Retro Tuesday: Party Old School Style!

First off, 133 followers WOOHOO! How cool is that? I'm really flabbergasted by the response to my giveaway, it's more  than I expected. So thank you and welcome to ALL my new followers!

As you all know the holidays are upon us and so are parties. A lot of us will be having people over be it 2 or 100 so we have to be prepared, right?

So I decided to look through a new book I got at the Salvation Army a couple of weeks ago, this beauty:

Let's face it, I very rarely look at the recipes, it's the pictures that grab me and the colors.

Now where did they get that green? Kool-Aid? Jell-O? Oh yeah I'm betting on the Lime Jell-O and they found napkins to match! How crazy is that?

My mind was going in ten different directions when I first looked at that cover. First the drinks with the matching napkins, then the wood angel fish (is it teak?) with the shrimp skewered on it and last but not least the Jell-O covered paté in the lower right side corner. That is definitely diet food for me 'coz I would not eat it! hihihi!

This is part one of a full page spread. A tabletop BBQ, so the guests and grill their own skewers. This is soooo cool yet tacky, I would love to have this. But wait where do I use it? Inside? This being the 60's and everybody smoked, imagine what your house smelled like the day after! Your house had a smoke hangover!!!

Psrt 2 of the spread. Now just how big is this portable indor grill/snack server/party center? Where does one keep it after the party? Does it need a room of one's own? The BBQ/grill/snack server/party center smoke stinking room?

How cute are these hens? ok chickens? Now this book was published in 1963 (before I was born) and I had no idea people knew about guacamole back then. What about fluffy guac? Is it made fluffy with the addition of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows?

Just who has those ginornous brandy snifters in their house? I don't have room for that! Sorry, I must correct myself, I only have room for Pyrex!

Jellied consomme....My mom's idea of a snack in the 70's. She would open a can and plop some in bowls and serve this to me with a lemon wedge. I remember gagging as I ate it. Just so you know and I'm sure a lot of you can relate...I had to eat what was put in front of me, no arguments. I couldn't even leave the table before my plate was empty and that's the way it was. Pure and simple.

Now you have yourself a great day, you hear?

For more Retro Tuesday fun visit my crazy pal Tracy @ Crazy Suburban Mom 

Favorites

Yesterday I woke up to this, a wintry wonderland. I love snow, it makes me happy.

Other things that make me happy are kitchen gadgets.

Here are my favorites of 2010. 

1) The vintage tomato slicer. Bought in the Salvation army for .99cents. Granted it's not the original made by Ecko, but a cheaper Holland version. It's marked TOMADO HOLLAND.

It's the best to slice tomatoes in nice even slices; perfect for sandwiches.

2) The Farberware  PRO Santoku knife. The food slices itself, no joke! It was a Xmas gift 3 years ago.

3) The Fireking jadeite batter bowl, vintage as well. I think Fireking really hit the nail on the head on this one. Unlike Pyrex's Cinderella bowls, it pours well....lol. It's perfect of beating eggs and making instant pudding and all things Jell-O.

And now, one of my favorite lunches! A grilled cheese with veggies. 

Full of robust goodness. Tomatoes,avocado, green onions and lower fat cheddar cheese make a delicious sandwich. Served on a Bradford House Pyres plater , add a crunchy and sour Moishes pickle and you'll be in heaven! Luncheon heaven that is!

Hailed as Montreal's original Steakhouse since 1938, Moishest has been a favorite for generations. I've never been because it was considered too expensive. But I do like their pickles!

Sweetening the GIVEAWAY!

First of all I want to welcome all my new followers! 114! WOOHOO! THIS IS SOOOO COOOL!

When I announced the giveaway, I wrote that I would add goodies! Well, here are some of them.

A oack of nice seasonnal paper napkins. If you aske me you can never have too many papaer napkings over the holidays!

A lady bug eco shopping bag. The lady bug hides a re-usable shopping bag. Good for the environment and super cute (double bonus!). Why have ugly things life is way too short!

and a jar of homemade,homegrown blackberry jam. Yes they come from my garden, You can't get more local than that! Lightly tart yet sweet and prepared with care with lotsa love!

I wanted to also share my latest thrifty finds...

Those stockings are probably the kitschiest I've ever seen! It was a 'Start the Car' moment for sure!

I always try to look innocent when I find good,juicy stuff, so the lady at the cash won't overcharge me!

It's the kind of place where they pull out prices out of thin air...

I aldo baked some oatmeal raison cookies yesterday. Since Pyrex never made cookie sheets I had to settle for a regular one and a Pyrex bowl for mixing.

last thing I want to share for today....A tale of Shopper's!

