Black Friday

Miss MoneyPenny never participates in that insanity called Black Friday...at least, not any more.  Miss Maggie May and I got the bright idea back in 1997 that we needed to experience the mother of all shopping days and it began with us almost getting into a fist fight with a bunch of teenagers driving the wrong way and stealing our parking spot, after at least 30 minutes of trying to find ANY kind of spot to park in.  After we finally got cooled off we noticed that almost everyone was behaving badly.  We saw the guy in front of us completely lose it and drive through the landscaping rather than wait any longer in our long line of cars.  We quickly retired to Applebees for an early lunch and got the heck out of there.

Since we are now smart and savvy shoppers, our holiday shopping is pretty much done by Thanksgiving.  We know how much we are going to spend and who is going to get what.  We've been keeping our eyes open and have a plan.  We know that the best deals don't happen in the middle of crazytime.  And since we are really savvy, we plan a day off during the week close to Christmas when the stores are getting desperate and start the real markdowns and there are no crowds.  And we hit them early.  Since we've already taken care of the gift list, this is just for us.  I'm thinking bling or shoes.  We have to keep up the Christmas spirit, after all

And speaking of shopping, you may have noticed that turkeys are expensive this year, along with everything that goes with it.  These food prices might just be our new "normal" so watching the sales and coupon inserts is really important.  If you are doing holiday baking (Miss MoneyPenny doesn't because she eats it) there have been a lot of coupons for baking ingredients in the inserts, although not many sales.  Make a list of what you need and then go to www.couponmom.com to see which inserts have your coupons.  You have been keeping and organizing your inserts, of course.

Miss MoneyPenny does most of her shopping in the ether, taking advantage of cyber Monday and free shipping.  It is so much more dignified than fighting over parking spots or waiting in long lines, but if that turns you on, go for it.  Personally, I'm planning on going to see the new Muppet movie on that day. 

Here is the recipe for the famous MoneyPenny shrimp thingy.  It gets trotted out for all holidays even though Miss MoneyPenny has picked up a shellfish allergy.  This is really good and I got the recipe from my friend, Theresa, who got it from her mom.  It has to be from the 50s.

1 block cream cheese
1/2 pound fresh salad shrimp
1 bottle red seafood sauce
1 lemon
Box of Wheat Thins

Mix shrimp and seafood sauce.  Add a few squirts of lemon.  Pour over block of cream cheese.  Serve with one of those dainty little knives and the crackers.