Haviland Fruit Bowls...This Week's Find

When I was packing up my parents' things in preparation for selling the house, I did so in haste. I was careful, don’t get me wrong, but I tried not to dwell on individual items, just pack them up as quickly and carefully as I could. I am still unboxing things, and just the other day unboxed these beautiful fruit dishes (if that is indeed what they are), that you saw in this post. I was with my mother when she bought these, having no idea what she would ever do with them, just bought them because she liked them, but didn’t realize that they were Haviland.

What treasures! Like my mother, I have no idea what I’m going to do with them, but I suspect I will use them for cold salads or soups. They are a bit more dainty and delicate than what I’m used to, but I find, these days, then you can pretty much mix everything with everything.

Aren’t these lovely?

To see last week’s unique find, click here.

Making Cookies & Memories

It's December, and the holiday cookie baking frenzy has begun! In looking for inspiration, I was paging through my mother's old recipe binder and came across this little cookie book. Seeing this just made my heart swell. How I miss the glut of recipe books that used to be published by various companies by way of promoting their products. When I first set up housekeeping, these small company-produced cookbooks were pretty much all that I had. These, and a subscription to Good Housekeeping.

As I paged through this book, seeing my mother's check marks by certain recipes made me smile. Yes, I recognized the check marks as being hers. Always bold, always in pencil, and written with determination. The thing is, I don't recall her ever making any of the recipes that she had checked. I get that. When it comes to baking cookies, we all pretty much just want to stick with our favorites. Is there any disappointment greater than spending a half a day making cookies only to find them lacking?

Still, my curiosity is piqued, so I am going to make at least one of the recipes that she checked. I'll report back. Meanwhile, enjoy these vintage recipes and holiday baking tips. Despite its dated look, there is a lot of good information here.

 This post is linked to:

Great Idea Thursday

Create It Thursday

Think and Make Thursday
Home and Garden Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Fridays Flash Blog

Friday Frenzy

Straight Up Tasty: Meals, Memories, and Mouthfuls from My Travels, a Review

I have to be honest, prior to reading this book I had never heard of Adam Richman. Not that this is particularly a bad thing. I came to this book with no preconceived notions as to who he was, what he cooked, or where he had been. In short, a pair of fresh eyes looked at this book and liked what they saw.

Adam Richman is a traveling TV foodie who offers up an quite an eclectic collection of culinary delights in Straight Up Tasty: Meals, Memories, and Mouthfuls from My Travels. This book features over 100 unique recipes that are a combination of favorites from his family and friends, as well as regional and international favorites from his travel experiences from around the world. According to Richman this book is a “road map to great eating.” It is also a heck of a lot of fun. With the look and appeal of a personal scrapbook, each recipe contains notes and reminisces on the food as well as interesting facts.

I loved the section on “Leftover Holiday Candy” recipes. Who has not found themselves in a spot like this, trying desperately to avoid just diving into the candy and polishing it all off in one swoop? The recipes in this section offer tasty ways to pace yourself while slowly eliminating that excess chocolate baggage.

With recipes to suit all tastes and budgets, some of the offerings include: Bacon and Cheddar Frittata, Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled-Cheese Sandwich Dumplings, Chili-Frito Sloppy Jose with Sliced Avocado and Crunch Pickled Onions, Wild Mushroom Tart, Salted Caramel Candy Apple Tarts, and Oh, Hell Yes Cheesecake (and who does not love that name?).

This is a well-organized cookbook with large, colorful photos, and written in a relaxed, conversational tone. While everyone will easily find something to love here, if you are looking for a gift for your favorite man who loves to cook, he will particularly enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.