 For my new followers: I worked at Shopper's drug Mart over the summer at the postal counter (known here as the PCOU-postal counter of unjoy). My boss was known as EPM- evil post mistress. It was bad, stressful under paid, customers were awful....You get the picture.

One of my duties was to check expiration dates all over the store.

I went this week to mail the light up santa and pick up some prescriptions. Well I saw a huge display of sugar free candies and get this most of them EXPIRED! LOL MOUAAWAHA (evil laugh).

So good readers don't be shy and check the expiration dates!

Are you still in a turkey induced coma?  

Have a great weekend!

Thankful

I'm really thankful for all the riches in my life. I give thanks everyday several times a day..

I give thanks for the wonderful Danmeister ,my partner through thick and thin.

For my great Dad  who's in pretty good health.

For those crazy, loving cats who fill our days with joy and laughter.

For my step daughter, the sweetest girl around.

For the warm house, for the good food we always have on the table.

For the beautiful view I see everyday                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

For all my friends from the web, and for my friends I met outside the web.

For enough money to pay all the bills.

For Sylvia who has such a great love of danse and for Dany her husband who loves her soooo much.

For the hope, joy , love and laughter that fill our hearts everyday.

And of course for the Pyrex! Thank you Corning ;)

P.S: I didn't get the job. I freaked out for 10 minutes then I changed a bed and everything was right again in the world. If it's not this one it will be another one.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my american friends!  

Busy day!

I want to welcome all my new followers! 108 how cool is that? That is super MEGA cool! LOL

This morning I will be dropping off magazines at my local church basement and visiting their Xmas table....Who knows!

After I need to mail this little guy

He found a good home in Minnesota...

I also have to run a couple of errands, the usual : bread, cold cuts...

Then back home where I need to take a cyber situational test. I explain: I've been actively looking for a job and one company is interested in my qualifications so they sent me a link to a test. This test will duplicate the environement of a call center...How high tech is that???

So I need all the positive energy you can send me my faithful followers! I know you'll come through for me!

I'm very excited about this. The test will last about 90 minutes. So the rest of the day is up in the air!

If I have the strenght, I will work outside. There's still plenty to do and the mercury is expected to drop significantly tonight to about 17 farenheit. That is COLD!

I'll keep you posted on what happened.

I wanted to share an adorable little guy I found last week at the Sally Ann

                                                                  How cute is he?

His nose is so bright just like Rudolph's

Have a great day and keep on thrifting :)

Totally Awesome Holiday Giveaway!

Now what do I want for Xmas?  A good job with good pay where they appreciate me and my work, to win a good chunk of money to repair the patio and dig around the foundation to waterproof it, more LLBean  flannel sheets, some Gap Heaven scent and  more than 100 followers!

And here's where you can help make my dreams come true good people of bloggyland (how's that for an intro?). So to all the people of bloggyland a holiday giveaway is upon you!

Here's what you can take home with you:

Here are some helpful things to help you get through the holidays! An amazing Heloise Kitchen Hints book published in 1963. You will learn how to make a wash and wear apron, a new way to make turkey stuffing and so much more! A small green restaurant ware tea pot, perfect for that afternoon pick me up, an Edlund  vintage turquoise can opener and last but not least a 443 Butterprint Pyrex Cinderella bowl.

P.SSSSSSS: I will add other seasonnal goodies to this giveaway!

Now here's what you have to do!

1) Become a follower                                       

2) Leave a comment ON THIS POST ONLY  

3) If you have a blog write about my giveaway   

Now just becoming or being a follower is NOT enough, you must at least also comment to be elligible.

I will ship all over the world, so everyone can join! How cool is that?

Contest closes on Friday December 3rd at midnight 

I will post the items I'm adding to the giveaway as I pick them. Even the people who already won can join the fun :)

Have a great evening!

Woohoo! Excellent Day!

Yesterday morning it was raining cats and dogs, but that was not enough to stop me from going to the church basement. I had been promised a Xmas table afterall...and had to bring stuff in.

So I hopped on my trusty bike, it's just a short ride!

When the pink lady (she's always dressed in pink) told me a Xmas table had been set in the back, I just flew there! OMG the hopes of finding vintage glory! Here's what I found:

                                                    Isn't he cuuuuutttttte?

Look at that face! You just want to squeeze it! LOL

I also found these uglies oops sorry cuties! The little house was probably a cake decoration.

If I'd shown these to my mom she'd probably have an aneuvrism

But I love them!

I'm guessing this is a version of  Bonhomme Carnaval. Bohomme Carnaval is the mascot of the very famous Québec city Carnaval held each year in February. It lasts 2 weeks and it's the frozen version of Mardi Gras.

