Matchless

I picked up this hat some months back, visions of Easter bonnets dancing in my head.  And then i found that i had a heck of a time finding anything to pair with it: it's a straw hat, which says "casual" - but then it's trimmed with Guipure lace and hefty rhinestones, both of which say "dressy."

I'm currently leaning toward something fit-and-flare, made up in a cotton, perhaps a plain sateen, or a tiny floral print on a nice lawn.  Dress trimming might involve lace and/or rhinestones - i recently saw a '50s dress in a casual print trimmed with rhinestones (can't for the life of me find a link to the blog post now, of course), which almost has me convinced, and i'm not generally a fan of rhinestones.  I thought about pintucks, but the lace motif is so swirly, i'm not sure the strong straight lines of pintucks wouldn't fight with it.

It plainly needs some remedial steaming, and unfortunately, it looks like the veiling is past saving, and will need to be replaced - i'm holding out for silk veiling.

So what would you match with this hat?  Bonus points for sharing good sources for silk hat veiling!

Mmm, pancakes

After chatting on Twitter about canning, the delightful SarahAnntiques and i decided that it would be fun (though not, perhaps, economical...) to exchange jars of things we had put up.  Jams and jellies were swapped, and in the back-and-forth, we mused that some of the lovely, sweet-tart, fruity goodness would be simply brilliant on pancakes.

I have - from my mother, who got it from the mother of a friend of hers, many years ago - an obscenely buttery pancake recipe.  After testing it out, Sarah insisted i publish it here, for your breakfasting (or dining) pleasure:

Griddle Cakes

1¼ c. sifted flour
2½ tsp. baking powder
3 T. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
3 T. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
¾ c. milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Combine egg, milk, and melted butter and add to dry ingredients all at once, beating with a spoon or mixer until smooth. Drop batter from a tablespoon onto a hot griddle (375°F for electric griddle). Cook on one side until puffed and full of bubbles that break, then turn and cook on the other side. Makes about 11 four-inch cakes.

Okay, that's the recipe as i got it. Disclaimer time: you will need more milk than it calls for. I generally add a splash at a time to keep the batter at the right consistency as i cook. And “smooth” is a relative term – you may still have tiny flour clumps, and that's fine, they'll sort themselves out. I usually make a double batch and freeze some, as they take it surprisingly well.

So pick your jam (thin ones are best for pancakes!) or syrup (don't even think about anything that uses the word "flavored" - this demands the real stuff), and sit down to a steaming stack of pancakes.  You can thank us later - wouldn't want the pancakes to get cold.

The ones i'm keeping

Picked up a little lot of four patterns recently, and found, to my delight, that all three of the adult patterns included were larger sizes.  The '60s Vogue dress and the cute little girls' skirt, jumper, and blouse will both be headed to the shop, but these two Advance patterns will be staying:

The one on the left, 3001, is from about 1942, and the housecoat on the right, from 1950.  Both patterns have a 40" bust!  And oh, the pockets on them!

If you've been waiting...

...now would be a good time to stop by Fripperie and take a look at the vintage patterns, sewing books, and notions: it's been a year since the very first listings were posted at the shop, so i'm having a sale!  If you enter the code "1YEAR" in the "message to seller" box, i'll take 10% off your entire order.  This sale lasts through September 12, 2010 - shop early and often!