Let's Talk Turkey...

And I mean turkey!

Well, the turkey platter has officially been passed from my mother to me. This year marks my first as Thanksgiving hostess and, perhaps surprisingly, I'm not really nervous about it. My dearest and I have had a bit of practice over the past couple years at hosting non-holiday family dinners. And we cook a turkey for the two of us just about every year in October or early December. We like turkey... a lot.

When the mister and I first started our tradition of turkey for the two of us, we used a non-antique blue spattered enamel roasting pan. It always seemed a bit flimsy for roasting even a fifteen-pound turkey, nothing like the good and heavy vintage roasters. However, from these early turkey-cooking experiences, we learned the value of basting and perfected our stuffing recipe.

One day, many years ago, we spied a lovely brown Corona graniteware roaster in an antique shop. I'm almost positive that there was a beautiful heavenly light shining down on it and an angelic chorus singing as we approached this holy grail of roasters. Little did we know what magic this pan could do with a roast...



The first time we cooked a turkey in our magic roaster, it came out nicely browned, juicy, and tender, with minimal effort. The roaster is designed so that the meat essentially bastes itself as it cooks. And the really terrific thing about our magic roaster is that the turkey cooks more quickly than the total minutes per pound time. What a difference between using the modern roaster and the vintage roaster!


The only hitch with our magic roaster, and it's minor in my book, is that a turkey larger than about 18 pounds doesn't fit well. However, a year or so ago, we acquired a 1940s Westinghouse electric roaster. Last month, we cooked a 22 pound turkey in the electric roaster for the first time. It was almost as fabulously delicious as one cooked in our beloved magic roaster. So, now we've got all sizes of turkeys (or other roasts) covered. After all, we'll be hosting a big Christmas dinner this year too!

Here are a few photos of turkeys past (I mean the ones in the pan)...

Would someone please pass the sweet potatoes?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recently discovered treasures...

Since I'm experiencing the calm before the storm (a.k.a. The Holidays), I thought I'd take a moment to share my recent vintage finds with you.

I'm frequently surprised at the places I find a treasure that I can't live without. An inauspicious-looking moving sale, featuring primarily modern furniture and housewares, yielded these fantastic vintage metal lawn chairs for $5 each. Where the green paint has flaked off, one can see that these chairs have been painted at least 5 different colors over the years.

We also bought an L.L. Bean camp cot there for $3, which Mr. Lucky has claimed for himself...



Now, barn sales always seem to bode well for the vintage treasure hunter. I got a fabulous red plastic Solo barrette - still on it's cardboard holder (50¢), an adorable little necklace with red bakelite beads ($2.00), and a green polka-dot chiffon scarf ($3.00). There were many other things I wanted to buy, but, unfortunately, they were too pricey for my purse. Here's the barrette, necklace, and scarf...

The barrette is a nice size - about 4.5 inches long, although I couldn't possibly put all my hair in it as the ladies in the picture have done.

I love the color combination on this necklace and the length is perfect for dresses or sweaters with a round neckline.

The scarf was a must-have. I mean, I love polka dots. And green polka dots are big fun in my book.


These final two finds came from a small multi-dealer antique shop in the next town over. When the prices are this good, I say "buy them all"! Okay, well, actually, my dearest was the one who suggested that I buy them all.

A crowd of cookbooks...


Yes, the book in the foreground does have a real wood cover. I have a couple of similar vintage recipe books, each featuring a chef on the front and blank pages to fill in your own recipes, and three cocktail books with wooden covers, as well. Do you own any vintage wood-covered books?

And a passel of patterns...

There are some absolutely amazing patterns in this bunch, including one from the late 1920s! As much as I love vintage patterns, I'm not well-versed in sewing, so these are headed for my Etsy shop. There are so many that it'll take the next several weeks to get them listed. If you're looking for a specific type of pattern, let me know and I'll be glad to get it listed sooner :)