Redneck Clothesline

Its a beautiful day here today.  Bright and sunny, so I did some laundry and hung it out.  But even though we've been in this house for 9 years, I've never put up a clothesline.  Instead, I use our dog kennel!

Well I do like things to be multipurpose!  I call it our redneck clothesline.  You can see my retro clothespin bag at the end.  Here's a closer look...

It used to be my moms.  I'm not sure where or when she got it.  Lets look at the back....

You get a better view of the polyester fabric.  The sun-faded band is from years hanging from the deck of the house I grew up in. It had horizontal railings.  I spent many a sunny day reading and suntanning on that deck in my teenager-hood!

Before we leave my back yard, we'll look at another being that likes to sun himself...

And lets grab a handful of raspberries in my patch....

I hope its sunny wherever you are!

Turquoise Kitchenware and some news

Not sure if anyone is out there anymore.  I haven't posted anything for almost a year, but  I thought my most recent acquisitions deserved a post.  It was a 50% off kitchenware day at one of my local thrift shops.  I didn't expect to find anything,but I found two things one after the other.

A small pyrex bowl, in excellent condition.  I think the pattern is called Amish.  Besides the Forest Fancies, this is the only other pattern I have and look out for.  And a pristine Melmac divided bowl, which I was equally pumped to find.  

There was a small article about Melmac in the latest edition of Atomic Ranch.  I was just reading it and admiring the styling of Melmac pieces and then found this bowl in the thrift store later that week.  This bowl was made in Toronto by Maplex.  As I was researching it I came across this blog all about Melmac.  There are aficionados for everything!  Its great reading.

I only spend $2.50 for both, as they were half price.

And for the news...I may be resurrecting this blog, as I'll have lots of new (and old!) things to blog about.  Hus and I will be moving to a new city (a city! with an international airport, culture, amenities, and lots and lots of thrift and consignment stores), in a new province, and I will be returning to school (at age 40!) to transition to a new career.  But most exciting of all, for the purposes of this blog, we bought a 1959 mid-century modest home, which has many of its original features.  So my turquoise bowls will fit right in!

Lemon-Lime Leather Finds

My garage sale/thrift store finds have been pretty slim as of late, but I did manage to stumble upon some good leather accessories in summer colours at a local thrift shop...

 I saw this beautiful sandal peeking out among a shelf full of brown and black shoes.  I snatched it up ecstatically and threw it on my foot, but it was a size too large ;-(  Too bad!  But as I was putting it back on the shelf I noticed that it was a German brand (Ara), was the softest leather and was totally unworn.  I couldn't leave it behind and thought of my sister whose feet are one size larger than my own. I'll give them to her (or my other sister whose feet are a half size and falls between the two).  I looked all around the shelves for it mate and finally had to enlist one of the volunteers to help me.  She had to retrieve it from the back solemnly telling me that they were special stock and would cost more than the regular shoes.  "How much?" I asked with trepidation.  "5 dollars". No problemo, especially since they are still available online for $140! Lets have another look, including the unworn sole...

 I also picked up two leather belts for $1 each.  These are for me...

 I love this mustard colour, but can't wear it near my face, so the belt will be a nice addition to my wardrobe. I have one dress to wear this '80s inspired olive-green belt with but with some experimentation I should be able to wear it with other clothing.  When I got home I showed it to Hus exclaiming "look at this awesome '80s belt!"  He replied "'Awesome' isn't the word I'd use for it."  He'll love it once he sees a put-together look!  Or more like he won't even notice it when I wear it!

Last of the Rhubarb

Yikes!  This week I had to harvest the last of the rhubarb and realized that I had last blogged in May when I used the first of it! Over the summer, I made a few non blog-worthy crisps and a friend also took some.  Since there were only a few crisp stalks left, I made a batch of muffins...

Action shot of stirring in the chopped rhubarb

The finished product

 And used this recipe from the Kitchn to make rhubarb syrup to mix with water or club soda...

