Monday Muses {June 1st}

One of the greatest gifts my mother bestowed on me was a adoration of, and appreciation for, the art of cooking. Some of my very earliest and most treasured childhood memories are of helping her whip together everything from Sunday roast suppers to Christmas cookies, canned peaches to chicken soup. I was enthralled by the process of taking raw ingredients, weaving a spell of culinary magic and turning them into a scrumptious finished dish. Whether it was peeling apples, turning the handle of the nut grinder or being her official Thanksgiving turkey stuffing sniffer (“a little more sage, mommy”), I was her sous chef and I credit my unwavering passion for cooking to her.

She taught with patience, love and joy; she let me develop my own recipes and never hindered my creativity in the kitchen. This week while my parents are in town, I have the wonderful honour of cooking for my mom and step-dad, putting to good use everything my mom taught me, as well as the culinary knowledge I’ve picked up over the years through my own daily cooking, cookbooks and world travels.

Without a doubt my Muse this week is my mother, followed closely by the Muses of cooking and the humble, wonderful family kitchen.

{The many things I learned in my mother's kitchen}

1. Idealized Parenthood, 2. Aprons for mother and daughter, 3. junior cook book, 4. Tupperware Party invitation, 5. What Mrs. Dewey Did With the NEW JELL-O! 1933, 6. Vintage mini mixer salt & pepper set, 7. Pie heaven, 8. Oh, Joy, Joy., 9. Updating the Pyrex (& more) Shelf, 10. Image from Cake Secrets, Copyright 1941, 11. Helping Mother - 1959, 12. Salad, 13. king midas cover {Click on a link to see a larger version of a particular image and/or for photographer information}

Thank you deeply, mom, for being my culinary Muse and teaching me the time-honoured craft of cooking with love.

Monday Muses {May 4th}

After putting together a week’s worth of delicious links last night, I whipped up an equally yummy supper for myself. Nature’s Path Buckwheat Wildberry waffles with fresh strawberries and reduced fat whipped cream to celebrate the return of glorious spring flowers and days with double digit temperatures.

I’ve always adored berries of all sorts, from blue to black, raspberries to huckleberries, they’re each so wonderfully versatile and symbolic of the warmer months. Not only are these healthy sweet morsels good for your body, berry print and themed items can do your vintage wardrobe a world of good, too. This week I’m looking toward the punchy hues and crisp freshness of May strawberries as my vintage muse.


{Delicate and cheerful, this lovely brass necklace crafted by Firebirdhouse on etsy, sports a strawberry charm and section of a vintage paper strawberry seed packet; at a budget friendly $13US this pretty piece of jewelry is a great deal.}


{Bright as a just-picked-from-the-vine strawberry, this flirty pencil skirt – while vibrant as a poppy – would no doubt prove to be a versatile item year-round in many a vintage wardrobe. I’d pair it with a crisp white blouse or button down cotton shirt and wedge heels in the summer, a fitted black cardigan and Mary Janes or pumps in the winter. If you want to shake it like a strawberry, this skirt can be yours for $36US from Pin Up Girl Clothing.}


{A myriad of indoor or outdoor items such as grocery totes or placemats could be crafted from this darling vintage pink strawberry print oil cloth, thanks to the fact that it’s waterproof. A 48 inch piece sells for $15US and can be picked up from Warm Biscuit, an online bedding, houseware, and sewing goods shop.}


{One look at this incredibly sweet, ruffled strawberry and cherry print apron from SpiceRack Designs on etsy, and it’s hard not to fall in love. This photo is of the back which I felt needed to be seen even more than the front because of its awesome red and white polka dot bow. If this apron is whispering your name, it can be yours for $35US.}


{Hued like a glass full of strawberry juice, these red satin rockabilly heels (available in ladies sizes 5.5 to 9) from The Velvet Vault are a luscious deal at $26.97US. I could easily imagine combining shoes these with a gorgeous LBD and going dancing on a warm summer’s evening.}

Red is warm and bold, it conveys power, strength and confidence, yet can also be wonderfully romantic (think of a rose, sexy red lipstick such as Clinque’s aptly named “Red Red Red”, or the tinge in one’s cheeks when they blush). Like a strawberry, red can be paired with many other (fashion) flavours or enjoyed solely on its own, as I’ve tried to highlight in this Polyvore set teaming with all sorts of wonderful vintage inspired red pieces.


{Strawberry Love, created by yours truly.}

Whether eating, wearing or admiring strawberries, what are some of your favourite ways to incorporate this beautiful fruit into your world?

Monday Muses {April 27th}

While Gene Kelly was happy to be singing in the rain, I can’t say as though I’m quite as chipper as he was about the moisture that Mother Nature has been throwing our way for the past several days. I don’t hate rain, not at all – in fact, to me falling asleep to sound of raining softly hitting a roof is one of the single most serene and soothing noises on earth – but given the very short springs that tend to come Ontario’s way (blink and you’re apt to miss spring entirely, and instead be left wondering how you went from -30°C to +30°C over night), it would be rather nice if we could have a few weeks that were neither plagued by snow/rain or suffocating humidity.


{A sweetly flirtatious pin-up model has fun in the rain, in this image I discovered through Photobucket.}

Still, as the old expression we all know by heart goes, April showers bring May flowers, and I am gleeful about the thought of seeing new blooms again soon.

All the rain lately though has shifted my colour mood into the arena of greys and blues, some sombre, others blissfully cheery. In the latter category I would most certainly place the incredibly gorgeous, flat-out amazing outfit that the beautiful Super Kawaii Mama recently wore for Easter. Not only is that full skirt and tattoo inspired necklace too cool for words, her fire engine red crinoline quite literally has me going weak in the knees! That, my vintage dears, is one heck of a stellar outfit!

However, if you were venturing out on a blustery day in such pretty attire, you would definitely want to come prepared with an umbrella and perhaps a hat, such as any one of three these wildly fashionable ladies are gracefully wearing (if you look carefully the hat on the right even appears to have some sort of see-through plastic/cellophane – or other material – on it which might have helped to make it more weather resistant).


{Image served up via myvintagevogue's inspirational hotbed of a Flickr stream.}

If however you’re more in the mood to snuggle inside your nest on a drizzly day, why not whip up something crafty, homemade or otherwise yummy in one of esty artisan Boojiboo’s incredibly charming umbrella print, vintage inspired aprons! (They’re also available in a bounty of other vintage themed prints and styles; this particular design sells for $28.75US)



Alternatively I always find it so relaxing to cuddle up with a classic mid-twentieth century read on a stormy day, such as Richard Llewllyn’s How Green Was My Valley (the 1941 movie version of which I also highly recommend) or Christopher Morley’s Kitty Foyle (which also went on to be adapted into a movie; it stared Ginger Rogers and coined a new name for a popular style of dress at the time featuring a dark body and sleeves with white or light coloured cuffs and a collar, the Kitty Foyle dress).


{The always wonderful Ginger Rogers in sporting a Kitty Foyle dress in the movie of the same name. Found amongst the many movie themed pages of a75’s Flickr stream.}

As the week begins anew and seven crisp days of possibility lay ahead of us, I hope that the rain will soon go its separate way and leave me with a touch of balmy weather before my city does its Amazon rain forest impression. In case it doesn’t though, I’ll just have to take my wardrobe cue from the images in this Polyvore set I whipped up, and give singing in the rain the old college try :)


{Rainy Day Blues.}