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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Two Frugal Recipes, Some Numbers, and Taxes

OK-it's absolutely PREPOSTEROUS*** that I haven't filed my taxes yet (for flip out of April 15 plus extension request, see earlier post). In honor of the preposterousness of the situation, I will do my topics from the end (post) to the beginning (pre).

***From George Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie (1589): Ye have another manner of disordered speach, when ye misplace your words or clauses and set that before which should be behind & e converso, we call it in English proverbe, the cart before the horse, the Greeks call it Histeron proteron, we name it Preposterous, and if it be not too much used is tollerable enough, and many times scarse perceivable unlesse the sence be thereby made very abused (Poesie, 142).

TAXES: I retrieved the file box from its hiding place, and will attempt to do them myself. I will keep you posted. Wish me luck.

SOME NUMBERS: Talbots stock is $6.96. I was looking at it at $1.80. So, I would have almost quadrupled my money! Take that, Motley Fools (who labeled it their scary Halloween stock of 2008).

Edmund Andrews's Busted has an Amazon sales rank of 22,698. Did I tell you, Dear Readers, that I was so annoyed with the New York Times ombudsperson's defense of this guy that I fired off an email. Guess what: it was published online. Sadly, under my real name, rather than my blogger identity.

FRUGAL RECIPES: I hope some inexperienced cooks take a look at Burros's books. The commenters are all pros in the kitchen. Here's an easy one.

Chicken Oreganato: Rub 2 TBS oregano with some salt and pepper on 6 chicken thighs. Put on baking pan. Mix 1/4 cup olive oil with juice of 1/2 lemon. Drizzle half on chicken. Bake at 500 (what???seems kinda high, Marian) for 15 minutes. Turn thighs over; drizzle rest of stuff on and bake another 10-15 minutes, for 30 minutes total.

Marian provides recipes for side dishes (brussels sprouts and Greek salad), but those may be too much for beginners. I would just make rice to soak up all the yummy juices and have a salad of some kind. Or even just some sliced tomatoes.

FRUGAL RECIPE LAGNIAPPE. It is in the mid 90s here. Just miserable. So I am going to make granita. Coffee granita, which has the added bonus of using up all the leftover coffee.

All you do is take 3-4 cups coffee*, 1/3 cup milk or half and half, 1/4 cup sugar. Mix. Pour into a largish glass or metal baking pan. Freeze for about 30-45 minutes. Stir around with a fork to break up ice crystals. Return to freezer and repeat a few times.

*You're supposed to use espresso, but I'm going to stick to my coffee and chicory.

Maybe this concoction will see me through the misery of my taxes.

5 comments:

Duchesse said...

Frugal, if it makes you feel pbeeter: we did out business and personAl taxes and werre about to mial in, obersving the deadlines, wehen we were suddenly called to my critically ill mother's bedside. SO we askedo ne son to "without fail" mail by midnight Sunday, and called to check.

But he never did it- for got and was sacred to admit it. When Revenue Canda finally figured it out, we had to pay a $3,000 penalty. We appealed and won. We tought- and sid- they were lost in the mail till one day I had an intuitive flash and looked under his bed. (Son had to forgo a ski trip AND see the entire family have a very reduced Christmas.)

Now I make sure to mail returns on time. Son is STILL sleeping on those unmailed 2006 returns.

Enjoy the grainto and file :)

Duchesse said...

Frugal, my typing of the above story is a MESS... hope you can read it.

Frugal Scholar said...

@Duchesse--Thanks for the commiseration. I won't have a penalty b/c I'm getting a refund.

Funny about Money said...

Good work, getting the Andrews commentary published.

And good luck with the taxes. Horrors! I'm going to try to do the new S-corporation's myself, but would be toooo scared to try it with the byzantine personal taxes.

Granita, yum! Love it. Coffee's the classic. It works with orange juice, too. So nice and cold!!

Frugal Scholar said...

@Funny--My taxes are pretty basic, so my flip out is truly preposterous.