A Red, White and Blue party

Miss USA throws her party tonight and we've got to be ready to celebrate vintage style!

This fabulous dress is both fun and flirty -- just right for a Fourth of July party! Swirl on the patio to patriotic music and indulge in a few hot dogs! Vintage Dress in Red, White and Blue from xoUda

Dress it up with vintage red, white and blue jewelry....

Fabulous floral enamel earrings from Antique and Vintage

and a fun lucite beaded stretch bracelet from LifeTravelsDesigns 

Carry all your essentials in this beautiful beaded drawstring bag from TinkerzTreasure

You'll be the envy of the party in these awesome patriotic sandals from VintageDame

Did I forget anything? 

Oh yeah, the mister!

 

The fireworks are already happening on this shirt!! 

Vintage disco shirt by Sideburns

♥♥♥  My party will be taking place over at It's a Very Cherry World for Rednesday! You're all invited!

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Kitchen Gadget or Tool of Destruction? Mwahahahaha

Doesn't this look vicious? Like maybe it would be good to keep under your pillow at night .... just in case ....

Well, it is but a lowly meat tenderizer and not a tool of destruction and mayhem ....

I remember my mother using the edge of a plate to tenderize meat -- bang, bang, bang across, then bang, bang, bang the other direction. Made a little cross hatch design in the round steak!! Add some flour and bang, bang, bang again.

So, of course, when I grew up and tenderized my own round steaks, I used the plate method too!


But then I came across this -- and now I'm a bit scared to put it in my kitchen ....

Afraid that it might tenderize more than the round steak ....

(have I got you wondering just what kind of a cook I am?)
(or am I of the Lizzie Borden variety?)
Mwahahahaha

: D

♥♥♥  Linking my meat tenderizer (mwahahahaha) over on Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World
  and  Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady.


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Trivets, Trivets, Trivets!

I came across this little cutie at an estate sale I went to last weekend and just had to pick it up. There were a couple more, though in worse condition, but I still wish I had gone ahead and gotten them. Ah, well.....

I love the folk art look, especially the birds -- and it appeals to my sense of symmetry! Not to mention, of course, the blue/green color combo. I especially love it that the cast iron part is *gasp* turquoise!

I have a collection of sorts of trivets --this is the wall where I have some that I just display. I had to get far back and use the zoom on my camera or else there would be too much glare -- there's a mirror over the sink which is to the left, and a skylight in the middle of the ceiling.

The brass trivets are some that my brother brought to my mother when he was in the Navy and stationed in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, way back when in the early 60s. I've always liked them, and knowing that, my mother gave me two of them when I moved from home. Years later she gave me the other two!

Though not a trivet ; )  this magnolia watercolor is one of my most precious belongings. My aunt (who was like a second mother) painted it and gave it to me. My mother's Roseville pottery and this painting started on the road of magnolia love. 

This black cast iron one is called "Tree of Life" and was given to me by a dear friend from my high school and beyond days. It resides to the side of the kitchen sink and reflects back to me in that mirror! Then, lo and behold, my daughter found another one and thought I would like to have a pair! (I did!) I enjoy using these two, plus they have memories attached of a couple of sweet gifts!

These straw ones get used a lot too -- they belonged to my mother-in-law and I'm pleased as punch to have them! I do believe that they have a bit of blue on them too!

And, last but certainly not least, this is the one I keep on my counter and use daily. It's a new one with no attached memories, except that I bought it several years ago at Target!! But it's cast iron heavy and is an ample size for hot pots and casserole dishes! Plus, I really like the scroll design. Can you see the fleur-de-lis and the hearts?

I'm linking my trivets to Blue Monday at Smiling Sally and to Knick of Time Tuesday! 

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My Favorite Cookie Jar

Wow! I can't believe it's been a full month since my last post! Well, I can believe it and I'm having some pretty intense talks with myself about that right now!!

So, maybe Knick of Time Tuesday, Rednesday and Vintage Thingie Thursday are the paths to getting me back in blog land!!

Today I'm sharing my favorite cookie jar -- it resides on the baker's rack in my kitchen and every time I look at it, I smile. It's really hard to sneak cookies out of it -- there's a distinctive clink sound no matter how careful you are to gently replace the lid. Gives me away every time!!  And, even though it's pretty beat up and isn't so lovely in the looks department, it's very special to me.

It belonged to two of my aunts -- they were my father's older half-sisters and if they were alive today, they would be well into their 100's. The older aunt was Aunt Annie and, after her husband's death, she moved in with Aunt Florence who never married.

Aunt Florence taught school and I guess was the typical "spinster school teacher" but I sure loved going with her sometime to her school. Made me feel like a big girl!! Aunt Florence wasn't the cuddly type but she did take a lot of time with me. She loved doing crossword puzzles and got me started on that (I remember going in their garage and finding stacks of TV Guides -- those were my first crossword puzzles!!)

