Black Eyed Susan's Kitchen

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE YANKEES...IN PINK

                      Watching the Yankees and their families ride the floats in the parade in New York today was beyond exciting. I have been lucky enough to have had the privilege of seeing this first hand, many years ago when I worked at the American Stock Exchange and again when I was working at a brokerage house on Broadway. Today, I was happy to watch it from the comfort of the overstuffed sofa on the big screen in our den.
                       So, here it is Pink Saturday again and how can I be thinking in Pink when I am still thinking about Yankee pinstripes. Well, here you go...In honor of Pink Saturday, I give you Yankee pink. Yup, I can still be a big fan and stay decidedly feminine.
                Thank you to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday once again. Click on over to her blog, and check out all of the other pink goodies.
♥, Susan
 

DUCK SEASON...WABBIT SEASON...UMMM, TURKEY SEASON!

                 You might think that I am writing a blog post while my New York Yankees parade up the Canyon of Heroes and you would be correct...however, there is a reason for this. During the baseball season, my husband is my baseball game partner, and I thought it would be more fun to watch the parade with him, so thanks to the miracle of recording on the DVR, we will be watching that parade tonight. Hooray Yankees!!
                  Melissa, at The Inspired Room as a part of her beautiful life Friday link up,  is asking how we get into the holiday spirit. I have to say that at this point in the season, I try to enjoy every little bit of Autumn that is left before I think about the December holidays. That said, I went to an estate sale this morning and bought a Spode, Christmas Tree pattern platter. Pretty exciting for me because I seem to find pieces to add to an already large collection every year. I have been collecting this set for more than 20 years now and to find a platter like this for three dollars just makes my day. I was also lucky enough to find a set of cookbooks at the sale that I have been hoping for. This one on preserving in particular.
                   One of the things that puts me in the holiday mood is the onset of the Thanksgiving season. Yes, in our house, Thanksgiving is considered a season. It is my favorite holiday, and we have dinner with relatives here, at our house every year. Over the years, a collection of turkeys has made its way to our house. They show up all over the place, and in some unexpected spots as well. On hutches, and on plates. In the living room, and in the hallway. The dining room has its share of turkeys too and most of the turkeys are vintage to the 1950's and some much earlier than that.
        Walking through the back yard this morning, I thought that these nasturtiums were looking lovely up against the garden fence and inside the garden. I was excited to see that our second round of green beans have come in and will be ready for picking soon. I love extending the gardening season. The Holly trees in the backyard are coming into their best season too. In the summer, they get a little whimpy, losing some of their leaves, but in the winter, they are green and full of bright red berries. They have grown to be a majestic marker in our yard. Before we know it, snow will be covering the outdoor furniture and winter will be here, but until then, I will be enjoying the Thanksgiving season and looking forward to seeing family on Turkey day.
♥, Susan 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 

