Vintage Boys and Girls Cookbook

It's been awhile since I've participated in Vintage Thingies Thursday, but I've been meaning for several weeks to share this cookbook from my childhood with you.
I can't remember where Mother got them, but we had this cookbook and a Betty Crocker's Parties for Children book. I "inherited" the cookbook and it is falling apart. I haven't seen the party book in years, but it was more fun to read (with all kinds of game ideas!) so I have no doubt that it fell apart and was probably discarded years ago. Or it may still be lurking coverless in a stack of papers on a bookcase at Mother's, for all I know! The copyright date of the cookbook is 1965 (the year I was born), but our copy says it's the seventh printing in 1970.

I don't remember that we actually made very many recipes from the cookbook, and looking back through it now, I see why. Most of the recipes called for "convenience" foods like Bisquick and cake mixes, and our grocery budget didn't allow for such "luxuries". Mother cooked from scratch! Still... it was fun to look at! Check out the Animal Pancakes! I can't make pancakes that cute even now. It's probably because I don't use Bisquick.
As I was picking out pictures and recipes to scan I noticed this dubious "treat"! Toasted doughnuts spread with orange marmalade and sprinkled with bacon bits. Yum?
Oh! Here's one I do remember! Pigs in Blankets! We loved these! Of course, we had them with from-scratch biscuit dough, not Bisquick. And I don't think I've ever heard anyone actually call them frankfurters, have you? We always just called 'em hot dogs, or maybe weinies. What did you call them?
Here's an adorable cake idea! But... yep, cake mix and canned frosting!
Here, though, is the absolute highlight of the whole book... and why I wanted to share it with you this week! It's a very special Mother's Day Dinner. Isn't the cake sweet?

Why, yes! I do believe I have room for dessert, thank you, after a main course of Spam loaf with pineapples! Isn't it precious how they call it "Ham" Loaf with "ham" in quotation marks? Did anyone actually like Spam, even back then? ..::shudder::..And my favorite picture in the book... I love all the red plaid-ness of this bike picnic!
Doesn't it make you want to turn your kids lose in the kitchen? Wonder what they would come up with for a Mother's Day dinner? I dare ya to find out!

Gathering Mayflowers...

My favorite playmate when I was a little girl was my aunt, Rachel. She was the expert on... well, everything! Not only did she have the advantage of a year-and-a-half of seniority... she was also the aunt... so that definitely gave her extra authority!

I remember one spring in the early 1970s... we were probably about 7 and 9, or something like that... Rachel introduced me to the joys of Mayflowers! We scoured the hillsides of the Arkansas farm where we lived, looking for tiny little flowers hidden in the grass or fallen leaves. As I recall, there was quite an assortment... but we just called them all "Mayflowers"!

When I spied this tiny beauty peeking out of the grass last week
on my honeybee chase, it reminded me of Rachel and the Mayflowers!

We decided it would be a fantastic idea to make lovely terrariums with our precious Mayflowers, so we carefully pulled the tiny plants up by the roots and tenderly transplanted them into the bottoms of wide-mouthed canning jars we had half-filled with dirt. We watered them gently... but to our disappointment they didn't survive.

Our mothers, however, were appropriately appreciative of the beeeeautiful bouquets we presented them with!

Years later, when I was an adult, Grandmother told me, "Rachel always brought me the first tiny flowers of spring when she was a little girl!"

I hadn't realized it was something she pursued every spring!

Interesting People

Interesting people are... well, interesting! I don't mean that in a bad way, I just don't know how else to describe them.The other day I was trying to describe an acquaintance to a friend of mine. I said, "She's... interesting."

My friend looked at me kind of funny and said, "Is that a bad thing?"

I said, "Oh, no! Not bad... she's just... different. You'll just have to meet her."

Each one of us is unique, but some of us are more "interesting" than others.

