Looking back . . .

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I got a new music cd this week called Be My Baby, The Girls of the Sixties. Oh, it's just lovely, filled with songs like "I Only Want To Be With You" (Dusty Springfield), "Be My Baby" (The Ronettes), "Just One Look" (Doris Troy) and many, many others, some 70 songs in all. Oh how I have been enjoying listening to it as I putter away here at home. Todd's been enjoying it as well. Although in truth I was not a teenager when most of these songs came out, I was old enough to enjoy them anyways and listening to them brought back some lovely memories of my pre-teen years . . . click to play the following video and read on . . .



I can remember seeing the older kids getting off their bus from high school and admiring all the girls with their twin sweater sets, pony tails, bobbie sox and saddle shoes. Oh my how sophisticated they looked to me . . . and the boys with their comb backs and loafers. I could hardly wait to be a teenager . . .

On Saturday afternoons I used to watch a show on the telly called Bob and the Hits. I suppose this was the Canadian version of American Bandstand. All the latest pop tunes would be played and there would be dancing as well. There was also a Canadian Bandstand and on Friday Nights, when I got a bit older . . . It's Happening with Robbie Lane and The Disciples. Oh how I loved watching those shows and dreaming . . .

Of going to dances and wearing clothes like that and maybe even snogging a boy, one day . . . maybe even Robbie Lane!!

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I already had a pretty sizeable crush on Wally Cleaver . . . and spent many an hour wishing I was someone cool and pretty . . . someone like Annette Funicello or Sandra Dee, who always got their man . . . and who had fun times in the local soda shop, at the beach, or even slumber parties . . .

I had never been to a slumber party . . . but I had a pretty good idea of what was involved. Listening to all the latest 45 record hits on the Hi Fi and playing with each other's hair . . . trying on makeup and talking about boys, boys, boys . . . laughing a lot, dancing a little and eating cool food like Jiffy Pop Popcorn and maybe even ice cream soda's. I had never had one . . . but I knew they must be wonderful!

Source: weheartit.com via Sydney on Pinterest

I wanted a little pink Princess phone and a home permanent . . . I wanted to go to the Prom and dances at the Country Club. I wanted to dance on the beach and go surfing like Gidget . . . I wanted a friend with a cool name like Moon Doggie, and a place to hang out with all my friends . . . I wanted to baby sit. Oh to be old enough to baby sit . . . sigh . . . I wanted to be Haley Mills and go to summer camp.

Most of my experience in the world came from what I saw on the television or from what I read in books or saw at the movies. I expect it was the same with most girls my age way back then.

Source: google.com via Sydney on Pinterest

The early sixties was a special time . . . a time of innocence and hope . . . and looking forward instead of backward . . . if that makes any sense. I remember thinking I could be anyone, and do anything . . . and go anywhere . . . one day.

And then . . . I grew up, and realized that . . . life is not all fun and games, pin curls and bobby sox . . . you couldn't sort all of your problems out in 30 minutes, and that boy next door . . . he probably didn't exist . . . and if he did . . . he wasn't all that cute or all that interested! Oh, I got to do the slumber party thing . . . and Jiffy Pop . . . I went to Friday Lunch Sock Hops at school . . . and experienced my first kiss and holding hands . . . but it all passed by in a seeming flash, and here I am . . . some 50 odd years later . . . looking back at it all, listening to the Ronettes and thinking to myself . . . was it only a dream?

Source: howtobearetronaut.com via Sydney on Pinterest

Thanks for indulging me this morning. I thought in the spirit of the sixties and things in the past I would show you a recipe for a real teen treat this morning! I remember going to my first pre-teen mixed boy/girl party when I was 10. It was held in a neighbor's garage and there was Japanese Lanterns strung across the ceiling and all the latest tunes playing on the record player and dancing and lots of soda pop and things to eat just like this . . .


*Fish Stick Taco Dogs*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Something a little bit different to please the teens in your life.

8 frozen breaded or battered fish sticks
1 (8 ounce) can of refrigerated crescent rolls
(8 rolls in the tin)
1 TBS Taco seasoning mix (from a packet)
4 slices of cheese, each cut into 4 strips
3 TBS chunky tomato salsa

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the fish sticks onto the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, turning once during the baking time.

