New (old) Dishes

My little sister came home for spring break, and I went on an impromptu trip with her; thus my lack of blogging for the last couple of days.  My mom, who is a flea market/yard sale/junk store-loving lady  introduced me to a quaint little antique store about 1 1/2 hrs. from my house.  I think the little place also serves as a bed and breakfast, and is owned by a lady who has an enormous collection of various vintage items.  Some of them seem somewhat out of place (i.e. a purple Dolly Parton-ish dress from the 80s, a Jonas Brothers tote), but she also has a huge variety of just old, well, stuff:  books, costume jewelry, glassware, tablecloths, luggage, ceramics, dishes, cast iron, etc., etc... The whole place is kind of eclectic. (She also makes the best coleslaw & chili hot dog I ever ate! The next time I go back, I'm going to have to ask her about what she does to make them soo good!)  

Oven Fork Mercantile
(I took this picture last summer)

I was particularly in the mood to scavenge through the dishes and bake ware, in search of some serving dishes that I've been wanting (not any specific pieces, but of a certain style), and I came away with a couple finds that I am really happy about, so I thought I'd share them with you guys. =)  (On a side note, I did find some others that I'm not posting about, including a very heavy cast-iron, corn stick muffin pan, which I can't wait to try out!)

I really don't know anything about cookware, fine china, dishes and such...I just know what I like.  I don't know what you call this particular kind of material that these dishes are made of, but I think it's pretty much just white, tanslucent-ish glass.  (I'm sure they must have a name...) I just love them! I particularly like these pieces because they could be used as casserole dishes and/or as serving dishes.  Even though I wouldn't know what to guess in terms of their vintage (anywhere from the 50s to the 70s??), I know they're not new, and I know I like them.



Dish 1
With a pretty, green floral design on both sides



Dish 2
Love those cute lil' blue flowers...and I can already smell the meatloaf baking in this one...

Then, I came across a real treasure.  Do you recognize this dish? (I will actually be shocked if you already know its significance before reading my explanation...)

My new-found treasure

This is a bowl that is exactly like the set owned by the Ricardo's in the I Love Lucy show. Technically, the dishes were also used as props in restaurant scenes and such, but these were the Ricardo's household dishes. (I know...I'm a fanatic; but at least I'm not ashamed to admit it anymore! Besides, they say acknowledging the problem is the first step to recovery...haha!)  I do know that the only dishes issued for use on the show were made by Franciscan, which was a company based out of Glendale, CA. 

My particular dish is the Ivy II pattern and was made in England in 2000--or at least, that's the copyright date on the bottom of the bowl.  I'm going to have to do some research to figure out what the difference, if any, there is between the (American) Ivy pattern and the (British) Ivy II patterns.  From what little bit I've read so far, I'm guessing that the Ivy II is essentially a reproduction of the original Ivy, but since the company apparently now only manufactures in England, the Ivy pattern is American and the Ivy II is British--the country of origin being the only difference between the two. But, once again...I am no dish expert.  So, if you are more knowledgeable on such matters, please enlighten me!

"Vintage" find in my own out-building!

Hi, everyone! I've been busy with family stuff for a couple days now, so it's gotten me behind in my blogging.  Yesterday was my Mom's birthday, so as a treat, I cooked dinner for her. I also tried out a new cake from my 1950 2nd Annual $100,000 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest cookbook called $25,000 Orange Kiss-Me Cake.  It was the prize-winning recipe, and needless to say, it was very good.  It's very moist, light and refreshing...just perfect for Spring or Summer! (Can you tell I'm ready for Winter to be over!?)

 

$25,000 Orange Kiss-Me Cake

   
One of things I did Tuesday was work on planting seedlings for my garden.  I probably should have already done this, but the idea hadn't even occurred to me until this past weekend.  We always put out tomato and pepper plants, plus some watermelon and other random things, but in the past, we've always bought the plants--never the seeds.  If my seedling experiment works, it will be much cheaper than buying the already-sturdy plants to put in the ground.  I bought a little 72-pellet greenhouse and a variety of seeds, so I'm eager to see how my little experiment goes.  I am especially excited about the cilantro, thyme and parsley as I have wanted to grow my own herbs for quite a while now.  I use parsley in all kinds of dishes, and I like to use thyme with chicken (especially when baking or roasting) and I plan on making some homemade salsa this year to can, which means I will need lots of cilantro. I'm thrilled and astonished that the thyme is already sprouting! (By the way...thyme seeds are the tiniest littlest things I've ever seen!  You always hear people talk about mustard seeds being small...apparently, they have never seen thyme!)   

 



My seed pellets (My dad thought they

were Oreo balls at first glance!!!)



My assortment of seeds

(Haven't planted the flowers yet...) 





 

Today my husband was cleaning out one of our out buildings and discovered a nostalgic treasure for those of us who admire vintage things and enjoy a "blast from the past" now-and-then: two old Mrs. Butterworth's syrup bottles.  They are made of thick, heavy amber-colored glass and have yellow, metal lids.  I've never seen anything like them...I guess it just never occurred to me that syrup used to come in glass!  I haven't done much research on them as of yet, so I'm not certain about their age.  They are pretty cool, though, regardless! 



Old Mrs. Butterworth's syrup bottles--hmm...wonder how old they are??



It's my understanding that some people collect old glass bottles of various sorts, so I'm not sure yet if I will keep these or sell them on eBay.  I guess that might depend on what they might be worth...hmm...guess that'll have to wait for the research to come in!