Something Old...Something New..

When I originally got married in 1966, I had no Hope Chest, the only New Household Items I had were a few Wedding Gifts. Most of my Kitchen items were hand-me-downs from my Mom, Grandma or from Garage Sales. Being just a young House Wife I wanted New Modern things, not things given to me by Mom & Grandma that were old and used. I took them but as soon as I could afford to replace them with New I did! Who wanted Flour Sack Muslin Dish Towels that Grandma had embroidered the days of the week on...not ME! Who wanted pillowcases and top sheets with hand Crocheted Trim...not ME. Did I want hand Crocheted Doilies? no I wanted the New Plastic ones. How about the Free Jewel Tea dishes Grandma had...nope I wanted Mela-mac. Mom gave me her old Wood Rolling Pin, but I dreamed of a Tupperware Plastic one. Old was a Four Letter Word to ME...give ME the New & Improved. As the years past most of the Old Items given to ME were replaced and New Shiny ones took their place. The 70's brought Plastic...Utensil handles no longer were painted wood but now Plastic. Canisters, dishes, tumblers, handles on silverware, Christmas Ornaments, Toys, measuring cups, pitchers, Milk cartons, small appliances, TVs & Radios...you name it it was now Plastic! Was the Plastic strong and durable like the Old Time Bakelite or Lucite. No, most of the time it was flimsy and broke easily. Well now that I am a "Few' years older I have come to the conclusion that the Old Stuff was better...and I kick myself to think I got rid of so much. But being the Treasure Hunter I am, I have found some really good items for my Kitchen. A lot of my Kitchen Stuff are items from the 1950's. Items I have acquired in my travels of Thrift Stores, Garage and Estate Sales..here is a Blast from the 1950's past!

This is an Old Fire-King Bowl with a handle and spout. I love this when I am making pancakes. Mix and pour just the right amount.







These are Vintage 1945-1950's McCoy pottery bowls. Perfect for mixing small batches or for serving. These are in Mint condition.

For making Pie Dough and baking the Pie, I use Brown Stoneware/Yellow ware Bowl and Pie Plate. An aluminium measuring cup, a metal alloy spelter Flour Scoop and of course a Wooden Rolling Pin. These are all dated from the Mid-Century.

Crackers are kept fresh in a 1960's Tin Storage Cracker Box and of course a Pyrex mixing bowl and Hagar Pink and Gray bowl from the late 50's.

The yellow handles on the knives are Butterscotch Bakelite, Pink Aluminium measuring spoons and shaker glass. Remember when Country Geese and Ducks were popular in the 1970's, that's my Cookie Jar. I cut my Cookies and Biscuits from a tin can that I have used since I married AJ in 1977. Don't you just love the Retro Green Plastic Cheese Slicer dated 1967.

Now our Coffee Cups are Vintage also. These are 1950's Fire-King. Coffee tastes so much better out of these!

My casseroles and serving Bowls are also Vintage Pyrex and Fire-King. I do have a set of Blue Cornflower Corning Ware 1966, that I just can not live without also.My spoon rest is made of Pewter, Made in Japan and the Kitty Toothpick Holder is Made in Japan, Lefton.

I just acquired some Flatware from my Mom's Estate. It is stamped Japan also. I just love the patterns. Well this is just a bit of some of the Old Lovely Items I have in my kitchen. As far as Plastic Things. I have gotten rid of as much plastic as I can in this house. I even "hate" plastic grocery bags and ask for paper if they have them. I really Love the Old Stuff I have, especially AJ!!!!!

Has anyone noticed the Crows have Come to Town. They are so noisy
in the mornings. I think thy may be looking for Pecans in the trees?

Your Friendly Sound System Man...AJ

Do you know what this is? Sure you do..it's a Speaker Horn. We really never even think about the horns, we just know there is music or words traveling through the air into our ears. They are very common place at Football Games, State Fairs, Carnivals, out door Concerts, Drag Strip, Amusement Parks and "THE CZECH FESTIVAL".

You would expect to see them at those events, but would you expect to see them in your.....

back yard? No we are not Hosting a Football Game, and although we have a "Fun-House", no Carnival either. What is happening is AJ was asked to be in charge this year, of the Sound System and Music for the Czech Festival's Car Show. He has been working on it for a number of weeks. He has been digging in his, literally, hundreds of records, tapes and CDs, finding songs, New & Old, that are Car Themed. This of course is right up AJ's alley. He loves his music. This is a real Labor of Love and of course when AJ does anything he gets into it 100%. One thing I am really happy about is the Speakers (there are 2) are here only until Oct. 1..the day of the Czech Festival. It "would" be kind of fun to play some music and Pump up the Volume in our back yard! Like maybe Reveille at 6:00 AM. That would sure get us The Neighbor of the Year Award...

This of course is Marzee (Marley). She was having a little outside snack while I was taking the pictures of the speakers. She asked if I would take a picture of her? and of course I did. She had been to the Vet for her yearly check - up and shots and she passed with flying colors. She is so proud of her Girley Shape and weight, 21 pounds.

It is time to take down your Humming Bird Feeders. They will be leaving soon and we sure do not want them to get stuck here for the winter.