Separate the crescent dough into 8 triangles. Lightly sprinkle the surface of each with the taco seasoning, pressing it lightly to make it adhere. Turn over so that the taco seasoning is on the bottom and lay them out onto your work surface, seasoning side down.

Place one cooked fish stick on the shortest side of each triangle. Top each with 2 strips of the cheese and 1 tsp of the tomato salsa. Starting with the shortest side of the triangle, roll up the dough around the fish stick. Place cheese side up onto the same baking sheet that you have already used.

Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Serve hot.

Note: A bowl of tomato soup on the side goes very well.

You have choice in The English Kitchen today!



Frozen Lemon Souffle



or Sauteed Potato Gnocchi with Egg

The Cure for What Ails You . . .

Source: weheartit.com via Marie on Pinterest

Once again today I would like to thank you all so very much for all of your prayers and happy thoughts. I was thinking yesterday and I came over all positive, and a wonderful sense of peace about all things settled into my heart. I cannot explain it, but I just feel that everything will be ok. Your prayers and wishes for me are a very big part of that. Todd and I thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.

Even though we may all complain from time to time about the shortcomings of the NHS and how it is failing us, really we are all so very blessed that we have free medical care in this country, and the freedom to go to a Doctor whenever we need to without having to think about if we can afford it or not. This isn’t the case in a great many places in the world, even today. Just something else we take for granted I guess!

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I was looking through one of my many books yesterday evening and I found these quaint little cures and recipes for what ails you and thought I might share them with you all this morning. Some of them are quite interesting!

The Sick Room:

Egg Gruel - Boil eggs from one to three hours until hard enough to grate; then boil new milk and thicken with the eggs, and add a little salt. Excellent in case of nausea. (Really??? Coz reading this actually made me feel more than a tad nauseous!)

Beef Tea - To one pound of lean beef, add one and one half tumblers of cold water; cut the beef in small pieces, cover and let it boil slowly for ten minutes, and add a little salt after it is boiled. Excellent. (I have heard of people being given Beef Tea in the past and now I know what it is!)

Grandmother’s Salve for Everything - Two pounds of rosin and half a teacup of mutton tallow after it is hard, half as much beeswax, and half an ounce of camphor gum; put all together into an old kettle, and let it dissolve and just come to a boil, stirring with a stick; then take half a pail of warm water, just the chill off, pout it in and stir carefully until you can get your hands around it. Two persons must each take half and pull like candy until quite white and brittle; put a little grease on your hands to prevent sticking, and keep them wet all the time. Wet the table, roll out the salve and cut it with a knife Keep it in a cool place. (insert shocked face here … I’m not sure at all how on earth you are supposed to spread it on any type of sore or irritation?)

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Cholera Remedy - Mix in a small bottle equal parts of tinctureof opium (laudanum), rhubarb, capsicum (red pepper, double strength), camphor, and spirits of nitre, essence of peppermint double strength. Shake well and cork tight. Dose: From five to thirty drops every fifteen minutes. Dose for children, from two to ten drops. (Interesting but a tad bit scary sounding.)

Fig Paste for Constipation - One half pound of good figs chopped fine, one half pint of molasses, two ounces powdered senna leaves, one drachm fine powdered coriander seed, one drachm of fine powdered cardamom seed. Put the molasses on the stove and let it come to a boil, then stir in all the rest and bring to a boil again. A teaspoonful once in a while is a dose. It will keep, when covered, for a year. (This one might come in handy, lol!! Now all I have to do is find out how much one drachm is!)

Cure for boils - Isaiah 38:21. Go thou and do likewise. (I just had to look this up to see what they were talking about. Nosy me. “For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay [it] for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.” Now I know, I can die happy. ☺ )

Source: art.co.uk via Marie on Pinterest

For Canker Sore Mouth - Burn a corn cob and apply the ashes two or three times a day. (I just knew we shouldn't have thrown out those corn cobs!)

