So sorry

So I discovered that I have a set amount of personal web time..meaning that if i spend all my
time checking out everybody's finds on Facebook then I have no energy to share on Blogger....

we are purging slowly but surely....

Purging is really hard under normal circumstances but associated with grief....Ay caramba!

 I spend way too much time on Facebook

on the Pyrex and all vintage group...

so informative and entertaning 

I saw this at Quebec Goodwill (Renaissance)

and believe it or not I won the exact same plate on a sale blitz

at work about 22 years ago....

This is the crystal chandelier in my stepdaughter's apartment.

I just realized that is so overdue for a good clean....rats!

This will be a project for a long weekend!

be well, be safe and keep on thrifting!

It happens

Everyday I want to post, everyday I get sucked in the Facebook Group Pyrex and All Things Vintage....

God oh God, this is sooooo addictive!

Here in Quebec, winter is still here.....Spring seems to be very shy!

 That's a picture of the yard on Friday night.

Here Meghan is make sure everything is secure outside....

such a sweet soul.

I have started exercising regularly. We have a great opportunity at work to take yoga classes 3 times a week for a really, really good price.
so I have been taking advantage of that. 3 days , 3 teachers 3 different styles...and I love it!

I also found out that I have 8 classes left from a package I paid for in November....Yay!

So last Thursday I took a stretching class and That was wonderful as well. I didn't sweat too much!

I have been big batch cooking too. Last weekend we, yes WE made 120 pork dumplings....

It was super fun and delicious!

Unfortunately the pictures I took yesterday for this post haven't downloaded yet....so I will finish this
tomorrow...I hope!

Finally! a picture of my tamale making session....

It was really hard work, but very delicious!

I froze a bunch!

Today I went driving.....for 2 hours. Still on my learner's permit at 51 !

I feel this is the right time, I am very confident and the driving is quite smooth.

I donated 2 boxes of cookbooks and didn't bring anything back...

That is always a plus....

Still working on my giveaway prizes, 

yes there will be more than one!

Stay safe and keep on thrifting!

Cheesy Goodness (in PYREX)

Once in a while a recipe catches my eye and the other when Dan dumped a little booklet on the dining room table with the words : Hey I found those recipes, you might like them....

Those were Easter type recipes and we don't do Easter (we celebrate the holiday, we pray and we usually eat some ham but that is about it)  .

The recipe that really caught my eye was the Cheesy Baked Quinoa.

Here goes

3 tbsp butter divided 
8 cups baby spinach,kale or augula leaves (I used about half a bunch of kale and after I threw in some thawed frozen squeezed dry spinach)
1 leek white part only finely chopped (used an onion here)
1 1/2 cups whole grain quinoa insed and drained.
2 1/2 cups educed sodium chicken broth,divided
1/2 cup 36% whipping cream
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 cups grated medium old cheddar cheese (I used Kraft Cracker Barrel orange medium old cheddar because I want FLAVOUR not just gooyee cheese)

Preheat oven to 350F (180 C)

Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. add kale or spinach and saute 2 tp 3 minutes or until just wilted, transfer to a boel and set aside.
Add remaining butter and leek or onion and saute for 4 o 5 minutes until golden.
Stir in quinoa until well coated. Aad 2 cups chicken broth. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until most of the fluid is absorbed. This took me more like 15 ish 20 minutes.
Whisk remaining both with cream, mustard and pepper. Stir in quinoa mixture along with reserved kale or spinach and 1 cup cheese. Pour in Pyrex dish if desired.
Smooth top.
Bake, uncovered for  15 minutes and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake another 15 minutes until bubbly.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

                                It made quite a lot and was delicious! No, really...
                                it was even good room temp!

                                I will freeze this dish for another day....

                                Oh and the bonus is it is gluten free.
                               I serve it with leftove fish but they mention it would be great with chicken or ham

                              Enjoy!

Itching

I'm itching to sow seeds now....but it's too early

 

I saved  quite a bit of seeds...In the biggest jar is perrenial sweet pea; the medium jar has

butternut squashed and in the itty bitty one are delicata squash seeds

 

Of course you recognize  some of my Pyrex!

 

So in this picture you have 3 things that make me happy: seeds, mason jars and Pyrex!

 

I had a talk with Dan and we will definitely be back in the funky gravy on the So Guy chinese restaurant in Morrisburg, Ont.

 

So I should eventually get pics for you!

Guess What?

Guess what?


The lamp is going back!!! We took it out of the box, I held it up; I had time for a picture…..and it went back in the box!

