Coconut Cream Pie

I've never made a real pie before...Unless you count those Jello no-bake cheese cake deals. So for yesterdays dessert, I decided to try out a recipe I found in an issue of 'Household' from 1950. Inside the front cover was a picture of a beautiful banana cream pie but as I read on I realized that there also was a recipe for COCONUT..yum. And unbelievably I had all the ingredients already, a first for me! Read all directions first.
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*Make a 9 in. Pie shell (recipe below).

*Mix in a saucepan....2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp flour. Stir in gradually 3 cups of milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Stir at least 1 cup of the hot mixture slowly into 3 eggs, that have been slightly beaten.
Then blend into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Blend in 1 tbsp butter and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. Cool, stirring occasionally. Pour into baked pie shell. Chill thoroughly. Finish with a whipped topping or a meringue (which is what I did, recipe below). Seal meringue onto edge of crust to prevent shrinking. Swirl or pull up points to make decorative. Bake 8 minutes in moderately hot oven (400 degrees) until delicately browned. Let cool at room temp away from drafts. Serve as soon as cool.

For Coconut Cream Pie:
Fold in 3/4 cup moist shredded coconut just before pouring filling into pie shell. Sprinkle whipped topping or meringue topping with 1/4 cup shredded coconut (toasted if desired~not going there again !)

9 in. Pie shell recipe:
Sift together 1 cup enriched flour, 1/2 tsp salt. Cut in 1/3 cup shorting, first cut in half of it until mixture looks like "meal"... Then cutting in the rest until particles are the size of giant peas. Sprinkle over mixture 2 tbsp water...Mixing with fork to make dough stay together. Round up into ball. Roll out flat, place in pie pan, fold edge over or under to make collar. Prick thoroughly with fork it prevent puffing. Bake 8-10 minutes in very hot oven (475 degrees).

Meringue:
Beat until frothy 3 eggs whites, 1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar. Gradually beat in 6 tsp sugar. Continue beating until mixture is stiff and glossy.

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As you can see, this recipe is full of all the really bad-for-you stuff, that means it's really tasty! This recipe also has many steps and I couldn't keep up too well with 'stirring constantly', therefore the 'cream' part is a little brown, but it was still yummy....Like toasted coconut without the house fire!

The penguin in action

Here is an old ad showing the Penguin doing it's thing! I, honestly, never knew it was anything but an ice bucket either until I came across this ad. The penguins on it kinda say 'cold server'. However, showing up at a potluck with your hot or cold foods in this presentation would be so awesome! Why not just show up with ice in it? At first , maybe the host will be pissed, but when they see the cool penguin container... You'll be the hit of the party! That's my plan anyway!
Thanks so much for all the comments and sharing your nostalgia. I love reading it!

Thrift Score

I was out today looking at clothes at thrift stores for the Jan Tie One On challenge. I have a few ideas but haven't found the right clothes yet. However, I did find all of these patterns today. Sure, I am not a bust 31 1/2 like the patterns on the far left and in the middle are made for. And no, I don't have a little girl to make that adorable white dress with apple pockets (far right, sorry, small pic) ! So, yeah, pretty much none of these patterns are my size.. I just bought them because I liked the artwork! Ha ha!
But this one is my size! He he! One size fits all and only calls for one yard of fabric! I was just looking last night on eBay at some patterns and saw this same one going for 15 bucks! (I only paid 10 cents a piece for these). Bonus! : Inside the pattern envelope was an old newspaper clipping with pattern instructions for a bib apron!

I almost squealed out loud when I found this one! I LOVE the outfit on the left and both fabric choices for examples. This pattern is really old and beat up, it doesn't even have the back. It does, however, have all the pieces and the instructions. Only thing is it's a little too small for me...I think I can figure out how to adjust it though.

I also got a few cute kids books for pumkinbutt, a couple of ladies slips (one in this cool teal color with cream lace!) and a pair of little white gloves with some embroidery on them.

About two weeks ago I got this lovely vintage Westbend hot/cold server..At a thrift store! Only thing was they weren't asking thrift store prices for it. I paid $8 for it. It is in really good shape and I actually have been wanting one. I thought it would be great to use, if I was to be ever invited, to a pot luck at someone's house...I 'm not holding my breath though..