Again I find myself wishing for a BIG house with lots of rooms....One room near the kitchen where all the Pyrex is exposed ,one room just to keep all the Xmas decor, one room where I could have the Dept 56 Original Snow Village and Dicken's Village displayed year round and a loooong console table where I could display my collection of light up Santas. Ok so it's just a dream, I have this small cozy house that is already bursting at the seems....Bummer! LOL

So The Santa is listed in the shop and i'll be keeping the Xmas cuties for my tree!

I was surprised to read an email this morning telling me my blog is part of  Top 50 Blogs for Yard Sale Aficionados.

That is really, really cool! Here's the link so you can visit!

http://www.associatedegree.com/top-50-blogs-for-yard-sale-aficionados   

I wasn't surprised to find a lot of my bloggyland friends! Like Yard Sale Snoop , Grunge Queen , Everyone Goes to Mick's , Dime Store Thrift , Thrifted Treasure , and last but not least The Pyrex Collective ! 

And since I'm always on the look out for great thrifting blogs I will visit the blogs for sure!

After a long absence I'll be linking today with Vintage Thingy Thrusday over at Colorado Lady

  drop by for a visit it's a lot of fun!

May the thrifting gods be with you!

What was hiding in the yard!

Ok so it's mid-november and we've had frost almost every night. When we get some frost it's that time of year again....

Sunchoke time!

So I got my pitch fork and went to work! I dug up a whole basket full. They will make a fine mash.

Much to my surprise I also found that the oregano was untouched by the frost, so of course I picked some.

Beans are said to be the musical fruit, but I firmly believe the sunchoke is the musical one!

Sunchokes are one of the only truly indigenous veggies from Québec. When the settlers arrived they ate the chokes just as we eat potatoes today. Why did sunchokes fall out of favor? I don't know for sure but I bet the fart factor is a reason.

They are making a comeback today and appear on the menus of some of Montreal's swankier restaurants. They have a really great flavor, nutty and mild.

I also found some kind of asian cabbage unmarked by the cold. So I picked some to use in stirfries or soup. It's delicious!

Gotta go! The garden beckons me once again. I think I saw some arugula!

Xmas Shopping and other stuff

What a relief it is to feel almost 100% better.

My chiropractor is definitely a miracle worker. I know some people are against chiros, me I'm totally for them. Mine is mot all about cracking, he's also about deep tissue work, and that is goood because sometimes my muscles are so tight they displace my vertebraes....EEEEWWWW!

My chiro is in downtown Montreal so I took the opportunity to shop and check out the decorations!

My first stop

The Bay department store. It was know as Morgan's until the 1980's and was established in 1867. 

Oooh! Silver, lime and turquoise! I love it!

Xmas goodies all ready to give!

Red and gold

Need a lift? For those who don't know, The points blanket was introduced in 1780 by the Hudson's Bay Company as a standard trading tool. Pelts for blankets basically.

The off white one with the colored stripes is called a chief's blanket. The blankets were made larger since they were felted as part of the manufacturing process and shrunk 50% of their size!

I'm very lucky to have one that was my grandmother's (Gran-Mimi). It is part of my winter bed.

I'm sure you remember how anal I am about sheets, lol. So yes I have winter beds, and fall and summer beds.

About the winter beds...they are usually made with some nice and soft LLBean flannel sheets, then a woven cotton blanket, then a wool blanket (like a points blanket) and finally a comforter. If it gets really cold, I add a flannel comforter cover. The cats love this!

I know it's a lot of covers but we don't heat the bedrooms or just barely. It's so much better for our noses!

I visited their kitchen department and was totally smitten with these lime green Le Creuset!

Wow heavenly cookware! I really don't need any more, but they are sure sweet!

Notice that one of the lid from the small casseroles is missing...was it stolen? That is bad! 

I spied this super cute florist stand on Ste-Catherine street.

I was really glad to get a jump on Xmas shopping on wednesday. But I was happier to jump in the train and head home! Treatments can be really exhausting!

Oh I almost forgot! I want to welcome my 94th follower! I hope you enjoy the ride!

I'm thinking that it might be time for a giveaway....a Xmas giveaway! I would like to reach 100 followers by Xmas....little goals! lol 

Tune in tomorrow or monday as I share what I found in my yard!

Pain,Pain GO AWAY!

I didn't do much over the weekend because I suffer from a BAAAAAD shoulder. I can barely move my right arm and since it's my main one....Nothing got done! Thank god for Dan who helped me get dressed and took care of me.

2 highlights : I got my CSN shopping done (hint: bathroom decor and something pink) and yesterday I put my arm in a sling and was able to go to my dance lesson. Mind you I couldn't do all the dances, but I was there and that's what's important! After all the Xmas party is in a couple of weeks and I want to be ready!

I hope to regain my smile soon!

In the meantime I'll hang with warm kitties!

This is the view from the river banks, all dreamlike.

