Pinned, Made, Liked!!

After a week off, it's back to my weekly Pinterest post - I think this is going pretty well, hard to believe it's nearly March and I've been posting every week about a pin that I've tried.  Last night I made this great dish - actually, it's the second time - and both times - so good....  It was so good, I forgot to take a picture but did get the leftovers today for lunch...

Sweet and Sour Chicken

 I followed the original recipe pretty well to the tee, I used just a pinch of regular salt instead of the kosher salt. I think chicken thighs are my favourite kind of chicken, they're usually a good price and they're just so tasty!  The original recipe is from Malta Supermarkets - click here if you're interested in giving it a try.  I think you'll enjoy it!!

Today I'm linking up with Open House Party Thursdays ,Share Your Cup Thursday and The Busy Bee's Thursday Link Party

Yes, We Drink Milk in a Bag!

Did that title catch your attention?  If you live in the US, I bet you are wondering what in the heck is she talking about...  I live in Ontario and I'm switching back to milk in the bag - because of the price, I much prefer this plastic container that is only available at my local convenience store - grocery stores here do not have plastic containers, they only carry the bags and cardboard boxes.  I just read that milk bags are available in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes but not in the Western provinces.  I know that the Maritimes offers the bag, the box and the jug in all grocery stores, I never could figure out why jugs weren't available here..

Goodbye, milk in a jug, when you cost $1 more than the bagged milk, it's time to switch back.  This jug is costing $5.29 right now, you do get 25 cents back when you return one, but, still the bagged milk is the better deal!

Here is the same amount of milk - there are three bags inside

This is the individual bag

The milk jug has gone all fancy, my old one used to be a solid boring color!    

So, my American friends - have you heard of milk in a bag before?  Watch this video and  you can see just how we use this plastic wonder!

Homemade Goodies in the Mail

We're back from our Florida getaway and it was glorious - sun and warm days, what's not to like - right now I am staring at a yard full of snow - green grass and flowers are way nicer....

I had some fun mail waiting for me when I got home - Holly from Life on the Rock sent me a few goodies - I had commented on her bunting, well, she made me one and here it is...

How cute is that??

She crocheted me these two hearts and sent along a vintage Valentine too - I'm so lucky  - thanks, Holly...

Slow Cooker Ribs from Pinterest

Another week - another pin to share - I've made this one a few times and it never disappoints - here's the link to Lazy Man Slow Cooker Ribs - there isn't really much to say about these - they're easy, they're tasty, try them, you'll love them , I've passed the recipe on a few times - no complaints from anyone!    I followed the recipe pretty well as described, I only added a pinch of regular salt instead of the half tablespoon of kosher salt.  I'm linking up with Share Your Cup Thursday and Weekend Potluck at The Country Cook

It was just a simple meal - ribs, baked potato and broccoli slaw.    The lighting is so bad at night, it's hard to get a very good picture, especially when meat is involved!

I won't be doing any pinning post next week - because come Sunday, I am going to be looking at a sign like this - I can't wait to get away from this snow for a week!!!  

Valentines

I don't do a lot of decorating for Valentine's Day - I just don't  have very much to put out, but I think I did it up a bit more this year - everything isn't truly Valentine's but it still looks cute enough...  I'm linking up with Rednesday at Sue Loves Cherries.

Stacey held a Valentine draw on her blog  and I was the lucky one  - she sent these five great old vintage Valentines - I would have liked to have made a banner but I didn't get around to it so I pinned them on this house.  I follow her blog on a regular basis and you can too - right here.  Thank you , Stacey!

I wrote about this vintage honeycomb ornament last year,  but it has to be  front and center again this year, an elderly lady gave it to me a few years ago - it is just the prettiest thing and very old, it was Made in Germany.

I bought this cute little hanging at Michael's this year - it was on Valentine clearance.

Everybody has been showing off their Valentines for weeks, I had none so I placed a bid on Ebay and won a lot of about twenty vintage Valentines - this is just one of them.  I used quite a few for making cards, which if I have to say so myself, turned out pretty nice.

Part of this shelf was shown already when I blogged about  the button wreath -  I made it using all vintage buttons.  My Mom made the heart a few years ago, the hankie is from her collection, the little girl with hair was mine.  Red Pyrex is good for Valentines, fridgies come in handy for any occasion!  The vase behind the wreath is further along in the post..

I've had this piece of transfer ware for ever - this is the first time it's ever been out on display - I don't even know if I bought it or someone gave it to me.   

I forgot to add these in my glassware post the other day - I also found these at Value Village last week.  I don't usually buy anything like this, I was taken to them because Mom had them in green and these just look so perfect for Valentines - there's no marking on them, similar ones online appear to be by Anchor Hocking, so maybe these are too.  Mom had her green ones forever....

