Vintage Thingy Thursday....Me!

Since Halloween is just around the corner.....I wanted to write about the Halloweens of my childhood, but couldn't find ANY pictures!

I did however, find pics from my figure skating days 1973-1977. Every May (around Mother's Day) we would have a recital with costumed numbers,programms and soloists.

We were cast according to age and height. My first year I was a Pierrot (some sort of sad clow-I couldn't find the translation) and also in the chorus of a number called 'Buttons and Bows'.



It was the ugliest costume, I remember it well! A polyester rust short dress with a big sequin button in front. My parents probably didn't fork over money for that ugly pic!LOL

Every time I hear the song I think of that costume and of Frasier Crane at the PBS fundraiser singing 'Buttons and Bows'. babetipoo, bibediboo,lalalala buttons and bows!








Second year I was cast in Tea for Two. I was a tea bag!

Ewwwww! I wanted so much to be a sugar cube or a spoon. And the choreographer didn't want us to sit on our tea leaves...

Third year it was Cowboys and Indians....Yes I was an indian! Even if my hair was really long and strait and I could put it in braids no problem, I had to wear that bad Phentex-sy wig.

My head was itchy and sweaty...eeeeewwwww! Very traumatic for an 11 year old girl!

My last year I was in a Xmas number. I think the theme of the show was holidays around the world....

The other skaters would call us 'the little checkerd jars' which is a reference to a jam company in Quebec, Vachon and they sold their jams in petits pots carrotés (little checkered jars).

I remember being cold in the costume because of those sleeves where all the cold air from the ice would seep in!

All those costumes were rented, so the instructors would tell us over and over again to be careful and not ruin the costume....

Of course my proud parents would bring the whole family to these recitals. My Mom would say everytime: I recognize because you're the only one with straight legs!

Since I had earned all my badges, it was time for some private lessons which were mucho dinero and didn't coincide with my school schedule, so figure skating was out.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the original VTT over at Colorado Lady www.coloradolady.blogspot.com

Later faithful readers! :)

It's heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrreeeeee

Forget about Halloween! My Thanksgiving is over!

I'm ready for Jolly Ol' St-Nick!

I was grocery shopping this morning at Canada's Superstore (here it's called Maxi & cie) and noticed that they were busy decorating for Xmas!

How cool is that??? ok a bit early, but how cool is that? We all need some love,peace ,goodwill and cheer and nothing makes me feel more festive than seeing Xmas decorations!

Yes I have already begun my shopping...but since it will be a thrifty Xmas...there's no time like the present to get started!

I don't plan on buying any new decorations....except maybe a string of lights if one dies. And besides second hand decorations have more character, a je ne sais quoi (besides the dirt), a Mad Men flair...They are full of memories, of what was and what could've been and didn't happen...Did I mention that lighted Xmas decorations of any kind when I was growing up (except plain lights) were a BIG NONO?

They didn't fit with my parents vision of Xmas. So now I'm totally cuckoo for snowmen and santas and the whole kit'n'caboodle. They make my heart sing!

Ok it's lunchtime in the suburbs! Be sure to visit tomorrow for VTT! See ya!:)

Pyrex Prize Recipes

As some of you might know.....I looooooovvvvvvveeeeee

Pyrex!

I also love vintage cookbooks. So it was with great thrill that I bought the Pyrex prize recipes cookbook last year.

I don't always try the recipes, in fact I really enjoy looking at the pictures and fantasizing about the way life used to be...

I did try one recipe ;the coffee crumb cake. It was good but not AMAZING and awfully messy with all those crumbs,and I'm a bit of a cheapskate so 3/4 cups of pecans was mighty expensive!

This book was published in 1953 and dedicated to all men,women and children who love to cook in Pyrex ware.I doubt very much that a lot of men were cooking in 1953....maybe bachelors and widowers but i'm sceptical!

My copy belonged to Rose French of Elmira N.Y and she got it May 16th 1956. I checked the internet and Mother's Day was on May 13th that year,maybe it was a belated gift. I like the fact that my book used to belong to a real person and I wonder what recipes she made.