Ring Worm - put a penny into a tablespoon of vinegar; let it remain until it becomes green, and wash the ring worm with this two or three times a day. (I am assuming they mean the vinegar, not the penny)

Cure for Corns - The strongest acetic acid, applied night and morning, will cure hard and soft corns in a week. (Might come in handy some day, you never know)

Cure for Chilblains - Place red hot coals in a vessel, and throw upon them a handful of cornmeal; hold the feet in the dense smoke, renewing the coals and meal, til the pain is relieved. This has been known to make very marked cures when all other remedies have failed. (Now all I have to do is find out what a chillblain is!)

Source: flickr.com via Marie on Pinterest

Cure for Rheumatism and Bilious Headache - Finest Turkey rhubarb, half an ounce, carbonate magnesia, one ounce; mix intimately; (sounds interesting) keep well corked in glass bottle. Dose; one teaspoonful, in milk and sugar, first thing in the morning; repeat til cured. Tried with success. (I prefer to take two aspirin I think.)

Toothache - at a meeting of the London Medical Society Dr. Blake, a distinguished physician, said that he was able to cure the most desperate case of toothache by the application of the following remedy: Alum reduced to an impalpable powder, two drachms; nitrous spirit of ether, seven drachms; mix and apply to the tooth.Tried with success. (I am really glad we have dentists to go to today!)

For Sore Throat - cut slices of salt pork or fat bacon; simmer a few moments in hot vinegar and apply to the throat as hot as possible. When this is taken off, as the throat is relieved, put around a bandage or soft flannel. A gargle of equal parts of borax and alum dissolved in water is also excellent. To be used frequently. (Now where did I leave that pig? I've heard that bacon goes with everything. The mind boggles.)

To Stop Bleeding - A handful of flour bound on the cut.

To Prevent Contagion from Eruptive Diseases - Keep constantly, in plates of saucers, sliced raw onions in the sick room, if possible. As fast as they become discoloured, replace with fresh ones. During any epidemic of skin diseases that are eruptive, onions, except for those taken fresh from the earth, are unsafe, as they are peculiarly sensitive to disease. (I found this quite fascinating)

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I think I know now where the old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" comes from. Some of these cures sound worse than the complaints! Way back when I lived in London, Ontario . . . there was an old hungarian fellow who used to come and do maintenance work in our home. I had a really bad cold this one time he came and he told me that he never got a cold and that was because every morning he ate a piece of bread and butter with some sliced raw garlic on top. Hmmm . . . he probably never had to worry about Vampires either!

I am slowly bringing some of my recipes from my old Marie's Muses blog onto here, one by one. This is one that has always been one of my favourites. I love cake and I love jam. The two together are pure bliss. I have used blueberry jam in this one, but strawberry, raspberry, cherry or apricot jam are all equally as good!



*Mother’s Coffee Cake with A Lemon Glaze*
Serves 15
Printable Recipe

A deliciously moist cake with a lovely crumb and tasty filling. Tasty because you decide what it is you want it to be filled with. I have chosen to use Wild Blueberry jam here, as that is what I had in my cupboard, and that is what I love most, but you could use strawberry, rhubarb and ginger, lemon curd, raspberry, cherry . . . you decide! It’s delicious any way you fill it!

3 cups plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup buttermilk
(Alternatively you can add 1 TBS of vinegar to a one cup measure and then add milk to fill up to the one cup. Let it sit for five minutes before using)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup fruit preserves of your own choice

GLAZE:
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
2 TBS lemon juice

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease and flour a bundt cake pan or a large loaf pan and set it aside.

Beat together the eggs, oil and milk. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder,soda and salt together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients all at once and mix gently together, without over mixing. It does not have to be smooth, but all the dry needs to be incorporated into the wet.

Spoon half the batter into the prepared cake tin. Top with the jam, being careful not to let it touch the edges of the pan. Spread it as evenly over the batter as you can. Spoon on the remaining half of the batter. Take a knife and carefully dip it into the batter all the way around the pan, or down the pan if you are using a loaf pan, swirling the jam a bit through the batter, but not too much.

Bake in the heated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let rest for five minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool.

Mix together the Icing sugar and the lemon juice and spoon over the cake while it is still warm. Enjoy with a nice cup of your favourite hot bevie!!!



