Broccoli Cashew Salad

I made this yesterday and it was so good!!  I had pinned it on Pinterest but the original pin comes from All Recipes and here it is.  The thing that I like about All Recipes is that you can automatically change the serving number, this salad originally made 8 servings, I changed it to 2 servings - it was perfect with some leftover chicken wings made on the weekend and still leftovers left for lunch today.

I am sharing the recipe for two, check out the recipe and make it for however many you want...

Broccoli Cashew Salad

1/4 lb. bacon - I used 3 slices

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. cider vinegar - I didn't have any, I used rice vinegar

2 tbsp. white sugar

1/2 pound fresh broccoli, broken into florets - I used 2 cups

2 tbsp. raisins

1/4 cup roasted cashews - I didn't roast them

1/8 red onion, finely chopped.

Place the bacon in frying pan and cook over medium high heat, until browned and crisp.  Drain the bacon on a paper towel lined plate.  Cool bacon and crumble into pieces.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar in a mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the broccoli, raisins, cashews, onion and bacon.  Stir until evenly coated.  Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours.  Let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Linking up this great little recipe with Share Your Cup Thursday

The Goods!!

I'm finally getting around to getting the goods photographed that we bought on our trip  now I can put everything away.  We happened upon a few thrifts and stopped at a few antique markets, I think the Maumee Antique Mall in Ohio is clearly the biggest one we have ever been in - it is advertised as one of America's largest - over 2.75 acres/110,000 square feet - that's a lot of booths and a lot to look at - we were there for a few hours!!!  

I was most excited about getting this blow mold cookie jar, I have been wanting one for a long time, my heart skipped a beat when I spotted one, sadly, when I looked at the price, it was way too much, I was so disappointed, but my disappointment turned to glee, I found one in another booth for half the price - finally, I have one!!!!

This cute ceramic Santa container has "Betts" on the bottom, I couldn't find anything similiar...have you seen one like this?

Staying on the Christmas theme - these were at a discount booth - as soon as I saw these, I knew I was buying them -   made in Japan baby Christmas slippers - aren't they the sweetest?

I didn't find any Scotch tape dispensers, but I did find these Scotch containers - at different shops.

Don't laugh at me for buying this but I figured it was as close as I would probably ever get to a Lefton Miss Dainty cookie jar, even if it is missing the lid - it was on sale, I wonder why?  Hah!!  She doesn't look so bad without her cover, I think I would have had buyers remorse if I hadn't of purchased it.  But, I would be interested in the lid, if anyone ever comes upon one!!

I bought these vintage cookbooks at a Goodwill, along with a couple of other things, including a Vera scarf, the bill was less than $3, everything I bought had a discount - that was my kind of store!!!

These books have the cutest illustrations - two are missing covers, good for SMASHing, I'd say!!

I also bought these paper place mats at the same shop, why, I don't really know, you know sometimes there are just things you think you need to buy - this was definitely one of them - I'm not out much, probably about 25 cents.

Of course, no trip is complete for me without a Vera or two - I did really well, I paid $6 for one scarf, the rest were all $2 or less - and then when I got home, I had a scarf waiting in the mailbox from Sir Thrift a Lot - once again, thank you so much, it was very kind for you to think of me!!

I went to a local charity yard sale on Friday, it was definitely not as good as other years, I came home with this one item, I can't believe it was sitting there with the tag and stickers still intact, in my mind, everything else there was junk - a Josef Original Christmas music box, I gave them $1 for it.

When my husband and I hit those antique markets, we start out together for the first couple of booths, then he goes his way, I go mine, he's always looking for different things for the game room - he found some great things..

A tin game themed tray...

He paid $5 for this set - only missing the green felt mat...the money looks like it was never used..

He is always looking at bagatelle games, but they are never reasonably priced - he has a wooden one which is really old, now he has a baseball one in the original box - and he got a discount on it, it's in perfect shape!!

It's so much fun to get away and pick up some neat things along the way, considering that the opportunities for such things seem to be lessening all the time around here!   I went to an estate sale yesterday, which we very rarely ever see around here,  bought nothing, it was no good at all, then I went on to a church sale, there were lots of older ladies manning the tables, but there was nothing good there either, I didn't buy a thing!!!  Sales are just not great around here so far this year!!! 

