Weekend Treasury with Peonies

A weekend treasury of some of my favourite things from Etsy.

Take a deep breathe ...

banished $12.00	Raceytay $30.00	PipiPhotograph... $30.00	ErinTyner $35.00
sparksoffire $20.00	UUPP $16.20	redheart13 $22.00	PegandAwl $56.00
CDChilds $42.00	pumphousestudi... $16.00	decembermoonde... $24.00	Dprintsclayful $69.00
linds2001 $19.00	OlliePots $26.00	cursiveart $3.50	birdiesandpepp... $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

I love each of these items but I'm particularly taken by Erin Tyner's fascinating photographs. Her 'Half Awake' series, taken using tiny railway models, is so imaginative and entrancing. She also takes some stunning botanical photos which remind me of old oil paintings.

I was given a beautiful bunch of flowers last week which included one of my absolute favourites - peonies. They make such a brief appearance but smell divine and look just lovely, pink and fluffy yes, but who can resist them? I took dozens of photos but this is one of my favourites.

I'm off to Cornwall for a holiday soon and hoping to take lots of pictures while I'm there. I'll be taking my cameras with me - digital SLR, pocket sized digital and my old polaroid. I hadn't used my polaroid for ages until last year when I tried out some sepia film (thankfully now being made again). I had mixed success with it - my favourite picture being a very misty shot of Lulworth Cove. Not exactly what I was aiming for but sometimes serendipity produces something appealing. I'm hoping to try a colour film this time and see if it's less temperamental. I'll be sure and post about it when I return!

Getting in the holiday mood

Summer is coming and my thoughts are turning to holidays by the sea. Sand between the toes, sea shells, nothing to do but sit and listen to the waves and warm sunshine on my face (one can only hope - it is England after all).

aYaPhotography $10.00	couragemylove $65.00	beachphotograp... $17.50	aealexandru $10.00
shutterjunkie $7.50	3LPhotography $25.00	HeyHarriet $6.00	bomobob $15.00
paulbeattiepic... $14.00	AmeliaKayPhoto... $24.50	Lomotype $30.00	minetteheartsy... $1.50
FlashForward $15.00	amberalexander $35.00	urbanantique $12.00	MDanielsonPhot... $24.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Dark chocolate and orange cake

If you've read my previous entries you'll know I'm a bit of a sucker for fine chocolate. I'm celebrating having a whole month off work this weekend so something special was called for to follow last night's home made pizza. I haven't posted a recipe before but this dark chocolate and orange cake was so tasty and really quite simple to make. We bought some very good quality dark chocolate (Valrhona's Guanaja - 70%) from our favourite chocolate shop in Henley during the week and then I searched my cook books for some inspiration. I just wasn't sure what I fancied and in the end I remembered tearing a recipe out of an old magazine recently and decided to give it a try. It's supposed to have a white chocolate and icing sugar topping but personally I love the simplicity of a warm chocolate pudding with cream.

As long as you have an electric whisk this really takes very little effort. You'll need a bit of elbow grease though if you're whisking it by hand.



You will need:

100g butter
100g dark chocolate broken into pieces
125g caster sugar
3 large eggs, separated
finely grated zest of 2 oranges (or 1 large one)
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons Cointreau
30g plain flour, sifted
25g cocoa powder, sifted

Warm the oven to 180C or gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin (it doesn't need to be very deep) and in the meantime melt the broken chocolate in a bowl over gently simmering water. As soon as it has melted take the pan off the heat and allow to cool a little.

Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy then add the egg yolks one at a time. Carry on whisking until it's smooth and creamy. Add the orange zest and juice, Cointreau and melted chocolate. Mix a little then fold in the flour and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form medium peaks then fold one large tablespoon into the cake mix to loosen it. Carefully fold in the rest of the egg white until fully mixed (but be gentle). Turn the mix into the cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean.

You'll end up with a dense, chocolatey cake that's wonderfully good warm with a large dollop of thick cream. I can feel a trip to the gym coming on just thinking about it. And the good news is - we've still got plenty left for today!

