Rubbermaid Retro!

So... Since Rubbermaid.com hasn't gotten their act together on promoting their new line I guess it's up to me! I found these in Walmart 1 1/2 months ago and squealed! The colors are just about a dead~on match to my kitchen and laundry room! I loved the retro look that the laundry basket and waste can have. They come in a dark brown color also, that when you see the 3 colors together on the display it is just beautiful! Additionally in this line, there is another neat looking slightly larger waste can and another not~ at~ all retro looking smaller laundry basket.

the waste can
the laundry basket
The stacking bin that is shown upside down (in the top photo) doesn't have any retro look to it except the color, but they (I bought 4!) fit perfectly in my very small bathroom storage closet. I had been looking for soo long for something that would fit and give the maximum amount of storage I could get and here it is! And in such a beautiful color! The waste can has a really neat vertical ribbed texture on the exterior and I like the oval shape to it. BUT... I love the laundry basket the best!!! I love that it's round and I love the weaved look and that the alternating ribs have a raised linear texture mimicking woven wicker !!!!! It was a very typical feature in items from the 1950's to be composed of man made materials but have the look of something in nature, only with a modernize twist. Such a fabulous little extra detail!
Another neat thing was that the box that they were shipped in to the store had a really cool retro looking silhouette of a maid with one of those sassy little head pieces on! You know those tiny lacey deals that always come with French maid Halloween costumes.. Yeah those. That would actually be a good idea for a matching accessory to make with an apron! hmmmm...

TOO CUTE!

Pink Lemonade and Limeade and orange !

I know I said I wasn't going to make anything for this months Tie One On but it was either clean the house (boring!) or make a simple apron. So here is what I came up with. The little character on the bottom corner is suppose to be a cutesy lime. I know the theme is PINK lemonade but I thought the lime fabric looked really cute. The fabric has stripes of pink and lime and orange~which i thought helped to represent all the 'ades' and juice except the classic lemon one of course. But it's time for these underdog 'ades' to get some respect!

Baked Alaska!!

For dessert this weekend I decided to try something strange and unusual, something that we only hear of ordering at fine restaurants, something that urban legends are made of.....Baked Alaska! For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, it is a dessert that involves putting ice cream in a 500 degree oven and it doesn't melt! Yes you read correctly! Doesn't melt! The secret is in completely sealing the cake and ice cream in meringue.
I got the recipe out of my Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book from the fifties ( I can't find the exact date due to the fact that the first few pages are missing). It wasn't too complicated to do, just had to really plan those last few moments before you put it in the oven.

So as it was coming out of the oven I gathered the victims around it like it was a side show attraction!

Behold the mysterious Baked Alaska!

Ohh and Ahh at it's frozen center that defies reality!

It did have a little bit of melting as you can see from the photo but that all happened after it came out of the oven and while I was trying to take the perfect photo! Even the one shown in the cookbook had some slight melting. So how did it taste? Like cake and ice cream with meringue. I wasn't too impressed but the fam went ape over it! Go figure!
I have noticed that this blog is really being overcome by my adventures in unusual desserts! I promise some more crafty stuff soon. I have something in the works right now that doesn't involve any measuring cups so stay tuned!

Yummy Coconut Snowballs!

Isn't it beautiful! Looks just like a creamy peach brain with peach slugs about to invade it! Ha, Ha ! No really it is a Russian Cream Fruit Mold. Why is it Russian?! I don't really know. It is from the June 1957 Household magazine. This issue has a whole slew of congealed fruity desserts with Coconut Snowballs!!! I have to say them Coconut Snowballs are really good!
I assigned myself the duty of making the dessert for the Sunday family dinner a few months back just so I could make creations such as this and then make people eat it!!! I do give the fam a break and make real desserts from newer cookbooks, but they are just not as fun! I made this masterpiece about 2 months ago.
The brain part's color did not turn out quite like the recipe photo shows because of a lack of clarity about what to do to the peaches~ apparently their idea of finely diced is different from mine! Here is the recipe..If you dare! It is copied word for word, except for my comments in the { } 's.

Recipe for Coconut Snowballs

Blend 2 packages (3 oz size) cream cheese with enough dairy sour cream

to barely soften. Shape into balls the size of walnuts. Roll in flaked coconut.

{This recipe makes ALOT of snowballs! }

Russian Cream Fruit Mold

It's the fruit and sour cream combination that lifts this salad into the to-be-remembered class. for a gala occasion double the recipe...garnish with peach slices and coconut balls

{ I love these kind of intro's to foods and recipes! I'm sure this dessert will "be remembered" but not for the reasons they are thinking!}

1 package lemon flavored gelatine

1 cup hot water

1 can (9 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup drained, finely chopped peaches {make that pureed!}

1/3 cup flaked coconut

1 cup dairy sour cream

Coconut Snowballs

Peach slices

Dissolve gelatine in hot water. Chill until partially congealed. Fold in pineapple, peaches, coconut, and sour cream. Turn into 5 cup salad mold. Chill until firm. To serve, unmold and garnish with Coconut Snowballs and peach slices. Makes 6 servings.

Sounds easy enough right?

Finally, I am back!

Old news:
I am going to be out of my mind, i mean out of town for the next week !

NEW NEWS (7-19-05) : Due to crisis after crisis, I was gone longer than a week. First a hurricane which kept me out of town longer than expected, then no power for a week when I did return home, then a personal sadness happen unexpectedly. We are all trying to recover and get back to
normal around here.
Let's see...... Let's talk about fun stuff. While I was away at my Mom's in NC for the first week before the madness broke loose we did get to have some fun. One day we went thrifting .I got a vintage white ceramic planter for$ .81. Which, by the way Mom, I couldn't find when I left your house, so keep an eye out for it! Then we were going to go to this really cool diner called The penguin for lunch . It is such a neat place ! It opened up in the 40's or 50's. It has a juke with all old country and rockabilly music , solid wood paneling walls, and black and red checkered floor. It is owned by (as my one of my best friends would say) " Hot Tattooed Greaser Guys". And they have Fried Dill Pickles! SOOO good! Well on the way to finding a parking place we saw this other run down looking diner called The Diamond . It looked a little intimidating on the outside but it had a lot of people going in, so we thought what the heck. It turned out to be a pretty neat place. We learned that it opened up in the 40's. They only have water, coffee, and tea to drink and they serve southern types of food. My mom got fried chicken livers and I got fried chicken tenders, It was all really good.
On another day we went to a BIG fabric store called Mary Jo's. They have Michael Miller and Aunt Grace for 5.00 and less a yard, and that's not on sale! I got a few yards of an Aunt Grace print of little green dragonfly looking flowers for 4.95 a yard to make this cool halter dress from a pattern I got from my mom while I was up there.
I also discovered (from my mom) 2 really cool shows that come on The Game Show Network called "what's my line" and "beat the clock". They are both in black and white and made around 1955. But we don't have that channel here in hurricane alley!
This month has been so full that I didn't get much time for anything crafty. I did help my cousin make a purse from some John deer fabric that she got at Mary Jo's. I had bought fabric before I left to make my Pink lemonade apron for Tie One On this month but it's just not going to happen. I was also suppose to write an article for my friend's zine this month but that's not going to happen either. I'm not dealing with deadlines this month, I've dealt with enough stress this month and I'm not going to give myself some more by pushing myself to get those projects done.
So there!!!