And the pictures! Oh my,oh my!

Look at all the different ways you can use your Pyrex Flameware coffepot!

You can use it for iced tea, cooking corn,sausages,tomato sauce,asparagus and the white one in the middle is......believe it or not.....Spaghetti! LOL
I guess you can use it to brew coffee as well...

What about a buffet spread served uniquely in Pyrex? It can be done!

You need a primary colors refrigerator set, a primary colors bowl set (series 400) and 2 hostess sets (one red and one yellow) and last but not least some Flameware coffeepots to serve the beverages!

I love the flower arrangement done in the green bowl.

I also like to see what people ate. I see chicken,rolls, salad,olives,nuts and POPCORN??? Do you eat popcorn with chicken?

It makes me think of the Peanuts thanksgiving cartoon where Peppermint Patty serves toast,jelly beans and popcorn...

And for more retro fun don't forget to check out this fun blog : http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/

Have a great day! :)

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Weird Vintage Stuff

Hello readers! Today for my VTT (Vintagr Thingie Thursday) I will talk to you about the hen and the ladies.

First the hen. I saw it 20 years ago in my mother-in-law's trailer. Well not really in the trailer but in the kitchenette attached to the trailer. That trailer (and kitchenette) was sooo 70's I actually had a gag reflex when I first set foot in it.

Everything was brown or orange with beige accents, except the 'bathroom'- a glorified broom closet with a harvest gold chemical toilet. And the hen of course. It was nailed to the wall of the kitchenette ready to accept a bar of soap.

It was quite an experience for a city girl that had never set foot on a camping ground. My mother-in-law would spend most of her summers there chatting with neighbors,sunning and building fires in an old wash tub. She invited us quite often. I learned to love that place. We actually bought it some years later. It was before my vintage phase, so unfortunately a lot of stuff was thrown away, but not the hen! It is now on my window sill in my kitchen, the only surviving piece of the kitchenette (the wind ripped off the roof and the walls collapsed 3 weeks after we sold it AS IS). I never found out what happened to the trailer....

The ladies

I saw those ladies in a window display of a small shop on Wellington Avenue in Verdun(near Montreal). All had knitted caps and seemed to wait for something....I used to live in Verdun before buying the house and moving to Ile Perrot. I hadn't been there in more than a year and it struck me how most of the shops looked vintage. I had never noticed while I lived there for 4 years...Then again I didn't have the vintage eye back then! LOL

The shop owner was not amused I took a pic of his window....

Be sure to stop by ColoradoLady's blog for more VTT! http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Thanksgiving

I am so grateful for the abundance in my life.

Abundance of love,joy and laughter.

That we have enough to pay everything and I can take my time to look for a job and not take the first one that comes along. I do aply for jobs nearly every day now but have yet to have an interview.

I am grateful that the cats are well, that the house is warm and cozy. That we have heat and food.

Everyday I write down 15 things I am grateful for- They are nearly the same everyday. The sun,the leaves,the blue sky,the cats, Dan, my Dad,the food,the house,the good bed....Somedays I thank for really trivial stuff like the Pyrex (lol) or the fantastic sale on socks....

Well the important thing is to be grateful for something. It keeps me positive.

The beautiful cats in the chair are Boubou and Bob our 2 guys. I'm afraid the girls don't get along as well....

What are you grateful for?

The Barn

You know how you can walk or drive past something really extraordinary a gazillion times and not notice?

Well....it happened to us yesterday. After the dance class (which was so much fun by the way!)

We decided to grab a bite in Hudson maybe 15 minutes away and near our destination there it was....

A big old barn with opened doors and tatered flags, you know the ones, re,white and blue and writen 'Antiques' on them.

Unfortunately we could stop we were too hungry (line dancing really makes you work out an appetite)
So after a delicious lunch of roast beef sandwich au jus and key lime pie, we went back to the said barn. By the way the pics are front the 'backyard' of the Willow Place Inn in Hudson.