TABLESCAPE THURSDAY AND THE DISH PEOPLE

                   "Are you a dish girl?" Someone asked me this question once, and after thinking long and hard, I had to admit that I am indeed a dish girl. I am also a table girl (as opposed to a chair girl or a bed girl). When I had a spot in an antiques mall many years ago, some of the other vendors and I noticed patterns. Not specific collection patterns, as in some people collect depression glass and others Italian pottery, more like people being drawn to tiny vintage chairs or big wing chairs while others have lots of little side tables. If there is a set of dishes, or two or three at a yard sale or estate sale, it is where you will find me first. So, yes, I am a dish girl, and I have noticed that a few of you people joining up with the Tablescape Thursday crowd are also into the dishes.
                    This weeks tablescape, comes to us compliments of the Scandinavian countries. The yellow and blue theme also happens to be the colors in the Swedish flag...and a very happy color scheme it is. The dishes are vintage, Norwegian, and I am guessing they are from the 1970's. I love the moderne tulip pattern on them. The dishes are made by Stavangerflint Co., and the name of the pattern is Flamingo. One of my favorite pieces in this collection is the casserole dish with its festive blue lid. The hobnail glasses are vintage Fenton, a set that I found at an estate sale many years ago, and I love to take them out for fun holiday meals. We have a set of nine of these, making them very handy for those bigger crowds. The tablecloth is 1950's vintage, and an unusual victory garden theme with corn and radishes and other veggies found in a home garden. The candleholders were an amazing yard sale find. They are vintage Royal Copenhagen, from Denmark. The napkins were found recently at a church sale and hard to resist at 5 for 50cents. The last part of this tablescape, I took out to show you, because it has been a part of our December dinners since my children were very little.  A Swedish Advent candle, that counts down the days till Christmas. My Mother in Law bought one for us as a gift, a long time ago and it became a family tradition. It gave us just one more good reason to have dinner together at the table, and it reminded the children of how close the holiday was. You can be sure that it will be a flickering part of our tablescapes from December first till the 24th.
              Now I am off to see what all of my other "dish" people have on their tables this week. Many thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, for her brilliant Tablescapes Thursday link up. Please stop by her blog and see what all of the tabletime fuss is about.
♥, Susan
   
 
 

 
 
 

BLOG APPRECIATION DAY

                      A while back, my friend Jenny, sent me an email that went something like this....Have you read this blog? The blog that she was referring to  was the Pioneer Woman Cooks, and yes, I had read the blog...I have actually tried several of her recipes. Also, a yes to Jenny's question was the answer about how in awe I am of this woman. To a suburban New Jersey mom, she is living on another planet... a scary planet that at times promotes a very enviable lifestyle.
The memory jog to this came this morning while I was reading the New York Times food section because I noticed that Pioneer Woman now has a cookbook, and it is one of the cookbooks featured in an article today. Cookbooks As Edible Adventure is the name of the article. Ree Drummond is the Pioneer Woman, and I want to congratulate her for becoming published and hope that the book sells well.
                   Now that blogging has become more mainstream, and some of the blogs are going from popular to famous, it occurs to me that this will eventually be big business for some. A few of the crafters who consistently delight and enthrall me with their innovative ideas are Suzy, at Georgia Peachez, and Beth at Whimsies and Words. From Suzy's blog today, a new line of whimsical Christmas decorations based on vintage Christmas kitsch. They are fun, retro remembrances of holidays gone by, and they are brilliantly innovative. From Beth's blog today, she has pin cushions that are not only vintage works of art, but are little bits of colorful folksyness that I dare you not to smile at when you see one. Both of these bloggers sell their crafts on Etsy and occasionally Ebay.
             Two other blogs have become wildly popular and I am a very big fan of both. Brenda, of the Cozy Little House blog, has taken us through renovations and restorations while photographing her gardens and home. Her blog has become total eye candy for me. Her pictures of flora and fauna are coming to us via an artists eye and her decorating skills and eye for detail is something to see over and over again. Her little vignettes in a flower pot are amazing, and she continuously delights my senses.
                Mille  Fiori Favoriti is the other blog that consistently wows me. Pat writes about New York City and other places that she has traveled to. She has the best photographic eye for architecture and a romantic thought process for the history of the city, its boroughs, and both historic and contemporary events. Her pictures of the New York Marathon this weekend far surpass any that I have seen in the newspapers. Through her photography I get a better sense of emotion and place ....she is gifted.
                 There are some businesses popping up that have developed software for you to publish your blog. Now, some blogs are personal, and I could certainly understand someone wanting to have their family history and recipes in a book. It is a lovely and sentimental idea. The blogs that I have mentioned today are so extraordinary, that I would gladly keep a book of them on my coffee table. The creative and innovative ideals, are a gift from the internet gods....blogging is most definitely coming into its own and the cream is rising to the top.
♥, Susan 
   
   

 

ARE BLOGGING FRIENDS, TRUE FRIENDS?

