New Hat

I can barely wait until the weather turns a little colder so I can wear my new hats!

1922 Swanson portable

Another player has joined my hoard (re: collection). This is an 1922 Swanson Portable turntable. It was attractive to me because of how it projects sound. The arm of the turntable is actually made of hollow wood with a little valve that can adjust the volume. This makes the machine lighter (no heavy internal horn to lug around), but it also lends a super-charming sound to acoustic recordings. Of course, in this video, I play one of my daughter's favorites, Gene Austin's 1925 "No Wonder (That I Love You)," which is actually an early electric recording. She starts singing, adding a bit of cuteness to what was designed as documentary.

I noticed this player does not sound AS good with electrically recorded 78's, which gives me an excuse to buy yet another player.

Amberola!!!!!

After about a year of bidding unsuccessfully, I finally scored an Edison Amberola. This version is a late model player from about 1914. It plays blue and purple celluloid cylinder records, meaning I'm still on the hunt for something that plays even older stuff ;-).

It also amazes me how well it sounds, considering its age. I can bet that my modern turntable won't last this long. I'm also pretty sure that the pop music of 2011 will not sound as steady in 100 years.

Retro-renevation

An update on the renovation of my 2008 home to look a little more 1928.

Above: Before... carpet and Ikea. Tiny "standard" moldings and no paint. You can kind of see the avocado green couch in the foreground. In short- functional, but ugly. More 1978 than the intended 1928.

Above: Carpet gone!!! Happy to report that despite this being a new build, there was not a single crack in the slab. I've heard some slab horror stories, and this was a relief!

We opted for the tallest baseboards (moving from 2" to nearly 6" high!), painted them white to contrast with the walls. We then added an additional bit of quarter-round to the bottom of the baseboards to hide the expansion space for the new flooring. We found matching corner blocks and corner rounds to complete the look.

Not sure this little picture above will show, but we added plinth blocks to the bottoms of our door frames, and did rosettes with fluted moldings to frame them out. Much better than the standard moldings (which were the same as the old floor baseboards).

After nearly four weeks of no furniture, it arrived! Mission style chairs, table, and couches complement the new look. Even the entertainment center has mission styling, included leaded glass cabinetry. The walls look more yellow here than they ought to... they're more mustard than sunshine.

Next steps... crown moldings on the ceiling and moldings around the windows... perhaps with window sills. Ideally will replace plastic-wood blinds with something more suitable, but will need to check HOA guidelines first since they like white stuff facing the street.

Best ever beef stew, thanks to Betty!

Ah, Betty Crocker! How I love your picture cook book!

I have made the following recipe a few times now and wanted to share it. I wanted to stress a couple if things:

* All-natural beef tastes the best. The very best time I did this, I got stew meat from the organic/grass-fed guy at my local farmer's market. Second best was from the butcher's case at the grocery store... not the "one size fits all" cheap meat from the general case. It costs more, but has less fat, less chemicals, and tastes cleaner.

* I hate bell peppers. I can't say why, but maybe it's my Southwestern taste buds evolving. I used the dark green anaheim chilies. They are mild, but add a little more flavor than green peppers (they're also available locally!). I have done the stew with no peppers and it tasted fine... a little milder overall. The peppers enhance the beef's flavor.

* Try to find bouillon cubes without MSG. They taste better.

Here's the recipe:

1. Take stew meat, trim fat if desired and cut into cubes. Roll beef in seasoned flour. To make this flour, take 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp Paprika, and mix with 1 cup flour (I use unbleached)

2. Brown meat throughly in olive oil (Betty's original calls for fat (lard!)). I do this in the bottom of a large pot to do less dishes.

3. Cover with 1 qt. of hot water.

4. Simmer 2 hours, adding water of necessary.

5. Add...

• 3 medium potatoes, diced (aprox. 2 cups)
• 1 cup diced turnips
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced parsnips
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 green pepper diced
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 2 beef bouillon cubes

6. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

I've done this in a slow cooker. I've also cooked the vegis a lot longer than 30 minutes and it has come out fine. I often serve as a soup... you can also thicken the broth with additional flour if you like a thicker stew. I often serve it with egg noodles- the combination of the two works great!

What I love best about this is that it reminds me of the stew my grandparents made. Every time I serve it, people go back for thirds!

Retro Renovation's Pam shows off her wonderful steel kitchen

Etsy... a great place for retro/vintage cookbooks!

I am a compulsive Etsy fan. I love the vintage section of the site although it can be a beast to search. As a fan of vintage and retro cookbooks, I like to search them whenever I can. Some of these have great covers and photographs, and it kills me to know my grandmother owned half of these and I could have already had them if I had appreciated them back then.

Here's the deal... I'm presently a library and info science student who has a deep interest in archives and ephemera. I especially love mid-century and modern culture. On top of this, I am also a reluctantly good cook. I like recipes... I like to add additional garlic and spice to my recipes... and I need pictures to really know if I'm doing things well. The Kodachrome-ish images and dainty cartoons that deck most retro cookbooks are both helpful and adorable. I hope to share much of my collection here and also offer hot tips on actually cooking the foods.

These are my present favorite books up on Etsy... enjoy!