If you listen to this, I can guarantee this song will stay in your head all day - click  here to listen to Honeycomb -  a hit song from 1965, sung by Jimmie Rodgers.   There's two videos, they're both great, he plays the guitar in this one - I couldn't decide which one to include so I'm putting them both on - pick your favourite!    I was reminded of it again this week when I read about it on another gal's blog  and for the life of me, I can't remember who that is - it was stuck in her head too - Honeycomb, won't you be my baby, honeycomb won't you be my own......

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Great Mail Day!

How do you even thank someone you have never met for such a fun, fun box of goodies?  Sharon and I became friends over our love of Pyrex, we've been emailing for a while now - we've exchanged Christmas and birthday gifts, spoken on the phone - she truly is a great Southern gal!!!   We seem to be just alike in other ways too and we both have two children, a boy and a girl.  On Friday night we watched "Flight" which by the way was so good, Sharon and I are texting on Saturday, that's the movie they were going to be watching that night - what are the chances of that!!  We are never really out of contact for long now, with iPhones and iPads - texts are flying back and forth and pictures in an instant!   Now she has me on the SMASH bandwagon - I've bought my first book and blogged here about it, well, I think I'm officially addicted.  So, on to this fun package that came for me today....

I ripped off the outside paper and there was this beautiful box, I hardly wanted to open it....

Love this cupcake tape down the side - too cute...

Goodies galore and all for me...

Perfect - candy, stickers, embellishments, washi tape and a new SMASH book!!   She took such care to pack it up - everything looked so nice, all stickered and stamped up!!!

Oh, that Sharon is such a nice person - she made my day!!  Thank you so much!!!

Glassware at Value Village

Finally, I found something at Value Village - it has been weeks since I've seen anything there - a different pricer must have been working because these don't seem like their new normal prices to me..

I set this Snowflake 043 out in the snow for just a minute to take this pictures.  I was shocked to see this on the shelf, no lid but it was only $2.99 - that's why I think it must have been a different pricer on duty - seeing how expensive the prices have become at Value Village, I think this was a nice deal.  It's just in perfect shape - now I have turquoise and white!

A cute little Anchor Hocking Cereal Bowl - $1.99 - some nice red color on there for Valentine's Day.

I spotted this and that it would be great for my swizzle sticks that I found - then, I found another one, 99 cents each.

I don't know much about glass identification but these are marked Hoosier Glass, they were made in the 70's and 80's in Indiana.  They're just a cute little size - only 5 inches tall.

I'm joining up today with some thrift link ups - Junkin Joe, Thriftasaurus, Thrifty Things Friday and  Vintage Thingie Thursday.  I was invited to join in for the first link up party at Wonderful at Home - help Kristen out and link up your post.

Old Valentine Postcards

A few years ago I was into vintage postcards, I shared some at Christmas, my Valentine postcards are not as plentiful, I think they were more expensive to buy, that's why I only have very few, but here they are....they are so pretty.  Wouldn't it be special to get a card like this in the mail?  I'm linking up with My Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The card was addressed to Miss Minnie Ferguson, Garretton, Ont. 

Gertrude sent this one to Miss Wilda Laub in 1908

There's writing on this one but I can't make it out

Anna sent this one to Master Walter Barnhart , it was postmarked from Harrisburg, PA in 1909

This wouldn't be a politically correct Valentine these days!  Charles Alfred sent it to Marjory Duff, I wonder if he was her sweetheart way back in 1908

I don't know if you would really call this a Valentine or not, I just always thought it was the cutest.  Click on it so you can read what's under each bow.  This card was never used. 

I'm including these because they were in with the Valentines -  it's a little hard to scan something small like this and have them straight, so, excuse me on that.  These are calling cards, I googled calling cards to read a bit more about them, the telephone calling card is what automatically came up, that's what a calling card is to us now.  These are probably from the early 20th century - when visiting friends or "making calls",  people would leave a card at the front door or parlor, usually in a special silver dish, even if the person they were visiting was at home.  They were used as a reminder about who had visited recently and deserved a visit in turn.  Can you just imagine some of these finely dressed ladies passing out their calling cards?  Have you ever seen them before?

Minestrone Soup - Pinned and Liked!

I am not ashamed to admit I'm not much of a soup maker - I have no problem with chowders but a pot of turkey or vegetable soup - it turns out more like stew and then I'm discouraged.    But, I keep trying and hoping for success - finally, it happened with this Minestrone Soup - the original pin came from Taste of August - leftovers for lunch today and it was just as good  - I'll definitely be making it again...  I followed the recipe to the letter - my pasta choice was whole wheat fusilli.  I'm linking up today with Share Your Cup Thursday and Weekend Potluck

The soup is cooking!

Time to eat the soup!

Finally - Some Thrift Store Goods!

Three weeks and finally the dry spell is over, but maybe that is just because I went to a different town - this town has three thrift shops but not much else so there's really no need to go there and besides it's an hour away - it's hard to justify the trip when you are just going to thrift!  I went before Christmas and now yesterday, so I guess that's ok.  It was great - three thrift shops - purchases made at each one...

