Bake up a tasty vintage Honey Pound Cake

Like El Camios and Woody Allen films, raisins are one of those things that people generally tend to love or loath. Adoring them something fierce, I definitely fall into the first camp and have been known to combine raisins with everything from baby spinach to stuffed pork loin.

One of my favourite ways to enjoy raisins is actually so straight forward its instructions can't even be called a real recipe: simply smear however much plain cream cheese you like on bread, a bagel, crackers, etc and sprinkle over a handful of raisins and, should you like, shelled sunflower seeds, too (I could eat that combo until the cows come home!).

Today's vintage recipe for Honey Pound Cake - which originally appeared in the December 1944 edition of National Home Monthly magazine - calls for nine ingredients and is a somewhat more traditional use of these charming little dehydrated grapes.




{Honey and raisins mingle beautifully in this timelessly appealing 1940s cake recipe, which has a great cold weather vibe to it. Image via jbcurio on Flickr.}


Humans have harnessed the power of the sun to dry various fruits for thousands of years, one of the earliest of which is believed to be the grape. While not everyone adores raisins, many people do, which helps to explain widespread use (in both sweet and savoury dishes) and continued popularity. In simple to make loaf cakes like this they add flavour, texture, and a hint of moisture - as well as pops of dark colour in each delectable slice.

This cake sounds perfectly fine as it stands now, but (in a nod to raisin studded cinnamon buns) I'd most likely add a teaspoon of cinnamon, and perhaps a dash of nutmeg for extra spice. Alternatively, dried ginger or even cardamom would be lovely - and wholly aromatic - as well.

With each reading of this terrific 1940s recipe (which of course you can use butter or margarine in place of the shortening for), the more I keep thinking that a generous grating of orange zest (in lieu of the lemon extract, and perhaps in combination with some cinnamon) would be flat out fantastic here, too.

Cakes like this are excellent for those times - like an afternoon coffee break or relaxed weekend breakfast on a chilly winter morn - when you want a touch of sweetness, but not a full on sugar laden dessert.

It’s shape and compact crumb means it transports (and freezes) well, making Honey Pound Cake a delightful gift to bring your favourite hostess the next time you're invited over for dinner - assuming of course, she's a raisin fan.

Celebrating Annie's 1st birthday with 25 darling black and white vintage dog photos

This past Wednesday, the 15th, marked Annie, our darling American Bullador’s first birthday. Small enough to sleep on our chests and be cradled in our hands when we first brought her home at the age of eight weeks, she's been with us now for ten of the twelve months of her young life and has impacted ours in countless ways over that time.

Incredibly smart, unendingly energetic, extremely destructive, as kindhearted as any animal who has ever lived, an amazing watchdog, and strong willed as the day is long, Annie is both a big handful and an incredible angel. Though she is very much still a puppy in certain ways, we're starting to see her mature more in recent weeks and hope that by this time next year, she'll be much closer to reaching her adult temperament and way of behaving (guided, of course, by our ongoing training, lots of exercise and affection).

Annie was the first dog either my husband or myself, whether in our years together or before we meet, ever had as an adult and raising her has certainly been an incredibly eye-opening experience. We've learned an encyclopedic amount about dog rearing and training over that the past ten months and while we didn't always get things 100% right (off the bat at least) with Annie, few new parents (be they of pets or human babies) can say that they did the first time around. Just as Annie has grown and matured, so too have we and though there have been moments since we brought Annie home when she frazzled my nerves to the point of tears, there have been countless more where she nearly made me cry from happiness, love and pride.

She is an awesome, inspiring, sweetheart of a dog and I feel honoured and blessed that we get to share our lives with her. In celebration of her first birthday (for which she was showered with an abundance of her favourite dog treats and a Kong filled with peanut butter, one of her all time favourite foods, as well as a gorgeous new pink leash that we bought her at the Home Hardware in Osoyoss last month), Annie and I have rounded up an endearingly sweet array of 25 black and white vintage real world photos of precious puppies and darling dogs, all of which are so cute and easy to relate to that they more than speak - or would that be bark - for themselves. :)

{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

Gilda Radner once said, "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive", a sentiment which Annie has brought to light in my life every day that we've had her.

Yes, she may be a handful and a half sometimes, but she is also inspiringly upbeat, happy-go-lucky, and caring (she has an uncanny ability to sense, if we're out in public around other people, and then make a beeline for anyone who has mental, emotional or physical special needs, or seems to really be in need of some companionship, and to then shower them with kisses and affection - it's humblingly beautiful to see, especially since we've never trained her to do so, it's simply something she's inherently knows to do on her own.

