Fairies in My Kitchen

I was tired of the vignette on the island in my kitchen and decided to play around with a new one.  I started out with a wooden tray, one of my favorites to use in vignettes, and covered it with pink and white napkins.

I hadn’t used my cloche stand in a while, so I pulled it out and added a sweet little fairy and some faux ivy.

I added my favorite cookie jar that belonged to my great-aunt.  I really need to make some cookies to fill it with!

Pink candles in crystal holders were added.

My sister gave this beautiful pink and white bowl to me for Christmas one year.  I decided to fill it with pink silk roses.  Oops, looking at the photo, I need to trim them a bit!

Another fairy surrounded by ivy and silk flowers was added.

I was in one of my favorite thrift stores the other day and just had to share photos of the latest goodie I found there…this wonderful vintage tole painted scale!  It’s really banged up, but I love the sagey green color of it and the handpainted flowers (although they could be just a bit more pink!)

I wish I knew where I could find one of the pointer thingies (what is it called anyway?) that shows the weight.  Wonder if a clock hand would work?

I can’t wait to use this in a vignette!  I’m thinking it would be perfect on my Hoosier cabinet.

 I’m joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday.  Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

DG

 

Wedded Bliss

My Grandparents, Bessie and Ambrose, were married on 11 March 1926.  They traveled to the county Courthouse and were married by a Justice of the Peace.  My Grandmother’s sister Viola and her husband, also named Ambrose, traveled with my Grandparents to witness their wedding.  How I wish I had a photo of them taken on their wedding day!  Unfortunately, this photo is the oldest known picture of the two of them together.  It was made circa 1934.

Their children hosted a surprise celebration for them on 11 March 1990, the day of their 64th wedding anniversary.  My Grandparents had been married for 64 years.  It was not quite a traditional anniversary year for a party, but due to their ages and health problems, their children didn’t want to wait another year.

After the party, my Grandmother carefully packed away the topper for the cake in her cedar chest.  My aunt, who lived with my Grandparents all her life, gave the topper to me after the death of my Grandmother.

The cake topper has a place of honor on the buffet in my dining area.  It sits on a silverplated mirrored cake base and is covered with a glass vase used as a cloche.  Both were recent thrift store finds.

Placed next to it is a framed photo of my Grandparents at the celebration.

My husband and I married twice…the first time when we were very young.  Too young to really know what we were doing.  The second wedding was 8 years later, after we had both finally grown up.  We’ve been together now for almost 22 years and hope to have many more…in fact, I look forward to being with him as long as my Grandparents were married.

I’m joining in with Stephanie at Angelic Accents for her 2nd Annual Wedding Blog Party - Here Comes the Bride.  Since there are some hints of pink in this post, I’m also linking up with Beverly for another Pink Saturday.  Thanks so much for visiting me today!

DG

 

My China Cabinet

Happy 3rd Birthday to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound’s Pink Saturday!

I wanted to join the celebration today by showing you the vignette on top of my china cabinet.  Some of my favorite pink goodies can be found there.

This Cupid figurine and pink roses print were eBay finds several years ago.  I love the vibrant colors in the roses.

I adore Lefton’s Green Heritage pattern with it’s pale green background and soft pink roses.  My husband gave me this tea set when we were first married.

The angels on the pink candles were a birthday gift from my mother and are very special to me.

My absolute most favorite piece is my Flying Lady fruit bowl.  It was made by Cambridge Glass Company sometime between the 1930’s to 1940’s and was part of their Statuesque line of glassware.  The seashell shaped bowl is a beautiful pale pink and has a nude maiden at the front of the bowl.  Some were sold as plain glassware and other were decorated with handpainted details.  Mine is decorated with gardenias, but I have also seen photos of the bowl with handpainted roses.  

 

According to the stories about this bowl, there was a circus in the town where the Cambridge Glass Company was located.  One of the trapeze artists made such an impression on the townspeople, that they nicknamed this bowl the “Flying Lady” in her honor.  If you would like to learn more about this glassware and the Flying Lady bowl, this is a great article and here is a link to the National Cambridge Collectors website.  I loved reading about how people would hide their bowls if a minister came to visit!   

Thanks bunches for visiting today!  Don’t forget to stop by Beverly’s Pink Saturday and wish her a very happy birthday!