              After reading several blogs this week, I discovered that I believe we have bonded friendships that transcend what is normal. In the years that I have been blogging, I have come to learn that just because I can not look into your eyes, by reading what you write, I have glimpsed into your souls. I have learned that you are wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, doting aunties, and loyal friends. I have learned that you would go to the moon and back for your children, and I have learned that you are just like me and yet, you are more clever than me (sometimes), and that you are more hip and original than me (sometimes), and that you are more daring than I am (sometimes).
                 It has come to my attention that I have learned so much from all of you, and I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you. Thanks for the advice, for the concern, for the unending commaraderie, and for just being there. If no one has told you this recently, then let me be the one to say, I love what you write and I love how you think (even if it is different from me), and I appreciate your blogs. So, please, continue to write and create and know that there is someone out here who is thankful for you.
Your friend, ♥, Susan

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HAPPY TRICKS AND TREATS AND HAPPY PINK DAY

                 Remember when you were a kid...the excitement and anticipation till the big day arrived. The perfect Halloween day would fall on a Saturday...lots of time to ring doorbells and ask for treats. In the New York, New Jersey area, the big hope would be for weather warm enough to not need a coat. Our choices for costumes in those days? There was the ghost, the gypsy, and the hobo. All were made from what we could beg our mothers to let us have. When our kids were little, we started making costumes for them or buying them from a store. They were Disney creatures and story book characters..and then they were television characters. My oldest daughter was a clown, a Rainbow Brite, a princess, a blue bunny rabbit, and several other adorable characters until she decided to be spooky...then it was bloody makeup and vampire capes.
                  In honor of pink Saturday today, I rounded up a group of lovely pink costumes. There is the mighty morphin Pink Power Ranger, and the always lovely pink Marilyn Monroe, but one of my favorites would be the very pink Miss Piggy!
             There were pink costumes galore at the local Halloween parade this year as we saw marching down the street many pink babies dressed as butterflies, poodles, and princesses.
My favorite pink costume in the the parade had to be the Pink Princess mellophone player who has the best sense of humor...get it? She plays the mellophone and she is a pink phone...brilliant!
             
To see more pink brilliantness, head over to How Sweet the Sound and don't forget to say hello to Beverly. She hosts this event every Saturday, and it is quite the phenomenon. Now get out there and scare somebody...in your cute pink costume!
♥, Susan
 
 
 

DINNER FIT FOR A WITCH

        

Halloween is almost upon us, and we would be remiss if we were not prepared for a ghostly good time. The goodies are awaiting the mischievous trick or treaters, but only the costumed will get chocolate. The table is set in the dining room, for the kitchen would never do for our expected guests. Let me bring you closer to the table, so that you can see the tablecloth is a vintage astrology chart, set with ghosts, fairies, and wizards, and all manner of things that go bump in the night.
The costumed guests will be dining  on eye of newt and toad guts ( spaghetti and meatballs...a family tradition) and quaffing down witch's ale in crystal mugs. 
After the hearty meal, there will be palm reading and tarot cards. We will be gazing  into  the crystal ball,  and speaking with the dearly departed until next year when the witches will once again take out their broom sticks and ride through the sky to celebrate their merry magic on Halloween.  This post is being linked to Susan's Table Scape Thursdays at Between Naps on the Porch. Stop by and see all of the lovely goings on at her blog. 
♥, Susan




 
  
 
 
 
 
 