I'm slow cooking again in The English Kitchen today. It's Butter Roasted Whole Chicken with Lemon and Thyme!

“Hope is a leg of a 3-legged stool with Faith and Charity.”
~Dieter F Uchtdorf

A few of my favourite things . . .

I thought it would be great fun to do a post every once in a while about some of my favourite things. Not quite whiskers on kittens and warm woolen mittens, but things and products that I have tried out and that I love, and other things that I dream about having or doing!!



Oprah used to do a Favourite Things show every Christmas and I always loved watching it . . . not that I am putting myself on par with Oprah or anything. I mean . . . do NOT expect that I am going to give each one of you your very own one of all of my Favourite Things! (Would that I could!) But I thought it would be fun just to talk about some of the things I enjoy, that you might enjoy too! Just don't expect me to be giving away cars and holidays!!








L'Oreal Lash Architect 4D Mascara in Black

L'Oreal Lash Architect 4D Mascara in Black is the latest innovative mascara bought to you by the cosmetic giants. Introducing L'Oreal's 1st mascara in 4D! Utilising the power of sculpting fibres, this clever, no-clump formula coats the hair from root to tip to transform your lashes into more volumised, lengthened, texturised, and curved lashes in one simple sweep! I love, Love, LOVE this mascara!! It really does a great job of enhancing your eyelashes and is the next best thing to fake lashes, which I always think look fake anyways! These look lush and natural! I highly recommend!



It's creamy. It's white. It's low fat. It has fruit. It's delicious! I just love the Muller Greek, fruit corner yoghurts! My favourite flavour is a toss up between the dark cherry and the honey sauce one, but really they are all good. (I'm also particularly fond of the Honeyed Apricot.) I often have one for breakfast with a handful of meusli thrown on top of the yoghurt part. I then dip my spoon into the fruit and then into the yoghurt. It tastes like dessert, and dessert for breakfast can't be bad!! At least one of our local grocery stores has this on offer at any given time, so you can always stock up on it at a reasonable price.



The White Company, London
I am a sucker for white bedding, white towels, white dishes, candles, etc. I just love white accessories and I love The White Company! There is a shop in Chester, and I often go in just to browse and have a look. (well, when my knees are co-operating at any rate!) If I ever became rich I would shop there for sure. From their site:

Experience the luxury first hand

A visit to one of our beautiful stores gives you the chance to really experience the luxury of The White Company...

• To see and feel the incredible quality close up
• To touch and try on our stylish, gorgeous quality clothes, and
• To smell each fragrance in our delicious scenting collection.

Sigh . . . a gal can dream can't she?



Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Perfume

Inspired by the sensuality of a daring, red silk evening dress and the intriguing character of pomegranate, Pomegranate Noir is deliciously dark and teasingly enigmatic. Juicy notes of raspberry, plum and pomegranate combined with pink pepper, Casablanca lily and spicy woods create a scent that is utterly compelling. It's spicy and warm and I just adore it. Two Christmas's ago my boss gave me the shower gel for Christmas and I saved up to buy myself the perfume. a little goes a very long way. I also love their English Pear and Freesia Perfume, and treated myself to a bottle of it last year for my Birthday.

Well, in all truth . . . I love Jo Malone anything! (When the daughter got married up at the Big House several years ago, the porta loo's were all filled with Jo Malone Liquid soaps etc. They were very posh porta loos!)



I love, LOVE Hotel Chocolate! (No surprise here!!) I used to belong to their Chocolate Tasting Club, much to the horror of my waistline, where a lovely box of a variety of their chocolates arrived in my mailbox once a month. There is a shop in Chester and you can buy little tasters of all sorts of deliciously delightful chocolates. Their chocolate is fabulous. The best, in my opinion. I like that I can just buy a packet of 4, or if I am really feeling indulgent, a whole box. I love their little Tiddly Pots of white or milk chocolate buttons. They truly are excellent chocolates. I could try to pick a favourite, but it would be quite hard as they are all wonderfully delicious! The last time Angie and Keith visited us we went to Hotel Chocolate in Chester and indulged in a few creamy fantasies. Happy memories.



