That's entertainment.

So, in the middle of my weekend baking bender (just wait until you see what I turned out! Whoopie!), I had to pop back to Wegman's for more supplies. While I was frenetically weaving up and down the aisles (would it kill them to arrange things in a way that makes sense? Or do they get joy out of putting things like applesauce, shoelaces and aluminum foil together? And I'm not sure I'm even making that up. But I digress...), I came across this "entertainment stand" ( a bit of a misnomer, huh?):

Is it shore house chic? Not in the least. But have any of you tried to find an inexpensive, two shelf printer stand? Not only are they not cheap, they are ugly. We needed something small enough to "not make a scene," but big enough for our fax-scanner-printer, and the fancy photo printer the mister bought me for Christmas. So if I was going to be stuck with unsightly, I sure as heck wasn't going to break the bank. And I sure didn't:


I wasn't sure if it was big enough, but was willing to roll the dice. I also figured if it was super deluxe ugly, I'd spray the whole thing black. But you know what? It's not awful! And it snapped together (quite literally) in about three minutes. I'm camouflaging it a bit with faux fronds, but the printers pretty much cover it all up:


Can you believe how perfectly everything fits? I love it when the tightwad in me comes out the winner.

And welcome to anyone here from Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursday. Like a good little thrifter, I'm recycling...this post! I posted on Monday so I could celebrate my one year of blogging today. Whoo hoo! And thanks for stopping by.

"Wholey" cow, these are tasty.

Stress can be caused by many things, big and small. Like...oh, I don't know...realizing you're stuck in an unrewarding dead end job that uses none of your skills effectively. Like finishing off a busy week of business plan meetings by (finally) getting your taxes done, then starting to ever-so-slightly panic as soon as your accountant starts speaking.

Well, in this house, the stressed get baking. Ergo, you will see a lot of baking posts.

Baking is so relaxing to me. The mixing of flours and sugars and spices into something fabulous...the feel of the warm dough between your fingers...the rush of the sugar...the snap of the biscuit can...

That's right: I made the canned biscuit doughnuts I spotted recently on Southern Hospitality (via Southern Plate -- hop over to her blog for fabulous photos and a full tutorial on making these little buggers.).

They couldn't be easier. I popped the can when the mister was getting ready to go into the shower, and by the time he was out I had a plate of warm doughnuts.

I passed on the part of the recipe that called for you to dip the doughnuts in butter (I thought at this point I would be doing enough damage with the whole deep fried dough thing) and just rolled them in a mixture of coarse cane sugar and cinnamon. It stuck to the doughnuts with no problem.

They taste a lot like churros, which is fine by me. Judging from the comments on Rhoda's blog, lots of Southern ladies grew up eating these sugary biscuit treats. What other tricks do you lovely Southern Belles have up your little sleeves?

I also rescued my sugar cookie photos from my camera today. The recipe is in my last post, but I thought you may want to see a few of the many (MANY) cookies that came out.

They held their shape quite well, making it perfect for more intricate cookie cutters. I mentioned using spelt flour, and I kind of like how it flecked the finished cookies with little brown dots. (Maybe I liked it because it fooled my pea brain into thinking there was something healthy about them.)

Before baking I dusted the tops of the cookies with organic cane sugar (I like the coarseness for finishing off baked goods) for a little extra crunch. They kind of tasted like a butter cookie/shortbread hybrid. In a very good way.

And there was more where those came from...another tray right next to the plate, and two more in the oven!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a plate of fresh doughnuts calling my name...

The Best Sugar Cookies

With annual business plan meetings all week at work, I figured I could use some divine intervention. So last night I turned to the church…cookbook.

The Best Sugar Cookies are one of the many homespun recipes from the cute little vintage church cookbook Jean Martha's (I Love Upstate) mom recently found at their “local junk store.” Jean’s house is right across the street from the church, so it’s even sweeter.