I grabbed these right up!!  The cashier said she was going to buy them herself but there wasn't four glasses - that didn't bother me in the least!  It's such a cute set - the jug is only about 7 1/2 inches tall.  I paid $4 for it, I also bought the napkins at one of the other shops, they're great for pictures - very 70's!!

These swizzle sticks took my eye right away - they're all from Canadian hotels and restaurants.  I bought the little pink napkin too.  

This is the one I pulled out first - Lichee Gardens in Toronto - I had to buy them.  Gary's mother used to live in Toronto, always, we would hear about the Lichee Gardens - they used to go there for Chinese food and it was just the very best!!

Here's what the Lichee Gardens used to look like - I read that it's still in operation - 60 years after opening....

Snowflake Platter - Pyrex from England - price $1 - this is my third piece of this pattern.  The gold is worn off on the edge but I don't care!

Some scarves that will be listed for resale  - I was happy to find another Liberty of London one, they sell pretty well, the others are Oscar de la Renta, Echo and La Dear

Finally - some Vera - found both of  these at the same shop.  I thought I had a duplicate, but I don't, the flowered one I have in red.

Just what I was looking for - an old cookbook with writing on the spine.  This is an old Canadian cookbook, printed in 1965 - Presented by The Star Weekly - I remember hearing that name!  The introduction reads - " A well-fed family is usually a happy family.  With an attractive, properly, cooked meal on the table "cares and troubles fade away"  Such happy results are best achieved with adequate equipment and utensils."  Wasn't life just so easy back then??

This is the cutest little book, copyright 1955, Carnation Company Limited.

I guess Margie Blake's Mama wrote cookbooks for Carnation so she branched out to a children's one

Cute chapters - " I fixed Breakfast (The Morning Mom Slept Late)" and that menu consisted of - grapefruit "surprise", cold cereal, ham and egg scramble, toast, jam and milk - lucky Mom! Click on the picture and you can read it without squinting!

At one of the shops, I paid $2.75 for everything -that included all of the books I bought, the napkins and the platter - not bad at all.  The Golden Books are all duplicates for me - I'm going to do a Smash page on Golden Books, they're going to be cut up!!  The other two books I plan to share.....

At the rate I've been going though, this might have to keep me satisfied for a while...

I'm linking up with Thriftasaurus , The Nifty Thrifty and Magpie Monday

Seafoam Chews

There have been no thrifty finds for me lately, so I've been branching out and doing some different types of posts - baking and crafting - they seem to be going over pretty well - I've had some new followers in the past few days - thank you very much for being interested enough to follow me, I appreciate it and love to read your comments!   This week my recipe for Raspberry Swirl Coconut Cookies was featured on Feature Friday from the Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party at Addicted to Recipes - it really made my day!!  There are always a ton of great recipes over there - it's a really fun blog and it's Canadian!   I'm linking up with Addicted to Recipes again this week and also a link up at The Busy Bees - this is only the second week for this one, it looks like lots of nice posts already! 

Seafoam Chews in Pyrex Lime Green

We always like to have something sweet in the house and we had nothing so it was time to bake - this week I chose "Seafoam Chews" - I've been making these for years - they come from the Company's Coming - 150 Delicious Squares Cookbook - you can view the recipe right here.  I make them as directed - the only thing is  I don't make a fourth layer with peanuts - I just never have added them.  We love these squares, especially Darcy, too bad he wasn't around to have a few...

The top is a crumbly mess when you cut them but who cares when they taste so good.   This slice looks particularly nice sitting on a Pyrex Delphite plate.

Do You Smash???

Do you Smash?  To some that may seem like a silly question, but others will know just what I'm referring  to - smashing - the act of sticking your cool stuff into this awesome book.   My friend, Sharon has wanted me to give it a try - I finally bought a book last week - there are different books and from what I hear, new ones have just come out.  I purchased mine at Michael's - I bought a kit which I thought was a great way to start out - because it came with the combo glue stick/pen, stickers, tabs and a bunch of other goodies.  Walmart also carries this size of album - I'm in Canada so choices are limited..  This could be addicting, now I've gone to Michael's twice to get in on their 70% off sale - some things were only 7 cents!!!!  Yes, 7 cents!!  Here is the site for K&C Company  - you can see and read what the Smash craze is all about.  There is even a Smashaholics group on Facebook - it's popular!

Some of my loot

Smash Red Doodle

My first Smash pages!!  In 2004 I was able to attend the Diana Dresses for Humanity Exhibit in Toronto - it was something I'll never forget - I purchased a set of cards that showed the dresses - the pink card on the left side is from that set.  I'm really pleased with how the pages turned out - for my first attempt, not bad - now, what will I start next - there is no limit on the possibilities.  It's really fun!  

I'm linking up with Jann at Share Your Cup Thursday and A Favorite Thing, because this could be one of my favorite new things!