Old Stuff

I love old stuff! Not particularly valuable, not particularly antique....mostly just old - like the old stuff my grandma used to have. Stuff from the 1930s and 1940s. I used to call the stuff I love 'antiques', but our French friend, Remi, laughed at me when he heard that, and clarified the difference between 'antique' and just 'old' as about 400 years...lol...so I stood corrected!

One of the things I hope to do in the not too distant future is sell some of my great vintage finds on this website under 'Terri's Treasures'. We will keep you posted on that!

For the time being, I just want to be able to share with you some of what I consider to be Great Finds. Here in Montana, we have all sorts of places we can find vintage items. There are always garage sales, estate sales and second hand stores to rummage through. Every June, the Bitterroot Valley has a 50-Mile Yard Sale that I try to never miss.

Many of the things I purchase are very much still useful. My kitchen is full of them. Here are some of them:

Some Things Take Time...

I grew up in a family of very little means...we were not poor, mind you, just tight. So entertainment was not something you wasted money on. In the summer, when you were not working, you played outside. In the winter, we read, did puzzles, played board games and did a lot of coloring. When I was about 10, I got a beautiful animal-themed color-by-number book and an extra-large box of crayons, which I guarded very carefully from my other four siblings. The summer I was 14 and so very bored, Mama introduced me to embroidery and bought me a printed pillow top, decorated with birds and flowers and that said "Sweet Dreams" in fancy lettering. Grandma expanded my repertoire of stitches and took me to Woolworth's to buy a handful of colored thread. And I was off...

I like to keep my hands busy in the evenings while we are watching a movie. If you have ever done cross stitch or embroidery, you know that it takes hours to complete just a few inches of work. Usually, I persist and finish projects within a reasonable amount of time. I do admit that there are two projects in my basket that I (for whatever reason) gave up on and left sitting there...for someday??

This winter, while cleaning out my stash of needlework projects (most of them garage sale finds) I came upon a small tablecloth and decided to have a go at it.

Just to give you an idea of the time you need to invest on a project like this...one mushroom took me two evenings to finish--about two hours of handwork. The project came with floss, and I used that up, only to realize later that I could not

find a color match! So there ended up being subtle differences, in the blues especially. But, this morning, I finished the final stitches...and here it is!

A little tablecloth that I hope one of my grandchildren will treasure.

Good things take time...in this case, about nine months!

Garlic Scapes!

Have you ever used garlic scapes? The are the curly green top that new garlic plants put out every spring. Not as strong as mature garlic, they lend a subtle flavor to dishes without the pungent punch garlic tends to give. This time of year you can usually find them in most Farmers' Markets here in the north. Usually, my brother brings me a paper bag full from his

garden in Twin Falls. However, his crop did not do very well this year, so I picked up a few bunches this weekend at the market. The scape should be tender where it has been cut. If not, discard anything that seems woody or stringy. Cut bits off until you get to the seed pod. Since this is still full of flavor, I discard the pointy top (which can also be stringy and woody) and save the little heads for soup, etc...I just take it out after it has infused the broth with the yummy garlic flavor.

I save the garlic heads in a jar in the freezer, removing two or three as needed. I put 1/2 cup of the chopped garlic into snack-sized bags and then all of those in a larger ziplock bag, dating it on the outside and stick it in the freezer for later.

My recipe for Garlic Rice is coming soon!