Thoughts on Things

All y’all seem to like the more personal posts, so here are a few thoughts running through my head (and boy, are they getting tired):

  • I have 3 T-shirt designs that are in varying states of being worked on: 1 for Tiddleywink Vintage, 1 for the race team, and 1 just for fun. They’ve all been back-burnered for the time being, but you can order some way-cool shirts I designed for Church of Cupcakes from their online “Church Bazaar.”
  • Speaking of the race team, here’s a video clip of my beau zipping along at a speedy 190 miles per hour, as seen from the roll cage. If you’re reading this at work, turn down the volume first.
  • If you enjoyed that clip, here’s one of his brother making a similar pass in a different dragster, later that night. Again, with the volume.
  • I need to order new business cards, for both the vintage side of things and the design side. (Also: a couple of rubber stamps.) I’ve been saying that for weeks. If I were one of my clients, I’d be SO frustrated with this procrastination!
  • I’ve an ad due to a publication soon, and I could run the same darn ad I’ve been running for, like, 2 years now, but I’d really like to change it up. Heck, I wanted to change it up last year. However, this requires things like willing models, a photographer who actually knows what he/she is doing, a time that’s convenient for everyone, and some method of payment that I can afford. Which means I’ll be running the same old ad again.
  • I have to move tiddleywink.com to a new host. I tried to do it the other day, and bunged up the whole site and its accompanying email addresses. Which includes all of the email addresses associated with each of the3shops, as well as the Facebook fan page. I was able to undo what I did, but that means I still need to move it. So consider this a warning, I guess.
  • I seem to have hoarded a bizzarre quantity of ladyfingers in the pantry, so I decided to make tiramisu tonight. I even plan to make it the real way, with whipped mascarpone, although I’d considered faking it with Bird’s custard. Which I realize is nothing like mascarpone, but I always have a tin of Bird’s on hand, so there’s that. You know what? It turns out mascarpone is pretty expensive! This had better be tasty.
  • Speaking of Bird’s, I was just introduced (via Instagram) to the southern hemisphere treat of Yo-yos (which are, apparently, referred to as Melting Moments if made with cornstarch instead of custard flour). I look forward to making a batch, and introducing them to my mouth.
  • I like turtles.
  • Just checking to see if you’re still reading.
  • So the other day? With the centipede?* It’s been more than a week and I still can’t sleep. I told a friend it was like having the feels-like-bugs-are-crawling-on-my-skin side effect of bad drugs, but without any of the fun bits.
  • My friend Owen has suggested that Traumatic Centipede Experience needs to be the name of a band. I agree.
  • My dad is coming to visit! Yay! I need to unearth the guest room, which hasn’t been inhabited in many months. This may take the assistance of Mike Mulligan.
  • I have more fun stuff to scan for this here blog, but you folks are being so quiet about everything I’ve scanned thus far. Have you enjoyed any of it? Do you like seeing the old advertisements, or the old sewing patterns, or the old recipes, or is there anything specific you’d like me to seek out for posting? Please comment below!
  • Related: Many of you are coming here to read posts, then going back to Facebook or Twitter to comment on them, instead of commenting in the handy comment field below. Why is that?

I’ve taken too much time to blather about here and need to get back to taking photographs of beautiful clothing soon (eventually) to be seen at Tiddleywink Vintage. Au revoir!

_________________

*If you missed The Traumatic Centipede Experience, you’ll have to visit the Facebook page and scroll down to June 19th. I was sort of live-blogging it.

9 Comments

Filed under collections, day job, family, food, life-threatening clutter

Mystery Date

Mystery Date fellows – click image for an enlargement

I didn’t want to give you guys a day off, so here’s a quickie for you. I picked up this Mystery Photo at a local estate sale. Here’s everything I know surrounding the photo:

  • I bought it in Arvada, a suburb north of Denver (Colorado)
  • The house where I bought it, built in 1968, was owned by Gordon and Dorothy “Dot” Stone (née Scheurn), but I don’t know their children’s names, or if either of these fellows could be their son
  • That’s a 1961-1967 Ford Econoline van and, according to Wikipedia, only the 8-passenger Club Wagons carried the Falcon badge as this one does
  • The van is gussied up as an ambulance, bears a “Property Of” Colorado state government license plate, and has a September registration tag in the window

So, there you go. That’s all I have to give you today. If you have anything to add, please do!

Leave a comment

Filed under collections, life-threatening clutter, vintage

Recipe Break: Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos

EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you for (likely) clicking through on a Pinterest link! As I write this (at the close of 2015), the below post is now three years old and the site has been abandoned relocated for nearly two of those. I invite you to join me instead at the Shoes & Pie blog section of tiddleywink.com.

 

Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos

Alternate Titles:

  • Three Ingredient Chicken Tacos, Four Ingredient Style
  • Anything You Can Cook In A Crock-Pot, I Can Cook In A Pressure Cooker. Faster.
  • Examples Of How NOT To Put Food Photographers/Bloggers Out Of Business
  • Holy Smokes, I Made Something I Saw On Pinterest!