Weekend Treasury

We so enjoyed the recent TV series 'The Crimson Petal and the White'. Set in Victorian London, we followed the main character, a prostitute called Sugar, and rooted for her all the way. It was visually ravishing, even the dark stuff. I occasionally ruined the suspension of disbelief by exclaiming 'I just love the way they've kept her out of focus even thought she's now the one talking!'. Spoddy, moi? Anyway, when I could shut up long enough we loved the story, costumes, sets, jewellery, acting, well everything really.

I couldn't resist putting together a treasury of crimson and white, with a good dose of black. A slight difference from the TV series though - this is set in Paris and kind of took on a Moulin Rouge theme as it progressed. I just couldn't find enough Victorian London themed pictures on Etsy. I expect they are there somewhere but I really couldn't spend any more hours looking! Anyway, here is my Crimson and White. Let's hope we get more drama of that calibre on TV soon.

ara133photogra... $30.00	WanderkinPhoto... $25.00	olgaitaly $25.00	MADART $49.00
TCaponePhoto $30.00	SweetMagnolias... $148.50	JenBogartzStud... $275.00	kinsellaart $50.00
AmiKami $85.00	overthetopover... $85.99	twillypop $18.00	TwoBackFlats $70.00
labellefairy $399.00	locketsnlace $24.00	SkeletonsClose... $176.00	CorsetLacedMan... $295.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Steel cut

In my last post I mentioned a Victorian steel cut beaded purse I had just bought at a local antiques fair. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of steel cut beads before I picked up this little purse. That's one of the things I love about vintage - I learn so much all the time. It's also why it takes me a long time to list each item - I enjoy doing the research. Of course, I don't know what I'd do without the internet. I guess I'd have even more books than I do now!

I love this little purse. So faded and beautiful.

It turns out the French made a lot of delicate little purses and bags out of tiny metal beads which were chemically dyed, often in gold, silver and bronze.

Purses were made of other metals too so from now on I'll be carrying a magnet with me when I go shopping so that I can test heavy beaded purses and see if they're made of steel.

While on the subject of steel - I've also just listed this vintage carving fork.

When I see old cutlery like this I'm reminded of my Nan's great old knives - worn away to thin slivers after many years of use - all those delicious home cooked meals - makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

Home from home

My blogging has been a little sparse lately and for that I apologise. However, I haven't been twiddling my thumbs here at English Rose Vintage. Oh no. I've been a very busy bee creating a little work space all of my own. It must be a Spring thing - you know - feathering my nest. Just like the little black bird that keeps stealing bits of the matting I've got on top of my tomatoes. I went into the garden the other day and wondered what had been scrabbling about and throwing the matting everywhere. Then later I saw a bit fly across the patio from the corner of my eye and spotted the culprit. I thought I would save it some time and also prevent more havoc so I broke some of the mat into little bits and scattered them around. They had all disappeared within a couple of hours so somewhere around here there is a very cosy little nest!

Anyway, back to my little nest. I decided that I needed to get organised. I'm constantly adding to my collection and, as much as I would like to just keep listing things on my Etsy shop, I was in danger of descending into chaos. I had no particular place of my own and things were being kept all over the house. As I'm currently living with a relative (my husband is a full time carer) It had been a matter of making do and fitting in. The time had come though to shuffle about the furniture and come up with some more useful space. And here it is.

It may be small but it's all mine.

It's got shelves for my accumulated goodies and space for my sewing machine.

Everything looks so pretty and it's much more inspiring to have a little space of your own to sit and ponder what to create or list next. I can't wait. In fact, I may be so happy sitting here that I may be unavailable for other stuff - household chores for example!

As you can see from the pictures, I have plenty of treasures to list in my shop, including a gorgeous Victorian steel-cut beaded coin purse picked up at an antiques fair over the weekend.

I've just listed my first item on Ebay too - a wonderful portable vintage Imperial typewriter - Good Companion Model T. If you love the idea of typing up your letters or thoughts on something vintage do pop over and take a look!