Wonderfully delicious, summertime-friendly Magic Chocolate Pie recipe

✯ Day 215 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Summer brings with it many interesting - sometimes even humorous - paradoxes, one of which is that it's amongst the most social times of the year (just think of the many barbeques, picnics, pool parties, graduations, bridal showers, weddings, and long weekend celebrations), yet it's also undoubtedly the toastiest. This leads to the conundrum of needing to whip up meals and desserts when your kitchen feels about as warm as the surface of the sun.

Aside from tried-and-true frozen desserts, chilled refrigerator pies that require little or no cooking can be a hostess' dream way to wrap up a great summertime meal. They're usually straightforward and relatively quick to prepare (especially if you use a precooked pie crust, either store bought or homemade in advance), can be relatively economical, and tend to be major crowd-pleasers.

Today's scrumptious Magic Chocolate Pie recipe is sure to appeal to chocoholics and those with a general sweet tooth alike.

I love that most of us have all the ingredients called for on hand right now (who wants to run out to the grocery store when the mercury is boiling over?) and this is one of those great dishes that still leaves you plenty of time to work on the other elements of your meal (or do whatever else you please).

{Click here for a larger version of this tasty Magic Chocolate Pie recipe, which comes by way of Shelf Life Taste Test on Flickr.}

 

This chocolaty 1950s dessert would work great after an array of meals, from a sit down buffet brunch for twelve to a burger and hot dog fest in backyard with the kids. You could add some nuts, caramel, coffee, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, or coconut to the mix (or as a decorative touch on top), or simply enjoy this sweet treat exactly as it appears in the recipe above.

No matter how you slice it, this is one fun, lovely summertime pie that keeps you from spending too much time in the kitchen this season while still delivering impressive, very inviting looking results - and that is definitely a culinary good thing!

Beat the heat in this beautiful vintage reproduction cotton eyelet sundress

✯ Day 214 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Toronto - and indeed many other parts of the North American continent - recently went through a heat wave that made the Sahara seem like a winter paradise. The lethal combination of heat and humidity that this part of Ontario gets hits with means that you can add about ten degrees (Celsius) to the temperature the thermostat read to get the "feels like" temperature, which hit a staggering 50C  for a few days here.

During those smelting (especially for those like myself who do not have A/C and must rely on fans, cool drinks, and as I turned to at absolute toastiest moments, ice packs from the freezer) days, the only thing in my wardrobe that I wore was vintage sundresses. The notion of pants or a two garment ensemble like a skirt and a blouse, was just as unbearable as I'd been asked to don a parka.

As the sun beat down unmercifully and the city sizzled like a collective piece of bacon, it was the cool, crisp cotton of these feminine frocks that clothed me day after day. Not, of course, that I'm complaining (about wearing dresses, I'll grip about the heat though ).

Dresses in general are my very favourite garment and I'll happily sport one, in the right seasonal fabric, any time of the year - whether it's +50 or -50 (and yes, Canadian vintageista that I am, I have worn dresses when the mercy dipped nearly that low).

I find that sundresses allow air to circulate more freely around your body than shorts, pants, blouses or t-shirts. If they're sleeveless (or, for those who enjoy the look, even strapless), as some of mine all, all the better. I know that for many of you, this beloved and classic item of clothing is a tried-and-true favourite, too.

Thus, I simply had to share a delightful vintage reproduction sundresses that I spied over at Blue Velvet Vintage recently. Just as sundresses are the summer wardrobe choice du jour, so too is timeless white eyelet one of the season's most integral fabrics. It's been in use for decades (if not centuries) during this piping hot season and remains as elegant and fitting today as a frosty class of ice tea.

 

At first glance one might think this dress channels a late '50s Marilyn Monroe vibe, and indeed it does, but I also see in it a sense of the 40s, thanks to the sweetheart neckline and simple, yet very becoming, tailoring.

Few hues can compare with white when it comes to helping keep at least some of the heat at bay, and this snowy coloured dresses will definitely help in that regard. It's neutral tone also ensures that you can dress it up or down and accessorize it to your heart's content.

Though a bit more structured than some vintage sundresses (it has some  boning in the bodice), the fact that it's strapless and not too long (it's tea dress length), ensures that you should still be quite comfortable on this days when the temperature shows no sign in slowing down its quest to break the record.

Available in modern ladies sizes 4 - 14 (though, at the time of writing, a couple of sizes are out of stock), this chic, wonderfully fresh, completely pretty white cotton eyelet sundress (which is available for $140.00 from Blue Velvet Vintage), is one of those pieces that is sure to get scores and scores of mileage summer after sunny summer.

While the absolute worst of the heat wave has slackened up here, we're just kicking off August and I know that I've got at least a few more weeks of wearing vintage sundresses to look forward - and that, sweet dears, is a positive side of this sweltering season, in my books.

Welcoming August with open arms

✯ Day 213 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

A new week, a new month. There is much to take comfort in from the start of something fresh, unmarred by days and weeks of events perhaps left best forgotten. Of course a new beginning doesn't have to erase or replace negative events, it can be a continuation of something fantastic or the last chapter in a saga of awesomeness. Yet, whatever today means to you, the fact remains that it's a new beginning, if only on the calendar.

August can be a challenging month. Easy to both love and hate (adore in the icy depth of January, loath in the moment), to praise and complain about in nearly equal measures. It's a strong month (which, perhaps, is part of the reason those born during much of it get to have a lion as their zodiac mascot) that makes no bones about its power and summertime prowess. Yet like a battle hardened warrior encountering a fair maiden, it can also show its gentle side when presented with the right circumstances.

This month makes me think back the sunny-kissed days of my youth, spent in a town that boasted not one, but two rather large lakes. Swimming until it would have seemed natural if I suddenly sprouted fins, eating sandwiches and bags of potato chips sprinkled with the distinct texture of taupe hued sand, falling asleep under a cloudless sky, the buzz of a thousand water frolickers resonating in my suntanned ears.

The eighth chapter of the year is resilient and beguiling. Few months can even come close to presenting the world with the beauty it houses. Think of a glistening sunrise, a sublimely warm, silken soft evening breeze. Fields of proud sunflowers, gardens teaming with hearty produce. Light that can be glaring one moment and tame as a lamb the next.

{Cute vintage garb, a fun book, time spent outdoors, those are the simple, beloved pleasures of this sultry month, as seen in this marvelous August 1956 cover of Redbook magaine. Image via CapricornOneVintage on Flickr.}

August is rarely the time for massive new projects, but is very well suited to adventures of all magnitudes. From travel to parties, planning for the new school year to putting up preserves, August works well when we balance dog-eared knowledge with a dusting of the unknown.

I'm grateful that this month is here, able to take July and throw it into the storage closet of the past with its arrival. Was July unmentionable? No, thankfully, but it had some points that I won't be chatting about anytime soon and a heat wave that would make a desert dwelling lizard melt.

No one knows what August holds in store, but my husband's upcoming birthday on the 6th gives me something extra special to look forward to. I hope for a month of tranquility and possibility, of answers and time to daydream. Of corn-on-the-cob eaten while practically too hot to hold, and nearly tooth-numbingly cold beverages sipped under the wise sun of summer's last truly full month.

As we launch into August and this glistening new week, I wish you each a month ahead that is precisely as you hope it will be. If you want to see the open road, may you be able to do so. If all you long for is evenings spent curled up in a hammock, your favourite reads by your side, so be it.

August is a splendid, exciting, incomparable month, and I hope deeply that is treats you all to a fabulous thirty-one days of summery bliss!