Back to the drawing board!

Here’s a pic of said lamp

Bye Bye Lamp!

Now a couple weeks ago we bought a rattan shade that id mid-centuryish for a big fat 3$....Now I’ll be looking for a kit to hang it up.

There were discussions to spray paint it but i was afraid we would regret it....If we don't like that lamp over the dining room table, it will go in a corner of the living room.


Now this is really funny Dan keeps saying we need touches of color! Yeah, yeah I know but in this case it ‘s definitely a case of Rome wasn’t built in a day! Still tired but not as stressed out....

I’m praying to get the ok for a week of unpaid R&R. That would be heavenly!

In the mean time here are some pics of Pyrex in action

Caprese salad lunch

Leftovers! I love leftovers! From left to right:

Smashed new potatoes with green onions in Spring Blossom Green, tzaziki sauce in the small fridgie and cevapcicis in the Butterfly Gold. It was delicious!

Right now I'm off to watch Masterchef and then off to bed.

Sweet dreams faithful readers :)

How sad is this?

Last Friday in crazy hot temperatures...read 108F people this is unbearable for a middle aged slightly overweight asthmatic like me! So last friday I took a loooonnngggg walk (well it certainly felt that way), I walked down the hill and headed to Salvation Army.

It was the 50% off sale.....you know the usual....tons of stuff......tons of crazies....all the stressed out,crazy,neurotic,stinky,not so clean and some really sad and desperate people crammed in an old building with NO air conditionning! WHOA NELLY that is a recipe for disaster!

Turns out I didn't find anything interesting to me so I didn't have to fight in line to go to the cash.

But I saw 2 noteworthy items....

I first saw this a couple of months ago and in fact I saw a whole box of these. Now please tell me what the heck are these doing in Montreal ? I used to have a collection of cheap souvenir water globes but most of it got smashed by my landlord's plumber who came to fix the tub.....bummer. I still have a soft spot for them. I'm a tacky girl at heart.

And this ....this is really sad, and I'm in denial at the crazy price they want for this.....

  Boohoo,boohoo,boohoo poor little Pyrex bowl! By the color I'm guessing it was a Spring Blossom Green 402. Some people call this well loved I call this being lazy! Instead of washing it by hand why not just stuffing it in the dishwasher? It's so much easier....that is CRAP!

Please if you want to enjoy your Pyrex don't put them in the dishwasher! It will damage your dishes not to mention the paint you'll wash in your waterways that are already in dire need of help!

Ok that concludes the eco/Pyrex militant part of the post!

Do you watch Top Chef Just Dessert? How crazy is Seth? He could fit right in the Salvation Army right along Penny from the Next Food Network Star! Why can't people just get along and cook peacefully?

Here at Casa de Vonlipi we are totally addicted to food competitions! Rats ! Masterchef is not on because of the President's address....

Remember this cutie?

First things first!

This is you last chance to comment for my super duper Clamato giveaway, click HERE for a chance to win.

Now please be honest....Do you remember this?

That cutie is part of a set of 4 that were rescued from the trash in Lachine last year. Yes they are made of teak and worth a pretty penny (Why someone would want to throw them out, it leaves me speechless, which doesn't happen very often let me tell you!)

Also in the trash was the dinning room table minus legs (Go figure!). So the plan was to re-upholster the chairs and have some legs made.

These things are easier said than done! lol

Here at Casa de Vonlipi we definitely have problems with follow through. We had to figure out what we wanted to re-upholster the chairs with....originaly it was black vinyl....But I suggested we reuse some dark blue leather we had, so we bought some dye....2 months ago.

The chairs got done last weekend! I so thrilled I can't believe my eyes everytime I look at them! hihihi

Isn't she SWEET? OMG I can't believe we now have genuine mid-century teak dinning room chairs!
 It cost less than 30$  for the dye and the padding so that is 7.50$ per chair which is pretty trifty in my book!

Now here are some pics of Canada Day Pyrex in action!

As an appetizer I made crab cakes....with a special tartar sauce. I haven't written down the recipe yet, but they were delicious!

A Pyrex dredging station (can you tell I watch a lot of cooking shows?)

Some of the dishes resting after a hard evening's work!

This is oe of those morning after shots....I still had the tablecloth on the table and the Pink Pyrex fridgie set just wanted to come out and play!

Look how the pink from the tablecloth is really close to the color of the Pyrex? F-R-E-A-K-Y!

Well that's it for tonight....As much as my heart wants to thrift, my mind says  I should take care of the house and the yard.....sniff.....I try to do a little bit every night after work.....

