1.25

1.25 is what I spent at my fave church basement....for these goodies!

And these...

A whole lot of cook books! Vintage cook books, you know how much I love them!

So I got 6 cook books, 3 small Mason jar (the perfect size for homemade pesto), a unopened bag of peat pellets (perfect for next spring seedlings) and a brand new still wrapped Wrebbit puzzle (I will be taking that one on vacation with Dad).

Not bad for 1.25$ !

Ok now for a SDM tidbit: When I was working there, I didn't just mann the postal counter...I did that while EPM was on lunch break. After she would send me to 'the floor' and she would say it like it was a disease; you know with a disgusted face...

What I did on the floor...I checked the expiry dates on the products. Remove the expired ones and place sale stickers on the ones that would expire in 30 days.

Now I don't want to bad mouth the lady before me (she was really sweet and trained me) but while I was there I threw out so many products the manager was flabbergasted, so it makes me wonder just what she did because I found some that were expired since 2008 ( that is ANCIENT for lube!)

Ok enough for now! Off to grocery shop I go!

Where Have I Been?

Well around mostly! I had stuff to do around the house reducing my blogging time!

I had to install a new clothes line. The old one was broken when a big tree branch fell on it a couple of weeks ago. I procrastinated but I still wanted to dry my laundry outside until winter. I also had to fix the toilet that was leaking....yeah I know....But It was easy as pie! A new gasket did the trick!

I had more hours at the postal counter of unjoy....I went to Kingston Ontario for the weekend! For my
B-Day asked me what I wanted : A gift or a roadtrip? I said ROADTRIP! But I got both! I'm such a lucky girl! I got some U.S. mad monies for my upcoming vacation and a roadtrip! YIIIIIPPPPPEEEE!

And it's harvest time around here....

I was just in the veggie garden. I found some cute lemon cukes!

And sweet string beans

A ton of cherry tomatoes!

Do you remember the tower of beans? Well it's full of big pods! Here, I'm drying them a bit before I can remove the 'skins'.

Here are the beans drying. I'll be able to enjoy some this winter!

More on my road trip later this week!

Retro Tuesday: Appliances...

Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Retro Tuesday! In light of my recent appliance woes, I decided to go back in time to see what the washers looked like back then....

But instead I found this: 

This one is courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens 1941.

I choose that pics because of the Pyrex (a subject close to my heart!). On the stove you have the iconic Flameware teapot. I love this teapot the design is fabulous and it is sturdy despite being made of glass, in true Pyrex tradition. It is perfect to brew some those tea blooms that are so fashionable right now. And next to it you have a realtively unknown but revered among true connaisseurs piece, that weird coffee pot. It seems it takes a master's degree to make good coffee in this, but it's supposed to make THE best coffee. These are quite expensive in good condition (around 100$).

 

No Pyrex here! I love these stoves and I have seen some people on Flickr who still uses them. How fab is that?

But still no washer...instead

This is gorgeous dispited being Pyrex-less! And the freezer is on the bottom like a lot of the fridges today.

I'm always fascinated by the fact that there was no plastic wrap on anything, hey it existed! That pic is from the LHJ 1962. About the freezer being on bottom...N-E-V-E-R-A-G-A-I-N! I thought I would find things easier, but no. And I think I saw some cat hair in there (EEEWWW and LOL at the same time). The only plus is that I have a light in the freezer....

And then I find this....

Can you see the color? Robin's egg blue! SWEET! And you can get the pair in pale green! This is from 1956. I'll take the blue ones please!

But this is ,in my eyes, the motherlode!

Besides the fridge (far left), the one piece stainless steel counter boasts 4 appliances! From left to right: A washer and dryer combo, a dishwasher and a stove! And Pyrex! I spy with my little eye a Primary green 403 bowl and a yellow Utility dish (lasagna size).

S'cuse me do you make this in Aqua or Pink? Yes? I'll take it!

I spent part of last evening with a measuring tape checking out washer and dryers at Sears. Call me oldfashioned but I like buying my appliances in stores like that.I learned some very interesting things about the new front loaders....First they take a lot of space, that I don't have. I live in an older house and would need to put a new addition to fit them in. Since I wash my comforters (cat hair) I can't have a washer with self regulating water level; the comforter acts like a sponge and the machine keeps filling up and filling up until the comforter is so heavy that the machine won't spin. And you can't find a dryer with a low Energy Star rating.

So the new ones will be here on Saturday!

Check out Tracy's Retro Tuesday HERE !   

Retro Tuesday: Entertaining with Salads

Today on Retro Tuesday I wanted something summery...because it is snowing in my neck of the woods....BRRR!
 So our lovely (it's up to you to decide) pictures are courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book 1958.

This one is a 'Buffet Bowl'. Love the tomatoes,olives,green peppers, assorted veggies....EWWWW! Anchovies, they so remind me of salty eyebrows. I only use anchovy paste, it's so much more civilised.And EWWW! too on the luncheon meat. Leftover meat parts (you know which ones) thrown in the grinder and molded in a meaty goodness brick. PASS!

