Flea Market finds

To end out "The Week of CurlyPops" I'll show off my flea market finds for the week.

Mum and I, with Miss 13 in tow, headed off to an antiques and collectables fair that was held in Ipswich yesterday. What fun! I really was looking for any vintage laundry related stuff but came up empty in that department. I did however find some other things I never knew I needed!


When I saw this little vase with the deer and squirrel on it, I was smitten! I mean, look at it! The little chicken egg cup I picked up on Friday at a little shop in Ipswich called Vintage Advantage. I totally love that shop.


I also found this 4 cup vintage measuring jug that matches my 1 cup jug perfectly. Like mother and daughter measuring jugs!


Then I found these retro tea and coffee canisters. $5 for the both of them. I have only ever seen them sold as a whole set with the sugar, flour and everything but I really only ever want these two, so I was very happy to score those.

I wish that I had actually taken my camera with me to the fair because there were some gorgeous things there. My Mum has a bit of a vintage rolling pin collection and we saw a beautiful one .....for $295.00!

Hopefully Sophie has the linky up today, so head over there to check out all the other flea market finds.

I hope I kept you entertained this week Cam with all my ramblings!

my creative space...

I'm hoping to not get too distracted today and finish off the few things I have to finish before I can get to play with this dye and chenille. I'm already thinking Christmas stockings and I'm sadly lacking in gorgeous reds. All the pretty red chenille can be quite expensive so I'm doing the next best thing. Taking some of my beautiful whites and making them red. Apparently this dye will dye around 1kg of fabric. Here's hoping!

More creative spaces here.

The left over yolks

"The Week of CurlyPops" day 4.


While making the macaroons I was feeling guilty about tipping the yolks down the sink so I decided to keep them for something else. Inspired by this lovely lady's mandarin curd post I decided some lemon curd was in order. I had seen somewhere a recipe calling for extra yolks in the curd, but then couldn't find it again, so I just thought I'd wing it.

I pretty much followed this recipe here, but altered a couple of things. I used 3 whole eggs and 2 yolks (after I tipped the first yolk down the sink I had my brainwave!) and I grated the lemon zest instead of peeling and I didn't blitz it in the food processor, I just strained the curd at the end. I also added about an extra 1/2 cup of sugar. And let me tell you, it's delicious! I love lemon curd slathered all over my toast, and that's how it was eaten this morning. You can see we already got stuck right into it yesterday, that jar was full to the brim!

Mmmmacaroons....

"The Week of CurlyPops" day 3.


Since my trip to France has been locked in and all booked (yippee!!!!!) I have been dreaming of all the yummy Frenchy things I will be consuming while there. Macaroons would have to be high on that list right? I admit, I had never actually eaten a macaroon, but if the ones I made yesterday are even half as good as the real ones in France, then I will be in for some gastronomic delights!

And in honour of CurlyPops, they had to be pink!

French macaroons

3 egg whites
2 tablespoons caster sugar
few drops Queen rose pink food colouring
few drops Queen almond essence, optional1¼ cups (200g) icing sugar mixture
1 cup (120g) almond meal (ground almonds)
2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture, extra

White chocolate ganache
150g premium white cooking chocolate, chopped
¼ cup (60ml) thickened cream
few drops Queen rose pink food colouring

Note: makes 16 macaroons.

METHOD

Preheat the oven to slow (150°C/130°C fan-forced). Grease two oven trays; line with baking paper.

Beat egg whites in a small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and food colouring, beat until sugar dissolves. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Fold in essence, sifted icing sugar and almond meal in two batches.

Spoon mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain tube. Pipe 4cm rounds, 2cm apart, onto prepared trays. Tap trays on bench to allow macaroons to spread slightly. Flatten peaks lightly with a damp finger. Dust with extra sifted icing sugar. Stand for 15 minutes.
Bake macaroons in a slow oven for about 20 minutes or until dry to touch. Stand macaroons on trays for 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the white chocolate ganache, combine chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water; stir until the chocolate is melted. Tint with a few drops of food colouring. Cover. Refrigerate until mixture is a spreadable consistency.

Sandwich macaroons together with white chocolate ganache.

recipe from here.

And what to do with all the left over gooey pink ganache? Well, feed it to the dog!

(please don't get cranky at me! we don't normally feed the dog ganache, and white chocolate is not actually chocolate, so no dogs were harmed in the making of the macaroons)

Laundry love...

"The Week of CurlyPops" day 2.

I was in Best and Less the other day looking for a sheet and look what I found! I'm always checking out the double sided tea towels in there as they are perfect for those crochet top hand towel thingys, cut them in half and you get two for the price of one. These were only $1.66 each. I got heaps! My Mum makes them to sell at the craft shop at the place she volunteers for. My payment for getting all these for her is of course she makes a couple for me at the same time. Isn't she a great Mum?


I just spotted these little washers and dryers smiling at me and I was in love! I mean come on, how cute! Now to pick the crochet cotton to go with it....

Flea Market finds - this one's for CurlyPops

Poor old CurlyPops is back in the slammer. So I've decided to declare this week to be "The Week of CurlyPops". This week I will endeavour to post everyday in the hope that I can help to entertain CurlyPops while she is otherwise occupied. Feel like joining in?


I'm going to start with some Flea Market finds.


I managed to find some time to head out to the op shops this week, but only managed to get to one. But what a score I had! I spent in total $13 and came away with a very large bag of clothes, that I have some refashioning plans for, and some great vintage patterns. I also found a very pretty vintage sheet (the one in the background there, washed but not ironed). There were also a couple of vintage teatowels, this Australiana one I just couldn't pass up. And this very kitsch little toothpick holder that may become a tiny pincushion.

Had any good thrift scores yourself this week?