Tag: old-fashioned

Old-Fashioned Pleasures of October 11

I think everyone gets a little old-fashioned on the first real days of fall. Suddenly, everybody is heading to an apple orchard, or baking a pumpkin pie, or inspired to catch a high school football game.

We’re all drawn to flannel, and knits, and cozy blankets on chilly nights. None of these things are terribly expensive–in fact, older things are often cozier.

These are a few of the old-fashioned pleasures of my week.

Continue reading “Old-Fashioned Pleasures of October 11” →

This Week’s Old-Fashioned Pleasures: June 2-8, 2018

Time for some old-fashioned good stuff…

This week, I’ve been enjoying:

  1. Rhubarb

    Rhubarb close up
    It is the queen of fruit-that-isn’t-a-fruit, and I cannot get enough.

    At present, I have acquired 11 pounds of rhubarb, and I’m not done. Eventually, I’ll can it, but it’s tucked in the freezer for safekeeping. I discovered I have a bit of a hoarding problem, as there was still a quart of cherry-rhubarb pie filling in the back of the freezer, which I rather sheepishly made into a cobbler.

  2. My secret garden

    An impressionistic view of my little fire escape spot. 

    Our fire escape, like many in Chicago, is almost a porch. There’s room for a chair and some flower pots, and I’m very pleased with my little collection of impatiens, petunias, coleus, and begonias. I have vastly improved the view out of my kitchen window.

  3. My actual garden

    Kale, chard, thyme.
    A small harvest of greens and thyme, with promises of more to come.

    A few blocks away, 4×8, full sun, and all mine, my little community garden plot is doing quite well this year. I’m regularly harvesting greens and radishes, and everything else is looking good, for the most part.

  4. Composting

    Keeping food out of the trash (Photo by Thomas Dils on Unsplash)

    I finally have a compost bucket and derive a truly astonishing amount of joy from putting food scraps into it.

    What old-fashioned things are soothing your soul this week?

This Week’s Old-Fashioned Pleasures 3-17-18 – 3-23-18

These little things made me happy this week.

    1. Early spring flowers

      Snowdrops!
    2. Shamrock scarf

      Thrift store find! Ireland tourist scarf, probably from the 1970s.
    3. My continued obsession with Kalocsa embroidery
      I have fallen down a Hungarian needlework rabbit hole, and show no signs of coming out. I’ve been scouting vintage Hungarian embroidery to decorate for my upcoming wedding, and it’s so beautiful. If you, too, would like to become obsessed, here is a 10 minute documentary to get you started.

This little beauty came from Hungary last week.

The workmanship is exquisite–the back is almost identical.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Colcannon
St. Patrick’s Day is a hot mess in Chicago, so we stayed inside and ate colcannon instead of dodging drunk people.
I improvise my recipe, but this one from Carol at The 1940s Experiment is pretty close to what I do. I’ve started using a combination of cabbage and kale, and it is delicious. I served it with seitan bacon, and homemade soda bread.

Obviously, this is what I look like while making colcannon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What little things made your week?

This Week’s Old-Fashioned Pleasures, Week of 1-8-17

Leaving your house is overrated.

This week, I have seriously dug into hibernation, despite a weird almost-sixty-degree day yesterday. You can’t fool me, winter.

Currently, it’s blustering, and blowing, and barely over twenty degrees, and I am not regretting the fact that I haven’t left the apartment since…Tuesday? Did I go somewhere Tuesday?

No. I did not go anywhere Tuesday.

Here are my top old-timey nice things. Continue reading “This Week’s Old-Fashioned Pleasures, Week of 1-8-17” →