Saturday, February 12, 2011

Remember My Milk Glass Punch Bowl?

Several months ago I was thrilled to find this punch bowl
in Brenham, Texas. It has 12 punch matching cups.
It reminded me of my mother's punch bowl that she used
for many years. Somehow the punch bowl was lost. All that
remained was the pedestal.. or base.



Here is a picture of my mother with the long-lost milk glass
punch bowl. My mother was the ultimate hostess!
There isn't a piece of milk glass that doesn't remind me of
her style of entertaining.
Well... today was a special day for me!
 

I found a punch bowl that is exactly like my mother's!
It did not come with the base, however, that did not matter. I still had my mother's!
The really special part to this was that it came from some of the sweetest friends I have. One of them you may know well.
Laura from White Spray Paint and her daughter, Lauren, are milk glass collectors.
Lauren had purchased the punch bowl sometime back
and because she has other milk glass punch bowls, she
decided she could part with this one. It was displayed in one of her Market Days that she and her mother participate in.
Right away, I got word to her that I would love it if she would set this punch bowl aside for me.
What has probably been about a 15 year quest for this
punch bowl, I am thrilled to pronounce the search over.
Thank you to two very sweet ladies!!


I am sharing this with


 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Green Bean Bundles - A bundle of yum!



Green Bean Bundles

This recipe comes from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Entertaining in Texas by Junior League of Victoria, Inc.  I've learned that you just can't go wrong with
a Junior League cookbook. They're wonderful!
Above you will see what page 71 in my book looks like.
I write all around it so that hopefully whoever inherits my cookbooks will know a little history behind the recipes.
This recipe is just about over the top as my family says it.
It's been made for holiday dinners, pre-wedding dinners,
birthdays and bird hunting season.
It's just downright tasty!

Green Bean Bundles
(with my tweaks!)

8 slices bacon
2  16 oz. cans whole green beans
(I like Blue Lake Green Beans)
1/2  c. butter
1   1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. garlic powder

Drain green beans. Divide into 8 "bundles", wrapping each bundle with bacon slice and securing with toothpick. Place in 9x13 inch glass baking dish.
In saucepan, melt butter and add brown sugar and garlic powder. Bring to boil and remove from heat immediately and pour over bean bundles. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes.
Serves 8

I'm linking to 

Be sure to visith Designs by Gollum
for more delicious food and recipes!

 

Monday, February 7, 2011

Aluminum brightened their homes

"Jean"

I love writing about "Jean", my maternal grandmother.
She was quite the character. She insisted we call her by her first name since she was "too young to be a grandmother"! 
Never mind... I really did not know that "Jean" was a first name. I just knew that it stood for my grandmother!
She arrive from Italy with her mother and two older sisters 
when she was just nine years old. Someday I need to write
about the adventure of the trip.
Her father met them at the ship at Ellis Island. 
He was already employed by the Ithaca, N. Y. transit system which as I understand included the trolley cars.
The aluminum crumber below was purchased by her
mother. As I remember the story, my great-grandmother
bought it at Niagra Falls about the time aluminum was being used for household items. Jean gave the crumber to me early in my marriage and of course I have always cherished it. 

The aluminum dish, shaped like a leaf, was a wedding gift to my parents when they married in 1946. My mother used it
often in her home decorating. It's definitely a cherished, sentimental piece to me.


I am linking to
Three or More Tuesday

http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/



Thursday, February 3, 2011

Beauty, silver, tickles and giggles!!


Hydrangeas ...
under construction!

Amazing what I will show ... I just treated myself to
these at Pier 1 yesterday. I fell in love with hydrangeas
when I made a visit to Blowing Rock, North Carolina
during the Mitford Days. Real hydrangeas were
everywhere!!
Now I have to see if I can create an arrangement with them.



Silver Tray...

Frankly, I do not know my "silvers", but this was
beautiful... after I polished it. I'm a weird sort... I love to
polish silver. It's very theraputic, you know.
Would you believe... I bought this for
$15!


"Bree-os-kee"

Recently my refrigerator has not had a bottle of
Brioschi in it. It's a lot like Alka-Seltser. That's a first in probably 40 years of marriage...
or my lifetime! The local stores and pharmacies here have stopped selling it. So I ordered a box on the internet.
When I was a little girl my sister and I would take just one
little piece of Brioschi to plop onto our tongue.
Ohhhh... the tickle and the giggles!!

Have a super weekend, everyone!
Stay warm...



It's Show and Tell Friday
So make a visit toe
My Romantic Home

Monday, January 31, 2011

Smudgy - one of a kind... maybe 7!

Smudgy - One of a kind... maybe 7!

Smudgy was one of those "hand-me-down" pets. He was too much for my grandparents and aunt, so my parents took him in. In the late 1950's it was still okay in our town in Texas to have a dog loose... no chain and rarely a collar needed. Smudgy was probably half German Shephard and half Border Collie with whatever else mixed in there that made him so wonderfuly special to us.
It was proabably about 1958 when I entered him in the local
pet show at the high school. It took my mother and sister and me to contain him as he had rarely ever been around so many other dogs and seldom with a collar and, heavens,
never a chain. He was entered in the mixed-breed division, however, from the pictures I wonder if he didn't get mixed up in the wrong division. When the judges came by I remember telling a friend who was standing nearby... loud enough for the judges to hear, "Smudgy has seven breeds of dog in him."  I was terribly proud of that! Oh, how little I knew. Needless to say, Smudge and I got an "Honorable Mention". Oh well...
That is me, the blonde, squinty kid. In one of the pictures is my mother with my younger sister and brother... and our parakeet, "Tweety", who always cheeped himself into a near stroke if he ever saw Smudgy trying to sneak inside our home.
Fun memories!!

Today I am linking to two wonderful sites:

Little Red House for
Mosaic Monday


and


Brynwood Needleworks for
Memory Lane Mondays

By the way, this is the first installment for "Memory Lane Mondays" from Brynwood Needleworks. For those of us who especially enjoy reminiscing or reading about someone's favorite memories from years gone by you will love this. It will take place the last Monday of each month. So come by for a visit!! It's going to be fun.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Happy 7th Birthday, Carmen!


Happy Birthday, Carmen!

You brought a light into our lives that was
so new to us. Grandchildren have a way of
doing that. You are our first grandchild though
and so you have a very special place in our hearts.

You love your jeans and your "Pop's" and Dad's
school... Texas A&M.
One of the first things those special men in your life
taught you was to make the "Gig'em" sign.
You learned to sing the school song right along with
"Mary Had a Little Lamb"!

And you love dressing up and modeling whenever
you get the chance.
A very respectful and loving child, honor student, fluent in
English and Spanish and the best older sister,
we are so proud of you.

Have a wonderful and blessed day, Carmen!
Pops and Abuela love you.