Dessert Carnival

How great of Cielo to host this for us...thanks Cielo!

My favorite desserts are creme brulees, custards, panna cottas etc but I kept the grandbabies yesterday & didn't have time to make anything fancy. So I made my "go-to" recipe for quick, easy, delicious & custardy. A Coconut Impossible Pie. You literally throw it in a blender & then you can gussy it up however you want. I garnished the "pie" (there's no real crust...just a very, very thin, floury layer on the bottom) w/ edible flowers & mint, from my garden. Look how beautiful it looks & I only spent about 5 minutes labor on it!

Liquefied raspbery jam in the microwave for a few seconds & then drizzled it on the plate as a garnish. If you love coconut & love custard...you'll love this dessert!

Impossible Coconut Pie

INGREDIENTS

2 cups milk
1/2 cup baking mix
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I sometimes use rum extract, real rum or other extract flavors)
1 cup flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch pie plate.
Combine milk, sugar, biscuit mix, eggs, butter or margarine, and vanilla in blender container. Cover, and blend on low speed for 3 minutes. Pour into prepared pie plate. Let stand about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with coconut.
Bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm.

I usually but not always bake it in a water bath & don't forget to decrease the temp 25 degrees if you bake it in a glass pan. I've made another version of this using pumpkin & it's just as good & just as easy.

Now I'm off to see all of your desserts! http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/

More great buys!

Again, I didn't spend more than $20. I love the ironstone dish w/ the two birds on the lid but I didn't get an individual pic of it.

The mirror is just cheap plastic but you'd never know it by looking at it & it was only $5. It'll look great painted white...maybe gold but probably white.

An old tin I had to have because I have other pieces that match, a glass jar (can never have too many of those!), a vintage horse print (for Caeden's room...he's a cowboy don'tcha know ;o) ) & a Pampered Chef pizza stone w/ wicker server ( $3.00!).

A 3 port candleholder (although I'm seeing it as a vase to hold tiny bouquets), it did have an ugly silk flower thing wired on it but I took it off immediately & 3 picture frames that I'll fill w/ some quotes I have printed off.

The kitty is a very old piece from Occupied Japan. The lid has been broken & then glued back together but it was only 50 cents so what the heck. Some cat lover will want it! Then we have a heart rubber stamp set, raffia ribbon & *drum roll* ......a porcelain doll head! I've been wanting one to use in vignettes but this one is complete w/ instructions, hands, feet & cloth body parts so I have to assemble it & give it to Caralyn as an heirloom doll... I just must!

Love the wire baskets although I don't know what I am going to put in them ... any ideas?

I'm excited about the dessert carnival tomorrow!

Share the wealth Saturday

I have an extensive collection of old photos & postcards, some are from my personal collection but most I have pilfered off the net so I thought it only fair that I share the wealth. ;o) I've decided to make every Saturday , Share The Wealth Day...I hope that you guys enjoy & that you put them to better use than I have. LOL Although in my defense, I do use them, just not as much as my collection should warrant.

I also have many websites in my favorites that offer free images...I 'll share those a little bit at a time every Sat. To start you off, there are a couple of blogs that I frequent that also share vintage graphics. The graphics fairy is the most generous...a free image every day! http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ I have saved nearly all that they have shared & didn't keep track of where I got them, so some of my images will be repeats of theirs....sorry.

These blogs are more sporadic in their sharing but generous, none the less. (Amy, I stole your name of "sharing the wealth"...hope you don't mind!).
http://www.abundantcuriosities.blogspot.com/
http://www.hophopjingleboo.blogspot.com/
http://quillcottage.blogspot.com/


I think I will let my mood & my plans for the day dictate what images to share. Today, I'm going to watch my grandsons play baseball so a few old photos of boys playing baseball are appropriate, don't ya think?

This one must be an illustration by Norman Rockwell.

Have a great weekend!

A master of his art

A couple of weeks ago we went to see BB King play @ Billy Bob's Texas. I'm not normally a Billy Bob's kinda of girl but it is my favorite concert venue when someone I love comes to town. The place is huge but the concert hall is small & intimate. It's like seeing the big stars play at the neighborhood corner bar. We saw Johnny Rivers there a couple of years ago (he is still sexy as hell... his voice sends shivers down my spine, whether he's singing or talking ...just see for yourself http://www.johnnyrivers.com/jr/index.php) & George Thorogood last year (still a rocker!).

BB King is 82 but can that old man ever put on show! He is definitely an entertainer, not just a singer. He strummed that guitar w/ as much attitude as Keith Richards & he didn't have to make a spectacle of himself. ;o)

He strummed,

And he talked,

And he sang....

And he strummed some more.

And talked some more. (talk about a great voice!)

And sang some more.

The mood was relaxed & intimate....one of the best concert experiences I've ever had. Sorry Johnny! I heard on the radio that this was BB's best performance in many years ...I'm so glad I got to see it. Long live BB King! They just don't make them like that anymore.

Hootie & the Blowfish perform there in June...I'd really like to get tickets to that too.

It was a good thrifting day!

Boy, I scored big time! Set of 8 pink goblets, 8 pink tea cups, 4 more tea cups, a european pillow sham, old picture frame, milk glass candy dish, couple of photo albums, 5 noritake saucers & 2 bone dishes....all for a whopping $22.00 & some odd change. Pink swirl depression glass? (not sure if they're legit) goblets. I have a set of 4 Fostoria pink depression glass goblets but I really need 8 so I think I'll sell the Fostoria set & keep these, even if they aren't quite as nice as the ones I already have.

Little photo albums. I plan on (eventually!) creating photo scrapbooks ala Karla @ http://karlascottage.typepad.com/ but just in case I procrastinate forever, I bought these. ;o)

Milk glass candy dish...I already have so much milk glass but I really like this piece. Besides, these are great gift containers for homemade candy so I tend to give away a piece every now & then.

8 Pink swirl depression glass? tea cups (again not sure if they're legit)... no saucers but they shouldn't be too hard to find on eBay & 4 German bone china tea cups w/ black roses (also minus their saucers).

Brown transferware bone dishes. They really are bone dishes...made to hold bones, at the dinner table. We don't eat much meat w/ bones (too big a reminder for me of what I'm really eating) ... ribs is about it & that only rarely, so I'll have to use them for something else. These are getting harder & harder to find. At least in the thrift shops...they're more available in antique stores.

These saucers & tea cups (from above) don't match but I think they work together, don't you? The saucers are Noritake but I haven't researched the pattern yet.

Look at the swans around the rim of the saucer...too sweet!