So Soon?

This has been one of those really weird weekends...on the space time continuum.

It felt like I was on vacation not like a weekend.

Yesterday I ran all over the house to clean it up while Dan was at the barber. After I was off to an afternoon of pampering with my step daughter Veronica in downtown Montreal.

Now this spa afternoon was a Xmas gift from Dan. I called in january to book the appointment and was only able to get yesterday.

We both got a massage, a pedicure and a facial! It was heavenly!

Massages were a regular part of my mental health routine before I lost my job in 2008; so it's been 4 years since my last massage; I'm already plotting for my next appointment.....

So I've been out of focus ever since. There was even a time when my bifocal glasses didn't work anymore!

So when came back home for a supper of filet mignon,Quebec asparagus,king mushrooms and baby potatoes.

The king mushrooms were delicious. I cut them in half and marinated them in EVOO and thyme

from the garden; then a quick trip on the grill.

Here's a close up of the mushroom deliciousness!

Meaty and satisfying.

We learned that for mother's day there's always a sale on filet mignon and on father's day a sale

on rib steak!

I'll jot in down on my calendar! 

I had an amazing run at the Sally Ann on friday night....Stay tuned for a thrifty post!

I can't believe I have to work tomorrow!

Stuff I didn't buy!

A I was perusing my picture library, I noticed a lot of pics from fleas in Maine. Here are some of the stuuf I didn't buy....

This lamp was a riot! If my decor was red and black and had the price been a LOT cheaper, this gorgeous piece of man would've lighted my boudoir!

At the front 2 Pyrex cups. Now I had to explain to Dad that I didn't NEED every piece of Pyrex under the sun. He proceeded to explain his vision of a collection...LOL

I love that chippy blueish turquoisy scale but I already have one, sigh!

This teapot is a showstopper!

22.50$ for a green bowl??? Are they out of their minds???

This is another of those TBNT Pyrex pieces (to me at least). So if you MUST have it, it still might be in Scarborough, Maine....One never knows! 

Is this a cool dish set or what??? 19$ for the lot and the booth had a 50% off sale too, so that is 9.50$ for the lot! I didn't get it because I have a Martha Stewart Everyday white dish set and I'm scared that if I gave it away, she would find out and send her minions. Yes she has minions! That comedian is their leader. So don't mess with Martha she sees, hears and knows everything!

I still haven't asked Dan for the sofa receipt so I can see the store's name and blog about it...but the sofa full of vinyl deliciousness is arriving later tonight! I can't wait! giggles!

VTT: My first Pyrex

And a glorious VTT to you! Today I'd like to talk about my first Pyrex. The first one I saw. It was a familiar sight; that big green bowl. My mom would use it to mix ingredients or to bake. I always liked the color. I recall seeing the smallest one also, the blue but it broke. My mom was pretty hard with kitchenware!

It misses little chipits of paint all over and has some wear inside. I don't remember when exactly she gave it to me but it's been more than 20 years. I would use it quite often but didn't know it was a Pyrex! A couple of years ago 2005 I think, my friend Patrice showed me a set of Primary Pyrex bowls in eBay and like a bolt of lightning it was love at first sight with a tinge of deja vu! And I screamed: I have the green bowl!!!

The die were cast! I started obssessing on finding the missing pieces....The first one I found was the biggest one,the yellow 404. I found it in a flea market in Maine on vacation. The next year in Oxford, Maine I found the size under, but I got mixed up! I found it in blue and it really belonged to another set (Horizons). I was so sure the smallest one was red and the blue was next but it was the other way around! Oh well!

I finally found the right one in a Pierrefonds, Quebec fleamarket (opened year round)! I was on cloud ine a couple of days after that!

The last to be found was the cute little one. I had seen it in a couple of fleas but it was really expensive! I wanted a cheaper one! I found it on eBay. It came from Maine also. In my opinion Maine is like a great big Pyrex mine! LOL

So here they are reunited at last!

    

So for more VTT fun be sure to vist Suzanne the very famous Colorado Lady right HERE !

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! :)

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!

Farm Fresh

I remembered not long ago that the neighborhood farm had a stand that sold fresh produce. So today that was the goal of my morning walk

I was surprised to see that they had so much veggies from their own land...My own are quite late,lol

I got new potatoes,yellow beans and lebanese cukes just picked from the green house. And I was in that green house, you can't get fresher than that and oh so local.

As an added bonus all their leftover plants are 25% off, so I got a beautiful burgundy echinacea. To make my walk even more fun I discovered a shortcut so the farm is even closer than I thought (10 min max by foot).

