Christy Jordan's Southern Plate Magazine

I first learned of Christy Jordan when I saw her on an episode of Paula Deen, who, if you can believe it, razzed Christy about her Southern accent. (If memory serves, Christy is from Alabama).

Her recipe for Splenda Cream Cheese Pie has worked its way into regular rotation at my house. It's the jam, seriously. And one of those simple, simple recipes that is actually fantastic as opposed to just lazy. Haha.

I read her site for a while before I came across her Pyrex Hoarder post. (And she promises a Part Two in the future. I'm looking forward to it!

Oh my. Look at that kitchen.

Pyrex Friends, she's definitely one of us. Here, she tells the story of family pieces that started her love of vintage kitchen.

And on this page, she gives some tips on what to look out for. I was also glad to read her warning that many of these dishes were made before dishwashers were common in the kitchen, so hand wash these beauties if you want to keep them looking shiny and new.

And one of the things I love most is that she's a fan of it all. Not just Pyrex. The rest of the magazine features Fire King, Glasbake, Hazel Atlas, Federal, etc. It nice to see other glassware getting some attention as well.

Anyways, I just wanted to make a post about this magazine while it's currently on newsstands and easy to pick up.

Happy Thrifting!

My day yesterday

A mix of sweet & hot banana peppers, Fiesta bowl full of salad-sized tomatoes that I didn't feel like dealing with yet, lol! My camera battery decided to die before I could photo the Tupperware strainer filled with fresh picked basil.

3 dozen (mostly hybrid varieties, but organically grown) tomatoes, washed and ready for blanching

I'm also growing a small variety of heirlooms, but they aren't close to ripe yet. I've learned the hard way that if I don't plant a fair amount of hybrids, I may not get much of a yield at all. This year has been fantastic for tomatoes so far. I've picked probably 6 dozen so far off about 15 plants.

And here's the Happy Ending picture. 4 jars of refrigerator pickled banana peppers. I threw in some nasturtiums just for color. Also to freak my mom out, who thinks eating flowers is just utterly bizarre. These are in the nifty heritage blue commemorative canning jars, which I think are just the cats pajamas :-)

3 freezer jars of Poor Man's Pesto. I call it that because I'm a cheapskate who makes it out of the regular cheap block of Parmesan cheese. I also use sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts. And whatever kind of olive oil that I have. I'm not a stickler for EVOO. I'm sure I'm committing food blasphemy, but it's a perfectly tasty sin, in my opinion.

And finally, 3 quarts of crushed tomatoes. I've got it figured that a dozen reasonably large tomatoes will yield a quart of crushed tomatoes.

It's humbling to do so much work to only have 3 quart containers to show for it. Well, that and a 1 quart Tang picture full of juice that I forgot to photograph. I don't know what I'm going to do with that yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

I was glad to put so many of my favorite Pyrex bowls to good use. Having kitchen stuff you love definitely takes some of the drudgery out of housework. Also doesn't hurt when your housework tastes good! :-)

Hope you're having a Great Day!

Junk Heaven!

The Pyrex UFO has landed. And she's a BEAUTY!

My book - Pyrex by Corning: A Collector's Guide by Rogove, Steinhauer - dates this piece to 1956. Other information I've found has called it the first promotional Pyrex piece. Either way, it's a real beauty, and one of the rare instances that the cradle & lid are a major, major factor in its value. The turquoise 024 casserole was sold by itself, so finding a replacement for it isn't a major difficulty, but finding this particular cradle and lid is another story. I can't find another one that has sold recently, leading me to believe I've found a pretty uncommon piece. Whether it's rare or not, I love it because it's beautiful. WHOO-HOO!

This is my total Pyrex haul from yard sales this year. And the bad thing is, I'm probably keeping it all for myself. I've seen a lot of Pyrex in yard sales the last little while, and all the sellers seem to want a blue fortune for it. My favorite purchases (besides the UFO on the right) are the 3 round casseroles in the very center of this pic. They came from an older man who had the most reasonable prices of the day of anybody - 11 dollars for the 3 pieces, 2 lids. I'd pay him those prices over thrift stores any day!

Lustroware canisters! In Red! Awesomeness!

Funny thing is, I had these in yellow and I sold them. Along with a few other Lustroware goodies, and told myself that was the end of that. But these big, red, beautiful boxes were frankly, kinda cheap for what they are. And in excellent condition. I'd say the next notch down from being completely unused. So literally, the very first time I've seen them in person, in Red, they are a price I'd be a fool not to buy. So, more Lustroware!

