It's beginning to look...

A lot like XMAS!

Yes I know, the little tikes have barely finished trick or treating and I'm already thinking of Xmas!

It is because I found this....

 

Is it a Lefton piece?

 

I hope so. My maternal grandma had a big set. I remember seeing it in the hutch

every time we would visit for the holidays.

I talked to Dad about and he says that it only reminds him of Jell-O molds and assorted

jiggling (read icky) delicacies....

 

Now I don't think I'll want the whole set, but this is my second piece so far.

I also have the S&P shakers.

 

I hope every one is safe and dry after Sandy's visit.

From what I gather from the weather man, we in Quebec, will get a soggy rest of the week.

 

Take care ;) 

Thrifting in Maine and locally

Now even if I visited favorite flea markets while in Maine in early October, the pickings were slim.

Why you may ask? It was not because they didn't offer lovely interesting things, I think my scope has narrowed.

Don't be shocked, I still have a huge and hanging thrifting bucket list!

Here's what I got in Maine for $10 dollars.

 

Now the saltine tin was definitely on my thifting buckert list.

I've been eyeing them for the past year and I always found them too expensive on Etsy because you have to add the shipping(this coming from an Etsy shop owner,lol )

 

I also got the Pyrex Flamingo dinnerware bowl for $1, so that means I need to find 3 more to complete my set. I you have some and want to get rid of them drop me a line....

 

And the classic 501 fridgie. Why the fridgie? Well the price was right at $4.00 and one I have is all chippy and getting dangerous.

 

So I spent a big $10.00 at the thrift in Maine....

 

Yesterday we did go to a local flea market, it was their last day of he season... Finnegan's flea market in Hudson, QC.

 

It is a magical place, and again much better without the heat and the crazy, bossy tourists.

 

Antiques OPEN!

 

 

That blue bird tea set is a hoot!

 

 

  You know me and blowmolds!

 

I nearly came home with this little guy....

 

I love a big old barn

 

 

 This barn is actually open year round on appointment.

It is full of beautifyl restored furniture.

However, being in constant contact with Dan Woodworker extraordinaire, I know

that most of the finishes on the furniture looks bad. The color is too bold, too uni-dimensionnal and the varnish is WAY too shiny!

 

I found this table near the barn, unattended was very whimsical and I had to snap it

for posterity.

 

The vintage/antiques factor was lower than the crafter factor and there was a lot of cool things to get for Xmas.

 

A got a necklace (it's a gift so I'm not telling)

 

And I got this...

 

 Funny how its name escaped my mind as soon as I purchased it....

 

I remember it's supposed to taste of hazelnuts....

 

It comes from Vanleek Hill, Ont. and it is organic.

Who cares about the name? HAHAHA, not me!

 

Have a great week!

 

I need to catch the end of Walking Dead 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Roadtrip Deliciousness

Aaaaahhhh....Friday night!

The end of a long week, a nice quiet evening at home.... I can finally start to catch up with stuff.

Stuff to do, to cook, to clean... Thank god Dan was off and took care of business on the homefront while I was toiling away at the office.

We learned interesting things about the house....We had the workers rip the balcony off...we have some water damage, it seems it can be fixed and we won't get a new kitchen counter top for a while...LOL! I'd rather have a front balcony than a new counter top ! Oh well, when you have an older house these things happens.

Now for more pleasant and entertaining things!

 

These pictures are from our friday night meal from the Bell Buoy restaurant in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It is one of the few year round restaurant.

Now on Tripadvisor it is 50-50 for that place and I can imagine they could get flustered and disorganized in the kitchen in the high season....But I've been there around 10 times and everytime the food is delicious.

Lasagna: great, fried whatever: great, spaghetti : great, roast beef: great.

 

And yes the decor is dated as in 1980's dated but it is mostly clean. I say mostly because it is hard to keep all those knick kancks dust free.

 

So my word of advice would be: don't go in the high season! Instead go and enjoy good, reasonnably priced food in late september or later!