The recipe could not be easier. I made minor substitutions, including using half spelt flour and organic palm shortening (I have a feeling recipe scribe Miss Joan Mathes, and perhaps even Jean Martha, just rolled her eyes at my tree hugging hippie modifications.).

And they're perfect for Easter...since the cookies seemed to procreate like bunnies! One cookie sheet out of the oven, another in. Repeat. And so it went. For almost two hours on a “school night.” You see, part of my problem in life is recipe-reading comprehension. I'm fine with things like, say, 19-page RFPs or Kafka books, but paying attention to a recipe through to the end before I start to bake seemingly eludes me. And if I had chosen to read this one just a hair more closely, things like “3 ½ cups of flour” and “yield = 7 dozen” would have maybe –- just maybe -- jumped off the page a bit.

I'll update with photos of the finished product when I'm reunited with my camera cord this weekend at the shore house. I think I’ll also give the doughnut recipe on Southern Hospitality (via Southern Plate) a try. I will have earned them by Saturday.

Hitting the Wall.

I hit The Wall Historical Society's Antique Show last weekend, benefiting their Blansingburg School House Museum. I've never heard of the museum, but drove past it on my way to the show and can't wait to have a visit in the warmer weather. Whenever that is (it SNOWED yesterday!).

I spent a bit more than the $10 I spent on my recent Point Pleasant trip, but I think I did pretty good. Let's have a look...

Here's a collection of ephemera I gathered up from different vendors...

The Anchor Line luggage label was $3 (probably more than I would have/should have spent. but the tag's port of call is Glasgow, where my grandfather is from, so I couldn't resist), and the Ireland souvenir book was $1 from a vendor who had fabulous stuff. I could have spent more time, and a lot more money, in her booth filled with vintage kitchen and Christmas stuffs. I already used the St. Pat's Keepsake in my little holiday display, and I will scan the inside pages for crafty projects next year.

The rest of the various holiday cards came from one vendor and will also be scanned to make crafty holiday cards. He sold me the lot for $15 which sounds like a lot (and is, for cheap little me), but he let me stick in this Coronation First Day Cover (with contents still inside) that I'm kind of in love with.

I need another tea cup like I need a whole in the head (between my mom and I, there are probably close 50 we've inherited from her mother). But the $4 price tag on this sweet little Ironstone one made me take her home. I don't know if I'll keep or gift her, but for now she looks content among her people:

The hand painted markings are also pretty interesting:

And, and some of you know, it's hard for me to pass up a Lady Liberty. So far I've set my "Libby Limit" at $10, and she made the cut on the nose:

And immediately joined her tribe in the bathroom:

The cookie cutters I will use to make Christmas ornaments (I didn't make them in 2008 so I don't have any photos), or some other kind of holiday-themed project depending on how many I can collect. The big gingerboy came from the tea cup couple for 50 cents, and the others were also 50 cents a pop. I got them from the same vendor as this butter knife, which I'm declaring my "Deal of the Day."

I have a small collection of twisted butter knives, and this Wm. Rogers one will join it. I've been using them for soft cheeses when we have company, but I'm hoping to collect enough to use at each place setting when we have holiday dinners. I've seen ones that are very expensive, and I'll only buy ones that are $5-6 dollars at most. I couldn't believe this one was only marked $2:

It has nice detail, and is in better shape than similar ones I've found. It's marked, "Pat. Feb. 11, 1913" on the back and amazingly I just found the exact same one online. I love the Internets!

My treasure hunts have been going quite well lately. And it's not even yard sale season yet! (Which was a bust last year, by the way.) I hope your weekend is a treasure. I'm on Springsteen High Alert. We know he's in town rehearsing...we're heading to the boardwalk now, in fact hoping for a sighting...maybe he'd like to stop over for some tea?

Green with envy?

You should be! Because on St. Pat's Day I got to meet local blogger Pat from Mille Fiori Favoriti and Diane of A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words, in town all the way from Mississippi.