In other news, alot of stuff is going to be going down around here soon. We are about to be having all of our hurricane damaged ceilings torn out and we plan on putting tongue and groove wood in instead , we are also going to be putting up some more serious looking molding. We are going to paint the outside of the house and hopefully do a little landscaping. If we have enough money left in the budget, we are wanting to put a cover over our patio. I am also going to be doing some major decluttering, all part of my New Year's motto "Quality, not Quantity."

Then pumkinbutt's second birthday is at the beginning of March. HE LOVES CARS! So we are going to do a hot rod/classic car themed party for him.

I signed up to do a swap , Second String (link on the right). So I need to get busy on ideas and projects for it.

And to top it off, the Dixie Dolls are planning a small craft fair in our town. We were thinking about it happening in the spring..But I don't see it happening that soon, maybe fall or even next spring.. We'll see!

Tie One On ~ Holiday Apron

For the holiday themed Tie One On, I made my apron from a 1950's Christmas tree skirt and some vintage taffeta ribbon for the tie. I've had the tree skirt for a few years and think I like it much better as an apron. And as I have mentioned before, one of my New Year's resolutions is to start doing staged photographs and better background sets. Here are a few from this 'photo shot' :

Speaking of presents... I have just 2 more posts to do that involve Christmas and they're all about presents! Soon, darlings, soon!

Christmas Gifties: Stuff I Made

I was waiting till all the gifts were received before posting pic's but I've decided to just prewarn! I actually had to open some of the gifts to photograph them! So, Heather, If you are reading this, you might want to stop!


These are photo album covers I made for family. Here are all the boring details if you are interested:I made the jackets out of either brown or black felt stitched with lime green and cream thread. I found the image of the baby from a vintage baby book, then scanned it and did stuff to it in my paint program..Like cleaning it up and changing the color to a sepia tone. The dark circles seen are actually Pumkinbutt's name spelled out in those neat scrap book stickers that look like old typewriter keys, those were also scanned in (however, I blacked them out for this photo...You never know what identity stealing creeps might be out there!). Next I printed out the completed image on white t-shirt iron-on transfer paper and applied it to a cream colored canvas duck material. I attached this to the felt with fabric glue. Along the edges of the image I put grosgrain ribbon. On the brown covers I used a lime green with brown dots along with some that is brown with a cream stitching down the middle. On the black album I put a black ribbon that had an off-white stitching down the middle (just like what I used on this cigar box purse) along with some ribbon that looks like a measuring tape. I also did this whole process on the spines of the albums.





This is a wrist cuff type bracelet I made for heather. It has a velvety leopard print ribbon with 2 vintage buttons sewn on.

I made this choker for a gal I know that is really into Goth stuff. It is made from some pre-eyeletted (if that is even a word) ribbon that looks like leather. I made the charm from shrinky dink of an image that she has always liked. It is of a cute bat that is on a onesie of Pumkinbutt's from when he was a baby. I also made her boyfriend a matching wrist band out of the eyelet material.


A tabbed revamped notebook. I made it from one of those non-spiral-ringed composition notebooks, a vintage record album cover and a little glitter. There are three tabs on the right side made from part of the cover.

These are Christmas ornaments that I made for family.

the ornaments are made from clear glass balls from Michael's. I then put a photo backed with a piece of festive paper,some fluffy stuff to rest on the bottom (fake snow or red paper crinkles), red vinyl number stickers for the year, and an actual vintage Christmas seal (seen on the back side). I also did some etched dots on some but they don't really show up in the pic's.
I also made a notebook for my step father and an earring and necklace set for my mom but forgot to take pic's...
Whew! These 2 posts have taken me 2 days to do! Thanks for reading!

Christmas Gifties: What I Got

I received alot of really nice stuff this year, I certainly didn't deserve. Pumkinbutt got these cool vintage games from my mom along with a retro radio flyer roadster (to name just a few things). Since I see these as kinda for me too (he he) I decided to put the pictures of them up.
Pictured above are the things that my friend and fellow Dixie Doll, Heather, made me. 2 magnets (pictured at top,right) from images of vintage ladies with sassy sayings, a CD comp of 'whitetrash' music from such artists as Wayne Hancock, the Old 97's and Drive-by Truckers (upper left), a mini notepad with a retro housewife collaged image on it (lower right) and a beautiful recipe book with a MikWright card decoupaged on the front that has an image of a lady at her work desk on the phone saying" ...And then that bitch had the nerve to show up with jello instead of her assigned chicken casserole. Now, I'm not one to gossip, but can you believe how fat she has gotten; bitch, please!" ha ha! A perfect repice book for me! She also included a few of her own recipes inside that I have been trying to sneak a peek at when over at her place! ha ha!Not pictured, but she also made me a 2005 Christmas ornament of our little family's Christmas picture. I have already packed it up for next year. She made me one last year also.
I also got a cordlesss Dremel , a MP3 player and a new sewing machine (from my mom); along with clothes, a pair of shoes, craftin' stuff, and some little wood games (from Dixie Doll Kathy). I was very spoiled this year!