Annie is 60+ pounds of pure love wrapped in a silken black and white coat, always ready to bestow an unending amount of her time and affection on you. She derives joy for the littlest things, forgives and forgets in mere minutes, never sweats the small stuff, and is powerful reminder of how we should each strive to exist as often as possible. She is our baby, our dearest canine friend, and a truly phenomenal one year old dog that we love every bit as much as she adores us.

My very favourite 1950s skirt that I own & Tony launches a Facebook page for his photography

Outfit details

Hair flowers (both): Arden
Black rhinestone heart earrings: Claire's
1930s glass bead necklace: etsy seller Maejean Vintage
Grey dolman sleeve cardigan: Freddies of Pinewood
Pale pink camisole: From a shop in Scarborough, ON that shut down years ago
Black plastic floral carved bangle bracelet: Unknown (had for years)
Black vintage handbag: etsy seller A Vintage Revival
1950s flocked floral print circle skirt: eBay
Pink crinoline: Pettiskirt Style
Grey tights: (Bought new in pack from) Value Village
Black faux suede round toe pumps: Wal-Mart
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace
Nail colour: Pink Diamond from Essie 

Photography by Tony Cangiano     

♥ ♥ ♥

Almost nothing lasts long in my closet if I don't love it powerfully, so I'm always a little leery of dubbing any particular item a favourite, but if I had to in the skirt department, this enchantingly feminine 1950s number may very well take top billing. Boasting black flocking and a pink and green floral pattern on a solid black background, it epitomizes the spirit of my style - feminine, sweet, elegant, and fun - to a tee!

Purchased a number of years back on eBay, at the time, clocking in at around $100, it was the most I'd ever paid for a skirt in my life. Though that figure has since been topped, it still remains one of my pricier skirts. Then as now, I've never regretted what I paid for it and feel that it was (and is) reasonable for such a gorgeous vintage garment. This skirt is made from thick, warm, beautiful fabric and is in excellent shape. Once can scarcely tell it's around sixty years old, as it feels nearly as crisp and pristine as the day it was minted.

Like many people, I tend to gravitate towards darker hues when the temperatures start plummeting, and on the nippy November a few weeks ago when these photos were taken on a random, wonderfully charming tree and mid-century home lined street in Kelowna, that point was out in full force care of the abundance of grey and black at work in this fun fifties ensemble.

Even on the coldest, dreariest of winter days though, as much as I may reach for black, grey, dark brown, navy blue and other highly pigmented hues, I will still generally weave a bit of punchy colour into the mix. Here it was hints of gloriously feminine pink, care of the camisole, crinoline from Pettiskirt Style, a large hair flower (partnered with a smaller black one), and the lush blooms on my skirt, as well as my lipstick and nail polish colour choices. Much like the skirt itself, this whole outfit is a perfect representation of my personal style. It's neither immensely formal nor overtly casual, includes layers, embraces my curvy petite figure (but isn't skintight), and makes me smile whenever I sport it.

On the day when we shot these snaps in Kelowna, we were running errands and also scouting photo shoot locations, not for myself, but for a photography client that Tony was working with a few days later.

As you may recall from this post last October on how Tony and I do vintage outfit shoots, my darling husband has been an avid photography enthusiast for much of his life. More recently, he's invested in further equipment (including the awesome new Canon 6D DSLR camera he bought while in Calgary) and is has made the leap from hobbyist to part-time photographer (on top of his highly demanding day job, the various income generating blogs and websites, such as Any New Books, that we run together, and being the author of two terrific tech books).

This exciting chapter is new, fresh and still largely unwritten. It may always remain an on-the-side endeavour or might perhaps someday develop into more, only time will tell. Whatever the case, it's always great to have a site and a Facebook page for any business one runs and to that end, Tony has recently created both. We would be honoured and deeply appreciative if you want to like Tony Cangiano Photography on Facebook, where you'll get to see a sneak peak some of the photos from the shoots we do for the blog before they go live here, as well as work he does with models, clients and others who make their way in front of his lens.

And of course, should you ever happen to be in the Okanagan and would like to have Tony shot you, by all means, feel free to let one of us know! Tony is an old pro at doing vintage outfit shoots thanks to his work on behalf of my blog, and would be thrilled to help create the kind of shoot you're dreaming of (be it vintage related or otherwise).

Many heartfelt thanks from both of us to everyone who likes Tony Cangiano Photography on Facebook, as well as to each and every one of you for your support, encouragement and compliments regarding his photography work here over the years. I know that it has meant the world to him and certainly helped to foster his passion and drive for photography all the more.