When I decided to blog about local goodness, Pyrex came to mind to showcase all that beautiful just picked freshness....So that is pic numero uno. As for the second pic...well I find that I'm strangely attracted to furniture on the side of the road..I can't bring it home, Dan would freak out about the space and is always trying to get rid of furniture....So that's why I took a pic!

Don,t you think it's a beautiful piece of furniture? Doesn't it deserve a home???

Showcase Cupboard...OMG

Of course no pics! And the guy that's supposed to help me shop for a computer has not been returning my calls.....

And the tree guy hasn't showed up yet! I so feel like swearing now!

The cupboard is GORGEOUS! You'll eventually see a pic (eventually is a big word). It was a plain white melamine box before, but now it has a beautiful beadboard back painted the same tender green as the rest of the kitchen. The casing remained white. The edges of the shelves were also painted Corn Husk Green.

On the first shelf I place a Butterprint refrigerator set and a Turquoise one. Second shelf has a primary color refrigerator and some Pyrex party pans (lime,blue, and flamingo) and last but not least on the last one I put a 3 piece Turquoise bowl set (Pyrex of course). Now the only thing missing is a glass door....

It was the first thing I looked at when I came into the kitchen this morning! I love it! And I can hear the Pyrex singing!

Dan did a really good job!

Gotta go if I want to work a bit outside before the forcasted rain.....

Homemade deliciousness....

Yesterday I woke with the NEED to bake, to make something delicious....

I had been toying with the idea of sorbet lately, partly because of the upcoming garage sale there was talk of selling the ice cream machine...
Dan gave it to me like 10 years ago and I only used it 2 or 3 times. I wasn't too crazy about their recipes (They had raw eggs....eurk!). I don't dig eating a bowl of salmonella!
So I was watching Chef at Home last week and Chef Michael Smith was strawberry sorbet and it looked delicious....And I happened to have in my freezer an unopened bag of 4 field berry mix! And a bag of aging granny smith apples....So I made apple sauce, cooled it. Defrosted the berry mix, zapped it with my immersion blender with 1/2 teaspoon salt, the juice of one lemon and 1 1/2 cups od sugar and the cooled apple sauce. I then proceeded to dump the whole kit'n'kaboodle in the ice cream machine for 45 min.....after I stored the sorbet in a barely used Tupperware ice cream container. 2 things people! Use the things you have and no way the ice cream maker in going to the garage sale! LOL
I also made a simple Quatre-Quarts (french version of pound cake) and added 1/2 cup buttermilk in the batter (another thing I have in my fridge that I have to use....)

So a slice of cake, a scoop of sorbet,a dollop of whipped topping and I am in heaven! Especially served in Pyrex!Lol!

That was a delicious dessert and thrifty too 'coz I had all the ingredients on hand(and some I had to use ASAP)

I read in a Flickr group post (A slow year) that some people are going refrigerator LESS. Yes that's right, getting rid of the fridge and using only a freezer and a cooler. I am SO not there!

I don't know if I'll ever be!

On another topic...Today is church basement day! I'm looking forward to see what treasures I can find!

And I found a new church basement which I will be visiting tomorrow! Goodtimes!

Blood orange marmalade

First of all I want to write that last friday I made pulled pork in the slow cooker for the first time and it was AWSOME!!!

The first picture is of leftovers coleslaw and pulled pork. I had made some biscuits but we ate them all....That recipe is definitely going into the 'do it again' file!!!

Last week when I saw my dad, he was his usual generous self and gave me at least 10 pounds of blood oranges! I like blood oranges but with such a huge quantity I didn't want any to go to waste....So I searched the net for some recipes and I found a blood orange marmalade recipe that i decided to try. The recipe says to prepared 6 jars....what kind of jars did they want coz' I was only able to fill 4!!! I used the regular jam jar (1/2 cup).....That pissed me off!!! On the plus side it looks really good!
I included pictures of the process. I initially decide to cut the oranges with my el cheapo mandoline but I reduced the hald orange to pulp....So I used my trusty santoku knife (it's a farberware nothing expensive or fancy but a really good knife!)

The recipe just said to pour the hot marmalade into the prepared jars screw the lid on tight and inverse them. After to keep them in the fridge....I don't have place in my fridge :(

And I am really paranoid about bacteria in my canning, so I decided to process my jars 10 minute in boiling water. Can someone tell me how come I alway have renegade lids that don't snap???? 3 lids snapped and the other one not, so that is why in the last picture I inverted the jar- It helps with the snapping! If nothing happens ,that one will go in the fridge....