Today’s Vintage Treasure: March 11, 2010

{The moment my eyes laid sight on this unbelievably adorable coin purse, I knew I share all of its vintage-meets-kawaii goodness with you! Bedecked with a darling Hawaiian hula girl, this festively cute little bag (it measures 2.5 inches in diameter) would be the perfect thing to use as a tiny carry-all come summer, any time you’re sporting a tiki themed ensemble, or whenever you’d like to infuse a darling dose of Polynesian style into your look. This sweet-as-a-tropical-drink coin purse (which is made from vegan faux leather with a screen printed design and metal snap closure) can be had for $14.00 from a brand called Fluff and is available on Amazon.com.}


Speaking of fashionably cute things, I want to thank everyone who’s entered Chronically Vintage’s latest giveaway so far. If you’ve not done so already, be sure to swing by Monday’s post and enter for your chance to win a $100.00 online shopping spree from LA Vintage (they have some really fun pieces, so be sure that you try your luck at winning this fantastic contest).

Giant wishes for a blissful Thursday, to one and all!

Wonderful Wednesday Recipe: Maple Syrup and Apple Bread Pudding topped with Sugared Apples

Maple syrup is for many Canadians the most iconic food in our collective culinary repertoire. Glistening like polished amber, real maple syrup, tapped during the last weeks of winter and boiled into one of nature’s finest sweet offerings, is a taste that instantly makes us glow with national pride.

Generally it is between February and April when maple syrup is harvested in Ontario, and though I won’t be tapping any trees myself this year (as fun as I’ve always imagined doing so would be), when maple syrup season rolls around, I – as if almost by instinct – am drawn to dishes (both sweet and savoury) – that include this home-grown ingredient.

This recipe, which I first discovered many years ago (I’m inclined to say in an old copy of Canadian Living magazine, but am not entirely certain of that) is sometimes known by its French name “Pouding Au Pain À l‘Érable”, which I rather enjoy using (doesn’t any dish sound lovelier when its name is spoken in French?) – and most definitely relish eating, no matter what it’s called!


{One of the lovely things about most brands of genuine maple syrup is that it still comes packaged in charming glass bottles, just like the one in this 1950s advertisement for Log Cabin maple syrup, a brand that it still on the market today. Image via Jackie121467’s Flickr stream .}


A simple, uncomplicated recipe (which is vegetarian and can be made vegan if you opt to use vegan margarine in place of butter or non-vegan margarine) with soothing flavours, this dish can easily be jazzed up further with the inclusion of a hit of apple brandy, some chopped nuts, cinnamon, or your favourite dried fruit. I’ve served it piping hot, cold from the fridge, and perhaps my favourite, at room temperature (call me odd, but I really like my bread and rice puddings at room temperature). It’s scrumptious, comforting and very morish, whether eaten toasty or chilly.

The apples you put to work here can be any baking variety that you like. I lean towards Cortland, Macintosh, Red Delicious, Liberty or Spartan, but the choice is entirely up to you. If you wanted to take this recipe is a slightly more tart direction, you could use Granny Smith or Greensleeves and introduce a whisper of lemon or orange peel into the mixture before popping it in the oven.

Serve this tasty dish for breakfast, brunch, dessert or even with afternoon tea, paired, should you fancy, with whipped cream, clotted cream swirled with a little maple syrup, or a dollop of cinnamon or vanilla ice cream.



Maple Syrup and Apple Bread Pudding topped with Sugared Apples

Ingredients

-1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I like to use day old French or sourdough bread with the crust removed)

-4 cup peeled, cored and chopped apples

-2 apples, peeled or un-peeled (as you like), sliced (note: you will need six apples in total for this recipe)

-1/2 cup real maple syrup (this is not the time for imitation maple syrup!)

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 cup of water

-1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

-Approx. 1/2 cup white sugar

-2 tbsp light brown or muscovado sugar

-3 tbsp (unsalted) butter or margarine


Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C/gas mark 4).

In a large mixing bowl combine the fresh breadcrumbs, chopped apples and salt. Place these ingredients in a buttered baking dish (I generally use an 8x8 or 10x10 inch dish for this recipe, but a similarly sized oval or rectangular dish could be used, too), and set aside for the time being.

In small sauce pan, heat the maple syrup and water over high heat just until it comes to a boil (you don’t want it to caramelize). Remove from heat and pour over the apple and bread crumb mixture. Sprinkle dried bread crumbs evenly over top, and then set aside for a moment more.

Combine the white and brown sugars in a shallow dish or plate and then dredge the apple slices (from the two apples that you sliced, not the chopped ones which went into the fresh bread crumb mixture) through the mixture, coating each side (add a little more sugar to the dish, if needed). Place the sugared apple slices evenly atop the bread pudding, and then dot the top of the pudding with small pieces of butter or margarine.

Place baking dish in the oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, or until the apples feel tender when pierced with a skewer (or fork) and the top of the pudding has taken on a pleasingly, pale golden hue.

Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving this soft, fragrant, wonderfully Canadian pudding. Saying "dessert is ready, eh!" when you bring it to the table is entirely optional :D

Serves 4 to 6

Bon appétit!

Giving away a $100 online shopping spree from LA Vintage

As the plethora of photos and posts on many of the wonderful vintage blogs in our community attests to, as a collective group, we are an immensely stylish bunch. Our tastes veer not to the “it” trend of the moment, but to the alluring, sometimes elegant, sometimes wonderfully playful world of vintage clothing – and the fact that wearing such pieces immediately helps to elevate our look above the cookie cutter styles sported by so many these days.

I know that like myself, many of you are massive fans of fashion, too, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you’re rather keen on fantastic blog giveaways (really, who isn’t?). Put those two interests together and you have the recipe for Chronically Vintage’s brand new blog contest!

This week I’ve teamed up with a stellar US site by the name of LA Vintage, in order to offer you, my amazing readers, the chance to win a $100.00 online shopping spree from this sleek, vibrant shop.

For those who may not have had the joy of exploring LA Vintage’s site yet, let me tell you a tad about this lovely online vintage clothing shop. With an eclectic mix of pieces spanning the 1950s to the 80s, this easy-to-navigated site is filled with excellent photos (of real live models – so you can get a sense of how a garment will actually look on a real person) sporting the terrific range of constantly revolving items LA Vintage stocks.

One of the things that endears me to this great vintage clothing site is that they have a wide selection of pieces (think adorable dresses, versatile separates, mod boots, timelessly lovely accessories) in both average and plus sizes (I adamantly believe that everyone should have the chance to rock vintage fashions, no matter their size!), as well as an array of menswear items (an area that far too many online vintage sellers overlook).

LA Vintage stocks a diverse assortment of items, from flashy disco era dresses to adorable full skirts from the 80s that could very easily be worked into a beautiful 1950s inspired outfit. Amongst the slightly more modern pieces, one can sometimes find vintage items hailing from the 50s. Each item LA Vintage stocks is unique (in other words, each garment or accessory is vintage/retro and generally the only one of its kind being offered amongst the sites wares).



{A sampling of some of the pieces that really caught my eye on LA Vintage’s website, aren’t their photos wonderfully redolent of those from the pages of a glossy fashion magazine?}


LA Vintage recently celebrated their first anniversary of being online (with roots stretching back to the early 90s), and I must say, they’ve built up a really great site in the span of just one year. I was tickled pink when LA Vintage offered me the chance to extend a $100.00 shopping spree to one of my readers, and really want to thank them for doing so!

Now, when I say “shopping spree”, what I mean is that the lucky winner will receive a coupon code from LA Vintage which will enable them to save $100.00 upon checkout. You do not have to purchase anything else or be a pre-existing customer. This coupon code is the online equivalent of a $100.00 gift certificate that you’re free to spend on whatever item(s) you’d like from this stylish site.

Today marks the first day of the giveaway, which is going run until 11:59pm on Sunday March 21, 2010. LA Vintage ships internationally, so I’m positively delighted to say that this contest is open to all of my readers worldwide. On March 22nd, I’ll randomly draw one lucky winner and announce that person’s name in a post. From there whoever wins will need to zip an email my way with their name and email address, which I will pass along to the folks at LA Vintage who will provide you with your coupon code so you can get start shopping! :)

I want you all to have as many chances as possible to win this great prize from LA Vintage, so there are five ways for you to earn as many as five entries in this giveaway.


-Post a comment below telling me your favourite item from LA Vintage’s site, or what kind of item you’d like to find there if you’re the lucky winner.

-Post about this giveaway, including a link back to this announcement post on Chronically Vintage, on your own blog, telling your readers about this contest (if you'd like to use the photo collage I created above, just right click on it to save it to your desktop). Once you’ve written about the giveaway, come back here and let me know you’ve done so by leaving a comment with a link back to your post.

-Spread the good word about this contest via Twitter. Leave a comment here letting me know you’ve done so (this is also a great way for us to follow each other on Twitter, if we’re not already doing so!)

-Add Chronically Vintage to your blog roll (or other area of your site/blog where you list some of your favourite blogs) – or let me know if you’re already doing so. Stop by to let me know in the comment section that CV’s on your blog roll, and you’ll gain another entry for the contest.

-Become (or let me know if you already are) a Google Follower of Chronically Vintage (see the right hand side bar to join). Again, be sure to jot down a comment letting me know you’ve done so.


Everybody is welcome to enter in however many of the five ways they wish, just be sure that you let me know about each entry in a separate comment, to better enhance your chances of winning (four comments for example, would give you four entries into the contest, thus four potential chances to win!). Please remember to post a separate comment for each entry!

I wish everyone who participates the absolute best of luck and thank you all in advance for taking part in this marvellous, vintage fashion filled blog giveaway!