer with free shipping on every Subscribe & Save shipment plus a discount on Amazon’s everyday price. Can’t beat that!

I have found the service particularly useful for dry goods such as diapers and paper products, but especially (sorry guys) feminine hygiene products. Most of the items are sold in bulk, so a shipment may actually have multiple packages of the item. Each item varies, so make sure you read the product description carefully.

Amazon has many products available for Subscribe & Save, and here’s a few of their current deals (all prices US$):