Thrifts - Vintage copper coffee/tea pot

Gift from my little bro.

I've been expanding my collection of copper in my kitchen. It's so beautiful.

Vintage Pyrex coffee pot

A gift from my mama.

Eats - The best tomato soup Ty had ever eaten

Tomato soup

I started the soup with about 9 medium-sized tomatoes.

Nine tomatoes and a red bell pepper

In order to peel tomatoes, first wash the tomatoes and remove stems.  Next, bring some water to a boil and start an ice bath. If you notch the peel, it will have an even easier time coming off.

Washing the fruit

Responses - The copper pepper mill

My copper pepper mill post received some attention. I was told it was probably actually a coffee mill. So I researched it.  This is what I came up with:

For centuries these hand made mills have been used to grind pepper, coffee, cinnamon and many other dry botanicals.
When you acquire an Atlas mill you are actually getting a piece of Greek history. These mills are named after the Greek gods, which were the embodiment of strength and beauty during the classical Greek period.
Manufactured in Greece in copper by Atlas, the traditional style grinds into a removable cup at the base. May be used to grind other spices.

http://www.coffee212.com/copper-atlas-pepper-mills.html

Thrifts - Vintage egg beater

I'd been on the hunt for one of these for awhile. I'd tried to buy one new, but it was a total piece of junk. My mom and aunt managed to find me one. Super cool :) I can't wait to use it!

p.s. I'm looking for an egg slicer. I had one, but the plastic broke finally (It's probably from the 50's...and I used it a lot). If anyone sees one around town, let me know.

Eats - Spicy Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry (Supper Club!)

So there's only one picture of this...and I took it with my cell phone...I apologize.

But anyway, it was REALLY FRIGGIN GOOD, so I wanted to share. Immediately.

This was my contribution to a friend's weekly pitch-in tonight. Or last night, as it's now passing midnight.

There's a local restaurant that makes a killer shrimp Pad Khing (#84, or Padd King on their menu), and when I heard the hostess was making yellow curry, I made up my mind to figure this dish out.

Thrifts - Greek Pepper Mill (Copper)

I eyed this at Midland Antique Mall for months...finally a friend took pity on me and bought it for Christmas. I'm completely in love with it. It's definitely among my favorite things.

The grinder is in the top half, and the bottom half catches the pepper and is removable.  The engraving reads "Atlas Pepper Mill Imports - Made in Greece."

Eats and Thrifts: My amazing vintage China serving up some...shrimp, manchego, and mushroom ravioli with beets and grape tomatoes; Rustic Italian Bread, Vanilla Ice Cream with Raspberry Compote

For the bread, I used this recipe.  It was really simple, very few ingredients, and quite tasty.

Rustic Italian Bread with an egg glaze

I don't recommend the egg glaze, for reasons I'm sure you can see....It just didn't look right on it, and definitely takes away from it's "rustic" appeal.

Cooking the Mushrooms

A note about tamari

I realize I use tamari in many of my dishes, so I thought I'd share a tidbit about it. Most of us are familiar with the basic tastes - bitter, sweet, salty, and sour - but relatively recently umami was added as the fifth. Umami is a Japanese concept, and I've heard it described as "yummy," or according to this article, "savory."  Soy sauces, which include tamari, are considered to be foods rich in umami. (So are tomatoes, and I made a super tasty tomato soup tonight - to be blogged later.) So even if a meal may not seem like something soy sauce would belong in, tamari may serve to increase the *yumminess* of the dish.

Eats - Fried daikon root with mushroom gravy, swordfish, and sweet potato

I first marinated the swordfish for about 30 minutes in orange juice and tamari, with a couple cloves of garlic rubbed into it.

Fried daikon root with mushroom gravy, grilled swordfish, and baked sweet potato

I sliced the daikon root, heated a few tablespoons of canola oil in a pan, and fried the daikon root for about 5 minutes per side, dusting it with paprika.

Frying the daikon root

Eats - Off-the-cuff mushroom soup with grilled peanut butter and honey

I didn't manage to use all the portobellos that I over-bought, so on to meal three....

I wasn't trying to make much mushroom soup, just make it tasty.  Sauteed half a white onion in butter.

Chopped two portobellos and splashed a tablespoon of tamari over the mushrooms and let them sit while the onions brown.