Have a restful night my friends!

Slow Thrift Week

There wasn't cool stuff at the church basement this week....except this!

It looks like kind of a cheese board but it had hooks and a cord to hang it. You can remove the little platters. I know that because one was loose, the others were 'glued' with tape. I didn't buy it for the store because it's too heavy and would cost a fortune to ship.

I'm also getting pretty excited about starting my job on monday. I need to get organized; especially with the food! I don't think I will have time to cook every night, so I need to find big batch recipes that fit with the GI diet. I also need to make 5 days of outfits with 3 skirts. Ultimately it would be great if the dress code allowed for jeans....but from what I saw, I might need to look for clothes @ the Sally Ann!

In the meantime I baked a double batch of cranberry bran muffins (great snack) and got all my Pyrex Primary working hard!

The kitchen is all in shambles!

This is our new fave teapot! I first saw one last summer when I bought one for my Dad. It is stamped Pyrex ware for Teamakers Inc. And it comes with a stainless steel basket. My Dad  loves it! He loves it so much he wanted to bring it on vacation in Maine, but finally decided against it because of the breakage factor. I love its shape, it's sooooo cool!

Well in December Dan gave me a mission....find another one but this time for us. We were sick of those infusers that rust. I found ours on Ebay for a reasonnable price (the shipping was good too). We now use it every day for our after dinner tea.

Bad pic of the interior :)

Last night I made a celery root and carrot remoulade salad. I choose the Spring Blossom Green to enhance the colors of the salad. It looks beautiful! And was delicious too.

Tonight we have a sugar shack/country line dance party. It will be a good way to burn off all of these delicious maple calories!

Have a great weekend!

Last weekend to enter my fab Pyrex giveaway! Click right HERE to enter!

Good luck!

  

Retro Tuesday: Smells like SPRING!

That's just wishfull thinking! I wish Spring was here, but it's probably at least one month away...

We had another 6 inches of snow Sunday night so I went shovelling yesterday and it was raining and the snow was wet and heavy and I nearly cried....Later in the afternoon the temp started dipping and it started snowing again....Guess what? I nearly cried...Over night everything froze and now it's around 3F (minus 18 C); needless to say that even if I wanted to I couldn't shovel and anyways I strained my back so I took happy pills and I'm resting.

Since I'm lomging for Spring and I guess I'm not the only one....I decided to have a spring themed giveaway!

Here's what one lucky winner will get:

4 delicious Spring Blossom Green Corelle cups, a cream and sugar set from the same pattern,

A Pyrex cinderella Spring Blossom Green 441 bowl, a S&P  miniature Ball jar set (new in box) form the 70's, a Pyrex spice shaker and a package of paper napkings with snowdrops on it-one of the first flowers to bloom in Spring.

Contest is open to everyone.

Here's what you have to do!

1) Be a follower

2) Leave a comment telling me what you prefer about Spring

and for an additionnal chance....Blog about my giveaway and tell me about it.

Now this is really important....You must be a follower and leave a comment in order to be eligible.

Contest is open until  February 28th 12:00 pm

My cats will randomly select a winner by hacking a fur ball on a printed comment (hihihi)

Good luck!

Thrift bounty!

Welcome Katrina! Thank you for becoming my 168th follower! I loved you comment, too bad you're not in Canada! LOL
It's always fun to thrift with a like minded pal. Speaking of thrifting....I went to the Salvation Army and Renaissance.
 I'm always flabbergasted by the cruddiness of the big Salvation Army on Notre-Dame street. Every time I go I touch something and my hand is sticky after...EEEWWW! I'm thinking I should bring plastic gloves and look even weirder than usual! In the meantime Dan put some anti-bacterial towelettes in my Xmas stocking....Such a good idea!

No Pyrex in sight but....some nice Spring Blossom Green cups and a cream & sugar set in the same pattern, delicious!

How fresh and springlike! I'm thinking giveaway....

I also found a Pyrex 043 lid and a portable and adorable vintage ironing board. I forgot to take a pic....rats

After I met up with the Danmeister and we decided not to go to the movies afterall; we were too tired and achy (no real reason, maybe a cold?) ...we decided to head home by the scenic route and  stop for some grub along the way.

But before we got on the road a snack was in order (yes I know the diet :(). We stopped @ the Green Spot, a Montreal institution on Notre-Dame street. This place has been here forever at least since the 30's. They make the best greasy french fries (une graisseuse in joual). In case you don't know joual is the french canadian slang spoken in Montreal. Since this is such a vintage landmark I decided to whip out the camera and take some pics to share with you.

