Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Crochet - Lace and Insertion from 1948


This edging appears to be identical to last week's pattern, but comes with a matching insertion. From Workbasket magazine, January 1948 (I think. For the first ten years of its run, Workbasket had an odd way of numbering issues).

Two pages of instructions on my Flickr account.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Vintage Images - Poster for l'Hermitage


Copyright-free, from Dover.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Well-Traveled Spud


From our old friend Ruth Berolzheimer and her crew at the Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, published in 1961.

Franconia Potatoes. Select medium-sized potatoes, pare and place them in the baking pan with the roast, allowing an hour and a quarter for their cooking. Turn them often and baste with the gravy from the roast. Serve them arranged about the meat on the platter. If you wish to shorten the cooking time, parboil them for fifteen minutes before putting them into the roasting pan, and allow forty-five minutes for the roasting.

Dutch Potatoes. 6 potatoes, 6 frankfurter sausages, 6 slices fat salt pork or bacon, pepper. Scrub medium-sized potatoes; pare or leave the skins on as preferred. With an apple-corer cut a tunnel through the center of each, lengthwise. Draw through each cavity one of the frankfurters. Place in a dripping pan and lay a blanket of fat salt pork or a thick slice of bacon on each potato. Pepper lightly and bake in a very hot oven (450° - 500° F) until the potatoes are tender, basting occasionally with the drippings and a little hot water.

Belgian Baked Potatoes. Prepare potatoes as for French fried. Dip them in melted fat and lay them in a shallow pan, being sure that the pieces do not overlap. Bake in a quick oven (400° - 450° F) until brown on top, turn carefully and continue baking until they resemble French fried potatoes. Baste them with more fat during baking, if necessary. When done, sprinkle with salt and serve piping hot.

Saratoga Potatoes. Wash and pare potatoes and shave into very thin slices. Soak them for one hour in cold water, then drain and dry on a towel. Fry in deep fat (395° F) a few slices at a time until light brown, keeping them in motion with a skimmer. Lay them on soft paper to drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and serve.

American Fried Potatoes. No. 1 – Cut boiled potatoes into slices one-fourth of an inch thick. Heat a very little fat in a frying pan and sauté the slices, browning on both sides. Season with salt and pepper. No. 2 – Chop the potatoes in a chopping bowl until the pieces measure one-half inch or less, and add them to the hot fat in the frying pan. Season with salt and pepper and sauté, stirring constantly, until the potatoes look yellow and are cooking well. Then cover the pan, set it in a slow heat for five minutes, and serve in a heated dish.

Lyonnaise Potatoes. 2 cups boiled potatoes, sliced, 1 tablespoon minced onion, 2 tablespoons fat, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, salt and pepper. The potatoes should be rather underdone to produce the best results. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté the onion in fat until yellow, add the diced potato and stir with a fork until all sides are brown, being careful not to break the potatoes. Add more fat if necessary. When done, turn the potatoes out upon a hot dish, sprinkle parsley over the top, and serve hot.

Spanish Potatoes. 1 tablespoon minced onion, 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper, 2 tablespoons chopped pimiento, 4 tablespoons oil or cooking fat, 2 cups cold boiled potatoes, diced, ½ cup cold cooked ham, chopped, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon paprika. Sauté the onion, pepper and pimiento in the fat until light brown, add the diced potatoes, the chopped ham and seasonings and cook until thoroughly heated through.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Perils of Text Messaging

(Explanatory note: my youngest sister works at a VA vacility near Detroit).

Sister: help we have IRR* coming in today which is senior rank sgt major or master sgt they are army can’t read insignia help

Me: don’t know about army but in USMC sgts major senior to God

Twenty minutes later.

Sister: there is one sgt major n a lt of mst sgts

Me: why is army sending you musty sergeants are there no fresh ones available?



(*Individual Ready Reserve. Reserve personnel who are not formally attached to a Reserve unit but can be called up one-by-one to augment the active component. This frequently happens to service personnel unwise enough to choose highly specialized MOS's like Farsi translator or EOD technician).

Caturday!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Quote of the Day


Intelligence is knowing that the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad ~ Miles Kington

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - Yorkshire, Painted and Described



Yorkshire Painted and Described, which includes York, a Sketchbook. By British artist Gordon Home. Lovely, lovely watercolors and available at Project Gutenberg.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Patterns of the Past - Two Dresses and a Girl's Sunsuit


From Workbasket magazine, February 1954. The bonnet and sunsuit are pretty cute. Practical, too.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Crochet - Spiderweb Lace from 1954


From Workbasket magazine, February 1954. Instructions on my Flickr account.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Health Department Humor


RN (peering into coffeemaker in break room): Anyone here allergic to penicillin?

Vintage Images - 1930's Ad Cuts


Copyright-free, from Dover.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I Love A Parade, Mostly


I got to walk behind our ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) this afternoon and toss candy; not my preferred activity on a sultry August Sunday, but somebody's got to do it.


The Junior Marine Detachment color guard did a nice job. Their drill sergeant is to be commended.


Every vintage tractor in the county was there, as well.


Our parade rank improved slightly this year. We were ahead of the horses (but unfortunately, behind the bagpipes. I believe the British army classifies them as weapons rather than musical instruments, and no wonder).

Cream Cheese, Tomato Soup, and Sardines

Silver Salad. “A meal in itself, this glistening pink and silver salad features the sardine-tasty, economical, and so good for you! Cream cheese dissolved in tomato soup provides the pink touch.”

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 ¼ cups water
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 3 oz package cream cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated onioin
½ cup mayonnaise
2 cans Maine sardines, drained (3 ¼ or 4 oz size)

Soften gelatin in ¼ cup water. Heat ¼ of the can of soup; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Stir into remaining soup and 1 cup water. Add cream cheese and stir until smooth. Allow to chill until slightly thickened. Then add lemon juice, onion, mayonnaise and sardines which have been broken into bits. Pour into mold and chill until firm. Unmold on salad greens and garnish top with two or three whole sardines. Serves 6.

From Workbasket magazine, May 1955. One has to ask oneself what the rest of the menu would look like.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Sometimes, You Just Want To Stick Around To See What Happens

While I was running errands in town today I drove past an older couple with a yappy little bedroom slipper of a dog at the end of a leash, headed east. About a block and a half later I topped a small rise and met a younger couple with a large and lupine-looking German shepherd mix on the end of a leash.

Headed west.

Caturday!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Quote of the Day


Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. ~ Mark Twain

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Online Bookshelf - The Masked Bridal


The prose is as lurid as the title. From Project Gutenberg.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

How do I love thee?


Let me count the ways.

1). I love you because when I got home from a late meeting the other night, you had cooked dinner.

2). I love you because you had also cleaned the bathroom.

3). I love you because you had also folded and put away the laundry.

4). I love you because when I left for work at 0715 the next morning, you were already in the kitchen, canning tomatoes.

5). But mostly I love you because you do all of this without me asking you to.

Patterns of the Past - McCall's #883


From McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Winter 1941-42, a bed-jacket to hand-quilt from silk crepe and lambswool (and then wash by hand for the rest of it's life).

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Crochet - Double Shell Insertion


From Workbasket magazine, November, 1951. Instructions on my Flickr account.