My Pinterest page tag is “I love old objects and ways; local food and markets; home made, grown and cooked.” I’ve dedicated a board to Oldies But Goodies: Not getting older just getting better…
Early in February we had a day in the Blue Mountains. I bought this Chinese tea mug at The Laughing Elephant Asian grocery store in Wentworth Falls. Can anyone tell me what the Chinese symbol means?
I opened a bottle of Tetsuya’s Wasabi Mustard, a Christmas gift from a friend, because best by dates aren’t the only reason for not saving lovely things for a special occasion.
At the end of February we had a weekend away to collect an EBay purchase… I rarely bid on eBay and when I do I’m rarely the winning bidder.
The odds were with me this occasion when I bid on Newlings Cordial crates pickup only from Braidwood. Even better when we hit town after an early start the Braidwood monthly markets were happening.
After Saturday night out in Canberra with friends we spent Sunday morning at the Old Bus Depot Markets at Kingston, ACT.
Back on home turf, I’ve been doing the weekly grocery shopping most Saturday mornings at Eveleigh Farmers Market and browsing the retro/vintage/op-shops/markets of Newtown.
I’ve had one eye on the calendar holding off posting so as to include the latest addition to my kitchen, a book I’m a little bit excited about but it hasn’t arrived yet, so will have to wait until next time.
In the meantime, in my kitchen is a gramma which we were given by country neighbours early in the year that is waiting for me to turn it into the gramma my Nanna used to make that you’d put into a pie, only the G.O. prefers it plain without pastry! Recipes vary but I’ll share mine next time too.
Thanks to Celia for hosting IMK and the IMK community for foodie inspiration & the virtual company they provide.
daleleelife101.blog 
Love the enamel plate and the bead crochet cover. Nice little country things to add to the box.
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Your inspiration is evident with the enamel plate, and I love the beaded covers, I now have a few 🙂
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My mother used to have a milk jug cover exactly like that, with crochet lace around a central mesh panel and green glass beads to weight it down. Wonder what happened to that…. I still have her white wire mesh fly dome for putting over plates or dishes to keep the flies off. In regular use!
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I’d love a wire mesh cover. I have a bamboo framed cover that gets good use. Good for deterring visiting inquisitive cat but not quite robust enough to leave unsupervised! I already have a couple of crochet covers but I’m a sucker for green beads 🙂
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This summer we have been buying beaded covers for jugs of iced tea for afternoon drinks. Love old-world things.
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Yes, the beaded covers aren’t only decorative, we use ours all the time. Iced tea is lovely 🙂
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Everything is lovely Ella, BTW What is a gramma? I have never heard of them.
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Thank you 🙂 Almost could’ve included avocado bowls but they weren’t retro enough for my tastes! Gramma is a sort of pumpkin-squash. The few recipes I found online add sultana’s and even maple syrup but my Nanna and the G.O.’s Granny stewed it quite plain with sugar and lemon. It is lovely with custard but I have a different idea to try as well.
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Ah, so you eat it as a dessert. I’m learning. Thanks
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Lovely post, I love that pudding tin 😀 nice to me you via IMK
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Thank you 🙂 I’m looking forward to steaming a pudding when the weather cools off. I’ll be over soon to see what’s happening with you.
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🙂 x
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Lovely things in your kitchen this month – I too remember my mother having beaded mesh covers. They seem to be having a bit of a revival now!
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Thank you… it’s great to see old things becoming new again!
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The tea mug looks inviting, just the thing to warm hands and tummy on a cold morning.
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It’s fantastic for my early morning cup of sage tea with the strainer, and lid to keep the tea warm 🙂
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We were doing so well on this great little post until we reached the bacon. No Warning I notice.Here I am still drooling and my socks are getting wet.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Haven’t tried the bacon yet but the free range pork is to die for 🙂
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Love your chinese tea mug, hope you find out the meaning of the text character!
Kavey (first time IMKer this month)
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Thank you 🙂 A lovely commenter just told me the Chinese character means tea. Love it! Will pop over to yours shortly.
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The Chinese character simply translates as “tea”!