Old sign offering poutine and other delicacies...

@ one time the hotdogs were actually 20 cents! OMG

An order of greasy french fries like this is best shared in the car!

 We headed west our fingers greasy and our souls satisfied to Verdun. While on Wellington st I asked to stop at Rennaissance and I even added: Why do I bother they NEVER have good stuff!

Boy was I in for a surprise!

I squealed with glee when I found this big Ziploc bag filled with vintage cake decor! For every occasion,Valentine's, Easter,Mother's day,Halloween, Xmas and ballerinas...I even have some clown heads.  

A great illuminated tree top from the 70's

Some great vintage ornements! They will make a super addition for the store!

Speaking of clowns....I've never liked clowns. NEVER. I would cry when I saw some at the circus, I would cringe when I laid my eyes on those clown paintings from the 70's and the coup de grace was when I saw Stephen King's It on tv. Clowns give me the willies!

I watched the premiere of Mr Sunshine, which I found really funny, and there was a bit with clowns, axes, the director being scared shitless of clowns and little kids. I nearly peed my pants I laughed so hard!

So good luck with your new show Matthew Perry! Because when I really like a show, it's always cancelled. Except Supernatural....Go figure! The networks should pay me....

 I also watched thursday night episode of Jersey Shore (yes I'm guilty of incurable tackiness and voyeurism). et me tell you something, Ronnie is DANGEROUS! If I'd been there when he started throwing things around, I would've called the police. Sammy is not better and come to think of it all of these young people have become really violent at one time or another since the show began which makes me wonder what kind of values did their parents teach them? And what kind of message this is sending to all the kids who watch the show?
Ok so I've said my peace! Have a great afternoon, I hope you find delicious things in your thrifting expeditions. I will practice some new dances for the line dance Valentine's day party tonight!

Just for Tracy!

Ok so I toyed with the idea of posting something but I got side tracked by the day. You know just the day to day stuff: laundry,racking leaves,cooking. I did take pics this morning but quickly forgot about them.

And I took a HUGE nap, yes guilty as charged! Even if the house in Saco was wonderful, the mattresses left something to be desired....With Dan in the full bed I felt like I was falling; and as a matter of fact it was true! One side of the bed was crooked, so it was uncomfortable for 2. I can also add that the Danmeister had a bad cold and was moaning and coughing most of the night, so I moved in to another room which had 2 singles so I had to buy single sheets (I love you Target). The house was a bring your linens deal and bring your soap,garbage bags and TP!

So after dinner I checked my blog and saw that Tracy my dear pal from Crazy Suburban Mom had left me a really cute comment about being in withdrawal from my blog and heaven forbids that Tracy should have convulsions or puke on her doody rug!

So I'm not making this up I actually bought some Pyrex on my vacation.

I got those 2 little fridgies. The one on the left has a banged up lid :(

5 Butterfly Gold Compatibles napkin rings  

 And this cute Cinderella Spring Blossom Green 441 bowl

Each piece was less than 3$ and the napkin rings were 1.75$.

I can't wait to use the napkin rings.

In case you're wondering: NO I don't have ALL the Pyrex pieces made. It is a common misconception! And No I don't buy all the piece I see, even if I don't have them. I try to get the smaller missing pieces. Once in a while I will get a fixation on a pattern or a piece ad then try to get it no matter what.

There was the Pink dinnerware fiasco. I decided I NEEDED (a deep deep need) for a 4 place setting of Pink rimmed Pyrex dinnerware. So I started slowly...I got the cream and sugar....some cups ans saucers and then I spotted some bread plates and saucers on Etsy and I bought them. Unfortunately the seller hadn't taken the time to go to the post office and have the parcels properly weighed and priced so she freaked out at the real shipping price ( a life lesson she won't forget soon). I got 2 plates and then I waited and waited and the seller asked me to be patient and I was r-e-a-l patient.

Then one day after a shift at the PCOU (postal counter of unjoy) I saw a yellow sticker from UPS on my door. They had come a-knocking but I was a-shipping! And they wanted 22$ of my hard earned money. No way I was going to pay duty on vintage plates! So I wrote the seller informing her of the situation and my refusal to pay additional fees. Well UPS came a couple of times and I was never there so the plates went back, I guess...I got some of my money back after 4 months. I felt bad for that clueless seller, it ended up costing her more than she made on the sale.