Belated Feliz Navidad!

My favorite restaurant in Hurricane Alley is La Hacienda. I go there every Friday night. When they are really busy they give you a number...And the number is scrawled on a small piece of dingy crumpled up diseased looking posterboard...So as a late Feliz Navidad or an early New Years gift..(whichever), I made them some new "take a number" cards. I found images of vintage travel posters for Mexico on the internet and used my computer's craphole paint program to put the numbers on, then had them laminatedl! Yay!
I am soo in love with the image of the cacti on the right hand side... hmmmm :)

More goodies from the mail!

Jennifer from The Felt Mouse liked the PBR beer can ornaments from the Bazaar so much she bought a set. And along with sending me a check, she sent these GOODIES! A knitted finger puppet of a monkey in a fez (ala Pumkinbutt) and another nicely wrapped gift that I had to photograph before opening it! The wrapping paper is hand stamped atomic stars in pink and black along with embroidery floss and a cute black button for the tie. So much attention to details!
and inside the cutely wrapped gift..(sorry for the crappy photo) cute pink skull hair barrettes! Thanks soo much Jennifer!

Re-Decking the Tree!

I know it's Dec. 29. And here I am redecorating the Christmas tree! But, I know I'm not the only one out there that does this, am I ladies? I got this cute retro Santa wire ribbon from Michael's at 70% off after Christmas. I wanted to see how it would look on the tree now! I got 7 rolls and the tree only needed 1! But that's okay... I will be decking the house out next year in the other rolls along with doing a wreath in it too. Overkill? Maybe.. That reminds me, while Pumkinbutt and I were out today, we drove by this house and it was total Christmas TACKY! I will try to get a picture of it before it gets taken down to share.
close up of the cutest Santa ribbon ever!

Yay, We're sluts!

My girl gang, the Dixie Dolls, are now honorary members of the Doll Sluts based out of Seattle! The Doll Sluts are also a group of crafty bitches, like us! Lisa Petrucci (whose artwork is our club logo) invited us and sent us all shirts, as seen above!

Scrap Crafty today: I found it over at My little Mochi . It is for making a wearable pincushion out of a gatorade top!

'Aww how cute' Christmas Dessert!

For the Sunday dessert for Christmas I tried out two things I found in 'Better Homes and Gardens Dec 1956 and 1960' mag's. Shown below is Merry Christmas Salad. Christmas just isn't Christmas without at least one jello molded salad!

And these little darlings are Marshmallow Men! "Can they be from Santa's North Pole? From Candyland? From Mars? " I don't know, but I bet Martha Stewart would have been all over this idea if she would have found it before me! Each little guy's body consists of 2 large and 4 small marshmallows glued together. The eyes and nose are ball topped straight pins (if you don't have black or red ones just paint with nail polish) The cone hats are paper, the buttons are glued on sequins and their rosy checks are actually blush applied with a q-tip. The wings are made from green candy slices and pinned in the back.
I love this little scene! There are 2 cupcake ideas for making a reindeer and a sled for the marshmallow men..Next year for sure! I have got soo much Christmas related stuff to share that I wasn't able to get around to before! So I will be dragging out Christmas for another week here!

Tis the season for extension cords!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...All over my house. As I think I have mentioned before I collect a number of things...Too many things ... And one of these collections is vintage Christmas stuffs. Pictured above and below is the mantel. I got these deer at the hospice sale a couple of years ago...And I have seen them on eBay listed for $19 each (not saying that the person listing them will ever get that much!) but I paid 50 cents..For all of them!!! HE HE HE HE (evil laugh directed to those evil overpricing eBay bastards!!) They are about 11 1/2 inches tall and have that red flocking on them along with silver glitter on the antlers and the tails. I placed cotton batting and white lights under neath to look like snow.

