Thursday's Unique Picks - Salads that Eat Like a Meal

Contrary to popular belief, The hubby and I do eat something other than hot dogs. 

From my personal stash of vintage goodness, The Salad Book  from  1941.

Flash back two years.

Me: "Hubby, what should we have for dinner?"

Hubby: "I dunno"

Me: "What should we have for dinner?"

Hubby: "I dunno"

Me: "What should we have for dinner?"

My dear husband uttered the words that I never thought I would come out of his mouth.

Hubby: "How about a salad?"

Me: "Say Whaaaaat?" 

It is OK to play with this food! Handmade felt salad set from Little Retro Kid on etsy.

Now, every Wednesday night we eat like bunnies. Not really. Come on, there has to be some sort of transition, you cant just leap from hot dogs to salads. I happen to specialize in salads that eat like a meal.

Make salad night special with this handmade kitchen towel, upcycled from a vintage table cloth from franscrafts on etsy 

As you may have deduced, this week's Unique Picks are inspired by salad night with a fresh selection of finds from etsy sellers and may even inspire you to toss around the idea of having salad for dinner.

To market we go...

Darn, forgot my shopping list. No worries this handy 1970's very veggie needle point handbag from Sticky Lipgloss Vintage on etsy will remind you. Buy Vegetables.

What looks fresh today? Well I happen to think these vintage pieces seem ripe for picking...

I just love this vintage emerald green glass bell pepper jar from Blue Lace Vintage on etsy.

Salt and pepper to taste with a sweet kitschy flare. These vintage carrot salt and pepper shakers from World Vintage's etsy shop.

Lettuce not get ahead of ourselves...

Don't forget the most important ingredient in the salad!

"The Lettuce was a head", hahaha this original artwork from the Wicked Tomato Factory on etsy, is quite pun (as they say)!

I just wanted to cover some of our "House Salad Rules"

No onions. They don't agree with the hubby's discerning palette.

Only Ice Burg Lettuce. Why? Hubby says other types of lettuce taste like you are eating grass. 

"Hubby, have you eaten grass?" Husband replies, " No. But I think I know what it would taste like."

More Salads logic according to My hubby.

A salad containing only vegetables is strictly a starter, just add meat and you can make it a meal.

Where's the beef? Simmer down I've got your meat right here...

Meet this meat market masterpiece letterpress poster designed by YeeHaw on etsy

Original block print with a great vintage look by amanda kindregan on etsy.

It is never considered foul to add a little bit of chicken into the salad either. 

A salad sensation that is currently sweeping our house are salads that also feature fresh fruits...and I don't mean tomatoes smarty pants. 

I used to turn my nose up at salads that had fruit, these days I simply can't get enough! The tempting fruits topping my salads...

Scrumptious strawberries

Sweet as can be vintage strawberry stick pin set from Supplies to Inspire by TheThinVeil on etsy.

and Crisp Pears.

Lovely felted wool pear jar by mymarketstall's etsy shop.

My top two current favorite fruit infused salad recipes via the Taste of Home recipe website:

1. Strawberry Chicken Salad

2.Chicken and Pear Salad (check out the reviews to see my variation on this recipe) (yup dork)

Ingredients are covered but can you dish it out? I can take it.

Dish out some salad in vintage style! This salad serving set is from  My Attic's Treasures etsy shop. If you like these, be sure to check out some other great vintage finds in their shop that coordinate with this set!

A little bit of dirt won't hurt, but you might want to rinse off those fresh veggies.

Handmade Stoneware colander from Jake's Clay Art on etsy, has a unique design and would be quite useful.

Chop! Chop! Don't like the hassle of chopping up all of those veggies?

This vintage Salad Making contraption from Admiredhistory's etsy shop, will make chopping veggies a cinch. This handy little machine is rumored to have an attachment to turn it into a meat grinder as well! Double bonus!!

Finally it is time to plate up...and the usual salad sized plates just won't do.

Go for the "Big Salad".

Simple,beautiful,and a great size for a big salad. This vintage set of robin's egg blue dinner plates is from Vintage Expedition on etsy.

You may have heard the famous quote,

 "You don't make friends with salad..." -Homer J. Simpson

This little salad looks friendly enough! One of a kind handmade appliqued salad pocket apron from Snappy Shop on etsy. 

This is no longer a valid statement in our house, because we have become quite friendly with the salad.

Go ahead, make friends with salad, jazz up your weekly menu and snap up these fresh etsy finds!

Thursday's Unique Picks - Looks Can Be Deceiving

Close your eyes and picture a domestic goddess.

Illustration of "The Goddess of Cooking", from a vintage cook book, found in Arcanium Antiques etsy shop. She is painfully absent from my kitchen.