Aunt Annie WAS the cuddly type and she was the one filling that cookie jar! I would sit on her lap and she would read to me. She was, shall we say, ample, and it was cushy love that she gave me. She had a great sense of humor too -- once, she said she was going to fix frogs' legs and, of course, I ewwwed and thought how gross. Well, that lady took me into the back yard where there was a small pond, and proceeded to catch a few frogs. We won't talk about what happened after that, but she had a good laugh and I had my first frogs' legs!! (taste like chicken, don't ya know...)

I loved going to their house in Alabama -- we would visit just about every summer. One summer I developed mumps on our trip -- and got to stay with Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence while my parents went on to visit some friends for a few days. I was thrilled!! There was a little boy that I could play with since he had already had the mumps, but the little girl across the street (who I really wanted to play with!) could only look at me through the screen door! I think I was about four or five then and it was a big deal to stay by myself with my aunts!

OK, back to the cookie jar!

It's a very shiny black with painted on red flowers and green leaves. The paint has chipped away a bit and, to tell the truth, the original paint job really wasn't so hot! I have no idea how old it is or the brand -- there are no markings of any kind.

My mother brought it to me after Aunt Florence died and I'm so glad to have this remembrance of my aunts. I have a few other things too, including a beautiful quilt which I'll share with you another time!

♥♥♥   I'm linking my cookie jar to Knick of Time Tuesday,  Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World! and to Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady 

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A Little Garfield Fun

Garfield, gotta love him! He's lazy, loves lasagna, hates diets and Mondays!! (So, of course, I have to feature him here for Blue Monday...)

My son had every Garfield book there was -- you know the ones, paperback books filled with Garfield cartoons. No doubt he still has them! Did you know that Jim Davis, the Garfield comic strip creator, named Garfield after his grandfather? I wonder if he possessed Garfield's many attributes.... LOL!

So, when I found this little mug at a garage sale, of course I had to bring it home!

A little faded, but still cute! 

Garfield always gets the best of Odie!

Sounds like my house!!

(link to comic site here)

♥ Linking good ole' Garfield over at Blue Monday on Smiling Sally's!


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A Little Pillsbury Love

Do you recognize this guy?

 Don't you just want to poke him in the tummy and hear him giggle like in those commercials?!! I think the cutie Pillsbury Dough Boy should be brought back to TV commercial land. As well as the Speedy Alka Seltzer guy. They are so much cuter and funnier than babies talking about e-trading (in my humble opinion...)

And those eyes! Great big beautiful blues!

I love his cutie flour sack to keep my wooden spoons in order!

He's such a help around the kitchen!

♥  Linking my cutie dough boy for a little kitchen kitsch on What's Cooking in the Cottage Kitchen.
♥  And also on Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's.
♥  He's also making an appearance at Knick of Time Tuesday!

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Oatmeal and Creamy Wheat

When my kids were little, they referred to Cream of Wheat as "Creamy Wheat" and the name has stuck to this day! No doubt, in their now adult years, the kids rarely if ever think about Creamy Wheat, much less say it, so it is up to my hubby and me to carry on this tradition.

So, when grocery shopping recently, imagine my delight when I saw none other than "CREAMY WHEAT" sitting on the shelf! It fairly jumped into my cart! It surely knew that I would enjoy it more than any other brand  of cream of wheat.

Then that got me thinking of oatmeal and a couple of long ago memories. My mother made oatmeal frequently (and creamy wheat too!) and she always put raisins in it. Now I'm sure that she figured that the addition of raisins would increase the healthiness, not to mention the deliciousness, of said oatmeal. Well, she was WRONG!! I probably never told her (being the obedient kid that I was) that I could not stand, disliked intensely and otherwise detested the raisins in my oatmeal. I would eat them anytime straight out of the box, but hot in my oatmeal? Nooooo. So I suffered through the hot raisins.

And you know what's funny now?  I LOVE raisins in my oatmeal!! Who knew! I guess my mother did : )

Quaker Oats Tins -- Vintage Nonsense

My other oatmeal memory is of a time when I was about four, maybe five, and had to have my tonsils out. Back then, if you got sore throats, they yanked your tonsils. Well, my throat was sore for pity's sake and I didn't want any old oatmeal -- with or without raisins.

Vintage Milk Bottle -- LovenVintageLaura

So along came the milkman making his milk delivery. Milkmen back then knew the people on their routes and ours was always friendly and offered a bit of cheery conversation as he picked up our empty bottles and left our milk order at the back door. I liked to talk to him and watch him put the bottles in the wire basket that my mother put out on the back steps. (The best was when she opened a new bottle and stuck a table knife in the cream on top -- I got to have some before she mixed it into the milk. Yum!!)

Milk Bottles with Carrier -- Modred Vintage

The day of my tonsillectomy (since I refused to eat the oatmeal) my mother asked him if he would feed me a few bites and see what happened. Well, you know the end of this story! He got me to eat the oatmeal, I got my tonsils out, and afterwards had all the ice cream and jello that I wanted!!!

And, my little friend from down the street was waiting on the front steps when I got home from the hospital -- just like he told my mother he would!

♥  I'm linking my creamy wheat and oatmeal memories over at Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's.
♥  And also linking over on Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World.

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