Bubbling away

The precious syrup

My mom will probably laugh when she reads this.  She always made and preserved a syrup like this out of rhubarb or saskatoon berries.  I hated it.  I wanted to have store-bought juice right out of the fridge like my friends had - orange or apple or grape, not such uninspiring flavours like rhubarb!  I also hated that when I wanted juice I had to retrieve it from the cold cellar, find a jug, and mix it with water and sugar.  Can I admit that I was a jerk?  I guess most kids take what they have for granted.  Now, as an adult I appreciate all that my parents did for us and how much effort it took.  And I want to recreate those healthful homemade flavours that made my childhood so happy and healthy. Bring on the rhubarb! 
I have a little chopped rhubarb left to put in the freezer.  I like to use frozen rhubarb in upside down cakes during the winter.


I'd also like to say hi to my new followers (who signed up during my blogging hiatus).  I'll try to post more often.

First of the Season: Rhubarb

Although the weather has been cold and damp here, we are actually well into spring because I used the first of my rhubarb!  I love rhubarb in the spring when there is no other fruit available (ok, technically it is a vegetable), but as the season progresses I find it harder and harder to use up.  So a few years ago I bought a small cookbook entirely devoted to rhubarb recipes (at Value Village, naturally). 
On the weekend I decided that I would randomly open the book and make whatever recipe happened to be on that page.

Behold. Royal Rhubarb Dessert!

This recipe for Royal Rhubarb Dessert was a little off-putting because it required dry strawberry jello! And I couldn't quite figure out how it all went together until I started making it.

First I pushed a pie-crust type base into a pan.

I thought it fitting to use my pyrex bowl to contain the
Rhubarb in this likely mid-century recipe.

Then, onto the piece-de-resistance: sprinkling the jello onto the rhubarb layer!

Eww! 

And here it is with the top layer on, ready to go into the oven.

After 30 minutes it was done.

The jello soaked up the moisture from the rhubarb, and as the dessert cooled the rhubarb layer became firmer.

And here is a cooled slice.  It cut and stayed together surprisingly well.  But besides being day glow pink, you wouldn't even know that it had jello in it.  The pie crust-like base contrasted nicely with the other softer layers.  I enjoyed it, but am not sure if I would make it again.  First, because I rarely have jello on hand.  Second, because there are so many other recipes to try out!  What are your favourite ways to use rhubarb?

May 5th Garage Sale Haul

Today was grey and rainy.  Not pleasant enough to spend outdoors doing yard work, but good enough to hit garage sales.  The first ones I've been to this year.  Many were fundraisers.  I think they were timed to coincide with the opening day of our very popular farmer's market.  I probably went to ten today, and I've grouped my haul into categories:


Housewares:

For some reason I didn't have a 1/4 measure.  But now I have this little white tupperware one. 25 cents.  And two canisters for dry goods. $1.50.

Toys:

A game, paper doll and seek-and-search book for my little niece and nephew that I'll be visiting in a few weeks.  $1.00.

Books:

Well, you can read the titles.  I will say that I keep picking up Philippa Gregory books for my 'to read' shelf, but haven't yet read one!

Fashion:

On the upside, I liked the style of these shoes.  On the downside, I rarely wear heels and these are made of all man-made materials.  But, on the upside they've never been worn and were only .50 cents.  So I took them home.  Behind is a hanger for scarves, belts etc. 10 cents.

I also bought some chocolate chip cookies at one of the fundraisers, but there are hardly any left to photograph!
So, these are all fairly practical items but a good start to garage sale season, nonetheless. 
I'm linking up to other rummagers from Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds.

leftovers + creativity = delish lunch!

I stumbled into making a great 5-ingredient salad with leftovers from the fridge.  
We had some basmati rice left over from Indian takeaway, and a rapidly aging cauliflower. As I was holding both scanning the fridge for inspiration, I remembered this Jamie Oliver recipe for Salmon Tikka that my sister introduced me to (which I highly recommend).  I thought that if salmon smeared with curry paste tasted so good, so would cauliflower. 

Dished into lunch containers the next day

It was great!  We ate it for lunch for two days, and then the following weekend I made it for a potluck.  Everyone wanted the recipe, so I've come up with one:


2-3 cups cooked white or basmati rice
1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
2 Tbsp Patak's mild curry paste*
2 tsp vegetable oil
2-3 Tbsp chopped cilantro (or more!)
3/4 cup defrosted frozen peas


Smear the cauliflower with curry paste and drizzle with oil.  Spread on pan and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven until soft and browned, around 25 minutes.  When cooled mix with rice, peas and cilantro.  Enjoy!


*I have no affiliation with Patak's, but would take freebies if they wanted to send me some!