blog #483 >> Classic Films

(In which I prove I am a hopeless romantic and sentimentalist.)

Recently I read a post over at Puddles of Memories about her favorite Stars of the Silver Screen, which got me thinking, "I love the Silver Screen and classic movies of all types. I need to do a blog post about this." But instead of choosing my favorite actors and actresses, I went with a few of my favorite old movies. I had a hard time picking, but I settled on these ten, in no particular order:

The Shop Around the Corner: 1940

The More the Merrier: 1943

(Anything with Charles Coburn and Jean Arthur together is pure brilliance! I LOVE all her clothes in this movie and her squeaky little voice never fails to make me laugh. She was wasted in the silent film era, and Charles Coburn is pretty awesome as well. I feel like "The Devil and Miss Jones" deserves honorable mention, although I didn't have it up here. It's been forever since I've seen it. It's hard to find. Movie Madness only has it on VHS and I don't even own a DVD player anymore. Curse technology!!!)

Rear Window: 1954

(This movie is like looking out the window at my apartment, but without the crazy murderer living next door part.)

Roman Holiday: 1953

To Kill a Mockingbird: 1962
(Excellent book too!)

His Girl Friday: 1940

Holiday Inn: 1942

(I know most people would pick "White Christmas" over "Holiday Inn." Good choice, but I definitely prefer "Holiday Inn." The 4th of July dance is pretty awesome, and I can relate with wanting to run away and start a farm. I'm not usually into the musical dancing movies, but this one is a classic. I also love "Shall We Dance." Best rollerskating dance routine ever, and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is a fantastic song.)

It Happened One Night: 1934

Desk Set: 1957

(Love and a giant computer, what more do you need in a movie?
Plus, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and such a great couple.)

Arsenic and Old Lace: 1944

Enjoy!
T

blog #482 >> The 25¢ Dress

At last, I've finished the 25¢ dress. I've been meaning to alter this dress for weeks! My sister found it at a garage sale for 25¢ and picked it up for me, but it needed a bit of work. It was super wrinkly, had a hole under the armpit and was a couple sizes too big. So I ironed it out, raised the waist line, turned the hole into a dart and added another dart to the other sleeve. Raising the waist line is my favorite way to take in a dress that's too big. And I look pretty good in high waisted dresses too. It will be perfect for the remains of summer and early fall.

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And as a bonus post, more eggplant from the garden.
Cheers,
T

blog #481 >> Terry-Taylor Yard Sale Extravaganza

This weekend was the amazing Terry-Taylor yard sale in Longview, WA. Honestly, it's one of the unknown wonders of the Pacific Northwest. It's a large neighborhood where everyone has a yard sale on the same day. And since it's full of older ranch homes, everyone has some pretty awesome stuff. Thrifters flock from all over, and parking is certainly treacherous. Don't even try to park within the neighborhood itself. You will be lucky to get a spot less than a mile away. It's a bit like a carnival inside, there are church fundraisers, hot dog and elephant ear stands, and local political candidates trying to get a vote. Some people who aren't having yard sales, just sit in their front yards in lawn chairs watching the folks go by. I imagine it would be quite entertaining.

This immaculate yard has some fantastic yard ornaments, I wish I had gotten closer to take the picture.

Here's a "bear chair." He looks like he'd bite your ear off when you're not looking.

And although this picture doesn't do this bed justice. It's one of the largest, heaviest beds I've ever seen. One loose screw and it could crush you in your sleep.

Here's an awesome retro hair dryer.

And I'm sure everyone needs a hand in a jar. (from Budd's Curious Itch.)

And this is a picture of the remarkable pirate shopping cart. I bet the other shoppers quake with fear when they see them careening down the store aisles during the Black Friday sales.

And here are my Terry-Taylor finds. I got that yellow thermos for 50¢, the little spice jar for 50¢ and the cute caterpillar on a leash was $1, The pink secretary blouse was $1, the sock darner was $1, the vintage bandages were 50¢ each, Charles Dicken's, "Hard Times" was $1, and the owl mug was my big purchase at $5. A little steep for me, but I really liked it and I wanted it for a planter.

I also bought two other books, a 50's first aid book and an early copy of "The Moonstone," but I'm so depressed... No, that's not the word, distressed? No, that's not it either, disappointed? Closer... I'm just so sad that they fell out of my shopping cart somewhere between Terry and Taylor! I didn't hear them fall, and I didn't think they could, but they must have slipped through one of the one inch gaps along the side of my collapsible cart. I've decided to make a cute cloth bag to fit inside so that never happens again. I'm still feeling their loss. At least I'm only out $3.

I almost spent more on lunch than I did on all my finds combined! There were a couple of cute kids out trying to drum up business for their mom, "Are you guys hungry, you sure look hungry! Come on in and get some Hawaiian BBQ! My mom makes the best Hawaiian BBQ! Try a free sample! We got fresh baked pineapple upside down cake. We'll even entertain you while you eat!" What can I say... he was right, I was hungry! All I had for breakfast was a quick slice of toast before I left Portland, I had been walking around for hours, and it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon. mmmm... Although, $7 is more than I would normally pay for a lunch, it was some of the best BBQ, I've ever had. And even though I can't remember the name of it, that banana drink for $3 was pretty remarkable as well.


A close up of the vintage bandage boxes and a couple of pictures of the cookbook my sister found.

