When the spirit moves you!

I invited my son over for dinner tonight, so he, my husband and I were enjoying a meal together. I had prepared chicken breasts with fresh rosemary, artichokes and then a serving of rice. A very simple meal. As we were having a pleasant conversation I looked at my MacKenzie-Childs platter, plates and cups and then to my left at a cute little Easter village building I had recently purchased along with two bottle brush trees. I had not decided yet where I was going to put the building. It hit me like a bolt of lightening that it all went together! I pushed my half-eaten dinner away, got up and immediately started "playing" with a scene that was coming to me fast and furious. My guys hadn't a clue what had gotten in to me... but I just told them that when the spirit moves ya, you need to act on it! Surely you know what I mean.... The men just shook their heads and kept on eating.

Hurray! I'm just in the nick of time for Show and Tell Friday

at My Romantic Home. Come for a visit!!

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Brown Transferware - I've Only Just Begun

I've just started my brown transferware collection.
I've had a couple of these pieces for a year or so,
but seeing a blog recently that highlighted these
wonderful dishes renewed my interest.
AND I found a place that caught my eye.
I'm hoping to get responses from other collectors and
lovers of brown transferware.

Today I am linking to
Faded Charm for
White Wednesday
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

And Thursday I will be linked to

Colorado Lady for

Vintage Thingy Thursday

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

MacKenzie-Childs Children's Enamelware - What a find!

I love MacKenzie-Childs!

I've bought this set for my own grandchildren. I think they're so cute. A set today will cost about $66.

I have a booth at a consignment shop... which of course

allows me to spend some time shopping. I came across this set for $10.

This is the MacKenzie-Childs label.

I love it! (oops! Think I already said it.)

But don't you think I was one lucky shopper the day I bought this?

Now I call myself a "rescuer".

I pledge to "rescue" MacKenzie-Childs Children's Enamelware.

(Now I won't feel guilty with my purchases. I am actually collecting these for my grandchildren for a wall grouping.)

This Friday I will be linking to

http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Swing on over if you enjoy seeing fabulous bargains!

Curried Chicken Salad - Delicious!

Sherry's Curried Chicken Salad

Mix together:

3/4 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. chutney (she likes mango)

2 1/2 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 whole chicken, cooked, boned and cut in bite-size pieces

3 green onions, chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

White or red grapes, cut in half

1 small can water chestnuts, chopped

Serve with toasted, sliced almonds on top of salad

Delicious!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

You would have been 87 years old today.

Mother would have baked your favorite cake --

Chocolate Potato Cake

Your military days...

Here you are at the beach. You were attending the

reunion of the 7th Armored Division, of which you

were their historian.

Your father took you on many adventures...

such as lowering you down into the Carlsbad Caverns

in Carlsbad, New Mexico... in a basket!

It only led you to many adventures in your lifetime.

WW II, working and living all around the world...

including a trek to the Khyber Pass.

Here you are on the right as an older brother.

You two were always off on an adventure...

Living in a hotel with your parents led to

daring acts of dropping a cat off of a hotel roof

but not before making a parachut for the cat. It was just a trial run because you were going to try "flight" after the cat.

Watching, up close, pole watchers, cowboy and Indian side shows, early days of movie theaters and so much more,

led to only stories your mother would repeat.

It was a great life you had, Daddy. You showed us how to live with honor and respectability.

I miss you!

Chocolate Potato Cake

Temperature: 350 degrees

2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
4 eggs - separate and whip the whites until fluffy
2 c. flour
4 Tbs. cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1 tsp. EACH: cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg

2 c. hot mashed potatoes (not instant)
1 c. pecans, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla

Icing:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg yolk
3 Tbs. cocoa
5 Tbs. hot coffee

Cream 2 cups sugar with 1 cup shortening. Add 4 egg yolks and cream well. Sift together: flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add alternately the milk to creamed mixture along with hot mashed potatoes.
Fold in 4 stiffly beaten egg whites, pecans, and vanilla.
Grease 3 round cake tins and line with wax paper. Bake for 25 minutes. Frost when cool.

Today I am sharing my recipe at

Visit All the Small Stuff

http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/

Milk glass intact; all is right with the world!

Well, I have definitely feathered my nest today!

And what fun I have had.

I pulled out pieces of milk glass that I have not laid eyes on

in several years. Most of these pieces came from my mother

and some of it via my father's mother, Ruby aka

"Mother B"... or to us children, "Bum B".

(Aren't grandchildren just "great" for your self-esteem?)

If you have read my blog lately you know then that I have at long-last found a punch bowl that was exactly like my

mother's... which disappeared at some point.

With the exception of this punch bowl, other pieces I have bought have been a little disappointing to me... I do not

know their history, or their "story".

I believe that the plates and saucers were purchased from

S&H Green Stamps I would guess in the early 1960's.

You can feast your eyes on the punch bowl in this picture.

("Sigh")

The fruit compote bowl (I think this is what it is called), creamer, sugar bowl and the

banana dish all rested on this very hutch for many

 years, but in several different homes as we moved often due

to the nature of my father's work.

The goblet actually graced my mother's vanity in the bathroom, holding wonderful smelling soaps.

Another cream and sugar used often for many a ladies

meeting. The domed dish is one of my "prized" pieces.

I believe it is a butter dish. Somewhere along the way, probably a move, the plate broke so it is held together by

some yellowing glue.

(Wonder how to fix that??)

These juice glasses were some of my mother's favorite

pieces. Mine too! It had a lovely pitcher that went with it.

I poured a cold punch into it and it just split down both sides and fell apart... pouring punch on a beautifully decorated

party table ... right before guests arrived.

Oh well... I kept it of course so perhaps there will be a reader

who will clue me in on how to have it repaired.

I hope you have enjoyed my milk glass. I have shown a few pieces often and written about them many times. When Mother would unpack the milk glass and placed them where they belonged it always helped us children to make our adjustment into new home a lot easier.

Milk glass in tact; all is right with the world!

I have feathered my next today thanks to

thanks to Courtney at

French Country Cottage

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

and

And my dear Friday fav...

"Show and Tell Friday" at

My Romantic Home
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/