Vintage Kitchen - Farmhouse

I was so inspired by the Farm to Table Etsy Finds this morning.  I love the locavore approach to food and the vintage farmhouse/country style is so me.   

 Clockwise from the top:

Midsummer Mini Collection by TheMeasure, $255

Vintage Donut and Biscuit Cutter from ethanolie, $10

Vintage Cruet Frame from cottagefarm, $28

Vintage Bakeware from oldschoolfarm, $16.50

I've been decorating our kitchen and master bedroom with finds from the Kane County flea market - last weekend I found this amazing window with screen, it might have been an insert in a screen door.  It's either going to be a pin board or a chalk board, but it's shabby peeling paint is perfection.  Last summer I found a dry goods storage bin that I need to sand and give a white paint wash - another day, another post.

Vintage Dessert Glasses from TheOldRedHen

I've also found beautiful pieces from TheOldRedHen on Etsy - her shop is in vacation mode while she moves, but I strongly recommend you check back when she opens.

I love thrifting and the flea market, but the vintage shops on Etsy make it so easy to search and find the perfect pieces.  I'm still looking for a wash basin and pitcher for our bedroom, shutters to make a headboard.  I'm not sure what I'll do with myself when it's all done.

You can see more Vintage Farm to Table in my treasury here:

From the Kitchen - Summer Baking

Summer is approaching and all I can think of is baking.  It must be the fresh fruits, I'm dreaming of cobblers, pies, tarts, fresh crust.  It's just like me to want to take all this healthy food and make it fattening. 

Clockwise from the top:

Linen Cafe Apron by smallbatchproductions, $30

Ceramic Farm Dish from TheVintageParlor, $13

Kitchen Storage Bag by RosiesArmoire, $38

Coffee Mug Measuring Cups from Splinkville, $22

Lots of recipes to come!

From the Kitchen - Food Memory

When I was in 5th grade I spent a summer in France through an exchange program at my mother's school.  I lived with a family, went to school with Aurelie, shopped with her mother at open air markets and ate the most delicious foods I've ever tasted.  For years I have had a food memory of a quiche like dish, but it was sweeter and had some kind of stone fruit in it.  I teased apart this memory, my 12 year old palate couldn't remember the specifics, then one day the internet came to the rescue - it was cherry clafoutis.  And it was amazing.

I've been researching recipes,  scrounging markets to find the perfect cherries - the original recipes keep the pits in the cherries to add this nutty flavor to the dish and I know my French mom included them as well - I remember the surprise of chomping into one. 

Cherries just aren't in season and I cannot abide cooking with bland, tasteless fruit, so I made do with raspberries.  Whipping the eggs, flour, sugar and lemon zest together released an aroma that took me back to Aurelie's tiny kitchen, the deck we ate almost all our meals on, scent memories are the strongest I think, we remember with our nose.

It turned out delicious, but I can't wait for cherry season.  This recipe was adapted from Food & Wine - I used far less raspberries than they called for simply because I only bought half a pint - I think it's the perfect amount.

Raspberry Clafoutis

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Salt

3 large eggs

Zest of one lemon

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 pint of raspberries

Confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a 9 inch gratin dish.

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt.  Add the eggs, lemon zest, milk and butter and whisk until smooth.

3. Pour batter into gratin, add raspberries on top and bake for 30 minutes until it's puffed up and golden.  Let it cool and dust with confectioner's sugar. Enjoy!


Click here for a Printable Recipe Card

Heart a Day - Day 40

I finally got to have my birthday cake and eat it too.

Heart a Day - Day 36

Happy Birthday to me = Toasted Hazelnut Chocolate Torte.

Heart a Day - Day 17

Sprinkles - the original eye candy.

Baking Gift Guide - for the Vintage Home

I've been putting together treasuries as gift guides lately - I would love to finish my holiday shopping this month so I can focus on baking, cooking, decorating and crafting in November and December.  Here's one I put together for the baker in the family, who also has a love of vintage.

1. Antique Pumpkin Glaze Mixing Bowl from susantique, $39
2. Two Vintage Pestles from cottagefarm, $32
3. Linen Pinafore with Flowers by MyHappyHome, $35
4. Four Vintage Egg Cups from lapomme, $38
5. Old Muffin Tin from Fortsville, $5

Or, mix up a batch of muffins with your little one and while they're in the oven, read In the Night Kitchen together.

 You can see the entire gift guide here:

Dress Your Home In Vintage - Farmhouse

My kitchen is still a work in progress, but after 5 years, it's almost where I want it to be. It has a farmhouse, vintage feel - cozy, warm, lived in.  I'm not talking sheep and doilies, but I do have a penchant for barn stars.  I've limited myself to one big red one over the kitchen table.  We're in the Midwest, deep in the prairie, I can't help my country tendencies, but I've tried to use authentic, vintage finds instead of mass produced, Chinese, fake Americana decor.  I love having vintage pieces in the kitchen - it makes my 1980s cookie cutter home feel more personal, more loved, more lived in.  Each piece has a memory and history, adding to our family story.

I found this vintage bowl in Garden_22 Vintage shop and had to have it.  It's creamy and warm; it feels like it's been held in many hands.   Right now it's on my counter holding a tower of mail my husband never seems to sort through.  I'm thinking about reclaiming it and putting it on the kitchen table.  It would look great full of apples and pears, but I don't eat apples or pears, so that would be a waste.  I might fill it with potatoes, which we eat a lot of and would still look lovely. 

 Here are some other pieces I'd love to add, but am hoping you buy first so that my kitchen doesn't start to resemble one of those rooms on Hoarders.

Vintage Baking Set from ethanollie - I wouldn't even want to hide these in a cabinet

Petite Bundt Cake Pans from AlicesLookingGlass - perfect excuse for eating an entire cake yourself

Enamelware Canisters from TheFancyLamb - wide mouth for scooping flour and sugar

Primitive Wooden Stool from bellalulu - I'd love this in my kitchen if I wasn't sure my 4yr old would crack her head open falling from it

Early 1800s Homespun Flax Blanket from theprimitivehome - imagine turning this into a lovely tablecloth or runner

Metal Film Canisters from SlothArt - could be used for storing spices

Biscuit Cutter, Scoop and Sugar Sack from AnnaBelleVintage -  the sugar sack would make gorgeous linens or a pillow and nice, big scoop for baking

Vintage White Batter Bowl from jenscloset - perfect for small batches of pancakes

Wire Egg Basket from findingfabulous - definitely wouldn't get hijacked into holding mail

I'm headed to the Kane County Flea Market this weekend - can't wait to share my new finds!