Don't forget Melissa has taken over Thrifty Things Friday, check it out!  Sir Thrift a Lot has his link up going as well - Thriftasaurus

Travel with Me

Last Friday we set out on a little trip - we drove to Toronto to visit with our son for a few days, then we moved on to the US - our destination being The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio - we have been wanting to go there for a while, we listen to the Classic Rock channel all the time on XMSirius Radio, they broadcast right from the Rock Hall - we saw the Alan Freed Studio where all the music happens and so much more - there are seven floors of exhibits, if we went back tomorrow, we'd see things that we didn't see the first time round.  If you love music, that's the place to go - loved it!!!  Our trek took us into New York, Pennsylvania for a little bit, Ohio and then on to Michigan - so much fun!! We had family time,  saw lots of neat things, ate great food, stopped at numerous thrifts and antique markets -that's a post for another day! 

Travel along with me - here's a few sights along the way...

Look at the price on those mushrooms - $249.99 a pound - they should be under lock and key - I just had to take a picture of that!!  

The Maple Leaf is constructed out of seats from the old Maple Leaf Gardens - that's where we were - it's a huge grocery store now - and that's where the mushrooms were!

Yes, that's Mason Jars  you see in that light fixture - at Union Social - the food was delicious there!!

The famous CN Tower.

That's my handsome son and his lovely lady - at Granite Brewery - another great meal!

We bought lobsters - they're getting ready to go in the pot!

No trip is complete without delicious food - is it??

Sights along the way, including the longest covered bridge in the US - Smolen Gulf, Ohio

Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland - that bus belonged to Johnny Cash - there were compartments for him, June and their son, you wonder how they ever moved around in there - it was so cramped - only four people were allowed in at a time.

There is just so much to look at, there's no time to be taking pictures, but I did get a few.  That's a Doors display, Michael Jackson costume, a letter from Charles Manson to Rolling Stone, gowns that the Supremes wore.

Lower left is me at the Rock Hall - we were there until closing, the crowd has thinned out at that point, it's a miracle there is no one else in the picture.  Lower right is the Christmas Story House, also in Cleveland, yes, that's the house from the movie, the leg light is even in the window.  By the time we got there, it was closed but I was happy just to see it - that's on the list for next time!  The horse was outside of a Target in Saginaw, Michigan and that's the Makinac Bridge, what a structure!

We had such a great time - six days on the road - it was great!!!

Hey, I'm listening to Classic Rock right now - I saw the DJ just a few days ago!!!!  

365 SMASHbook - Part 3

Here are the final pages in the 365 SMASHbook - I didn't edit any of these pics, no cropping, just taking the picture and posting - you can click on any pic for a closer view.

As you can see, I did a few pages for Halloween, I loved doing these!!

This is my least favourite page in the book, I didn't like it before I SMASHed it and I don't like it after, it's just so plain...

I don't have many Christmas pages in this book because I had the special Christmas SMASHbook which I completed.

I used Mom's fruitcake recipe and that's her can that she used to keep the fruitcake in.

Last page - COMPLETED!!

365 SMASHbook - Part 2

Here we go with Part 2 of the 365 SMASHbook - 

This is the page that completed that book for me - this year's Mother's Day

I started the 365 with this page last year - a Mother's Day page for my Mom - it is all things she liked - that is a card she made on the left hand page, I also put one of her hankies from her collection in the pocket.

It was the Summer of the Sopranos for us - we had never watched the series before, binge watched it, loved it, SMASHed it!

On to Part 3 - here it is

365 SMASHbook - Part 1

Some of my fellow SMASHers on the Facebook SMASHaholics group have asked to see my completed 365 SMASHbook - I could have made a video but this just seems easier to me - the book is so large, it ended up being 9 inches thick, if I had an assistant to help turn the pages, well, maybe it would have worked out.  So, anyway, I'm going to split the pages up into three different blog posts. 

I started this book last Mother's Day and finished it with this year's Mother's Day.    I really enjoyed working on this one  - it's my third one that I've completed!  It was nice to document the specific events through the year.

You'll notice I did a few pages on winter - it was so cold and miserable,  what else was there to do but SMASH??

On to Part 2...here it is