The other morning I saw a recipe for slow-cooker chicken tacos—written about by ChocolateTherapy and originally seen on TastyKitchen—appear on my Pinterest feed. It looked ridonkulously easy, and likely tasty. I repinned it, planned to “one day” make it pressure-cooker style, and mostly forgot about it, as pinners are wont to do. That evening, as 7pm passed and I still hadn’t planned anything for dinner, the recipe popped back into my head. I happened to have the required ingredients on hand. I didn’t have any chicken conveniently thawed out, but I recalled my dad mentioning that he’d seen somewhere that meat can be cooked from frozen in a pressure cooker. I looked it up, read (at a reputable source) that it is indeed possible, and set about making dinner.

Without taking the time to look up the actual recipe. Because it’s three ingredients in a slow cooker, right? Slow cooker recipes typically have a lot of leeway. I don’t need to measure no stinkin’ ingredients! I recalled the recipe being something like “[some quantity of] boneless chicken breasts, a packet of taco seasoning, and it couldn’t possibly have called for an entire jar of salsa, right?” (It does, but it also calls for twice as much chicken as I used.)

My Version of 3 Ingredient Chicken Tacos, made with 4 Ingredients:

  • 3 boneless, skinless, frozen chicken thighs
  • 1 packet fajita seasoning (I know the recipe calls for taco seasoning, but I’m working with what’s in my pantry.)
  • 1/2 cup salsa (Why a 1/2 cup? Because that’s what was left from the jar I already had open.)
  • 1/2 cup of sour cream (because my pressure cooker instruction manual says that meat should be cooked with a minimum of 1 cup of liquid, and besides, I’d already mixed it the day before into the salsa to make dip.)

1. Frozen chicken 2. Empty salsa/sour cream bowl 3. Frozen chicken with seasoning mix and salsa/sour cream on top. No stirring necessary.

7:18pm – set electric pressure cooker to High, timer for 10 minutes*

7:27pm – the kitchen already smells really good

7:40pm – pressure cooker beeps that it’s ready, I quick-release the pressure valve and peek inside.

Cooked chicken thighs sitting in their resulting juiciness, the cooked sour cream on top looking a wee bit icky.

Stirred up and shredded with a fork.

The slow cooker version of this recipe requires a minimum of FOUR HOURS to cook. Add another, like, gazillion hours if you start with frozen meat. This took TWENTY-TWO minutes FROM FROZEN. Throw in a few extra minutes for shredding the chicken and dishing it out, and you’re still eating dinner a mere half hour after you opened the freezer.

________

*On an electric pressure cooker, the timer countdown will start automatically once pressure is reached. The length of time any cooker takes to reach pressure will vary based on volume, temperature of the ingredients, and altitude.

Leave a comment

Filed under food, kitchen

Prominent Designer Series: part 10

Ta-da! We’ve reached the 10th and final installment of this here Prominent Designer Series of vintage sewing pattern illustrations. Our final day brings us dresses designed by Alan Phillips, designer “for the well known house of Rembrandt,” and John Weitz, winner of the 1959 Designer of the Year award for his achievements in designing sportswear. Weitz also won the prestigious Coty Award in 1974. His men’s style book, Man in Charge: The Executive’s Guide to Grooming, Manners, and Travel, made bestseller lists the same year.

Alan Phillips M380 – Dress and jacket (1960)

John Weitz A723 – Easy to sew, drawstring waist dress

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. Tune in next time, when we bring you, ah, something! There’s a delicious recipe in store for Monday. À bientôt!

Leave a comment

Filed under collections, fashion, sewing, vintage

Prominent Designer Series: part 9

We’re almost at the end of our Prominent Designer Series, folks! Just a few more vintage sewing pattern illustrations for you to admire, study, search for to add to your own collections. Showcased today are dresses by Harmay, Don Loper, and Mr. Mort. The only archival information I can find for today’s patterns is the original 1960 “advertorial” for the Mr. Mort pattern:

Mr. Mort’s Day-to-Dinner Success Is Crisp in Cotton, Gala in Silk
From Mr. Mort—favorite designer of America’s young fashionables—comes a gay, full-skirted dress that “takes” to almost any fabric. For a crisply-pretty sun style, sew it in handkerchief pique, dacron, cotton, or linen. For evening, choose gleaming silk or shantung.
Little straps join to a deeply scooped camisole that molds closely to your figure above a wide belt and whirling skirt. It’s truly a lighthearted, feminine, flattering style. And it’s so delightfully easy to sew that we suggest you make both a day and an evening version. If you wish, fill one of the pockets with a bouquet of daisies. Hurry, take out pen and paper—send for your Printed Pattern exclusively through this newspaper now!

Harmay A732 – Pretty sun or city costume

Don Loper M247 – Shapely sheath with flattering neckline

Mr. Mort A999 – Full-skirted style for day or evening

And, as always, click on each image to see it magnificated.

Leave a comment

Filed under advertising, collections, fashion, sewing, vintage