 The Supper Salad Wheel. the presentation really appealed to me on this one. Look Tracy it's aqua!
This is a vegeterian's delight and a retro lover's as well. Those dishes are to die for! I so want that beverage serving set...What puzzles me is the entire cauliflower in the center...I would like to see my guests faces if I served this...How to attack the big white brain in the middle....

Pink Pears for luncheon. I so see little old blue haired ladies in tea rooms enjoying this one. Visually it's a girly girl's dream, all pink,frilly and look at that plate (I want plates like that!). However 2 canned pear halves with cream cheese on a pretty plate don't seem to satisfy my midday craving.....

Now be a dear and walk,skip or jump over at Tracy's retro extravaganza Crazy Suburban Mom for more delicious vintage goodies!

Retro Tuesday: 1941 Better Homes and Gardens

This is for my Dad because he likes my posts about old magazine ads. I would've tried to shake things up (like last week) but I didn't have the success I was counting on. But you need to remember folks: Tuesday IS Soylent Green day! So get yours soon before they run out!

At 5:15 this morning I was rummaging through my vintage mags and I spotted one I didn't remember leafing through! Better Homes and Gardens February 1941. I was surprised to see so much ads to make you spend,spend,spend during the war and a lot of recipes too and not the kind telling you to save,ration and disguise the hash your family had 3 times in a row.

What really struck me were weird ads. Here's what I mean...

This is for a rug company.Personal...for a girl with brown hair. Ok weird! I'd never heard of that decorating concept; to pick a carpet with your hair in mind!!! And what about your husband's hair and your kids??? What if they clash with the carpet? What would a girl do? And I feel she's too od to be called a girl....But that's just little old middle aged me!

How about this one?

   

This is an ad for Coca-Cola disguised in an ad for a flower arranging book...Talk about weird! Near the soda 6 pack one can read: In this book, you will find also ways to arrange Coca-Cola for serving, as illustrated on the left. Like flowers themselves,Coca-Cola is one of the pleasant things that brighten a home. It adds the life and sparkle that make for more gracious living.

This is a skill I need! I need to learn to arrange Coke bottles, otherwise I will be the personna non grata in my circle of friends! I will be shunned from the super market, barred from church and my social life (what is left of it) will be non-existant!!!

Oh and by the way 'the arrangement'  in the angel vase doesn't do anything for me. I mean everybody can stick flowers in any old things and presto changeo an arrangement!

And no there was NO Pyrex ads in this magazine!

Until next time...Keep on thrifting!

Oh and don't forget to visit my pal Tracy @ Crazy Suburban Mom  for more Retro Tuesday fun!!!  

 

Retro Tuesday: Brought to you by the letter G!

The letter G for....You guessed it! GELATIN! On my last Salvation Army visit I was lucky enough to find the Better Homes and Garden Salad Book! This will be good for some laughs I said to myself....I had no idea how much!

For today's show and tell I chose 

some of the most pukalicious pictures....no jokes!

YUM! the shrimp-lime Double Decker! Do you realise that the lime is provided by lime Jell-o? Eeeewww! Lime Jell-o and shrimp? Where is a barf bag when I need one?

The Perfection Salad....Ever popular!  A hearty winter salad! I'm sorry but I don't associate gelatin salads with winter! BRRRRR! And check out the shredded cabbage it looks like WORMS! Double EEEEWWWW!!!

 

The Lemony Salmon Towers.....I'm speechless....I feel like throwing up right now on my laptop!

Last but not least the I can't believe they covered the table with cucumbers salad! And tomatoes.My mind must be in the gutter 'coz I can't help but find this phallic. They even filled the top of the center cuke with mayonnaise! And can you believe that they censored TV and movies....

I rest my case!

Be sure to visit another gelatin afficionado (NOT!), my pal Tracy in her oh so funny blog Crazy Suburban Mom HERE for more Retro Tuesday fun!

Retro Tuesday on a Wednesday Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

I'm one day late for Retro Tuesday becase yesterday I installed all the Xmas lights outside and I was too tired to blog!

It's beautiful! Not quite Griswold-esque but a good show nevertheless! Speaking of the Griswold's AMC was showing Xmas Vacation last nite and tonite. Definitely one of my all time fave Xmas movies! Everytime I cook a turkey I think of them!

But I digress! I have a confession to make...I'm totally addicted to the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook collection. I love their size, the pictures, the colors....hum cookbook....

I only made one recipe from that collection, very good apple betty. But I use those books more like novels or picture books...I read the recipes and look at the pics and daydream of having a 1963 kitchen. I wouldn't want Betty Draper's kitchen I found it quite drab!

Look at the cover! It all looks so glossy and perfect (and green). This book is designed to save time to homemakers. I didn't realize that it was a preoccupation in the 60's. This books relies heavily on canned and frozen foods (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Check out the ingredients for the Shrimp Almond Sauce....Frozen shrimp soup...eeeeewwww!

Look at the last pic...with it's little sandwiches around the mustard pot...and those meaty blobs with mashed potatoes and a toato wedge on top...Mystery meat...

Even if I find some ingredients gross I can't help buying those books when I see one...Help! LOL

If you haven't please check out the creator of Retro Tuesday's blog at www.crazysuburbanmom.com . It's always fun!