But last week I did obtain some fun glassware pieces and the best part was that I got them for free!
Starting on the left, my favorite freebie is this very nifty hand-shaped glass bottle. Can you guess what it held originally? Or how old it is? If you guessed it was a Mennon Skin Bracer aftershave bottle, circa 1970, you'd be right! Mine has no cap, not that I care. I just think it's a neat bottle and pretty soon I'm going to go out and find a couple of flowers to put in it. Or I might use it as a prop in some Etsy listing photos. Or both. I was wondering what it might be worth if I decided to sell it, and some checking on ebay's "sold listings" search revealed these are selling for $18-$20. Rah, rah!
Next we have Mr. Peanut. It's dated 1991 on the bottom, and on the cap it reads "75th Birthday", so that makes it 25 years old. It's not worth a great deal--between $5-$10. But it's still fun. I like figural jars and bottles, and this one will be handy for storing buttons or something.
The next bottle is also an aftershave bottle. It's in the shape of a banjo, and still retains its label, though it's peeling off. The brand is Aqua Velva, and the year of its manufacture is something I haven't been able to find yet. The style of label looks older to me, though, so I'm going to guess maybe this came out of the folk music era of the mid-late 1960s. I've only found two other photos of this style, and only one of those revealed the selling price, which was $6.50.
It's weird to me how they pronounced it "AK-wuh velva", not "AWK-wa velva". But that's neither here nor there. Just my two-cents' worth.
My other free find was this lovely Glasbake milk glass coffee mug! Milk glass dishes--Pyrex, Fire King, Glasbake-- are getting harder and harder to find, and prices for them are worth knowing about if you collect or sell vintage. Here's a set of 6 for sale through Etsy shop thevolcanocoaststore, priced at $31.50. I love these!
 |
| www.etsy.com/listing/233219904/vintage-glasbake-coffe-mugs-set-of-six-6 |
Okay, those were the freebies. Now for some munchies!
With four kids, homeschooled, and a husband who works from home, I used to bake constantly. Cookies, mostly. Now the family demographic has changed enough that I seldom seem to make cookies. But yesterday I needed a quick dessert, and I wasn't up to a full-blown "cream the butter and sugar together" job. Fortunately I unearthed a box of cake mix from the cupboard and decided to see what could be contrived with it. I've made cookies from cake mix before--usually as a last resort--but to my surprise, this particular batch tasted marvelous, not like a make-do recipe at all. In fact, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I think these are some of the tastiest cookies I've made in years!
Here's the recipe:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together:
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker "Butter Recipe Chocolate")
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 teaspoons vanilla
Add:
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups old fashioned oats (quick cooking type will work, too)
Using a cookie scoop, plop dough on ungreased baking sheets and bake for about 16 minutes, maybe a minute or two more if they're not set. Cool on a wire rack.
I'm not sure how many this made because they were quickly devoured, but I think it was 3 1/2 dozen. Next time I'm going to increase the pecans to 1 1/2 cups. One could even be decadent and add chocolate chips, but these are jolly good and chewy and rich without them. The pecans give a wonderful crunch and really enhance the chocolate dough.
Enjoy!
No comments :
Post a Comment