 

Now you know I love watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives...and we try to visit places featured when we can.

 

This time we had to go back to the Maine diner in Wells, Maine. That place is soooo popular that they give you a beeper! We had to wait 45 minutes for lunch...Another place to really visit in the off season....lol

We first went in February 2011, in a storm of the century, so no line-ups!

 

This is a cup of their famous seafood chowder.

It is amazing. You have more seafood than broth: lobster,clams,scallops, shrimps, totally yummy!

 

Clockwise from the top: The famous lobster pie, coleslaw,mashed potatoes

 

Now the lobster pie is unlike anything you tasted: you have 4 ingredients: lobster, ritz crackers, tomalley (green stuff from lobster) and butter.

It is to die for. Creamy, rich, luxurious.

 

Now I wanted to try the cod cake...and what do you know it comes in the Triple D plate!

 

That was the best salted cod cake we had ever tasted!

It doesn't need the tartar sauce, no siree!

 

And at the bottom of the pic is their delicious cornmeal muffin served with honey whipped butter.

 

The only thing we left was the tartar sauce!

 

We will be back to sample more.

I hope they take reservations!

I might be going thrifting tomorrow!

 

I hope so :)

 

 

 

 

YUM YUM YUM

We were quite good in Maine....foodwise!

We decided not to spend all our $$$ (hard earned, thank you) on restaurants and grocery shop instead.

But we still went to restaurants....just a bit.

                                We got to Maine by the way of Portsmouth NH. We were famished!
                                I think the restaurant's name is Surf.
                                I had only fish and seafood.

                               Of course you realize the pic distortion came from the screen....
                               

I had the crab cakes

Truly delicious but in my opinion way too small as a luncheon portion.

 

Dan had a huge fish burrito

and thank god was generous or else I would've starved on the side of the road!

 

As much as I wanted to stay and write I was gently reminded that I'm past my bedtime and that I have a big day tomorrow (If you ask me all days are big lately)

 

Night, night! 

 

Finally!

Finally!

I finally found the camera ansd downloaded some Maine pictures!

                               Sunrise over Saco Bay

                                Seagulls fishing

                               It was magical as usual. I love going to Maine late in the season, when it's not in season anymore. The hotels and motels are opened (most of them) and only a few restaurants and shops are opened.
                            The tourist factor is low and the locals come out.
                           

                                  I had plenty of opportunity to drink Pumpkin Pie Spice coffee! YUM!
                                   

 

                                  I was even able to find......

                                 
                                        Pumpkin beer! Pumpkinhead is delicious, smooth and spicy.
                                        The perfect drink for a Fall afternoon; after you raked all those leaves!

                                       But most of all we chilled out, did the usual: Shop,eat,walk,sleep,walk,eat,
                                       sleep,eat,shop,walk,walk,shop again,sleep...and then it was time to go home
                                       again.

                                       We scored great deals at the outlets....Why would anyone buy full price running shoes in Canada? This always fascinates me, here it's $120-$150 and in the U.S outlets you can get the same pair for $50-$75.
                                       Are the taxes this high???

                                      I thrifted but didn't buy a whole lot...and I still haven't got pics of my finds....
                                     
                                      It's getting late and my brain is mush....

                                       Night night my friends!

Thrifty Sights at the Fleas

I saw some awesome thrifty pieces at some of my Maine fleas last week.

The weather was crisp, cool and perfect for some chowder or pumpkin pie spice coffee!

Here's some delicious stuff I left for others....

Sorry about the fuzzy pics.

This is Wells Maine and the flea is called The Shop.

It is actually a big old house filled with treasures.

                                          Are those canisters sweet or what?

I really like those milkglass mugs from the late 60's

Peace,Love,Joy and Happiness...Who could ask for anything more?

 

I have a lot more pics from fleas and food to share with you.

But that is for another post!

 

Sorry it was so short. Time is scarce and I waste a lot tonight trying to

access a web course for my job.

 

Sleep tight my friends :)

More Anniversary Dinner

Just looking at the pictures from the appetizers makes my mouth water!

