Antique Greetings

Nothing gives me more pleasure and pride than the greeting cards that once belonged to my grandmother. I love them. I love the texture of the paper, the details on each card, the inked handwriting from the sender inside. The cards are precious to me and I love looking through them, something I do at least once a year.

Valentine's Day is long past, but look at these wonderful cards! Just look at the ribbon and lace on this one. Isn't it grand? Who wouldnt' have loved to get this special card from a special friend?












































This one is made of crisp vellum, one of my favorite papers. It is embossed with various inks and metallic paints. It's a masterpiece.





















Mother's Day is coming up. How about this lovely card for mom?






















And how about a nice masculine one for Dad in June?



















And in only two months or so we'll be sending congratulations cards to all the graduates.

Scalloped Rose Bowl

This scalloped-edge bowl belonged to my grandmother. My mom kept it after grandma died and I just recently inherited it last fall.

It doesn't have any distinguishing marks that I can find. The fact that it's very shallow keeps it from getting much use. It's not deep enough to really hold much on the dinner table. However, it is very good for holding eggs that I plan to boil the next day. I always leave them out on the counter over night before boiling them.

I think these eggs look so pretty sitting in this bowl. The colors and shapes go together so nicely.

My rose colored glass bowl is my contribution to Coloradolady's "Vintage Thingies Thursday".

Antique Angel Food

While perusing my collection of vintage cake recipes, I found this one which had been printed on the circular insert found inside an angel food cake pan. It was just the excuse I needed to finally try out my vintage angel food cake pan! I also needed a really good way to use up a lot of eggs in one shot. The recipe used 1 1/2 cups of eggs whites. I saved the yolks and used them to make some chocolate ice cream in my new ice cream maker. Nothing went to waste.

I wasn't sure what to expect since this was my first attempt at angel food cake, and it was the first time I've used this particular cake pan.

The cake turned out better than I had hoped and was delicious. My guys' eyes lit up when they saw the cake. What is it about cake that males find so irresistible?

I have to add that the plate is also a vintage find from Lene's Web. It's larger and flatter than a dinner plate which make it very nice for a cake platter.

And I finally got a chance to use my angel food cake cutter with the Bakelite handle. It looks like a very large comb. It works its way through delicate cake really well. The large perforations can then be torn by hand and you're left with a wedge of picture-perfect cake! I suppose it would also be very handy for grooming sheep, if you were so inclined.

Buttermilk Benefits

How do you use Buttermilk? I have to admit, up until recently I never used it. But I didn't really flex my baking muscles until recently either. If you're a baker, you use buttermilk regularly. I wouldn't make biscuits without it. It's not just the flavor that's important, it's the thickness and the acidity. Just yesterday I used buttermilk to make a wonderful batch of cinnamon rolls.

I found Saco Buttermilk Replacerbut the only thing it doesn't duplicate is the thickness of real buttermilk. This is important when making biscuits; not so important when baking bread or making pancakes.

If you're making a recipe that calls for buttermilk but don't have any, it's easy to substitue a cup of whole milk that has a tablespoon of lemon juice added to it. Let it sit on the counter for about 5 minutes before using it. This allows the lemon juice time to thicken the milk proteins and gives it a consistency much like that of real buttermilk. The lemon juice also gives it the proper acidity and you won't be able to taste a difference.

How do you use buttermilk? Please share your favorite recipe using buttermilk in the comments. The lady in this Starlac flyer is drinking it--gag! I've heard it makes fried chicken and onion rings even better. I often find quarts of buttermilk on sale at the grocery store. People must not use it much anymore--a testament to our instant-gratification society that no longer cooks from scratch. What a shame.