I love the Vauxhall Agila car. Before we lost our job last year, we had a brand new one and it was lovely. I adored driving it. It drove like a large car, and like a van. With my bad knees, it was easy to get in and out of, there was no having to bend down or anything. It parked like a small car as it had a nice square back and a snub front. Unfortunately we couldn't afford to keep it when my job went and so the car had to go and was replaced with a ten year old Renault. (We were very blessed to be able to find a good second hand car in decent shape that we could afford, so that was good.) I do miss my little Agila though and if I ever have the money again . . . some day when my ship comes in . . . I'll buy another one in a heart beat!



Krispy Kreme Donuts
I remember the excitment when Krispy Kreme's first arrived on our shores over here in the UK. I saw them in Harrod's Department store down in London, for about £12 a dozen! Pricey yes and I couldn't afford to buy any, but now they are in Tesco's and also many of the rest centres on our motorways! I do believe they are the best donuts around. (Sorry Timmies!) Mind you, I only ever very rarely indulge, but when you are going to indulge, why not get the best. I love the Boston Cream ones best of all, especially when they are ice cold . . . mmmm . . .



White cotton night dresses, with lots of tucks and embroideries . . . so feminine and so pretty. I just adore them. I have two of them and I love to wear them in the summer months. I always feel like a princess in them. I don't look like a princess, but I can pretend.



If I was skinny, I would only ever dress in reproduction vintage 50's clothing. I know I would stand out, but it wouldn't matter. I love the style of that era and I would love wearing that clothing. I would feel just like June Cleaver . . . in fact . . .



If I could I would have a 1950's inspired kitchen complete with a linoleum floor, a chrome kitchen table and chairs and all the trimmings to go with it, along with chrome drawer pulls, painted wooden cupboards, red and white gingham curtains, a vintage look stove and refrigerator, I'd be in Vintage heaven!! I am really dreaming now!!



I just love aprons and I adore vintage aprons most of all! I think I need to find a pattern and dig out my sewing machine. I would especially love one with cherries on it, because . . . I love anything with cherries on it most of all. I just love vintage kitchen linens as well. I used to have a whole set of flour sack tea towels that I had painstakingly embroidered with the days of the week etc. I lost them in the divorce. I know not what happened to them. I've looked for flour sack tea towels ever since so that I could embroider myself some more, but to no avail . . . sigh . . .




Here is one of my favourite things that I COULD give you if you wanted me to. The Scriptures! I just love the Scriptures. Just as a car comes with an owner's manual when you buy one, we have an owner's manual too. It is called the Scriptures. Everything that you need to know about this life and how to find joy and the strength get through it, and about the life to come is in their pages. Uplifting, Inspiring, filled with hope and promise . . . and more importantly a message of love, from a Heavenly Father to his much beloved children . . . the Scriptures have it all.

Here is another one of my favourite things! Good old fashioned Perfection Salad. I fell in love with it when I was about 6 years old and we were visiting with a friend of my mother's out in the country. Both of their husbands were gone hunting and so the women and children spent the weekend together. I remember they had a huge vegetable garden and my mother's friend, Irene, made this for us one night. I just adored it and have made it many times as an adult. Sadly I can't make it over here because they don't do lime jello here. Boo Hoo!!



*Perfection Salad*
Serves 5 to 8
Printable Recipe

A nostalgically delicious gelatin salad!

2 (6 oz)packages lime Jell-O
4 cups hot water
3 cups cold water
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup shredded celery
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 oz.) package lemon or lime Jell-O

Combine the 2 packages of Lime Jell-O with 4 cups of hot water in a large bowl, stirring until dissolved.

Stir in cold water. Add vegetables and drained pineapple. Pour mixture into a metal or silicone mold (rinse first in cold water) or serving dish. Refrigerate until mixture has set (about 2 or 3 hours).

Prepare the Lemon Jell-O package following directions on package. Pour over the first mixture after it has set.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Unmold by dipping into hot water for 10 seconds.



Cooking over in The English Kitchen today, a delicious Beef and Noodle Bake!

PS - Mitzie is one year old today. A celebration is in order!