(Thankfully Pat let me borrow her green scarf so I wouldn't get pinched. Under normal circumstances a goose from a stranger is not my cup of tea; in Grand Central surrounded by inebriated day trippers on St. Pat's Day was even less appealing.)

Not only did I not eat lunch at my desk for the first time in weeks, I was gifted by both lovely ladies. (And this ingrate came to the table with nothing but a smile on her face. But it was a genuine, happy smile...if that counts for something.)

Pat gave me fabulous salt and pepper shakers -- an homage to the plentiful diners in the shore house state:

They're perfect! Diane got NYC taxi cab shakers. So. Cute.

And Diane brought some "local delicacies" all the way from her home state for each of us: Fabulous handmade magnolia soap and a "sweet cotton" scented candle. Which smell completely divine.

You may remember that it was Pat who inspired me to join the Daring Bakers, and I've been cooking up kitchen catastrophes ever since. So you can thank her for the laughter I bring you as I come thisclose to burning my kitchen down. Seriously...Pat's blog is charming, and I often learn something about my hometown that I never before knew.

Diane couldn't be more lovely either. Her and her friend are spending the week in New York City, and these Southern Belles have covered more ground this week than a New York City taxi during Christmastime. And Diane has the pedometer to prove it. My guess is, as I type this they are honing in on the "Million Step Mark."

I'm just happy their feet took them to my neck of the woods. Good times, and cheesecake, had by all.

It's a great day for the Irish.

Recently acquired ephemera from the shore house collection. ;-)

And a great day for the 16.7% Irish, or whatever it is that I am. I am a classic American mutt. I wonder if I can swab my cheek and send it away to one of those doggie DNA places to have them sort it all out?

Anyway...did you know that St. Patrick wasn't even Irish? Depending on who you listen to, he was likely born in either Wales or Scotland. The 25% of me that's Scottish (that's a pretty precise number. I think.) wants to believe the latter is true. Patrick was captured when he was in his teens and taken as a slave to Ireland. That's right my friends, A SLAVE. The road wasn't paved with rainbows and pots of gold for our beloved Paddy.

He finally escaped his captors in his 20s, became a priest, and devoted the rest of his 40-odd years to peacefully spreading Christianity. And, apparently, "After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. "

Well isn't that a kick in the kilt.

And how do we celebrate this auspicious life? Pints of Guinness, boiled beef, and green bagels. And parades.

So very odd, we Americans are.

Sláinte, everyone.

What a dish.

Unfortunately I’m not talking about myself. (Though, with a little lipstick and a good hair-brushing, I’m not too shabby.)

I’m talking about these pretty ladies I acquired a few months back.

My Aunt Peggy was cleaning out her basement and came across her grandmother’s dishes. The Aunt was moving to a smaller home, and since she knew I liked to do crafty things with old dishes she gave the dinner plates to me.

But I don’t have the heart to get crafty with them. For one, they’re a set of six matching Limoges dinner plates and I'd hate to break up a set. Their age is showing a bit, but yours would be, too, if you were closing in on 100 years old. Plus I am intrigued by the Gimbel Brothers mark on the back. How fabulous that Wm. Guerin & Co. created a collection (or collections) of fancy tableware for good old Gimbels.

The set of six silver knives that I found last weekend inspired me to dig the plates out of the closet last night and have another look at them. Now all I need is six forks and a cold bottle of white wine to pop in my $2 ice bucket I’ve got myself a party for pennies.

Speaking of thrifty…it’s Thrifty Thursday so head on over to Bloggeritaville, pour yourself a cold one (or a hot one. It's freezing in NY again. Brrr!), and see what the ladies of the blogosphere have up their frugal little sleeves.

I ♥ junque.

I headed back to the Home of The Bucket this weekend, Point Pleasant, New Jersey's own little Antique Row. I concentrated this week's hunt to one store on Arnold Avenue, a multi-dealer extravaganza located in the old five and dime building.