I was a bit apprehensive at first because it looked and felt like the Pick n Paw, remember the Pick n Paw? if not you you can read about it in this post http://vonlipisfavorites.blogspot.com/2009/09/pick-n-paw.html

It sure looked like it! All dusty and opened cupboards full of half full water bottles, an the guy said: if you have questions I'll be in the car...After the first few feet it became quite apparent that this was the bestest barn EVER! I believe all the collectibles were represented here! No joke!

I saw glasses,dishes,McCoy,Glasbake,LeCreuset,rolling pins,barware,lanterns,luggage,lamps,furniture,cups,decanters,boxes,tins,bottles,sports gear,Fireking and of course the big P...the Pyrex. I never knew such a gem existed so near! It was so full of stuff, I'm sure I missed some. The biggest concentration of Pyrex i had seen in a long time...I had to pick up my jaw from the floor!

And for a big barn by the side of the road it is surprisingly clean, I didn't see mouse poo! How does one keep this big space so clean? And no spider webs! The only problem was the lack of lighting...Next time we'll be sure to bring flashlights!!! I found these 2 little guys in great condition for a very fair price.

Less than I paid for one in Brimfield Mass....

I'll be back to the barn...fo'sure!

How cute is that?

I've been seeing a lot of amazing Xmas decorations in Etsy lately. I've seen them in blogs also...
It seems that certain people are glittering 365 days a year! LOL

Yes you know who you are....

So I was really excited to find this.... Adorable, toally cute snowman. He's missing his cord, is 16 inches tall and he's looking for a nice family to adopt him so he can fulfill his snowman destiny...To bring joy and cheer to all!

Here's where you can find him and plenty of cool stuff and Pyrex too! Did I mention that I ship internationnaly?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32767181

My Ontario finds

My lovely thrifting friend CSM (Crazy Suburban Mom) at http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/ gave me just the right push to participate in the Retro Tuesday (Wednesday) this week. I can be quite lazy at times and never post the pics of my finds....and sometimes I'm quite shy to post pics of items that will go in my Etsy store because I don't really want this blog to be about self promotion-NOT that there's anything wrong with that! So here goes!

I found the Pyrex Delphite pie crust cup and saucer in an old nearly new store in the middle of nowhere....Perfect condition! It will go well with my collection. I figure if I ever want to serve tea or coffee I need more than 2 cups!

I had wished for an un-divided veggie casserole, and lo and behold this one jumped right at me in the Gananoque Flea market, but really. All went quiet and then I saw it....It was kind of scary and exciting all at the same time.I don't think it was ever used. It came with a lid that doesn't belong....but at 6.50$ I consider it a bargain since I saw a similar one (same lid different botton un-divided) for 15$. I left it there (the 15$ one) and the vendor was quasi obnoxious playing the all knowing Pyrex master and he obviously didn't know anything! I just smiled and left.

I did find something for the shop, but I'm still not satisfied with the level of cleanliness! It had decades of crap on it....It's a Jadeite FireKing bowl...SWEET!

I was thrilled to see that this part of Ontario was chuck full of thrift shops,Flea markets and antique shops. I will be back for sure!

Delicious Weekend!

Can you believe that this is what we saw from the hotel room? WOW! I'm still in awe of the view! And all of Kingston too! It is a great place to visit. The hotel was very close to the main shopping and walking strrets so we just left the car in the hotel's garage....
To get there we took the freeway until Iroquois then we took the old road. There was a lot to see,charming towns, farmer's markets,thrift shops...

We explored some salvation army shops, but nothing caught our fancy. Nice antique malls...too expensive! You know it's true!

It seemed I had been in the car sooo long I wouldn't unfold...lol

With Kingston it was love at first sight! We so need to go back! We took way too much time to get there (we stopped at each and every thrift store we saw).

We had a nice german supper at the Amadeus cafe-delicious snitzel ans spaztle! Another hit...

Let's just say that at 9:30 I was fighting off sleep all that thrifting and walking and eating!

Road Trip!!!!! And banana bread

While spelunking in my big coffin freezer last week I spotted a big ziploc of frozen bananas...Hum! Time for banana bread! Not only it is delicious but I get to show my Pyrex loaf pan...and I can bring some on the ROAD TRIP!

