Vanilla Pudding & Grandmother's Bowl: A Sentimental Weekday

On this second day of the 12 Days of Valentine's Day, I propose you make one of your grandmother's recipes and serve it in a vintage vessel. Vanilla pudding? Orange pie? Shrimp dip? What was something she was known for? I can think of nothing more wonderful than honoring her with a whirl in the kitchen.

Does this Pyrex display bring back memories? I spent a few hours at "America's Largest Antique & Collectible Show" at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA last weekend. This beautiful collection of vintage Pyrex caught my eye. Are you a collector? I consider Pyrex a salute to the American kitchen and I love it all. I have a small collection and I regularly fight the urge to make it a bigger. (wink)

When I shared this photo on Instagram, several people chimed in that they treasure their grandmother's Pyrex bowl. Or pointed out in this picture, which one she had. I am sentimental and nothing makes me happier.

Today I am sharing my maternal grandmother's recipe for vanilla pudding and serving it in my solid aqua Pyrex bowl with lid (just like the one in this picture!). I make this pudding all the time (usually doubling the recipe) and it is a family favorite.

Vanilla Pudding 

2 egg yolks
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 c. milk
1 T butter (though it was written "a walnut size piece of butter)
1 t. vanilla

Put egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir together with a fork until well mixed. Pour in milk and stir. Turn on burner and cook, continuing to stir. When the mixture has thickened quite a bit, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Fill 4 small ramekins with pudding and refrigerate. 

#grandmothersknowbest #grandmasrecipe #recipe #vanillapudding #vintagepyrex #collectingpyrex #momentsofdelight #antiquelover

Pure Pyrex in Snohomish, WA

My Aunt Carol made the big trip out West to see my mom and we had a wonderful week showing off our new turf. Knowing that she and my mom loved antiquing, I hoped for a nice day when we could drive up to Snohomish, WA for a day of treasure hunting.

Country Living magazine published an article calling Snohomish the "antiques capital" of the Northwest and having visited the town twice, I knew that we would have fun looking in the boutiques full of up-cycled items, as well as the tried and true antiques they both collect.

Our most successful moments were at the Star Center Antique Mall and Remember When Antique Mall. We spent hours looking everything over and considering things like how much room my aunt had in her suitcase and trying to remember which pieces of vintage Pyrex I really owned. I stood looking at this massive display for quite a while before I realized that I probably had a photo on my phone of my aqua Pyrex. Remember this day? That photo helped me make my decision. I wanted to buy one piece of Pyrex to remember this day paling around with my mom and aunt.

I bought this small turquoise bowl in Butterprint at the Remember When Antique Mall. It's perfect.

When I got home, I took a picture of my collection in the new cupboard. Now I can refer to this picture on my phone (in the favorites album) whenever I am in doubt. You can see that the new bowl fits perfectly right in the center of the lower shelf.

Throughout the day, my mom kept saying, "Stop calling it vintage; we both got these same pieces for our weddings." Ha!  

Fall Baking: Kitchen Aid and Pyrex Make Me Happy

There are a lot of things that I love in this picture.  It is important for me to "look at what I love" and my apartment counter is pretty crowded lately. When we scoured our house in Michigan, looking for duplicate items to set up an apartment in Washington, I knew it was time for my vintage Pyrex collection to step up. I needed my beloved pieces to transition out of the treasured decorative items category and back to their status as an everyday kitchen workhorse. 

I use them daily, now and they are fantastic. The white bowl in front holds the batter for some quick blueberry muffins. I like how the Pyrex looks, so I keep it stacked on the counter.

When the holidays (and my 6-month stint living in an apartment in Washington) began last October, I got really nervous about holiday baking. I love making muffins, cakes, cookies repeat. When I say I am a big holiday baker, I mean that I bake almost every day. It's relaxing. It makes the house smell good. I can give these treats away. It is a big part of my October November December.

How would I bake without a mixer in the apartment?
Should I buy a hand mixer? I don't want a hand mixer. 
Should I buy a stand mixer? I don't want a stand mixer. 
I want my white Kitchen Aid mixer that is on the counter in Michigan. Dan saw me start to twitch and suggested that my Christmas present could be a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer that just happened to arrive in October. *sigh* I love this man.

