Chicken & Egg... & Canning

Behold my Mother's Day gift from the Pies {& their daddy}.

 I had spotted this lovely book, Chicken & Egg, in a boutique recently and went straight home and added it to my universal wish list on Amazon.

{The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving was on there, too...}

 As with most products I'm willing to pay money for, it was the appearance that first drew me in. This is an adorable book to look through. It is both memoir and cookbook.

 I think all cookbooks should be organized this way! The recipes are divided into seasons. This is perfection to me because my appetite is always changing with the seasons.

 Spring
{as in Extra-Creamy Scrambled Eggs over Buttermilk-Chive Biscuits}

 Summer
{as in Raspberry-Swirl Angel Cake with Crème Fraîche}

Beautiful pictures of chickens & eggs {are you picking up on a theme here?}

Fall
{as in Southwest Skillet Eggs over Tostadas}

And Winter
{as in Nutmeg-Coated Creamy French Toast. How long till winter? Kill me now.}

This book is packed with delicious looking recipes. And it's beautiful in my kitchen, which is, of course, most important.

The preserving book, not so much in the looks department, but also packed {PACKED} with recipes for canning!

I've got the urge to can something.

And not just plain old fruit jelly or green beans, I want to create a stock of all kinds of things. Green pepper jelly, fancy ketchups, peach salsa...

I think this was all inspired by all the new homesteading blogs {like this one here} I've been seeing online. I'd be beekeeping & raising chickens right now if I weren't in an urban neighborhood and worried my neighbors would call the city and report me as a nuisance.

This summer I plan to live more simply.

And by simply, I do NOT mean giving up my smart phone or computer.
No, no, no.
I just mean by canning my own food or making my own laundry detergent.

I'll let you know how my first canning recipe goes...

Obsessed

Today I am going

 to share with you 

my new obsession, my vice. 

I recently discovered some blogs that lead me to this new obsession, and I became hooked. Ever since {"since" being approximately three weeks ago, now} I've been scouring Goodwill stores and Savers and such looking for items to add to my small, but growing, collection. 

What is it???

Pyrex!

But not ^THAT^ kind of Pyrex, 

which is probably what you think of first 

when you hear the "P" word, right?

No, no, no, no, no...

THIS kind of Pyrex:

{Source}

 VINTAGE PYREX!

{Source. I can only aspire to someday have a Pyrex collection as lovely as this!}

For years I've been seeing this stuff in thrift & antique shops. But I never really thought much of it until I came across blogs {like this, this, and this one} that showed me just how lovely vintage Pyrex collections can be. 

Now suddenly, I am OBSESSED with creating a collection of my own!

So far, I have collected 24 pieces.
Here is my collection:

I found all of these at the Goodwill & other thrift shops for under $7.
Some even as cheap as 50¢!

It is a humble collection, but quickly growing. As long as I hit the thrift stores early in the day, I seem to have luck finding a piece or two here and there.

{Above: Autumn Harvest mixing bowls, Golden Honeysuckle casserole dish, and Town & Country serving dish.} 

I honestly used to think these dishes were ugly, but I've now come to appreciate their vintage charm!

{Above: Colonial Mist mixing bowl.}

Today when I was leaving the house to run an errand, I accidentally told Justin to please, "Check on Pyrex every 15 minutes or so!"... I meant to check on my napping VIOLET... does that make me a horrible mommy?

My only plain vintage Pyrex so far, a milk glass mixing bowl from the 1950s! {$3}

I just can't help myself, I love the colors & vintage prints!

The above dish {$1} I've been using to hold a recent sewing project in my craft room. I do plan to actually use all this Pyrex, whether for cooking or just for storage around the house...

{Above: Snowflake casserole dish.}

As you can see, not all of it is found in perfect condition. The above dish {$2} I plan to try out Bar Keeper's Friend on to get rid of the scratches. I've been doing to much vintage Pyrex research and have heard amazing things about that cleaning product...

{Above: Snowflake divided serving dish, came with lid.}

But I also find other pieces in really good condition, like the matching Snowflake dish above {$6}.

{Above: Summer Impressions coffee mugs.}

The mugs are probably the easiest pieces to find, but at 50¢ how could I resist? I'm still in that new, puppy love stage where I want to snatch up every piece I can find.

{Above: Square Flowers casserole dish, Spring Blossom Cinderella bowls.}

Just today I found the large green Crazy Daisy Cinderella bowl at Goodwill for $4, then about 30 minutes later I scored the matching white Crazy Daisy bowl at Savers for $3! Talk about good luck.

{Above: Autumn Harvest mixing bowls, Early America bowl, and Shenandoah Cinderella bowl.}

I've never collected anything this passionately before. I never thought I'd be into something like Pyrex, either, but here I am...

...and I enjoy the hunt! I visit antique stores and the Pyrex is easy to find - but the good sets are all at least $25 and sometimes as much as $125. I think it's more fun to hunt them down for mere cents or a few dollars at thrift stores. I plan on hitting up the estate sales this summer as well.

I'd LOVE to score me some of that pink Gooseberry or aqua Butterprint!

And to my friends & family reading this - if you see any while you're out thrifting, pick it up for me, would ya? I'll pay you back :-)

Bloody Sunday

Sadly, that's not chocolate on her face {I figured the sepia tone would make this less graphic for those of you with blood aversions, success?}. Most of the time when Pie takes a spill from her chair she gets right back up, but today was a hard fall. She nearly bit through her upper lip, and just 10 minutes before Justin was to leave for work, no less.

This was the first time Pie has really ever bled. 

There was blood everywhere. I actually called the pediatrician for this one, but right before their weekend answering service picked up the bleeding stopped and the crying calmed. Still, it was a pretty bad boo-boo, and yes I took pictures... after cleaning her face up quite a bit, too. 

And then we spent the rest of the day trying to convince her to eat. 

She even passed on strawberry ice cream. 

Well, shoot.

On a good note, she hasn't used her pacifier all day!

Poor thing.

Tomorrow will be better, Little Pie.