Wedding Cake Knife

I picked up a really beautiful and practical cake knife at the hospice thrift store a few weeks ago. It is stamped with "Sheffield England" on the blade but I don't know much more about it, like whether it's a vintage piece or not.


I think it would be really nice for a wedding cake-cutting but I'm planning to keep it in my kitchen for cakes or pies for ordinary occasions. It's in great shape and cost me 50 cents! I even like this knife better than the silver cake server that I purchased a while back.


While I like the detail on the handle, I noticed while photographing the piece outside that the blade is shiny like a mirror. That's the pear tree in my backyard that you see. :)

Pyrex Horizon Blue

I wanted to share a few photos of a really nice Horizon Blue Store and Serve casserole I found a while back. When I spotted this piece, it was the first time I had seen this Pyrex pattern. I thought it was nice how the floral band extended almost around the entire bowl, and how there were alternating pattern "panels".


This piece was missing its lid but still in great condition.

If you love vintage Pyrex (who doesn't?!), make sure to check out a couple of great blogs who have giveaways going on. Vonlipi's Favorites is a wonderful site with tons of information about Pyrex, and a Butterprint mixing bowl is up for grabs! Vonlipi's also got a bunch of other goodies that she'll be sending the lucky winner. One blog that's fairly new to me, Anonymous was a Woman has a giveaway for the coveted pink Gooseberry casserole! Check them out and make sure to enter before it's too late...!

Hand-Crank Popcorn Maker

All you thrifters out there know that one of the most often-found kitchen items are popcorn makers. Usually they are the 80s air popcorn makers, some with their original boxes touting the health benefits of air poppers.


I came upon this great "Theater II High Temperature Popcorn Popper" at the hospice thrift store. It is essentially an aluminum bowl with a removable lid that has pouring flaps on either side, and a contraption attached to a hand crank which moves the kernels around the bottom of the pan. It claims to be able to reach the same temperature as commercial poppers, hence the name. This item retails for about $50 new, so I'm happy with the three dollars I paid for mine. I also found product called a "Whirley-Pop" here which looks almost identical and seems to function the same.


I have experimented with this product a few times now, and can confirm that this makes GREAT popcorn! The key is in the kernels being constantly moved around to avoid burning while allowing the fluffier popped kernels to rise to the surface. I have tried using regular pans and woks to prepare popcorn in the past, but usually end up with more unpopped kernels. Further, the lid on this product has steam vents, which allow the popcorn to stay dry and crispy.

I have always avoided microwave popcorn because that "butter-flavoured topping" scares me. As a teenager, I worked the popcorn booth at the local baseball stadium one summer. I'll never forget how our Supervisors asked us to avoid calling it butter, cause it's just some kind of processed oil! It always pained me when a customer asked for extra butter... because that's not what they were getting!


I like the fact that I can control what I'm adding to my kernels when I make my own popcorn at home. This little contraption makes it so neat and easy to make a successful batch. It's quite possible that my piece isn't vintage, but it's comforting to know that they haven't had to change the design after all these years.

Vintage Pyrex Promotional Rooster Pan

After a delightfully lazy Saturday morning, we decided to visit the local church thrift store in our neighbourhood. Thinking that it closed at 2pm yesterday, we took our sweet time and arrived at 12:55pm. Eek! We realized that it actually closed at 1pm and raced in for a quick look.


Once we entered, a nice volunteer told us that they were closing up soon. We did one quick tour, and I darted over to the kitchen section. The clouds parted, the sun shone through and I saw a Pyrex promotional Rooster Black casserole pan with lid!


The pattern was in perfect condition. There was no fading nor colour loss on the nice roosters and sunflowers.


This is a really handy size and I'm glad to add it to my collection. It's similar in size to the yellow casserole pan / fridgie that is in my Pyrex Primary set. I like the contrast of the black design on the milky white background; it really emphasizes the good condition of the markings. It's hard to believe that the piece was produced in 1958, according to Pyrex Love.


This was a real steal for $3!


I'm sure glad we made it into the thrift store with five minutes to go, or I would have missed out on this nice piece. :)

Craigslist Find: Le Creuset Roasting Pan

I have had my eye on the large sized Le Creuset enamelled cast iron roasting pan for some time. I liked the fact that it could be used to sear meats on the stovetop, and then placed in the oven for roasting without having another pan to wash.


Luckily for me, a Craigslist seller recently listed one in great condition, with its box and original pamphlet. The #40 pan is white in colour, which will match my vintage Le Creuset saucepot. A new pan of this size is around $200 at places like Amazon, and I scored mine for a cool $30.


Inspired by my newly acquired piece, I roasted a duck in my new pan. I am sure I will get plenty of use out of this roaster with the holidays coming up!