Pinned! Made!! Best Brownies!!

I thought I had a great brownie recipe - they were good but they don't compare to this recipe - it is soooo  good!!  I made them on the weekend when the kids were here - everybody loved them, I'm going away tomorrow and taking a pan with me - they're that good, I have to make them again....  I didn't change anything in the recipe, except I added nuts. also a bit of milk in the icing and didn't cook them too long, they were just perfect!    The original pin came from All Recipes - click right here for the recipe.  I'm linking to the blog hop at Adorned from Above.

No fancy name - they're just called "Best Brownies" 

Mom's Cinnamon Loaf on Mother's Day

It felt odd this year to not be looking at the Mother's Day cards - no gifts to buy, no packages to send - it has been nine months since Mom passed away and eight   months for my mother in law.... 

But, when your kids are home for the weekend, well, that's just about perfect!

  

Darcy, Carla and her beau - Darcy! 

In honor of Mom, I decided to make her cinnmaon loaf recipe - from her recipe box.  Mom was such a great baker -I'm sure she often had baking disasters like we all do but I can only remember everything tasted so delicious!   I really should be making more of her recipes...

It's in there somewhere..

I used her Colonial Mist bowls, that's Pyrex, for those who don't know!

Cinnamon Loaf

1/2 c. margarine(the recipe called for shortening, I substituted)

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sour milk ( I used buttermilk because I had some)

Cream margarine and sugar, add eggs.  In another bowl, mix together the flour, b. soda, b. powder and salt.  Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture.

In small bowl mix - 

3 tbsp. white sugar

1 tbsp. cinnamon.

Grease 9 x 5 loaf pan.  Cover bottom with batter, spoon 1/4 of cinnamon mixture, add more batter, more cinnamon mixture, remainder of batter and remainder of cinnamon.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Wouldn't you like to have a bite of this loaf??    I'm linking this great recipe up with Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party ,  the Creative Bloggers Party at Homemaker on a Dime and the party at Melt in Your Mouth Monday

I'll miss Mom always.....

Potato Salad for Two

The nice weather is finally here, actually it has been hot here for the last week, so that means BBQ's and cold suppers.  Cold suppers at our house mean a BBQ chicken from the grocery store and a salad of some sort - yesterday it was potato salad and it was so good!  I haven't made it since last summer, I just don't make it in the winter, do you? it really is the perfect summer meal!!

I used to make potato salad so plain and it wasn't very exciting.  This is the greatest little recipe - and it is little, it's just for two, perfect if you're cooking for yourself or your children have flown the nest and it's just the two of you.   The recipe is from Company's Coming - Cooking for Two.

Potato Salad

1 1/2 c. diced cooked potatoes

Hard boiled egg, chopped - the recipe called for 1/2 an egg, I used the whole egg.  I cooked two eggs, reserving one for the garnish.

2 tsp. minced onion, I used red onion, for some colour

Put ingredients in bowl.

Dressing

1/4 c. salad dressing or mayonnaise ( I used Miracle Whip)

1 tbsp. coleslaw dressing

1/4 tsp. prepared mustard

1 tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. celery salt

1/4 tsp. parsley flakes

Salt, sprinkle

Pepper, sprinkle

Mix these 8 ingredients in small bowl.  Reserve 2 tsp.  Pour remaining dressing over potato mixture in bowl.  Toss.

Garnish with egg wedges.  Drizzle with reserved dressing.  Sprinkle with paprika.  

Potato Salad for 2 in Butterprint

I'm loving taking pictures with my iPhone and Instagram - follow me - mackaypj

I'm joining in today at Fluster's Creative Muster Party and the blog hop at Adorned from Above

A Thrifty Package and More...

Getting mail that isn't bills or flyers is a treat these days, so when a parcel arrives, it's a good day, and when it's a package full of thrifty vintage goods, it's even better.  Holly and I look out for things that we both like and trade back and forth, she really found special things for me -thanks so much, Holly!

It's too bad this guy has to be put away now until Christmas!

Perfect for me - vintage Prince Edward Island souvenirs - the cream and sugar were made by ManorWare in England.  I know I've seen this pixie before, I have to look around when I get back home, I may have another piece there.  I love the pin - I'll be wearing it!!

A vintage apron with such a delicate pattern.

After finding wrapping paper the other week, I have quite a stash now, I better get busy and do something with it!

It was so nice of Holly to share her vintage greeting cards with me!

I'm always on the hunt for Eloise Wilkin books.

This book is chock full of old ads from the British Good Housekeeping magazine - so neat to go through.

Holly made this apron - it is made from a vintage sheet.  She asked me which one I would like, I picked this, with no hesitation, because I had this very exact same sheet set on my bed when I was a little girl.  I remember I picked them out from the Sears catalogue, they were my favourites, the bottom sheet became so threadbare, I always wanted them on my bed  - this piece of fabric is in perfect condition and so bright, she did a beautiful job on it!

Do you have a little girl that plays with dolls - she just might need an apron - Holly makes those too and they're for sale right now in her Etsy shop - check them out because if you use this discount code(for aprons only) alittlebit25 you can take 25% off your apron and shipping is free for Canada and the US until the end of May - there couldn't be a better deal than that!  Check out these sweet little aprons  here at GidgetSews.  She also has a draw happening on her Facebook page - all you have to do is like it and share - click here for that - it's a very generous draw!

