Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thrifting drought....


I was not able to go to the Salvation Army this week because of my ankle (boohoo). It is too long of a walk dixit the chiropractor...So instead I hit 2 church basements, that had no treasures, nothing, no Pyrex, no milkglass, no FireKing...NOTHING!
So instead I am entertaining you with a picture of last night supper...drumroll please....Salmon pie! Boy was it ever gooooood. All moist and potatoey...
And I had enough to put in the Autumn Harvest casserole to freeze for another supper! Yeah!
Guess what we are having for supper tonite???
I believe I will be going to the Salvation next week and I am actively visualizing to go the Value Village saturday...One never knows

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Hummm Apple pie!!!

I had some requests for this recipe after this picture was viewed on Flickr. So I translated it, I hope the instructions are clear and that you will enjoy this dessert as much as we do!


Maple caramel apple pie

1 rectangle of puff pastry (from a frozen pack) Let thaw in fridg during the night
1 cup maple syrup
3 to 4 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons corn starch
6 to 7 big Cortland apples peeled and quartered (not McIntosh, they would make too much juice)

1 9 inch deep pie plate

Put the syrup in a pot on medium heat, add the butter to melt. Then mix the cornstarch with about 2 Tablespoons of water and add to the syrup. Bring to a boil until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool on the counter.
Mix the syrup (now caramel) with the apples and pour in the pie plate. Cover with the puff pastry that you rolled and tuck the dough around the edges. Cut some slits on top of the dough so steam can escape. Brush the crust with egg wash (If you want more browned, use just the yolk)
Bake in a 375F oven for an hour (45 min was just fine in my oven). You might want to put the pie plate on a cookie sheet to avoid a caramel mess in your oven…After removing it from the oven, wait at least 20 min to eat or if you wish you can invert it on a service plate and serve with ice cream or heavy cream. I have never inverted the pie, it sounded too risky to me…
Enjoy!!!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Vacation finds


Well here they are...The Pyrex I brought back from vacation. Some are from Brimfield and the rest is from Maine. The 3 Crazy Daisy nesting bowls came from Brimfield, were nearly new (the only thing missing was the box! They had the original cardboard separating them.) The vendor was asking 15$, but when it was time to pay, she said just gimme 12$. Super cool! A gift from Dad.
I found a really cool stand selling tons of Corelle dishes and Pyrex. Everything was 50% off. I got 2 Bradford house plates and the S&P shakers for 9$.
I found out that the Bradford House was the name of the lunch counter in the W.T. Grants departement store that went bankrupt in the 70's (I love getting some stories with my Pyrex).


The turquoise round casserole comes from Brimfield as well($5) and the large turquoise square bowl is from Maine and was 50% off, so was quite a steal at $11 in minty condition!!!

Small Butterprint casserole ($5 at Brimfield) gift from Dad and Town & Country small casserole ($3.20 in Maine). I will post the rest of the pictures probably next time.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

1.99



It was good to hit the Salvation Army yesterday!

I found this little gem waiting for me on top of a pile of saucers. I couldn't help myself (I was missing a cup anyways.....) I just love that beautiful color...Viva Delphite!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Apple preserving


As planned I made a batch of apple jelly this morning. I didn't remember it being soooo much work. Thank god it is done! It tastes really good and makes for some great Xmas presents...Yes I am already thinking about Xmas....When I had access to a gazillion stores (i.e. When I was working) by this date I had a third of my shopping done. Can you believe that?
On a related subject, while driving back home on route 26, we stopped at a little shack in the mountain in Maine. This little place fills me up with joy and I get misty just thinking about it.The Puzzle mountain bakery bakes pies, cakes,
c

ookies, jams and jellies. They put them in the two stands with the price on them and when you want some you just put the money in a box nailed to a tree. It amazes me that they have so much faith in people, that they believe people are basically honest and good....Well I bought pickles, I haven't tasted them yet, but I will keep you posted!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Harvest time


In this part of the world, it is harvest time and I am trying to preserve as much as I can. Today, was quite a busy day. I put up a batch of salsa and I cooked a big batch of tomato sauce for freezing.
Earlier in the week we went to a local flea market (with new stuff and food stuff) and I bought a 20 pound box of field tomatoes for 6$ and 8 humonguous red peppers for 4$. At another farm stand I bought 5 big green peppers for 1$. So I have been running around trying to preserve as much goodness as possible!
The first picture is while in tomato sauce action, you can see the tomato guts all over!!! And I also included a picturfe of the finished salsa.
Tomorrow I will atempt to make a batch of apple jelly (remember I went apple picking?)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

New vacation treasures


Well the picture taking is not going the way I wanted. Life never does anyways....
I wanted to photograph all my new Pyrex and then post, but instead it's going to be a mix (not chronologically acurate!)

Those 2 beauties (The snowflake casserole photographed REAL bad!)
come from Maine (after Brimfield). They were not exactly cheap, but I had been after a dark grey snowflake for quite a while and I fell in love with the other. And they were a vacation gift from Dad! Double the fun!

The other picture, well, picture this....OOB, Me...a rainy day, a sprained ankle (yes mine) and a vintage bowl I found in the cubbard of my motel unit...Presto changeo Brownies! I don't usually bake from mixes (the additives make me freak out) but I was on vacation and that brand of mix was highly recommanded.
I sprained my ankle coming back from the AZ IGA in OOB. I was looking for a kitty cat I had seen on the way in. What pain! I had trouble making it back to the motel. Thank god my SO (significant other) knew what to do about it, I was put to rest with an hourly application of ice...and plenty of pain relievers! But I didn't get to go to the beach as much as I wanted...Bummer...But there is always next time!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Apple picking



Today we went apple picking in Franklin, Qc. A really beautiful little village. The first picture shows one of the oldest apple trees in Canada (120 years old). The sun was shining, the orchard was empty (It is wednesday after all), and the air sweet. We picked MacIntosh, Paula red and Lobo apples (20 pounds total) and I bought local wild flower honey, blue plumes and alcool free bubbly apple cider (delicious). We had lunch before in Huntingdon (delicious too) !!!
Second picture shows the first Pyrex I found on my vacation. Imagine that...The sun is not fully up yet, we are in NY state (I don't really know where), we stop for gas and across the street...what do I see? An elderly couple setting up a lawn sale! Oh joy, O bliss, I run accross the street and I find one of the Twin Server for a dollar! It is pictured here with the blue plums we bought today!
I can't wait to make apple sauce and jelly!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Home sweet home!





The trip was amazing!!! Brimfield is so big, it is GINORMOUS!!! There are 11 different venues (11 different fields to see). Some are opened for 6 days others for 2, some open at dawn some at noon. We were on the premises at 6 in the AM! Bright eyed and bushy tailed! With huge coffee in hand! We were able to do 4 venues in 2 days and that was enough (for us anyways). My feet hurt and my eyes couldn't quite focus anymore.....All those antiques! I had never seen so much glassware. FireKing, Pyrex, Glasbake, Federal, Hazel Atlas the whole kit and kaboodle! I have to make supper, so I will post other pictures later.