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving) by making the big meal and having a lot of people over, we celebrate by going on a road trip! In 2007 & 2008 we had beach extravaganzas in Old Orchard Beach Maine but this year we're going west.....To Ontario!

Kingston Ontario. I have never been there....It looks to be real cute! I have made some Google maps for some fleas....Can't wait!


YUM banana bread with butter...everything takes better with butter (or bacon) or cheese for that matter. I won't be posting the recipe because I concocted this one from 2 different recipes...It is delicious and for the first time in AGES, I do not lie, the bottom is not burned! It must be the Pyrex! One more reason to LOVE the Pyrex!

Back to the road trip! lol I feel pretty scatterbrains this morning....From what I saw on the net...We will be swimming in antique shops and flea market! Good times!

Have a great Thanksgiving, Columbus Day or weekend!

Homemade Granola

As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, I find myself craving some serious comfort foods....Soup and granola! I make soup a couple of times a week. It's usually vegetable soup. This week since I bought 10 pounds of carrots for 1.66$, I made cream of carrot soup with ginger. I must admit it's NOT the best! LOL

As for the granola, I remembered a recipe given to me by a doctor when I was working in an STD* clinic way back in 1989 : Squirrel Cereal.

You take quick cook oats (4 cups) and unsweetened coconut (1 cup),walnuts (1 cup),sunflower seeds (1 cup), wheat germ (1 cup) I didn't put any- I didn't feel like bicycling all the way to the store, 1/2 maple syrup (the recipe said honey, but I had plenty of syrup) ,1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. You put the first five ingredients in a bowl, mix well, heat the syrup-warm not a boil, dump it with the dry ingredients along with the oil and the vanilla.

Mix well with a big ol' spoon and dump on baking sheets lined with parchement paper. You bake at 350F for about 30 min and turn once. Ok to tell you the truth I put my timer for 15 min and checked it like a hawk because I remember burned granola....And that's not good. After it's cooled, store it in an air tight container. DELICIOUS!

Even if I wanted to do the whole recipe organic....I couldn't. My oats are organic and so is the maple syrup. But it's still better for you than store bought cereal full of refined sugar and assorted crap!

How do I eat the granola? Sprinkled on plain fat free yoghurt mixed with half a banana. TDF! To die for!

A note on the bowl, the 403 green Pyrex bowl. This is my first Pyrex bowl. It was my mother's, the interior is all scratch up, but it holds a lot of memories!

Have a great one!

STD clinic: Yes it's an sexually transmitted disease clinic. I was a receptionnist there for a year and a half. More details in a future post!

By the way, I just joined VTT (vintage thingy thrusday) at http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

It's soooo much fun! Check it out!

Retro Tuesday

So today I was over at my friend's blog http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/

having a good chuckle about the chair with a tail, yes sir! A tail....

And I decided to join the fun! Now what could I write about? What could I show you? Something retro, something vintage, something quite unusual....

I give you a hot tub in a basement with a waterfall and plastic plants circa 1983!

I saw this sunday afternoon at an open house 5 minutes from my house. Since it's 26 years old I consider this vintage and perfect for Retro Tuesday! Enjoy! lol

Lovely Gift

I had a wonderful day yesterday. We did the leisurely saturday morning tv watching thing....I love Sell This House!

I must be some kind of voyeur because I definiteley enjoy seeing the interior of people's homes and the bad decoration! But let's face it everything old is new again, so if you keep it long enough, it will be cool again.....someday!

I can't believe the quantity of tchatckies people have...and the family pictures! I can't talk too much because I have the tchatckies!!! And the Pyrex! Did you know I collect Pyrex???

Did you know I had Pyrexia? Real bad! Doctor,doctor gimme the news I gotta bad case of Pyrexia...No pill's gonna cure my ill...I gotta a bad case of Pyrexia!

We then went to a matinée, to see the newest play by one of our leading playwrights Michel Tremblay. No my favorite but it certainly got us talking, so the play did its job!

On to the Deer Garden for some awesome chinese food....Shrimp in lobster sauce, Sam See chow mein, shrimp wonton....DELICIOUS!

