Limoges

Buy Vintage, Save Money

April 12, 2019 By Allison

During a recent visit to a Central Kentucky flea market, I overheard a mother instructing her children: “These are antiques, so they are three times as expensive. Don’t touch anything.” Her words have been rolling around in my mind for a few days, and I must admit that I find antique and vintage pieces to be very reasonably priced. Why? For most people, “old” things are not desirable.

I am dazzled by my recent haul of “old” stuff. I brought home four vintage Limoges teacups—delicate, floral, and elegant. There are no chips, and the saucers are intact. I paid $9 each. I haven’t tried to date them or research the pattern, but I’m guessing that my teacups are from the 70s or 80s. I am tickled by the idea of sipping my morning tea from the delicate porcelain cups.

When I can get my act together to find a vintage or antique plate rack, maybe I’ll display them with the four hand-painted Limoges plates that I scored in the same booth ($6 each). These floral plates are a delight, each featuring a different flower. When I turned one over and saw that it was signed by “Maude”, that sealed the deal. Knowing the name of the artist who painted my plates makes them all the more special for me.

In another booth, I found a charming soap dish painted with violets, also made in Limoges ($7). I’m guessing that this piece was painted in the 50s or 60s. It somehow feels older than my cups, saucers, and plates, due to its patina. I’ll place it in my guest bathroom with a pretty little soap. I finished my great buying day by scooping up a set of eight embroidered napkins. They must be several decades old. I’ll bring them to the dry cleaner for a good cleaning and starching. They’ll be so beautiful during tea time!

Did I need any more cups, saucers, plates, and linens? Absolutely not. Though had I not been wandering around the flea market with my friend Shelley on that Saturday afternoon, I probably would have been spending money in other ways. All of the items I purchased would be more expensive new, and it’s unrealistic for me to expect to find the beautiful craftsmanship and handwork that are not valued as they once were. Bringing vintage and antique items into my home gives new life to pieces that people have left behind. Placed next to the newer items in my home, they create a unique style for a small price.

Inspirations

More flea market inspo

Hand-painted beauty

Decorating on a small budget, NYT

Creative Spirits: Bourbon Hot Chocolate

February 24, 2019 By Allison

On the rare occasion that someone tells me they are not fond of chocolate, I wonder what is wrong with them. How could someone not love rich, decadent chocolate desserts? A chewy brownie, a slab of homemade chocolate cake, or a square of dark chocolate as an afternoon pick-me-up…

Of course, high-quality chocolate can be rich, dense, and overwhelming. I can’t count the number of times I have given myself terrible stomachaches by overindulging in chocolate. As an adult, though, I’ve learned to be more measured in my chocolate consumption. I’ve never been a daily consumer of chocolate. I just needed to learn not to overdo it on the rare occasion that I bake a cake or a pan of brownies. If I bake and give it away, there won’t be any chocolate to tempt me back into the kitchen in the evening. If I freeze squares of brownies, I’ll forget that they’re in the freezer.

Another way to moderate my chocolate passion is through bourbon hot chocolate. My recipe makes two espresso-sized servings. One serving satisfies my craving, I serve the other to a friend, and since there are no leftovers, there is no risk of a tummy ache. Serving this treat in vintage demitasse cups makes the occasion and the dessert feel special.

This is an old-fashioned hot chocolate that comes together in about five minutes. With only three ingredients, it makes a quick, impromptu late afternoon treat or an elegant, unctuous dessert. Use the best bittersweet chocolate you can find. When I used Vietnamese chocolate from Eritaj, my hot chocolate was earthy and nuanced. My favorite grocery store chocolate is Green and Black’s 70% Organic Dark Chocolate Bar. Don’t shy away from whole milk, as it makes the hot chocolate deliciously creamy. But if you have none, use 2% or skim milk. The bourbon adds a honeyed sweetness that helps marry the chocolate and the milk. Skipping the bourbon is no problem if you prefer to keep your hot chocolate alcohol-free.

If, God forbid, you do happen to be one of those people who just isn’t into chocolate, you may want to try my Maple Pecan Tea Toddy. It is warm, sweet, and comforting without the richness of bourbon hot chocolate.

Bourbon Hot Chocolate

Created by aconnolly24 on February 24, 2019

Yield: 2
Category: Celebrations, Small Bites, Sweets, Tea and other Drinks

Ingredients

1 c whole milk
2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. bourbon, optional

Instructions

Heat the milk in a small saucepan, without bringing to a boil.
When the milk is hot, remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate. When the chocolate is melted, return to heat and cook at a very low boil for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Do not step away during this time.
Remove from heat. Stir in optional bourbon.
Serve warm in demitasse cups.

My Madeleines de Proust

September 2, 2017 By Allison

“…I brought to my lips a spoonful of tea in which I had softened a piece of madeleine. But at the exact moment when the mouthful mixed with cake crumbs touched my palate, I shivered, attentive to this extraordinary thing that was taking place in me. A delicious pleasure had invaded me, isolated, no notion of its cause. It had instantly made me indifferent to the vicissitudes of life, made its disasters harmless, its brevity illusory, in the same way that love operates, filling me with a precious essence: or more accurately this essence wasn’t in me, it was me.” –Marcel Proust, Du côté de chez Swann

Shell-shaped madeleine cakes were a part of my life before I ever knew about Marcel Proust and the memory-inducing power of his petites madeleines. When I was a student in Paris, a bakery close to my school sold five madeleines for five francs—a deal! At lunchtime, I’d often make my way down the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs to pick up one of the tidy white bags holding five portable cakes. Sometimes they were still warm. Madeleines were my ideal student snack—simple, toothsome, and shareable. A chocolate éclair or strawberry tartelette would have been more impressive, but the dainty butter cakes comforted me. I imprinted my own madeleine experience well before encountering Proust.

Later, I would discover that Proust, too, found comfort in madeleines. In the first volume of his 3,000 page novel Remembrance of Things Past, tasting a madeleine dipped in tea unleashes the narrator’s memory of taking tea and cake with Aunt Léonie. In French culture, a madeleine de Proust refers to a heart-warming, evocative culinary experience that joins past and present. Madeleine cakes are one of my madeleines de Proust. They bring me back to the sweet, exhilarating sadness of being so far from home. Other sweets unleash my involuntary memory, allowing me a delicious, temporary dance between past and present: Grandma Rose Mary’s orange cookies, Grandma Mary Ellen’s sticky rolls, and the frosted graham crackers Mom served me as a toddler. The frosting was always homemade, and she always served them on a rectangular, strawberry-patterned tray that is still in her kitchen.

What foods bring your past into the present? Tell me about your madeleines de Proust in the comment section.

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