Did you see me?

I knew you wouldn’t.

What inspired today’s picks from great etsy sellers? Let’s just say that looks can be deceiving, so it would behoove you to keep things organized.

This lovely little vintage recipe box, from CoopDeVilla on etsy, will keep all of your well loved recipes tidy.

Here is a glimpse at what happens when a self-proclaimed “domestically disabled” girly tries her hand at baking some cookies. Not one of my favorite things to make (I would much rather put together a killer casserole), but when mother asks…

So I decided on a recipe that is fairly simple, no crazy ingredients, and it yields quite a few cookies.

mmmmm.
 Chocolate Chip Mexican Wedding Cakes!
(A.K.A. delicious bite sized balls of goodness) 

• 1 cup (2 sticks butter) softened
• ¼” cup powdered sugar sifted
•  1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-2 ½” teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate mini morsels

Preheat oven: 350

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy + beat in vanilla + gradually beat in flour and cinnamon + Stir in chocolate chips = cookie dough (consistency should be like wet sand).
Roll dough into 1” balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 12-14 min. (Bottoms of cookies should be slightly tanned). Cool on cookie sheet for 2 min. then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Should yield about 3 ½ - 4 dozen cookies

This is what the finished cookies should look like sans the chocolate drizzle, because for me that would be taking things just a little too far. This picture is from my c.2003 cook book Simple Mexican Meals from Ortega.  

Could it be any easier? I have made these many times before so by now they should be a snap to whip up. Last Saturday afternoon, while dancing around in my kitchen, I proceeded to assemble the dough.

What's Cooking? Great vintage photo from Romance Writer's etsy shop.

The dough seemed to be an odd consistency. It was sort of sticky and slimy. Did I let the butter soften too much? I went over the list of ingredients again and again, yes, I had included everything on the list. Never mind, the cookies are sure to right themselves when baked. Into the oven they went and the smell of chocolate chips filled the room. About five minutes into baking, I decided to sneak a peek to see how they were coming along. Gasp! Expletive! I had a tray of caramel colored bubbly goo and melted chocolate. I called my hubby to the scene to inspect my disaster and possibly help me figure out where I went astray. I dredged out all of the ingredients again…The powdered sugar…

It seems that I had just a little bit of powdered sugar in a bag.

I don't usually store baking stuff like this. When ever I get a bag of flour or sugar, I try to transfer them to a plastic storage container or canisters. This keeps things fresher and makes them easier to store. Mine are not really cool and stylish looking but they get the job done.

The flour...

Hubby asked, "Which container did you use?". Hmmm. Why would that matter? They are both flour. Why would I have an entire container and a little baggie of powdered sugar? Turns out I did have an entire container of powdered sugar and that was what I put into the cookies. 1/4" cup sifted powdered sugar and 2 cups powdered sugar. Looks like my space saving/organization system had a few holes.

 At a glance can you tell the difference? Humor me. Tell me they look the same to you too.

Today's Unique picks are fantastic finds to keep your kitchen organized and avoid mistaken identities when cooking and baking.

What could be better than see through storage on a lazy susan? Ease your way into organization with this great 1970's canister set is from Vintage Eye's etsy shop.

Spice up your spice jars! These sweet glass vintage spice jars from filed away's etsy shop sure do beat those plastic ones from the grocery store.

A place for everything, and everything in its place. This beautiful vintage french spice rack is from Benefit Jewels on etsy.

The possibilities are endless with this cottage chic metal rack from CareyLeigh007 etsy shop. What do you want to be today, a napkin holder, a plate holder, a mail sorter? This could even store your pot lids in style!

If you need the counter space or even drawer space might I suggest using some organized vertical storage solutions. 

Check out this vintage wall mounted paper towel, wax paper, and aluminum foil dispenser from Sixty to Seventy's etsy shop. That is what I call easy access.

There will be no need to fumble around in a drawer for your pot holder when you keep them within arms reach, using these upcycled vintage silverware hooks from Legacies For You on etsy.

 I fear that I have neglected to address the most obvious need in my kitchen to get organized and avoid future mishaps.

Proper labels! These fantastic primitive looking craft labels can be found in Twine's etsy shop.

These great finds from etsy seller may not earn you a the golden oven mit for cooking...

This lovely pewter oven mit charm necklace found in Michelle Hartney's recycledrings etsy shop, goes to the cook with the most organized kitchen!

but you will surely earn silver for having your kitchen in ship shape order for your next baking extravaganza. Anyway, if you can't deliver the baked goods you can always go to the bakery...that is what they are there for, the domestically disabled.