We scoured the internet for colors and options and decided, who were we kidding, I was an aqua girl, through and through. I had the Pyrex to prove it. 

Some bakers store their stand mixer because counter space is too valuable. I can't. I like to see this beauty and get inspired to bake and mix and stir. It's part of the fun of being in the kitchen. And it looks perfect with the Pyrex. Our apartment is small, but my holiday plans are big. As for my Michigan mixer, it's in a box in storage awaiting my next move.

Do you feel this way about your mixer? 

#kitchenaidmixer #baking #holidaybaking #aqua #bakersgottabake #apartmentliving #vintagepyrex 

Design Your Own: Cork Trivet

I was so happy to find round cork trivets at Ikea. A set of three is $3.99 and they are thick and would make a wonderful gift if you jazzed them up a little with fabic. 

Jazz them up, I did! I love this tea-themed fabric and I've been holding onto it for just the right project. Pot holders?  Yes, they would be darling, but I've been having a hard time with bias tape lately. An apron? Yes, except I have too many aprons already. So when I realized that I could effectively adhere them to cork trivets, I was sold.

I bought a roll of Heat n Bond Ultrahold and followed the package instructions to iron the 2-sided adhesive onto the wrong side of my cute fabric. Then I traced the cork circles onto the back of the fabric with pencil and cut them out. Then a followed the package instructions to permanently adhere the fabric to the cork. I've been collecting vintage Pyrex and I feel like this fabric underscores my mood in the kitchen right now.  This project is so easy and so great. 
Modern, yet cute. A design element, yet still functional.

I plan to lightly spritz the fabric topped trivets with Scotch Guard spray to help the trivets stand up to the inevitable drips and spills. 

Apple Peeler Corer Slicer

Hands down, this is my favorite seasonal kitchen gadget, an apple peeler corer slicer.

I was working a shift at our church's rummage sale and happened to find these 2 great pieces - a super cute kiwi green Pyrex bowl (remember my blog post about starting a Pyrex collection?) and a never-been-used apple peeler corer slicer.  I bought both of these beauties for $7 total.  The universe is telling me it's time to make my famous apple pie!

I bought my first apple peeler corer slicer at least 15 years ago at a Pampered Chef party.  I loved it and used it many times a year, to make quick and easy apple pies.  You basically jam an apple onto the spear end and then crank the lever as the apple spins past a peeler and spiral slicer.  It works like a dream and gives you apples ready for pies/tarts/muffins in no time at all.

My sister-in-law in Texas thought that this machine was right up my alley and gave me one for Christmas a few years ago.  I tucked it away in the basement and when my first machine grew tired and dull, I happily pitched it and pulled out the one in my basement.  

It feels good, after today's shopping success, to know that I have a perfect (and practically free) lady-in-waiting ready for the next swap out.  But honestly, I would pay full price for it any day of the week.  It is a fantastic tool that saves your hands a lot of work and it very fun to operate with kids around - everybody gets a turn at the crank! 

Don't you think it's time to make an apple pie!

Pyrex Love

Can you believe my luck?  I just started collecting vintage Pyrex and the first two pieces I bought (different places, but for a whopping $1 each) are featured in the May 2011 issue of Country Living!  

What I love about Pyrex is how it represents American home cooking.  Classic dishes made by your parents or grandparents.  Sturdy and dependable - but so pretty too!  I am picturing a small wooden cabinet with a screen door (painted pale pink) to display my pieces in.  Wouldn't that be cute?

What is interesting, is that a few days ago I was at a garage sale looking for old Pyrex (no luck) and the woman liked my quest and had to show me the large blue Pyrex bowl that her brother always made and served banana pudding in.  She treasures the memory and the bowl and I told her that was exactly why I loved it.  To me, Pyrex symbolizes the love that comes out of the kitchen.

What is spooky is that I am about to visit my friend in Alabama and she told me on the phone (the day after this garage sale lady) that we were having a special dinner on Saturday night and we needed to make banana pudding!  I feel like the stars and moon are aligning!

Do you have Pyrex love?