And to top it all off....I got an amazing,amazing gift from Dad.... New fridgies!!! And some pink Pyrex to booth!

And I didn't have the yellow one! First thing I did when I got home was to wash them in the tangerine soap....Ok sounds crazy but it's like I'm bonding with the Pyrex....Call me nuts!

1 year anniversary!

One year ago yesterday, I logged in to Etsy and created my little shop! I'm really proud of that because I learned quite a lot and met wonderful people! The positive experiences quite outweigh the negative ones...Oh Canada Post why are you fast overseas and slow for the U.S? Is it a political thing? And those prices! Oï!
I just noticed it was the shops anniversary quite late last night...I'm not really good with these things. I just realised that I wrote more than 200 posts in this blog and haven't celebrated....

I'll have to think about a giveaway....lol

On the culinary front, I had the very,very strong urge to cook with pumpkin. Funny because usually when I do, it tastes like crap! And in all the cooking magazines all you see is pumpkin this, pumpkin that even on Rachael Ray last night she was cooking ravioli with pumpkin!

My Mom made this terrible tasting pumpkin jam (eurk) and my experiences with pumpkin pie were disastrous (taking a bite and throwing the whole thing in the garbage!). I found this recipe for pumpkin loaf with cream cheese, sounded delicious and is delicious! It won the Dan's seal of approval!

Here's the link! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Loaf/Detail.aspx

Enjoy!

The job fair

Set on the shore of Lake of 2 Mountians in the Chateau Vaudreuil, the setting was breath taking! Needless to say I was quite excited/nervous and didn't sleep much the night before....I had double checked everything: wardrobe (super professional),hair (perfect), resumes (I had 10 copies), business cards-checked! Free bus rides were provided. In the bus I had a moment of grace, I felt loved and protected by God. It calmed me right down!

The day was super cold and they made us wait for what seems forever outside...Then they corraled us inside like livestock to wait....and wait....and wait, I so had to go to the bathroom!
Nobody was talking, we were just staring in front (like cattle). I noticed a lot of scary looking security guards all dressed in black with earpieces- Very Soprano like! Legend has it that this hotel is actually owned by Mafia (cheese mafia*), which certainly might explain all that muscle!

They informed us that we would have a short survey to fill, then we would be able to consult billboards filled with job opportunities! Cool!

Those billboards were really scary! Imagine 50 starved people fighting for 20 soda crackers....I had trouble seeing the offers, I was being shoved and pushed and was able to jot down only a couple of offers...I saw a job offer for an executive secretary paying 10$ an hour....can you imagine that? I could be making that at McDonald's. It was quite depressing. Another offer was a 12 month customer service job and the employer was right here at the fair!

I met said employer and I'm being really positive and I tell her I'm interested in the customer service job...and she tells me it was filled 2 weeks ago! WHAT? I beg your pardon? Pardonnez-moi? So they better remove it from the billboard! I was getting hungry and I figured such a nice hotel could provide us with a cup o joe and maybe a cookie....But no we had to pay for it! A buck 50 for a bag of chips! Thank God I had some carrot sticks and sunflower seeds!

Most of the employers were in manufacturing and the job offers were like Foam injecting technician 3 years of experience needed. A famous artisan bakery chain was looking for bakers (I'm not getting up at 2 in the morning and besides I have no experience). Basically they didn't really have jobs to offer, they all wanted us to take their business cards and check out their websites....I gave my resume to only one company- a bank. I don't really get depressed so I saw this as a life experience!

And by the way I was the only one that was well dressed! I saw a lot of leggings and dirty hair and unmatched socks and ill fitting underwear, yes I noticed that!

I was real glad to take the bus back and go thirfting in my beloved church basement!

I walked home after. It is a 20 min walk, which is perfectly enjoyable in running shoes....But I had heels...and I limped the last block....I think I pulled a muscle! LOL

*What is cheese Mafia? It's a Mafia family that owns a big cheese company. Legend has it that they would force shops and restaurant owners in and around Montreal to buy their cheese or there would be problems....We'll make you an offer you can't refuse. But it is part of the legend...