Now I go a question about the bread from Six Balloons, we had plain baguette thinly sliced and focaccia with herbes de provence.
That was the best focaccia we'd ever tasted ; it was light and fluffy and melted in our mouths.

As for the mains....

                                That is Duo of beef: Short rib and filet mignon with a zucchini timbale and a polenta
                                 stick. That dish made us giddy with joy! The filet mignon was so tender you could cut                  
                                it with your fork, the zucchini and corn timbale just melted in your mouth and that polenta, nice crust outside and silky inside with herbs.

                                   Next up olive oil poached black cod. The fish was so good and perfectly cooked
                                 It was served with a wonderful veggie mix and a salt cod croquette.
                           

                  I had read that the desserts were a must have.....so we managed to make room!

                                That dessert was called Coffee Rocky Road. It had everything; crunchy, hot,frozen,chocolate,foamy and even gold leaf!

                                Okay I agree this looks kind of drab but tasted soooo amazing.
                              The chocolate cake was one of those with the runny center but surprise it was caramel
                              inside and the ice cream (far right) was milk caramel and sea salt.

                                 Oh my!

                               This dinner will be hard to top! We took a walk to help digest everything....

                                This was a wonderful evening. The service was impeccable but not stuffy and nobody batted an eye when I whipped out the camera to take pictures.
                                We will go back for sure. Lunch maybe, I hear the fois gras burger is to die for!

                                 Thank you for 22 wonderful years, sweetie.Those years flew by and I'm looking forward to another 22 years of laughter,happiness,love and joy

                               Now where will we go next year? LOL

Anniversary Dinner

Last year we decided that the gift to each other was a supper at a real good, real hip restaurant.

It was a great success and we still talk about it.

This year when I read in the Montreal Gazette that Daniel Boulud ; famous french chef with 3 Michelin stars was opening a restaurant in the Ritz Carlton, we just had to try it!

I made a reservation in early June...for late September

I give them a thumbs up because nobody was snooty.

Everybody was glad we were there!

This was the amuse bouche: Arancinis

Little balls of risotto perfumed with dill

Delicious! and unexpected

                                We were in awe of the butter on the stone shingle and the bread OH MAN THAT
                                BREAD WAS GOOOOOODDDDD!
                                   It is made om the premises by the pastry chef.

                               This was burrata with greens, mushrooms and truffle oil. This was like tasting a cheesy cloud as burrata is fresher than fresh mozzarella, it is melty and heavely. The portion was too big but i ate it all!

Now the ever reasonable Dan ate this as an appetizer.....

                               Salmon Duo: Gravlax and a salmon paté---DELICIOUS!

Now I have to go, as I am in Maine, watching Triple D and getting ready for supper....

So come back soon faithful readers for the next installment of Anniversary Dinner !

Decisions, decisions

Well today, deciding on a blog post topic was pretty hard.

Here were my choices: Weight loss journey
                                    Anniversary supper at the Ritz
                                    More Pyrex Lovelies


Guess what I chose?

Pyrex Lovelies of course! Not that the other stuff is not interesting....But Pyrex is Pyrex!

I will have plenty of time to discuss the other 2 topics soon enough.

Now It was high time I changed my displays in the kitchen, so what better occasion to take some pictures and share my Pyrex.

A Decorator 043 casserole. I don't think it has an official name and I fail to remember the

unofficial one...

Snowflake Blue

Guess what? I forgot the name of that one too!

But it sure is lovely!

Black Tulips

I love the way the light hits it.

Spring Blossom Green

 Verde

I always thought this one was named Mistletoe.

It is the pattern on the lid after all!

Another of these mysterious Decorator casserole.

Real pretty

This is....Turquoise Dove? Maybe? I still love it!

Now I was so sure I'd taken pictures of the new display BUT NNNNNOOOOOOO!

Oh well! It will be for another time.

Be well, sleep tight and I shall be back real soon with a road trip story? The amazing

anniversary dinner at the Ritz?

Come back soon to read more!