CHANGE, REDECORATE, RENOVATE ... NOW DO IT AGAIN

                   Why do we do it?  Over and over again, we arrange the furniture to suit the space, get comfortable with it, and BAM...a week, a month, or years later, we are hefting the sofa to the other side of the room. Moving the chairs to different rooms, or repurposing a perfectly functional dresser to become something else. I ask you, is there something hormonal in us that would make us do this to ourselves? Maybe it is just me. Since I was a little girl, I always had the itch to rearrange...while other little girls were redecorating their doll houses, I was moving beds and desks from one end of the room to the other. My sister got so used to it that she would get out of the way and just deal with it. She would go out to a friends house and come home to see her bed in another part of the room. My husband grew to expect the house to be rearranged on a monthly basis, often joking that if he were a blind man he would have broken his neck by now. This is the room that is currently driving me crazy, and if it were just a matter of rearranging furniture, there would be no issue...as the Nike people like to say, I would "just do it".
Our fifth bedroom has become our den/tv room. We love to watch movies and ball games in this room. It is also the smallest room in the house, and I would like to accommodate more people for movie nights. In my minds eye, the simple task would be to break down the wall between the kitchen and the master bedroom, and extend the room to become one large great room/tv room. The master bedroom could then be moved into our large office (another bedroom) across the hall, and the room that is currently our den/tv room could be the office. It all involves 4 rooms on one side of the house...easy? Not so much! Although I can move and rearrange furniture, there is actually some construction to do here...remove a wall (not load bearing), seal off a doorway, build a new doorway, etc. 
                   I was reading Amy's blog, So Into Vintage, and she was talking about the need to move a chair, immediately. A clever crafter and seamstress, her blog is very charming. This particular post made me wonder why we let ourselves get so distracted by our surroundings. Brenda, of the Cozy Little House blog just reorganized her sewing area by moving it. Every decorating challenge that Brenda takes on leaves me in awe. Her use of color, and function are inventive and refreshing. So, thanks to the many honest bloggers out there, I know that I am not alone in my need to rearrange, redecorate and restructure. What I want to know is whether there needs to be a twelve step program for serial decorators like me, or is it possible for me to get one of those magical, amazing construction/ decorating crews from HGTV to come on over and lend a hand...I have a whopper of a project of them.
♥, Susan

"ORANGE IS THE HAPPIEST COLOR!"

                

So, how was your weekend? I sincerely hope that you enjoyed the weather, your family, some time with friends, or just having time to yourself. If you were working, I hope that you were busy and that it was productive and profitable. 
                This is the time of year when I appreciate small town living the most. The leaves have finally started to change color and signs of a holiday are fast approaching, and ooohhh, the front porch decorations! All of those marvelous shades of orange...pumpkin orange being a favorite. According to a quote from Frank Sinatra, "Orange is the happiest color"...I will have to agree.
               Many small towns are having Halloween parades this week and ours is no exception. Seen marching down the main street of town on Sunday, there was a fabulous high school band...in costume, not uniforms. There were ghouls and witches, pretty pink princesses, and more Batmen then have ever been seen on TV. In this ageless parade, there were parents walking with their children, there were dogs galore, and there were some very proud grandparents as well. It is hard to be afraid of a witch this cute. Where were Snoopy and the Red Baron? It looks like another flying Ace is ready to take their place, and look at this pretty pink princess phone costume, definitely one of my favorites, and she marched in it while playing her trumpet! Talk about talent, artistic, musical, and coordinated! Not scary, but amazingly sweet was this little Strawberry Shortcake. Any child of the 80's can appreciate this cutie. There were plenty of neighbors out there doing the same thing that I was...watching the parade and snapping up memories.
                      There have also been some late nights around here in the last few weeks, all thanks to the Yankees! The playoff games have been anything but boring. Nail biters right to the end, but congratulations to our favorite team...we are looking forward to the World Series coming up midweek. Good luck boys! As my husband pointed out, there will be some serious fans driving up and down the turnpike. We will be watching from the ring side seats on our big comfy couch.
♥, Susan
 
 
 

 
 
 


 

 

PUTTING THE PRETTY ON PINK

     

Found on ebay this week especially for Pink Saturday, a lovely pink edged Fenton vase, and a very pretty pink pearl diamond ring. There were so many feminine pink things to drool over, like this amazing Corum watch with an equally amazing (exuberant $3500.00 price tag) and my favorite find of all.... these stunning pink pearls! The necklace is actually 18 inches long. Nothing any of us really needs to own, but every now and then it is nice to know what is out there.
     Thank you to Beverly for being our pink hostess with the mostess. Please click over to her blog How Sweet the Sound to see all of the other Pink Saturday Posts.
♥, Susan