Santas perched on the china cabinet in the diningroom

The main tree with another collection consisting of flocked santas

in various sizes and poses. I love a white tree!

Evergleam Aluminum 4 foot tree in the dining room on the sideboard on a blanket of snow.-- out of reach of pumpkinbutt!
This 1 1/2 foot tree is made from aluminum sleeves that are stacked and the design is punched out, inside is a red light bulb. It is made by Evergleam. And yes, once again it's on a blanket of 'snow'.

In the wise words of Clark W. Griswold, I tell family and friends that visit our house "You deserve a house like this to spend Christmas in" as they look for the nearest exit!

Ha Ha!

Yay for mail! Thanks Sarah!

I'm soo excited! My first mail since I started 'My House Is Cuter Than Yours' (other than things I have bought)! My friend Sarah loves old cookbooklets also and sent me her extras! I did not have ANY of these! They are a series put out by 'Good Housekeeping' and are copyrighted 1958. She also sent me a copy of 'The I Hate to Cook Book' (not pictured). It is a half humor/ half cook book featuring instant-cooking delicacies. Believe me, this won't be the last time these cookbooklets are mentioned because I know I will be making some recipes from them for sure!

Welcome!

Here is a photo of my front door displaying my vintage plastic light up santa's. I used to think I had too many, but now, I am on the hunt for MORE!!! I now have a vision of doing the whole front yard in them! My obsession started about 10 years ago when some friends told me about this house in our neighborhood that was all christmas tacky. It had a scene in the side yard of a UFO landing, a ladder propped against the house with stuffed animals climbing up it, lights hanging off anything that would hold still and ...my favorite part....a tree in their yard FULL of these santas. It was my favorite part of the decorations and we used to go as a group every year to see the display. But a few years ago those people moved or something because there are no decorations any more..... :(. So, here is my homage to the santa tree.

Are you just happy to see me or are those Christmas cards down in your pants?

I think this is the best card holder I've seen yet! This idea is brought to you by Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas for 1958.

" A snip of the shears, a dab of glue will rate you as a smart gift maker!

Santa card holder has a tummy pouch for Christmas mail. Cut out big red felt circle for body, matching half circle for the pouch. Stitch pouch to body, add belt, buckle to reinforce opening. Cut out santa's face and cap, add white felt beard, eyes, nose, cap trim. Add pert tassel ball and loop for hanging."

Vintage Christmas Pattern Thrift Score!

Last week pumpkinbutt and I went to a thrift store in town and picked up these two vintage Christmas craft patterns for 1.50 each.

pattern#1 front

back

The pattern shown above is to make either a tree skirt or a round table cloth, a candy cane cardholder, stockings, and tree ornaments. I love that card holder! The pattern is copyrighted 1970 and is made by McCall's.

pattern#2 front

backI really like this pattern more so than the one shown on the top. This pattern is to make "Christmas Trimming Motifs and Stockings". Which means a table cloth, a mantle 'valance', a wall hanging, and stockings. On the back it has this really cool idea for a New Year's table cloth. It is the reverse side of the 'Merry Christmas' tablecloth shown on the front cover. And isn't that stocking neat that has a roof line for the cuff? I would really like to make a mantle valance, one that looks like snow ...... This pattern is copyrighted 1957 and it's also by McCall's.

Inside each of the patterns were hidden surprises. The pattern shown on the very top had envelopes of some of the ornaments already cut out of felt but not completed. The pattern on the bottom had some newspaper clippings about making bows and embellishing the exterior of wrapped gifts. But the neatest thing was a handmade Christmas card and the original idea for it.

Can anyone tell me why vintage felt is so nice and smooth and thin? That crap they sell at craft stores is blah, but I don't have any other alternative. I read about alot of folks out there making wool felt from sweaters picked up from thrifts but I live in Florida! We don't really have any sweaters here in thrifts except for those god awful fat knitted 80's ones with nasty glittery embellishments on them. And then I looked into buying wool felt sheets! Ha! Way too pricey! I guess I'm just SOL in the felt department.

I am starting to see a light at the end of my 'Christmas crafting tunnel'. It's a very dim light but at least it's a light! How is everyone else's gift making coming along? Hopefully we all will be sipping a flaming rum punch by Christmas Eve !

By the way, I have an update for a recipe link for the flaming snow balls !