Sesame Street Cookie Monster Castanet

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great 2010 and that an even better 2011 is coming up. I have loved starting up this blog (it's almost been a year!) and am so thrilled that I've got readers out there. Thanks to all of you who are reading, following, commenting, and of course, blogging and giving us inspiration.

One of my favourite finds from all of 2010 is one of the simplest and cheapest that I've purchased at a thrift store. It is this great Cookie Monster castanet I purchased for 25¢! It was stowed away in a miscellaneous toy drawer that I rummaged around in.

I love this little noisemaker with its bright colour and of course, Cookie Monster! Cookie Monster is one of my favourite Sesame Street characters, and making noises while his mouth chomps away seems fitting. His googly eyes are just hilarious. This little treasure just goes to show that thrifting is fun because you never know what you can expect to find!

Pyrex Promotional Dandelion Divided Dish

There were some great presents waiting for me under the Christmas tree this year. Mr. SixBalloons surprised me with a great find he made at a thrift store just five blocks from our house... A Pyrex Promotional Dandelion Divided Dish!

The dish is in great shape, especially considering that the design is in the fragile goldleaf print. Not to mention it is from 1959! As a gardener, I am always on the hunt for dandelions before they go to seed in my yard, but I can still enjoy this print, especially if I call it Pyrex Thistles instead.  =)  I was able to pry out of my hubby that the dish cost him three dollars - almost as good of a bargain as the Rooster Promotional Space Saver that I scored a couple months ago.
 

There was no lid with this piece, but I do have one from my Acorn Gold divided dish, so I will use that one when needed.

We also received a great KitchenAid professional series mixer in the beautiful pewter colour:

I admit that my heart started racing at the prospect that perhaps, perhaps, inside the box would be the vintage Hobart avocado green mixer that's sitting sadly in the kitchen in Greece. One day we'll meet again. For the time being, we are really excited about the new mixer and are thinking up great recipes and new things we can do with this powerhouse!

Leftover Turkey Salad Sandwiches

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! The turkey was delicious as usual, but there's always leftover turkey to deal with. When I was a kid, we loved Mom's turkey salad sandwiches - even after eating them for a full week's worth of lunches. I made use of my kitchen's vintage goodies to whip up a batch this afternoon.

I pulled out the large Corningware pot and my vintage Copco 109E cast iron enamelled skillet (I love the red colour and should probably share more pics of this beauty in the future). I've tried tearing the turkey meat using a couple of forks in the past, but with a large amount, you can't beat the dexterity of using your own bare hands.

After adding olive oil and salt to the skillet, I threw in three stalks of green onions, chopped, into the pan. Once they are wilted and coated with olive oil and salt, they are ready to be added to the big batch of shredded turkey meat along with a couple tablespoons of Miracle Whip.

Some liberal mixing ensues, and Voila! That was our delicious lunch today! It seems that we have enough for the rest of the week too. Some things never change.  =)

Le Creuset History: Cousances

In my search for vintage Le Creuset, I occasionally come across either unmarked pieces or those that bear the markings "Cousances Made in France".  In the 1950s, Le Creuset purchased their competitor Cousances' brand and factory, inheriting the classic flame colour scheme and molds for their cast iron cookware.

I was really excited one day when I found a local craigslist ad for Cousances cookware - I believe it was a #18 and #16 saucepot plus a skillet. You can see by the seller's photos that the small pot is "brand new" and never used despite being over 60 years old! The high resolution version of this photo shows that the sticker says "Cousances fonte émailée" (enamelled cast iron) and reads "Anno 1553" above a shield logo.

The knobs on the lids also read Cousances, which would probably help to date it and differentiate it from this piece I happily found in the past, which I suspect may be a bit older.

Alas, I hesitated and it went to another home. I really didn't need the skillet, and the list price was $85 for the set of three, which led me to pause and think. Since I love Le Creuset cookware so much, it would have been nice to have a cute little set in this timeless colour, with all the history I seem to enjoy learning about!

Vintage Raaco Tool Craft Box Made in Denmark

I made a great find at a thrift store recently - a beautiful green coloured metal box for storing hardware and small tools! Raaco is a Danish company that makes tool boxes and storage units. The particular vintage piece that I found was in great shape, with its metal nameplate still attached.

One of the most whimsical things about this find were the little treasures stowed within its four rows of drawers. I enjoyed opening up each one and discovering the assortment of magnets, chess pieces, keys, and other small pieces of hardware. I imagine that a woodworker or handyman owned this old kit. One mystery I have not been able to solve is why he had so many magnets... it appears that his craft required him to hold thin items together temporarily. There were a couple of nice vintage keys in there too.

I think this box has many functions - it would be great for stowing crafts, packets of seeds, or small tools. It's sturdy and well built, and has eyelets in the back for hanging in a shop or display shelf. I find myself curious about the person who carefully sorted these little items.

I originally planned on using this nice box for gardening knick-knacks like packets of seeds, ties to hold branches to stakes, and say, scissors in the large bottom tray. I ended up deciding that it was too nice to be sitting in my muddy garden and that it was a bit too heavy for toting around.  Someone is now using it for holding sewing supplies, and I'm really glad that it'll be well used and well loved again!