 And of course, no swearing off of aging Mid-Century plastics would be complete without buying yet more! This salad set is Steri-Lite. As in, the very same company any old plastic item bought from Walmart has a good chance of being. But this is OLD Steri-Lite, with a cursive logo and atomic styling. Only the bowls are marked, but there's salad sets on ebay that confirm the rest of this set goes together. More plastic I won't use but can't bear to part with!

And finally, friends, this is a vintage Fiesta mixing bowl in original yellow. The second-to-largest size, a number 6. It has a chip around the rim, but I picked it up for 5 dollars. Oh yes! I love vintage Fiesta mixing bowls, and I'll take them in any condition.

I have 9 bowls now, but no complete set yet. Missing the largest #7. And like the detail wonk I tend to be, I've noticed a variation that is driving me crazy! Of my early 'inside rings' bowls, there is a difference. I'll try to photograph it and blog it in my detail later, and just describe it now. In some, the rings are evenly spaced apart, and in others, it's a cluster of rings with more open space inside and outside. These variations don't fit together!

I'm a stickler for details like this. The Fiesta books speak of the two variations in mixing bowls, but not 3. I can prove their is 3! Lol!

I'll get wonky and post pics of the bowls soon!

Hope you're finding thrifty treats & treasures!

Birthday shopping extravaganza!

Sagaform teapot

My husband bought me this loverly new Sagaform teapot for my birthday. I'm not entirely sure how I discovered Sagaform, but I really like many of their designs. This one is appropriately called "Retro". Some of the others I like a lot are "Season" & "Blossom". This Scandinavian firm puts the name of the designer right on the dish, reminiscent to me of vintage designs by Eva Zeisel or Ben Seibel for firms such as Mikasa, Iroquois, Red Wing, etc.

But as usual, this birthday was all about the Pyrex.

Let me just say, Pyrex prices have just about doubled from when I first started collecting. And I'd say the supply is somewhere around half what it used to be too, even with blood-thirsty (and sometimes incredibly greedy) dealers in hot pursuit of it for their booths.

I paid an arm and a leg for the turquoise 402 bowl. But I was looking for that exact one to nest in between the smaller and larger bowls I already had. So that completes a 3 bowl set. I'd be very glad to find a large turquoise 404 bowl, but I'll live if I don't find one soon.

The big red 404 is only the second time I've ever spotted it. First time, I didn't buy it, because it was scratchy and they still wanted 30 bucks for it. This time, it was very shiny, only minimally scratched, and a much more tolerable 14 dollars.

The little blue completes a primary set. I won't even tell you how many primary sets I have. You'd put me away. I've sold one, and I'll probably sell another one or two when the mood strikes. But yeah, I'd say I have a problem, lol. Oh, and that big yellow 404 there, guess that's the beginning of a new set......;-)

And that poor pink. Maybe you can't tell, but it's dishwashed. Very, very dishwashed. But it was 4 bucks. I picked it up for my mom, who adores pink pyrex, but never steps foot in an antique store. She's a little rough on her dishes, and this is one I won't be too heartbroken if I see it being used as a cat dish.

And that plate is lilac Fiesta! My second one. I thought my first one was a way good deal at 10 bucks, but this one was the interesting price of $4.29. It's in similar shape too, it still looks good, but has totally been used, so in to regular rotation it goes. Yay!

 And again with the dishwashed bowls. That orange dot bowl should be a lot more orange. But it was appropriately priced at 5 bucks. It's a totally acceptable placeholder bowl for my set until I can find a nice, shiny one (which may or may not happen soon, with my luck). I still need the largest 404 green dots bowl. It's the big one, sold separately, that sells for a minor fortune on ebay. Yuck.

These are all duplicates for me. My husband say's I have "a sickness for Butterprint" - and yes, he actually uses the correct pattern name. I needed one little fridgie dish to complete *another* set, but there were these other two sitting right there. Just sitting there, saying "Buy me. You know you want to."

So, sickness it is.

Oh, and you know what else is sick? How about 200 dollars for 3 pink Pyrex bowls? The 3 smallest. Not even the somewhat harder to find 404. Remember what I just said about greedy, blood-thirsty dealers?

And sadly, this was the first time I'd seen those bowls in the wild in all this time. I think at that moment my husband was actually glad I'd broke down and bought them online.

Also saw my first two Cathrineholm items same day. Both "Lotus" pattern. A large tan mixing bowl for 45 dollars, and a Verde-colored coffee pot for 88. At those prices, I don't think any Cathrineholm is in my future. But I'd be all over it at the thrift store!

If I feel froggy, I'll make another post about the cool things my hubby found (and won't post about, because he's a LAME-O).

All in all, great birthday!

Hope you're finding cool treasures!