More amazing scores on the flea market front.........
A set of Villeroy and Boch china in the "Anjou" pattern:
and four perfect plates in Booth's "Real Old Willow " pattern:
It is unbelievable what turns up at the flea market we go to almost every Sunday from April to November. This Sunday will probably be the last one until the spring....good thing because I will soon need a barn all to myself for all the treasures I have found!
My grandmother was born in Finland so I am part Scandinavian. My grandmother, although Finnish, spoke Swedish to her mother on the telephone and most of the traditions and food around my grandmother's house at Christmas, especially, were Swedish.
I love Swedish anything. Swedish design in textiles, hand knit sweaters, Christmas decorations, furniture....Ikea is my favorite store. Lately I've been looking on eBay and at flea markets and have turned up some charming Swedish finds:
.......from an auction in Sweden, a great copper mold featuring a Swedish Dala horse and a handsome striped handwoven table runner.......
and a box of old recipe cards called "Ing's Swedish Kitchen Notes"!
We've also had a long-standing Scandinavian baking tradition going. Long ago my grandmother, whom we called "Mimi", taught my husband, Steve, how to make her famous Swedish biscuits, which are divine cardamom-scented breakfast rolls with a buttery-sugary top. Steve is the yeast-dough baker in the family and these are quite a project but well worth the all-day effort. He also does Finnish Nishua braided breakfast bread at Christmas for us, also cardamom-scented. Cardamom has got to be the national spice of Scandinavia.
What has been fun for me in the last year or so is the discovery of several Scandinavian baking books with a huge variety of delights to make that don't involve yeast - my kind of baking. One of the best recipes has been little almond shells made in tiny Swedish molds which are filled with whipped cream and topped with lingonberries. Here's what the molds look like:
I've found recipes for and made cardamom-almond bundt cake, midsommer almond cake, Swedish thin pancakes and crumb-topped cardamom coffee cake - all wonderful and so Scandinavian! Gearing up for the holidays, I've earmarked some new Swedish gingerbread cookie recipes - lots to choose from. Below is apparently the most popular baking book in Sweden, and also a Swedish tomte (little gnome) cookie cutter I just found at a resale shop.
Finding wonderful things at resale shops, flea markets and garage sales has become such a fun pastime, not only for me but my whole family. We all head out on a regular basis with a few dollars in our pockets never knowing what we will find.
Besides being fun, practical and even lucrative at times - this habit is green! Giving these things a new life saves them cluttering up the landfill and avoids the need to buy new items when these are often far better functionally and aesthetically. As an additional bonus, these vintage items often lead to furthering one's education on the most unexpected topics. Not a bad deal all the way around!
Here are some recent "scores":
a Spode cup in perfect condition......
a stunning bird plate from the 1860s.....
intricately embroidered linen napkins.....
and crocheted pillowcases in a great pink for summer!