I went in with this...


...and came out with this trio of treasures...

...and this:

Change!

Let's have a closer look.

Since most booths inside look like this:


It's amazing I left with my head still screwed on straight, much less anything to show for my efforts. But I found the set of six matching silver knives for $4. I love how substantial they are, and the chunky, detailed handles (which I will polish for sure):

The two milk glass vases are both from dealer "NYC" -- seller of the now famous ice bucket. The footed vessel was another steal:

This one also has markings on the bottom: "E.O. Brody, M4200, Cleveland, Ohio." I know nothing about milk glass but the Internets sure do:

Brody Glass was first produced for The E.O.Brody Company which was founded in 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Ernest Oscar Brody. Mr Brody was known as EO in the florists' trade. His innovative idea was to sell utility glass floral containers exclusively to florists and to market them through wholesale florists who in turn would sell to retail florists. Initially he started the company with only four flower vases/containers in his portfolio. These were made by US glass manufacturers using EO's own molds marked with the company name.

I now know the piece is older than 1971 since the company apparently moved from Cleveland that year, but for a buck -- who really cares! Since I had the model number I was able to find a few for sale online, and I think I did OK. At the very least I've found a couple of vases for my friend Spence's fabulous floral creations.

Diane at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words hosts 2nd Time Around Tuesdays, so I think I'll go have a look-see at other bloggers' fancy cast-offs-turned-treasures. I love poking my nose around other people's trash, after all!

The Bucket List

1. I like thrift shops and antique stores.

2. My man friend does not. He volunteered to come with me last weekend (we're on the hunt for a pew or similar) then promptly passed out on an antique settee, a la Miss Scarlet O'Hara.

3. I really need to get to Point Pleasant (NJ) more often. The many antique stores are fabulous, especially now when there are many "clearing out for end of winter" sales.

4. Last Saturday, I bought a fabulous Wm. Rogers silverplate, glass-lined ice bucket.




5. I got a really, REALLY good deal on it.

6. I'm not sure if I should leave the patina as-is, which is pretty charming (believe it or not, the mister has an opinion here; he likes it as-is and feels, "it has good character, especially with the glass interior." (Yup, he said that. Verbatim. When he says things like this I beam with pride.). There's a dealer on Etsy who agrees, but there's also something to be said for the highly-polished lustre of silver like the piece Eddie shined up for his store.

I hope you enjoyed my bucket list (tee hee hee). It's almost 70 degrees (!!) at the shore house so I'm keeping it brief today so I can enjoy the weather...and probably heading back to Point Pleasant solo. I'd love to hear your thoughts -- should I polish or not?

Puppy love.

Two years ago today, someone new walked into my life.

This new someone was a bit sad, hadn't had a good meal in days (weeks?) and needed a good, hot bath.

While many of you reading may think it's my significant other {chuckle, snort}, it's Maggie our dog.

I originally met Maggie (then known as Doozie) on February 17, 2007. We (the mister and I) were out running errands together -- odd in and of itself, since we usually fly solo on those trips (with good reason, as I quickly remembered this weekend when he dozed off on an antique settee 15 minutes into a thrifting escapade.). I was dropping off donations of "doggie stuffs" at Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City (an AMAZING shelter in the shadows of the Statue of Liberty. I just hopped over to their web site and spontaneously burst into tears when I read about Henry, who's currently up for adoption.).

As I turned to leave I made eye contact with this black beauty. All seventy pounds of her was tucked in a cage, the only dog in the joint not barking, stretching her paw through the metal bars towards me. Her little cage sign said she was found on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City on February 15 (hello...my birthday) and that she wasn't available for adoption just yet.

I ran to the car. "Uh...I think you need to come in here. I need to show you something."

The man lit up like a Christmas tree. He grew up with dogs, so this was totally exciting to him. And it was love at first sight. Over the next few days we put ourselves through the "What-Can-But-But" conversations..."What do we do with her if we go away?" "Can we handle the responsibility?" "But we like having no responsibilities!" "But she'll pee and vomit in the apartment!"