DG 

Coconut Clusters

Over at Food.com, we’re playing a fun game that we do each year called the Zaar World Tour.  Teams “visit” different countries and cook regional foods from each one.  One of the regions we’re visiting during this tour is South and Central America. 

From that region, I chose to make Coconut Clusters.  The recipe can be found here at Food.com.  I love the flavor the toasted coconut adds to the candy.  Delicious and so easy to make!

I’m joining Lisa at Sweet as Sugar Cookies for Sweets for a Saturday.

Unfortunately, my photos did NOT turn out pretty, but the clusters are really very good.

Thanks for visiting today!  Hope to see you again soon!

DG

Secrets

Here at my home, an empty cookie jar is not something to be taken lightly!  After being informed yesterday by my youngest daughter that there were no cookies in the jar, I went in search of a new recipe to try.  I found this one in an old cookbook and thought it sounded interesting.  I loved the name of the cookies – Secrets, so I knew I had to bake them.

1 c butter

2 t vanilla

1/4 c confectioners sugar (sifted)

1 T water

2 c flour, sifted

1 c chopped nuts

3 T confectioners sugar

Combine the butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Add the 1/4 c of confectioners sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  Add water and mix well.  Shape the dough into rolls about 1 1/2” long.  Place on baking sheets and bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes.  After the cookies are done, roll in the 3 T confectioners sugar.

My husband and daughters loved these and best of all, they were easy to make.

I’m joining Miz Helen for Full Plate Thursday and Lisa at Sweet as Sugar Cookies for Sweets for a Saturday.  See you there!

DG

 

Cream Cheese Turnovers

A baking spree yesterday resulted in Peanut Butter Cookies and Cream Cheese Turnovers filled with strawberry and blackberry preserves.  Both recipes were found in “Favorite Recipes of Alabama Vocational Home Economics Teachers Third Edition”. 

2 sticks butter, softened

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c all-purpose flour, sifted

1/2 t vanilla

any flavor preserves

Cream the butter and cream cheese until mixed well.  Add the flour and vanilla; mix well.  Chill the dough for about 2 hours.  Working with small amounts of dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface to about the thickness of a pie crust.  Using a large biscuit cutter, cut circles of dough and spread with 1/2 t. of preserves.  Fold the dough over, seal the edges and prick with a fork.  Bake on cookie sheets at 350 degrees until golden brown.  Dust with confectioners sugar.

Instead of dusting with confectioners sugar, I chose to mix a small amount of milk with the confectioners sugar to make a glaze for the top of the turnovers.

They are wonderful little bites of deliciousness!

Thanks for coming by today!  I’m joining up with Design by Gollum for another Foodie Friday and Lisa for Sweets for a Saturday.

DG

 

Peanut Butter Cookies

I was browsing through my favorite antique shop yesterday and came across this beautiful  circa 1900 Austrian floral plate.  I fell in love with the gorgeous turquoise coloring of the border and of course the pink roses were a wonderful bonus.  Best of all…it was on sale for half price!

As I was washing the plate this morning, I thought…hmmm…I need something to put on it.  It’s been a while since I baked something from my Grandmother’s cookbooks, so I decided I would make some cookies.

Cookies…ok, got it.  But what kind???  A quick look through her book “Favorite Recipes of Alabama Vocational Home Economics Teachers Third Edition”, and I had my choice…Peanut Butter Cookies.

1/2 c soft shortening (half butter)

1/2 c peanut butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar (firmly packed)

1 egg

1 1/4 c sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking powder

3/4 t soda

1/4 t salt

Combine the soft shortening, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar and egg; mix well.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Add to the peanut butter mixture and mix well.  Chill for about 2 hours.  Roll the dough into small balls and flatten the dough by making crisscross marks with a fork dipped in flour on each ball.  Bake at 350 for about 9-10 minutes, until the cookies are set but not hard.

The recipe states it makes 3 dozen cookies, but I must have made mine a bit smaller.  I actually ended up with a little over 4 dozen cookies.

These were super easy to make and the peanut butter flavor is yummilicious!  My family is going to love these!

I’m joining Miz Helen at her Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday and Lisa for Sweets for a Saturday.  Thanks for visiting with me today!

DG