Friday's Freebie...

With the holidays coming up quick its time to start thinking about baking.  Several years back I requested the Jiffy mix cookbook and was really surprised at the amount of great ideas it had.  To get your free cookbook from them just fill in the online order form and watch your mail box.

Hope you are all enjoying your Friday.

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

Happy Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  Contrary to how it sounds, the Day of the Dead is a family affair and is meant to remember ancestors, whose spirits come to visit the earth once a year.  Although there are many different ways to celebrate from Mexico to Brazil one thing is constant along all the celebrations; favorite foods are made for the deceased family members so that they can enjoy the company of the living for the day.  With that in mind I have chosen a favorite dish of both my parents as well as mine.

Lawry's Roasted Prime Ribs of Beef with Whipped Cream Horseradish

Roasted Prime Ribs:

1 (4-rib) standing rib roast
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 bag (5 lb.) rock salt

Sprinkle fatty cap of roast with Seasoned Salt. In a heavy roasting pan, spread rock salt evenly over bottom.; place wire roasting rack on top of salt. Place the roast on rack, fatty side up. Make sure no salt actually touches the beef. Insert meat thermometer in thickest part of meat, making sure it does not touch bone. Roast in preheated 350-degree oven until thermometer registers 130-degrees F. for rare, 140 F. for medium, or approximately 20 to 25 minutes per pound. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes before carving. Using a sharp knife, slice meat across the grain for serving. Discard rock salt.

Whipped Cream Horseradish:

1 cup whipping cream
¼ teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, well drained, or 4 tablespoons finely grated fresh horseradish root
Dash Tabasco sauce

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in Lawry's Seasoned Salt, horseradish and Tabasco until well mixed.

Today's no cook option comes from Planet Hollywood, just print the coupon and bring it in with you to get $10.00 off your $20.00 or more purchase. Offer expires 12/31/11 and is not good for the purchase of gift cards.

I hope you all had a fun Halloween and are having a great week so far.

C.Q.

Friday's freebie...

Looking for some fun Halloween ideas?  Download the free Mr. Food Spooky Treats and Party Eats cookbook for some fun ideas, like Vampire Sangria, Bloody Witch's Fingers, Yummy Mummy Dogs or Halloween Witch's Cupcakes.

Hope everyone has had a great week!

C.Q.

A Different Type of Friday Freebie

Nina from The Adventures ArtsyNina has graciously agreed to let Living on Less show off the cool DIY cookbook shelf she made for FREE! Thank you so much, Ms. Nina!!

Nina is living in and remodeling a house built in 1884. Her blog is a mix of recipes, house remodeling and general life. She has a vintage cookbook collection and actually cooks with those recipes. She is a very funny vintage loving gal. Be sure to check out her blog.

Pallet Kitchen Cookbook Shelf

Pallet madness is everywhere. The final 'I must make a pallet something' straw was after reading Little Lucy Lu and seeing her Pinterest board.

Hmm... I could make a pallet head board, or a pallet table, or a pallet...SHELF!

We have three pallets leftover from the roof shingle deliveries last year. Tom was just about to burn them. Nooo!!! No I cried!

I measured. Tom took pictures.

Tom has a hobby of taking Nina Butt pics

I visited the county hazardous waste facility for some FREE supplies. I wasn't sure what finish I would give the shelf, so took a few things. And took pictures.

I cut. I sanded. I painted. And took pictures.

Tom and Jack had fun with water. I appreciated the toddler distraction while I got my major craft on.

It turned out better than I had hoped! One of the free cans was a gloss red latex paint. I diluted it with water and applied it with a rag so that it looked more like a stain. I love the look of it, but it doesn't fit nearly as many cookbooks as I had hoped! I might have to make another one.

Total project cost: ZERO. Oh yah baby!