My Heart Beets For You

First of all, a confession. I like to play with my food. I like to have fun with food. And I think engaging with food is one of the most interesting and enjoyable past-times possible. I mean, it's okay. You can say it. I'm a food nerd. Goodness, I mean I've got the credentials for it; there is no use shying away from it now.

So when I saw this:
I think my heart just skipped a beat (or should I say, "a beet"). I love it! Mrs. Stella Gilbert, you are one witty lady. I knew I had to share it because if you're like me, the only thing you like more than an ingredient is a clever play-on-words.

Do you care at (carrot) all for me, for my heart beats (beets) for you and my love is as soft as a squash but as strong as an onion. For you are a peach with your reddish (radish) hair and your turned up (turnip) nose. You are the apple of my eye, so if we can't elope (cantaloupe) then let us (lettuce) marry anyhow, for I know we would make a happy pair (pear).

This also got me thinking about another food-related project I've been wanting to try recently. Perhaps you've see them:

Wait, are those ...? Oh you mean bacon blossoms? Pork petals? Broses? Why, yes. Yes they are. Because, you know, sometimes you see an internet meme and think, "If I see one more cat wanting a cheeseburger I am going to scream." Other times you realize you should probably make your fiance bacon roses for Valentine's Day. Potayto, potahto. They were surprisingly simple (albiet time consuming) to make. Don't let the ridiculous directions online which require to you take an electric drill (?) to the base of a muffin tin (?!) deter you. I used one of my vintage Pyrex #414 prep bowls as a mold and lined it with foil. I assure you it is much easier to poke a hole in the base of an aluminum foil cup than it is into a metal mini-muffin tin (say that ten times fast). No power-tools involved.

The rest of our celebration was fairly rote, but I found it the perfect excuse to use a whole assortment of thrifted vintage finds I usually find a bit too overly-feminine. A stunning set of Hazel Atlas Pink Crinoline plates, milk glass vases, shabby-chic assortment of various plates and pieces of our Diane china.

Now don't tell me grown-men don't like breakfast tea-parties (the key to success is a pot of Earl Grey) - I think he loved it. Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

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"Orange" You Glad You Met Me

Last night I dreamt I stumbled across an entire collection of orange kitchenware. Seriously - that is what was flickering across my subconscious mind at around 3-4am. At some point, as I was loading up a cart with pumpkin colored pots and pans, carrot orange casseroles and flaming cast-iron, I thought to my dream-self, "Just because it's all the same color, doesn't mean you have to have it if it's not something you want."

Naturally, when I woke up this morning I wondered what it meant. What deep and mysterious truths and occurrences did this dream foreshadow? If I go out thrifting today will I actually run-across the ruddy-colored compatriots of my turquoise motherlode?

Then I took a look around:

Turns out I have a lot of frickin' orange laying around the house. And that doesn't even include the awesome tangerine spring day-coat I snagged for half-off (!) at a vintage clothing-store the other day. The strange thing about all this, though, is that up until very recently orange was perhaps one of my least favorite colors. Right up there with pepto-bismal pink and princess purple (rendered exponentially hideous when used together). Orange things I liked included: oranges. pumpkins. cheddar. monarch butterflies. That, my friends, is not a very long list. And it certainly doesn't include snack bowls, and tea-towels, and coffee cups, canisters and clothing. What happened?!

It would be all too easy to say I have merely fallen victim to Pantone's Color of the Year, which is, in fact, a bright, terra-cotta-esque "tangerine tango." But that would imply I have the ability to keep up with trends, which a look inside my closest clearly indicates that I do not (unless navy blue, cream, and grey cardigans are coming back in fashion. Please please please!). No, I blame it on these:
Well, the top two anyway. We had discovered a new estate warehouse that offered online bid-auctions as well as in-person sales once monthly. So a cold, brisk winter morning we lined up outside the opening and as the door opened, I saw these. Can we say, "bee-line?" Both the flame pieces are Le Creuset, the sunny yellow is an early Descoware. All are in ridiculously good shape but the orange pieces looked brand new. Maaybe, they had been used once. Maybe. In fact, so new that I don't even think they qualify as vintage. But that's okay, because the reason I love vintage kitchenry as I do is because it is timeless.

It did give us slight pause as to what to do with them though, because they weren't suitable inventory for the Etsy shop and up until this point our kitchen has always been a shade of chartreuse, apple-green (always. Since the time I moved out of the college dorms and had a kitchen, and every kitchen we've had together since). Then of course, we added the turquoise/aqua blue because you don't look a gift-horse in the mouth and then complain about the color. Moot point anyway because green Le Creuset wasn't even offered in the early years.

I would really love to have some baking dishes though, and I'm positive I'll be holding my breath a long time waiting to locate those in original Paris Blue or affording to buy kiwi pieces retail.

So it has now been decided - our kitchen colors are turquoise/aqua blue, chartreuse/apple green and bright orange! Drum roll.....

What do you think?

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