And I took the opportunity to read; my lateat? Twilight. Yes, yes it's about time I read it. I didn't much care for the films but so far I really like the book. Stephanie Meyer writes really well and the book sucked me in in a matter of pages! 

Gotta get ready! I have a chiropractor appointment later this morning....

Thrifting in the Big City

I so totally needed a break from job hunting yesterday so I took the train and headed out to Montreal. Thrusday is the perfect day to go thrifting because my most favorite (take that syntaxe!) church basement is only opened on thrusday afternoon. I had high hopes becasue this is like my digger's delight, I found a lot of Pyrex in that dusty basement!

OMG! What a disappointment! I couldn't help thinking about Tracy's digger's delight bumer visit! You can read about it HERE . Nothing interesting and everything was way too expensive! I saw a cute glass pitcher decorated with orange slices (not Pyrex) with matching juice glasses it was 16$. WHOA NELLIE! And I heard a guy ask the price of an old toaster oven the volunteer said it was 15$. WHAT??? 15$ for an old (not vintage) and dirty toaster oven?

Boy oh boy that place sure has changed! They watched too much Antique Roadshow! LOL

After the CBD (church basement debacle) I walked to Chinatown for lunch and  Xmas shopping. Now you understand that I can't show you what I bought because Xmas is-a-coming!

Then it was time for the Salvation Army!

I saw a wall of phones! Yes Salvation Army? I'd like to donate 50 touchtone phones!

This is the mother of all trophies! This one is for you Erin (too bad we're not neighbors....lol)

I also saw this cute carafe but left it there because I didn't need anymore and they don't really sell well in the store either.

So I actually left the Salvation Army empty handed!

Later after I met Dan we went to Friperie Renaissance in Verdun. That place never has anything and it's like a circus with clothing really.

And I saw this little guy...

A cute red 402 all by his lonesome! I took it in my arms and checked the rest of the store for goodies. After 

   was done I put it back on the shelf for somebody else to find and cherish (heck I already have one)

Then I saw something really sweet , something bold and graphic...

This beautiful vintage bed sheet! Which reminded me of a Pyrex pattern... This morning I went to the basement to get my bowl....and this is what they look like together.

Freaky! How cool is that?

Why a condo is not for me...

Ok flash back to the second week of the Maine vacation.... You know that beautiful house with the terrible beds? It was a condo. Condo rules kill me. Maybe some condo boards have less rules but these were a mood killer!
Here are some of them: You can't hang your clothes outside. You can't hang your beach towel or bathing suit on the railings for them to dry.

You can't have a lighted candle or a lighted lantern on your patio (even if you're there)

 You can only have one plant and a welcome mat on your porch (some units weren't aloud that and their no were printed for all to see)

You were granted a planting permit so you could plant in between the plants in the borders, but if you didn't properly take care of the plants your permit would be revoked and they would pull out the offending plants. 

You could not walk on the grass, you couldn't leave beach chairs on your porch, you couldn't make noise after 10 because people had to get up early and go to work. How about the people on vacation that the leaf blower woke up several times a week at 7:30 am???

And if you didn't obide by the rules you could get penalties! Man oh man that is seriously not fun!

And the last ones....mind you these rules came from the realtor and not the condo board.

You must bring your linens, dish soap, GARBAGE BAGS AND TOILET PAPER!!! I fell off my chair when I read that. So we went to Maine with a 16 roll pack of TP and some garbage bags....The owner of the house we kind enough to have left some tp, but the garbage bags I brought didn't fit. So I had to buy some, now they are under my sink because they don't fit my kitchen garbage pail, but no way in hell was I gonna leave them there! Nay Nay!

And the realtor wanted us to leave the place clean...totally understandable. But there wasn't any cleaning products! HELLO PEOPLE! WAKE UP! Don't tell we I had to bring these too?

 I learned to do a lot of things with Wet Ones! LOL

Well let's just say this was a learning experience on a lot of different levels....And that's why I won't buy a condo and I don't think I'll use that realtor again.

Oh a quick one! A couple of years ago I asked a fellow blogger from Maine if she could provide some realtor names because I wanted to rent a house. She never answered. When,after 6 months, I was really pissed and I wrote her telling her she was RUDE! She answered she was sorry but she didn't answer me because she didn't know any realtors. COME ON! That part of Maine has a population of less than 10,000 people year round so don't go telling me you don't know any realtors lady!

Needless to say I don't follow her blog anymore (she never followed mine it was too pedestrian for her).

That felt goood! A good rant once in a while does the body good!

First pic is from Poland Spring, Maine. The restaurant next to this pic has the most expensive clam chowder EVER!

Second one is from Cape Elizabeth, so fresh and charming. Thrid is from Saco Bay, there was a big storm that day and last but not least is the beach in OOB.

Have a great day!