When we called back on March 1, not one person had even expressed interest in her (and we know what that means). She was (is) an old lady, at least 7 or 8 at the time from what they could tell, and, "nobody wants an old dog." That was it. We had to have her!

Well, suffice it to say Miss Maggie (formally, Princess Margaret Rose) has never seen it better. Hey...she has a shore house! And even though I found her, I'm totally chopped liver around here. Case in point, Christmas:



I couldn't even get her to look at the camera. She is so. In. Love. (And not with me.)

Maggie has also introduced me to some amazing artists. A couple of months ago, I was over the moon to win a pet portrait on Aimee's (of Aimee'e Petite Maison) wonderful 4 The Love of Animals blog (this lady loves her four-legged friends, which makes me love her!). The uber-talented artist Tabatha Rhodes chose this photo to work with:


And here's the painting:


It is incredible. As good as this photo of the painting is, I don't think it does it justice. You can commission a reasonably priced pet portrait in her Etsy store...you won't be disappointed.

And speaking of Etsy, Puffer Street Progress is a blog I "met" this past year, in the midst of my own home renovation projects (great blog, if you're unfamiliar). Around the December holidays, she posted about her Custom Pet Creations' Etsy store, and I knew I found the perfect gift for lover boy (mine, and Maggie's.). The ornament is incredible...

...and you can even get it done without the little hanger thing if you'd rather your furry friend hang around (on a shelf, for example) all year.

Can you believe these talented ladies? Please keep them in mind for your pet-themed gift giving needs, and please keep your local shelters in mind, too -- for monetary donations, gifts in kind (they need food, bedding , towels and leashes almost always) and adoption. We really can't imagine our lives without Maggie.

Or our carpets without black hair...Or our floors without paw prints...Or our faces without bad doggy breath in them...Or our cabinets without poop bags...

Gifted.

Many people who know me wouldn’t argue that I’m, um, gifted. Like the people who shared the ski lift with me on Monday who got to watch me somehow manage to get my ski bindings tangled as I attempted my chair dismount. And I’m calling it a dismount, because I have to think it resembled something you’d see on a gym apparatus during the pummel horse rotation. My dismount ended with me crashing to the ground with a thud – BAM! – then rising to my feet in victory. Much to the lift operator’s surprise, who thought for sure I was broken. (I think I took away one of his nine lives for sure.) Take that, Nadia!

So, yeah – I’m gifted alright. In a pathetic, poor lamb sense.

But when I returned home I was gifted in an entirely different (and better) sense. First, the lovely photo I bought from Etsy’s Victorian Bushfire Appeal arrived. Winter Tree by Julie Webb is one of many unique nature photos in this talented Canadian-based photographer’s Etsy shop. It’s perfect for my master bedroom, and anytime I can buy arts and crafts to support a great cause…well sign me up!

What I didn’t expect was the additional blank note card, and the one Julie used to write me a thank you. How lovely! And how perfect will they look framed together against the blue wall?

Her notecards are beautiful, and an inexpensive way to add a pop of color (and original artwork!) to your home.

I had also ordered a hand painted shirt from the fabulously talented Jen’s Etsy shop, The Crafty Home. Many of you here will know Jen from her equally fabulous blog, Sanctuary Arts at Home. So darn talented, that one! I had my eye on the shirt for a while, and while I was in her shop purchased a cute little black and antiqued white floral branch painting (can you tell I have a have a thing for the branch motif?).

But wait…what’s in the extra little poof of tissue paper?

Pour moi?! Thank you so much Jen! The beachscape is perfect for the shore house, and I love the sentiment written across the back:

My life is like a stroll on the beach...as near to the edge as I can get. – Thoreau

Just as long as I don’t get to near to the edge of the chairlift when by boots are stuck together, I'll be just fine.

:-)