Old Becomes New........and Enjoying a Harvest

Yesterday, I made a quick walk-through of a newly discovered antique store called Adjectives.  I asked how the store got that name. He said because of the different words they heard people use describing the store. Somehow, I think they could have found a better name. But, I could think of several adjectives to describe the store and they would all be positive!  It is near where I live and I will be swinging through there on a regular basis.

One thing they have in abundance is linens - of all kinds.Very, very nice linens. This happens to be one of my favorite things to collect and use.  Unfortunately most of what they have are out of my price range.  Yesterday, I did purchase the white small cloth you see here on my butcher block.

  

My guess is it is not very old. It is in perfect condition. And, has this design on each corner and fits perfectly on the butcher block table.

This lace design is all the way around the hang-down part.

The other thing I got was this white ironstone oval dish.  I like it for its size and shape. It is shallow and I thought it would be handy for many uses. The two onions are very large which makes the dish look smaller than it is.

It is a Homer Laughlin dish.  And, on second thought, even though it looks like ironstone it may not be. I am not sure what makes ironstone, ironstone. I do know that all the Homer Laughlin things I have seen are what I think of as kitchen dishes - not fine dining china. At any rate, it is a joy for me to find something old that becomes new to me.

You have been seeing two pitchers of fresh herbs sitting on the new cloth.  I have made a promise to myself to start bringing in a few cuttings of something, flowers or herbs, on a regular basis.  Whether I use the herbs or not I love to see them up close and  they make the kitchen smell so good. Besides herb plants do better if they are clipped on a regular basis.

 

In this pitcher is parsley, bay, cilantro, rosemary and pineapple sage.  I am able to have herbs growing outside here year round.

The little pitcher holds dill and thyme.  This picture was made before I put the new cloth on.

I harvested these collards and enjoyed them for dinner tonight. 

Because most of these tomatoes were already off of the vine or at least resting on the ground, I brought them in to finish ripening on the windowsill. I looked out the window and saw a bird pecking at them and knew I needed to bring them in if I hoped to eat any. The one plant is still full of green tomatoes - the most I have ever had on a bush.

So, tonight I chopped half of one of the big onions from my new bowl and cut out the spine of the collard leaves discarded them and cut the leaves chiffonade style. Roll each leaf in a cigar shape and cut thin slices. I sauted the onions in a little bacon drippings and added the collards, covered the pan and cooked them about twenty-five minutes. They were pretty tasty but still a little too tough. They probably needed several minutes more in the pan.

I cut one small tomato and heated some black beans and that was my supper.  Had I been a bit more ambitious I would have made some cornbread.  I just play around growing a few plants to eat. I don't have a big vegetable garden, so I get a lot of enjoyment when I can eat something I have grown.  This winter I have not had a killing frost or freeze and I am sooooooooooooo hoping we get by this year without one!