Today I'm joining in with Thriftasaurus and The Nifty Thrifty

Keep Your Berries Fresh - Pinned from Pinterest

How do you keep your berries fresh?  I never really did anything, just tried to eat them in time, but often, I have to throw them out - this method is all over the internet, I had pinned it a while ago but forgot about it.  Wednesday I was at Costco, they were selling a 908 gram package for less than $3 - that is a lot of berries for a really good price.  While I was standing there trying to make up my mind, a lady asked me if I knew about the vinegar rinse, then, I remembered my pin.  She said it really works and you can't taste the vinegar, I knew right then I was going to give it a try.   The vinegar destroys bacteria and mold spores on the berries -  you can do it with any kind of berry.   The original pin came from thekitchn.com - I don't feel like I've been keeping up with my pinned from pinterest project, I have to get back on track!!

I bathed them just like it said - three parts water, one part vinegar - don't they look nice in the Pyrex hostess bowl?

A good rinse was next - the original pin called for a salad spinner but I don't have one of those so I just used the sprayer on the faucet.  

Next,  I laid them out on a paper towel lined cookie sheet -they rested there until they were completely dry.   

I lined the plastic container with paper towels and they were ready to go back in the refrigerator.   

We're still eating the strawberries, I'll be using this method again, I was skeptical about the vinegar but there really is no taste at all!  It really does work!!  Have you ever tried this handy hint?

I Need to Catch Up!

I really do need to catch up with my thrifty finds, last week I spent the night at Carla's, there are five thrift shops in her city, I did find a few things, nothing real exciting but things I like.  This week I made my weekly trip to my closest city, all of the thrift shops are on one street and a new one just opened - it wasn't bad at all!!  Every time I go to Value Village now I see items that are so wrongly priced, there is an old Jeopardy game on the shelf, it has been there for a couple of weeks now, I'm thinking it will be there for awhile, they've priced it at $19.99.  That's crazy!!

I give you warning, there's going to be a fair amount of pictures in this  post!

They were selling this 441 Golden Grapes bowl at Value Village  for 9.99 - come on... that's too much..

I really had no business buying these last week - but vintage pillowcases, still in the package - for the Mr. and Mrs, I couldn't leave them behind!!  I have a pair of these at home that Mom and Dad received as a shower gift 58 years ago, but really, how often do you ever see something like this?  I had to buy them!!  They were only $2.99.  It's hard to get a good picture as the plastic is still on them.

I never find vintage wrapping paper - I found 20 sheets at the Salvation Army- take a close look at the unicorn paper - I remember that kind..Regal used to carry that in their catalogue.  

Love the Christmas patterns - there's more but I didn't want to show every piece I bought!

The vintage greeting cards were bagged up at Value Village

Aren't these cute?  There were two packs of them.  I'll probably list a pack and save one for  SMASHING and sharing.

These weren't even opened

Just a small sample of some of the other cards.

The cover of this Eloise Wilkin book was covered in purple crayon, I got as much off as I could - I never treated my books like that - my children didn't either!!

Christmas Carols and a baking pamphlet.  The carol book was published by the Green Giant Company

I've already done a Snoopy page in my SMASH book and used this book,  I plan to do the same with the other books too.  I had to buy the Anne books, that is the very same cover as my first Anne book, it was a hardcover, I should never have gotten rid of it!!   I had a few Cherry Ames books, they were harder to come by, I would have read anything back then, I even had some Hardy Boys but  my favourite was always Nancy Drew.

This is a beautiful book on Hummels.

It was printed in West Germany, 1972

This good sized old Christmas tin will be good for decorating.  I had picked that up first thing, I took it to the cash, later when I went back to the cash with my other purchases, someone had put my tin back on the shelf - lucky it was still there!

One lone juice glass but she's a beauty!

The UNO game came from Value Village, we still like to play it, it's a great game!  I want to use the cards for SMASHING.  I'm going to use this old dictionary for SMASHing too, I actually found the dictionary and album at a yard sale, I asked the old lady how much, she said, well, it is Michael Jackson, I said $3 - she didn't put up a fight!!

Thriller!  What a great album this is!!

Gary bought these the other day - staples, thumb tacks, clips and chalk.  They're sitting on his work bench right now, not really sure what he's going to do with them but the boxes are awfully cute.

Another book for my Christmas collection, from 1965

These sweet little juice glasses came from the new thrift shop,  I very ever seldom see nice glasses, I would have had another one last week, but I set it down while I was browsing at something else, never thought of it again, until it was too late.

Yard sales will be starting, I don't hold out much hope for them around here, I went just about every Saturday last year and I only hit one good sale - not lucky at all!!  

I'm joining in with Thrifty Things Friday , Junkin Joe and new linky party at Bright Green Door

This is a Great Banana Bread Recipe!

I seem to use a lot of online recipes these days but there are always the tried and true ones that you  come back and bake time and time again.  I've tried many recipes for banana bread - but this one has to be my favourite - can you tell by the look of the book?

I've had it since 1992 - I think I got this for Christmas - I always like this type of cookbook - a local book that offers recipes that are not only easy but tasty.

I'm making good use of this Glasbake loaf pan I bought a few weeks ago.

I find that if you wrap the loaf in tin foil  and wait until the next day - it's just so moist and so good!!     

Click on the picture and you can see the recipe  in all its glory, baking stains and all.  I've also made the Chocolate Chipit Bread on top - it's really good too!!

Today I'm joining up with Scrumptious Sunday Link Party at Addicted to Recipes and for the first time - Sunny Simple Sunday Link Party