"Some people are just interesting. They can't help it. They just are."
--Rick Bragg, Ava's Man

My mother will say of a person, "She's an interesting writer..." or "He's an interesting speaker..." That's not what I mean. I am talking about people who are just interesting to be around. You never know what they might do or say next. Often it's because they've had fascinating life experiences... but sometimes it's just because that's the way God made them.

I like interesting people. Don't you?

20 of My Favorite Things

Peggy @ The Simple Woman challenged us to name our favorites on this list. I have a hard time picking favorites, because I like so many things and my "favorites" often change. But... I thought it would be a fun exercise. And so I'll post this with the disclaimer that the items on this list might not necessarily be my only favorite in any given category... and I reserve the right to change my mind!
1. Color: Sage green. (If you visit all 3 of my blogs, you might get that impression!) I also like red really well. I wear red a lot, and love red accessories... my purse, date book, cell phone, slippers, bathrobe, sandals... all red!

2. Dessert: Currently Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream.

3. Smell: Well, I was going to say fresh-brewed coffee. But, no, I gotta go with my hubby fresh from the shower! Love dat man!

4. Flower: Oh, my! This is a hard one. But I do like the spring flowers best, I think. Tulips, pansies, daffodils, lilacs... probably because they don't last as long as the summer flowers.

5. Animal: This one's easy! Dogs. In particular, our adorable little border collie/beagle, Cookie.

6. Month: I used to say April, but since we live further north now where spring arrives later, I guess it's actually May.

7. Beverage: Starbucks Caramel Macchiato

8. Pair of shoes: Salt-Water sandals in the summer. Lands' End fleece clogs in the winter.

9. Snack: Another easy one! Popcorn. With real butter, please.

10. Song: It's hard to pick a favorite. It varies according to the seasons of my life... but one of my all-time favorites is He Abides.

11. Book: The Bible. (I know the question probably meant, "besides the Bible..." but I'm going to take the easy way out, because there is no way I can pick any other book as a favorite!)

12. Fruit: Strawberries.

13. Hairstyle: On me? I like the way it looks when it's down and curled, but it drives me crazy and gets in my way. So, yeah, I usually wear it pulled back in a doubled-up ponytail or a big clip.

14. Piece of clothing: My sherpa fleece hoodie.

15. Store to clothes shop: Christopher & Banks

16. Season: Spring!

17. Hobby: Reading. I have dozens of other hobbies that I thoroughly enjoy, but reading is at the top of my list. I also like to listen to audio books while I work on my other hobbies.

18. Thing to collect: Books!

19. Movie: Anne of Green Gables

20. Restaurant: On the Border

Feel free to copy this list to your blog (or Facebook page) and fill in your answers. Let me know if you do it... I'd love to read your answers!

Making Dandelion Honey!

I took my camera out in the backyard today with the intention of remarking on what a exceptionally fine crop of dandelions we seem to be cultivating this spring. Then I spied this industrious young lady and spent several minutes following her from flower to flower trying to catch her in various poses without disturbing her work.
My daughter wondered what in the world I was doing crawling around on the ground with the camera pointed at the dandelions, but she soon got into the spirit of things and enjoyed following the honeybee around the yard as well. (I was glad there is a tall fence around our backyard... otherwise the neighbors may have been as curious as my daughter, but not as willing to get involved by asking!)
If you click on this picture, you can better see the bright yellow pollen dusted all over the honeybee's backside.

I love honeybees!

My dad is a beekeeper, and we always had at least 2 or 3 hives of bees when I was growing up. Dad had been out of the beekeeping business for quite a few years, but recently he has gotten back into it. He had just re-started his hives a couple of years ago when it was such a bad year for bees and so many bees died. He lost them all that winter. He plans to start again this spring, and I'm anxious to see how they do. Mostly because I love having a source of "free" Arkansas wild honey... (My dad is very generous with me and my siblings that way!) ...but also because I'm fascinated with honeybees and I love to hear him talk about them.

I wonder what dandelion honey tastes like?