One of the houses was having an Estate Sale, (I bought the owl mug, sock darner, and bandages there.) And if it were closer to work, I would have seriously considered buying that house! It was a beautiful time capsule home from the 60's. I wish I had sneaked in and taken a look at the bathroom, but it was really crowded, and I'm sure they didn't want us snooping around. It still had all the original lights, carpeting, hardware and appliances.

Take a look at the cute pink retro dishwasher! It was teal inside with a circular lazy susan rack on top. Yes, I opened it. I was trying to not be snoopy, but I could resist!

The lights were pretty amazing too!

And it still had the original countertops...

As well as this remarkable wall unit.

Anyways, the Terry-Taylor yard sale is once again, the best yard sale of the year. I don't even bother to going to any other.

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And as a bonus post, here's a picture of my first ripe eggplant!

Cheers,
T

blog #480 >> From my internet travels

Okay, here's a nice little blog post w/o any meat!
This is a swell little collection of cool links I've found online recently.

p.s. I should mention, I'm becoming increasingly addicted to pintrest. I think I even like it better than my google reader feed, and that's really saying something!

Here is a super cute kitchen found at Apartment Therapy.

Here is a dorky accordion kid, found at pintrest.
(Also, I find this advertisement slightly misleading. )

Amazing bedspread from Sewing Daisies. See how she made it!

I love Nutella too! From Chibird.

Adorable book couple. I tired to track down the original link, but it turned up blank on etsy. See it at pintrest here.

Tea is indeed refreshing! Found at pintrest here and at this beautiful tumbler page named the oxford circus.

The perfect "welcome" mat for less then welcome guests. Like those crazy poll takers.
Found here at ffffound.
I love how they filled in the cracks, chinks and crevasses of their home with books as if they were spackle!
See it here at Pamela Love and Jordan Sullivan's home.


These two fancy fellows are from My Daguerreotype Boyfriend. I love this site!


And these strange floating people are from:

Edison's Anti-Gravity Underwear Kite Babies, 1879

JF Ptak Science Books Post 1562 [Part of a series on the History of the Future]

There was a time in the late 19th century when it was seen that Thomas Edison could do just about anything--so much so that the Brits in The London Punch gave him tongue-in-cheek credit for inventing (flying, so to speak), anti-gravity underwear.

Read more about it here at Ptak Science Books.


And although I usually try to avoid the kitty internet craze, I just can't help it! These ones are just so funny! From Cats That Talk. Discovered here.

And as a bonus link, here's a fascinating story about The Vidocq Society.

Nineteen years ago three men had the idea of a regular lunch club for crime experts that would try to solve some of the United States' most baffling homicides. The Vidocq Society has now been instrumental in solving hundreds of crimes. Adam Higginbotham meets the founding members.

I suppose I find this so interesting because I've recently been reading lots of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels lately.

Find the complete story here at The Telegraph. Well worth a read.

Okay, time to go be productive now...
T

blog #479 >> Bacon!

(Image from Plan 59)

I did not intend to write a bacon post today. But it was meant to be. This morning I woke up and went to bacon heaven! There are several reasons why I will never be a vegetarian. Steak is reason #1 and bacon is reason #2. You see when you grow up raising your own livestock for meat, (we raised turkeys) there's never any shock about what you're actually eating. You're very close to your food, and that's okay. You become used to the fact that animals are edible, and not only edible, but quite delicious as well.

Here we have Chester and Bacon. A few months ago my brother and sister-in-law raised a couple of pigs and I bought 1/6 of a share. Now the pork is ready and my little freezer is full to the brim with meat. I have pork chops, pork shoulder steaks, ham hocks, bacon, and all kinds of pork!



This morning I tried the bacon for the first time, and WOW! It's some of the best bacon I've ever had! With its brown sugar glaze, this thick sliced bacon is like eating a smoky, bacon-y steak. Chester turned into some fine pork!

(bacon cookbook recipes here.)
(image found here.)

blog #478 >> A Really Big Tongue

This weekend I embarked on a culinary adventure. I tried cooking tongue aka lengua.

I recently got "Grandma's Wartime Kitchen" from the library, and it ended up being a really fascinating book. I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Not all of its recipes are practical for today (most are), but it does have authentic recipes which are really interesting. I love reading the comments and introductions they give for each section. It talks about the rationing and the meat shortages during WWII and that everyone ate lots of beef livers, hearts and tongues. (It also has... a recipe of sugarless cake, and butterless butter.) Anyhow, I wanted to try a couple of the recipes, and the more research I did about tongue, the better and better it sounded. I knew Saturday would be my only chance for awhile to get out to White's Country Meats, so I picked one up.

The first thing I thought when I saw that tongue was, "Whoa! That thing is HUGE!" I had no idea beef tongues were that large! It's 13" long! That's going to make a lot of taco filling, sandwich filling, etc. etc. etc. which is good, because I'm still not sure what I'm going to make with it. I think I'm going to try several different things. Today, I made tongue tacos. Here are some of the recipes I've been looking at. I love reading the comments.
Beef Tacos de Lengua at Simply Recipes
Tongue and Mustard Sandwiches at All Recipes
Tacos de Lengua by the Hungry Texan
Boiled Tongue at All Recipes

For my tacos I kept it really simple. I just fried the cubed tongue with a little butter with taco seasoning and served it with grated cheese and greens. It turned out remarkably delicious! It tastes a lot like roast, a really tender roast.


After washing and scrubbing the tongue.

Boiling the tongue for 4 hours with onion, garlic, celery, bay leaves, pepper corns, salt, and spices.

Pealing the tongue.

Chopping the tongue.

The final product! Tongue tacos!
T