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Oh, that is perfect!!! Thank you 🙂
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Beautiful!
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Thank you 🙂 I’m pleased when others enjoy my oldies and goodies too.
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Your gramma had me stumped. Google to the rescue. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. 🙂
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Hmm, I should’ve linked it… I was planning to explain it further on my next IMK when I get around to cooking it. From my research, gramma is a Bugle pumpkin traditionally used in pumpkin pie (Wiki). I think gramma pie is distinctly Aussie but may be an adaptation of the pumpkin pie of our English ancestors.
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This was going to be my question too. I thought it might be some huge variety of zucchini or something.
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Interesting, common food in the households the G.O. and I came from. Dad & my stepmother still make it, as do I, and the whole family LOVE gramma pie and custard. But it seems not all households.
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Ah but you’re an aussie born and bred. I was 4 when my family came out here from Hungary. Grew up on Hungarian food. 🙂
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The tea mug has the Chinese character for cha on it. It means tea. It’s really lovely. The bacon looks so delicious. Old things were made to endure. Things today are manufactured to break quickly so we are forced to buy more.
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I have trouble resisting anything green 🙂 I’d been eating supermarket offerings for so long that when I started buying from farmers markets all we could say was wow, that’s what it used to tase like… I find it difficult to understand how food has been dumbed down much. New things don’t last… case in point, my two year old phone… on its anniversary slowly started to die.
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Funny the beaded doily doesn’t show up on the post for me but its in the gallery. Never seen one before. Fascinating.
I like the look of the wasabi mustard and the black horse mustard pickle, and the zinnias are beautiful.
What lovely colourful collection.
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I’m pleased to have introduced you to something new! A single bright orange zinnia remains, now in an old vivid green bottle 🙂
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Wasabi Mustard. Now that sounds wonderful.
I thought that might be a type of gourd or squash as it looks similar to some my dad used to grow. He liked to grow things for fun – “curiousities” – sometimes.
WIsh more people chose old things rather than the new poorly not to last things. Lovelies
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I love mustard, and I think it’s the best I’ve ever had… Attitudes to old things are so disparate, some people discard them without thought, and in some shops the prices are astronomical. You win the prize 🙂
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We have an assortment of mustards – so when someone asks for mustard we have to clear the table to set them out. WIll look for that one, though.
One of my uncles retired from teaching and opened a “junk shop’ – old and dusty and full of stuff. It got so popular and profitable, he had to retire again. Bartering must run in the family – another cousin and his partner started out with online collectibles and antiques, now they operate a whole “mall” of little antique shops/vendors. My dad used to stop all along the road at little country places and buy old furniture to refinish and reuse. All wood and much more solid. Hmmm, maybe that would be a direction to go? Fun to find stuff and find a new way to use it all…
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A second hand shop, market stall, Etsy shop… is worth considering for those of us who get it… live your passion, love your work!
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i love your Chinese tea mug. wonder what it says? i always reckon they say things like – go home Yankee dog!:)) what on earth is gramma?
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I’ve been told by the lovely commenters the character on the mug means cha or tea… go figure! It certainly looks more artistic than TEA 🙂
A gramma is a type of pumkin-squash, stewed by my grandmother into a pie filling somewhat like pumpkin pie but the taste is subtler, less sweet.
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Excellent, another fabulous blogger to follow 😄 Nice IMK, you have some lovely things, did you enjoy your brief trip to Canberra?. Now I’m off to read your other posts.
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Thank you 🙂 I love Canberra and would like to spend more time there looking around and seeing Mrs S. my bestie but real life hinders! We had a lovely dinner at Knuckles at the German Club at Narrabundah. And I wish I could go the Old Bus Depot Markets far more frequently that we do.
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Many thanks for the follow…..always good to see into someone else’s kitchen and mind, although I thought you gave Thomas Hardy short shrift 🙂
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Thomas Hardy’s work will live to see many more days in my kitchen… I’ve been known to read & stir… and elsewhere but I fear doesn’t translate well to e-media for me at least… I’m seeking hither & yon for a suitably pre-loved copy of Far From the Madding Crowd, and also Return of the Native.
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