Better than Jiffy...Cornbread..that is!

After 3 months of 100 degree weather, we have finally cooled off some, in fact more like alot! Yesterday the high was 60 degrees and rainy. I am so anxious to start cooking Winter Food that I made a Pot of Ham & Great Northern Beans....that's the White Beans. I usually make Pintos. But Great Northern are the kind I grew up on and yesterday I kind of felt nostalgic. Cooking them in the morning took the chill off of my Kitchen so I did not need to fire up the furnace for the first time...AJ was happy about that! I used a Ham Bone that I had froze this summer after having a Ham, Baked Beans and Potato Salad meal. To ME that's Summer Food, where as a Big Pot of Beans simmering on the stove for 2 1/2 hours is Winter Food. A BLT & Chips is a Summer Lunch and a Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup is a Winter Lunch...are you getting my drift? These are my Cooking Rules and I pretty much live by them. Example: In July or Aug., AJ says " I sure would like a Meatloaf" ..he get a Hamburger..."a Pot of Chili sound good"...he gets a Chili Dog from Sonic, "how about Chicken & Noodles tonight?"...close, a Bucket of KFC & Mac & Cheese. These are MY rules and I am sticking to em! But now with the Hot Days behind us (I Hope) I do not mind pulling out the BIG Pots and cooking something that takes most of the day on the stove. Oh my, did my Beans turn out good? oooh ya! Just a little cooking Bean Tip.. put a 1/2 of an Onion in the Beans in the beginning. Do not chop it just throw in the 1/2 onion whole and also do not add any salt the first hour of cooking. Salt will toughen the skin on the beans. Salt after cooking one hour. Now as French Julia Child would say here is the "Piece de Resistance" the Cornbread. You must have Cornbread with Ham & Beans. Some like a few Fried Potatos also, but Cornbread is a MUST! In this household we are Sweet Cornbread eaters. In fact Madison has called it Corn Cake since she could talk. I usually purchased Jiffy Cornbread, easy and reasonable and pretty good tasting. Then I ran across this recipe one day while browsing the Web (that sounded cool didn't it?...Browsing the Web!). It was a recipe for made from scratch cornbread. It was called "Better than Jiffy Cornbread". Well I know there is a cake out there called "Better than Sex Cake", never tried that...cake that is (Tee Hee...now is when you laugh). So I had all the ingredients on hand, I keep a very well stocked pantry, hey I do, really! I guess I get that trait from working in a restaurant for years. The recipe was fast, easy and really was not much harder then whipping up a double batch of Jiffy. I was really impressed. I have stopped buying Jiffy and now make this whenever I have Beans, Chili and Stews. Last night was no different, I made the Better the Jiffy Cornbread and it and the Ham & Beans made for a Wonderful dinner. Yes, Yes, Yes...Okay, I'll share the recipe, only if you promise to do these things 1- when you write it down on your Little Recipe Card, call it " Diana's Wonderful Sweet Cornbread Recipe, she got off of the Web while Browsing, Better than Jiffy Cornbread"....2- keep the recipe a secret..tell folks it's an Old Family Recipe and you can not divulge the secret ingredients and 3...for real...try it, it is so good.

And if there are any left overs

the Birds also love it!

Better than Jiffy Cornbread Recipe:

1 cup flour

1 cup fine ground cornmeal (I think it's all fine ground)

2/3 cup white sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

Mix this altogether by hand till smooth

2 tablespoons oil in the bottom of a 10" or 9"round pan..or 9" x 13" metal baking pan or you can spray pan

bake 30 minutes at 4oo degrees or till tooth pick comes out clean and is golden on top. Butter the top as soon as you take it out of the oven...let cool at least 5 minutes before cutting...Enjoy!
Oh yes and one pinch of LOVE!

Since Feb.14, 2011 my Mom has not been living in her Home. Up to today She has been in 3 Nursing Homes, 2 Mental Hospitals and 3 Hospitals. She has stoped breathing, had a heart attack, placed on life support, been in a coma, had her body temperture lowered and then slowly raised to reduce brain damage, she has a feeding tube, she can not walk, dress herself, feed herself or use the bathroom. She has had a number of infections inside and outside her body. As of today Sept. 15, 2011 5:00 PM she did not know who I was or where she was. She was talking about her Aunt Mary and was seeing Babies in the Nursing Home Dinning Room. She also said "John is dead and I am the next to go". She is not eating well and gets fed 4 times a day through the feeding tube. She has and still is losing weight. Today for some reason she would not sit straight up in her wheel chair and would barely open her eyes. I managed to get a few bites of fruit in her but most of the time she clenches her teeth and you can not get food into her mouth. I see her every day and sometimes twice a day, except on Sundays and that is my day off from the Nursing home, and the day I do her laundry. I am watching my Mom die slowly. Her brain is shutting down some every day. There is no Magic Pill, there is no operation, there are no treatments and there is not 1 Doctor that can make her better. She is completly at the mercy of ALZHEIMER'S and Dementia.

~~~

Family lives out of state so these pictures are for them. I am not exploiting my Mom by showing her in this state. As my Sis always says

"This is my Mom. This is what we have."