Vintage Joy of Cooking Book, 1964 Edition

When I'm whipping something up in the kitchen, I tend to add ingredients based on what seems right. I like the idea of finding a recipe and using it as a backbone from which to experiment. I had never really known much about "The Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer and Becker, other than how Julia Child had it in her kitchen!

I found a 1964 edition a couple of weeks ago at a Value Village in the suburbs for $3.50. It's in quite good shape! I figured I could refine my cooking methods and learn a few things as it is chock full of recipes. The inside cover gives a few pointers on symbols found throughout the recipes.

The book was first published in 1931 after Irma Rombauer lost her husband and wrote to cope with her loss and earn some money. The cute drawings in the book have such a homemade quality to them and really adds to the charm.

Both that fondue pot and saucepan sure look like vintage Le Creuset!  It has been a while since I've found a nice book at the thrift. I was really happy with my pair of Jane Eyre books but this is my first vintage cookbook.

I will say that I most certainly will not be needing the pointers identified on Page 453, which discuss "small game" and details how to skin a squirrel. Yes, there are sketches involved. I must also share that Page 454 provides cooking and stuffing instructions for, yes, raccoon. Yeeps!

Vintage Aqua Sugar Jar and Egg Beater

I have collected a few items in the beautiful shade of turquoise or aqua blue lately and I love them!

Cookie Monster really brings out the colour in everything. =) To be honest I'm not sure how much egg beating one needs to do to have such an efficient hand crank kitchen tool. I have to say that the rotor wheel looks pretty neat though. Both this piece and the sugar jar are marked "Made in Canada".

It was the handle that drew me to the jar. I think it'll look great when I clean it up and fill it with some nice white sugar. The jar has the "Androck" brand marking on it, which I've seen on several other kitchen goodies.

Each of these items were $2 and will provide a nice splash of colour in the kitchen. What brightens up the winter blahs in your kitchen?

Linking to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Vintage Wooden Coat Hangers

I came upon three old wooden coat hangers at the hospice thrift store a few months back, and for some reason, just fell in love. I snatched them up and the volunteer behind the counter said, 10¢ each ok?

My favourite one reads "Dominion Laundry and Drycleaning, Vancouver, B.C."  It also reads 1903 but it can't be that old, can it? I assumed perhaps that's the year Dominion Laundry started their business. Regardless, I thought it was neat that drycleaners back in the day gave you a wooden hanger with their business name imprinted on it. A vast improvement over our current wire models with paper advertisements.

Today was my last day at a job I loved for almost seven years. It was really tough to hang 'em up and say goodbye to people who made the place feel like a second home. I can't wait to see what awaits me at my next adventure, but right now I am wistful about days gone by.

Mid Century Modern Chair - Craigslist Miss

Here's another lament about a great find on Craigslist that I missed out on! After scoring this great Royal Blue Velvet Chair in November, I started hunting around for other great accent pieces. I came upon this beautiful teal upholstered vintage chair with teak armrests and legs.

I love those tufted buttons on the back, and the great condition and colour of the chair. Swoon worthy! Listed at $70, I think this would have been a great buy. Apparently others that beat me to it thought so too! The seller was gracious enough to send me a high-res photo so I could share it with all of you.
As an aside, normally I cringe at the term "Mid Century Modern". You see, as a frequent Craigslist searcher looking for vintage goodies, I find that many sellers use that term without restraint since they know it has a lot of appeal. I hope I am not using it in the wrong context here, or I might be guilty of misusing the term myself!

Vintage Made in Holland Cups

I have a distant memory of using an avocado plastic cup-holder with disposable thin plastic cup "inserts". I believe these were old Tupperware but can't recall much more than that. We used to take them on road trips with my family, and I was reminded of them when I came across these cute colourful cups made in Holland.

I purchased these three Dutch cups in perfect condition for $1.50. I think they're shaped a bit like fragile eggs with their rounded bottoms; in fact their shape reminds me of the stemless Riedel wine glasses.

The green, brown and orange colours are so similar to Tupperware pieces we had in the 80s. Does anybody know these cups I'm thinking about?