So I'm off the Pink dinnerware (for now) lol!

Wow I really rambled on!

I really have a good find for tomorrow...I'll give you a clue...It's glassware but not Pyrex and it was a definitely a

START THE CAR  !!! START THE CAR!!!

moment

Comfort Food Deliciousness

I'd been dreaming of Mexican lasagna for quite a while now...I couldn't find my recipe...rats

I checked the internet and here's what I found...

 MEXICAN LASAGNA


I believe it comes from A  Taste of Home. It was a Mexican lasagna (recipe below), with layers of yummy goodness!


1 1/2 pounds ground chicken (I used lean ground beef)

1 cup each diced onions and diced green bell pepper

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed (I used more)

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups pasta sauce  (I used plain ol' tomato sauce)
1 cup medium salsa

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (more,more,more)

4 large or 8 small whole wheat flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded light sharp cheddar cheese (I used a blend of light mozzarella and cheddar)

1/4 cup green onions (more)

sour cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, cook the ground chicken (or ground beef), onions, green pepper and garlic over medium-high heat until the chicken is no longer pink. Break up any large pieces of chicken as it is cooking.

Add black beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Add pasta sauce, salsa and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat.

To assemble casserole, spread a third of the sauce mixture over bottom of casserole dish. Top with half of the tortillas, overlapping and cutting them as necessary to fit. Top with a third of the sauce mixture, followed by half of the cheese. Cover cheese with remaining tortillas, followed by remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese over sauce and top with green onions. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

As part of my mexican lasagna fantasy, I was assembling it in this particular Pyrex casserole. It the 475 size 2 1/2 quarts and it fits small tortillas perfectly!

I took it out of the oven and it looked pretty pale...so I removed the foil and stuck it back in the oven for about 15 mins.

Layers of yumminess!

Last layer....I was worried that the green onions would taste blah after cooking but they were heavenly!

All bubbly and hot from the oven!

I served it with a green salad. It was better than my old recipe!

Since I looooovvvveeee leftovers; I had enough of eveything for a smaller second one that is now waiting in the freezer! In Pyrex of course!

Have a great day!

Soeur Berthe Recipe's

I had a great weekend and I sure hope you had one too!

Saturday I went thrifting with my Dad. It was the best! he got me this book at Value Village.

I had heard of Soeur Berthe (let's face it I think everybody in their forties in the province of Quebec has heard of her). I had never made one of her recipes, I don't know if I will make some. What fascinated me was the pictures. What else?

Ok check out her hair! This book was published in 1974 so what's up with the bouffant do? Who would do that to a middle aged nun? Every time I see this picture I crack up I can't help it!

Something else that comes to mind is...Why everything is so elaborate? It's a picture of a picnic!

She brought serving dishes at a picnic! And the stuffed bread with the antennas....that spells: One of the kids will put an eye out with those!

Unfortunately this book doesn't have a lot of pictures. The previous owner actually crossed out recipes that failed or she didn't like...which is kinda weird because Soeur Berthe was Culinary Arts Director at a big chichi school....ok well! Maybe not enough testing in the kitchen.

I could not resist the last pic because...I'm sure you saw it...In the top left corner a plethora of Spring Blossom Green Pyrex (5 casseroles and 1 bowl).

Check out the de-boned stuffed chickens in the middle, talk about elaborate! Who had time to make that???

If I would make it the chicken would have time to reach the best before date before I could finish de-boning it! You don't learn that technique anywhere, you have to go to cooking school for that!

What about that big plate of sardines...LOL!

Don't worry there's plenty of retro stuff where that came from so join me tomorrow for more on Retro Tuesday!

VTT: Pyrex Butter Dishes

Merry VTT to everybody!

I decided to post earlier this week. Something about the early bird...You know!

So today it's about the Pyrex butterdishes. I was so sure I had 8 of them. I looked and looked and turns out I only have 7. They only made 7.

They all were manufactured in the late 60's- early 70's. The patterns are (from the first pic) clockwise left to right: Old Town Blue, Snowflake Blue, Spring Blossom Green, Woodland,
Autumn Harvest, Butterfly Gold, and the classic Butterprint.

Do you remember when I wrote that my interest in Pyrex keeps changing?

Well The butterdishes are the perfect example! I had no interest for them until I realised the bowls were taking over the house...So I needed to find smaller pieces...Hence the butterdishes!

I love having one on my kitchen counter filled with a stick of glorious butter goodness! YUM!

For more VTT fun please visit Suzanne at www.coloradolady.com