Happy Birthday to Me!

Last week was my birthday and I always enjoy hanging out with friends and telling my husband we're eating at the Chinese buffet without question. My husband and I usually just buy our own gifts because I never know what I want plus I can give him a list but he still wouldn't know what I was talking about. He always just wants the latest electronic gadget so he got a new phone and a new plan. As a result I also got a new phone which he was very excited to tell me about all of the features I now have. I have so far used it to take 2 instagram photos and 2 videos. The alarm clock works well.

I behaved myself this past summer and avoided buying any Pyrex I wasn't crazy about just for the sake of buying Pyrex. I passed up a lot of avocado, browns and mushrooms. I'm sure someday I'll be kicking myself for passing them up but my cupboards (and husband) are thankful for it. I did splurge for my birthday and found a few pieces I love which also stick to my attempted color scheme for this cabinet!

I then got to spend the afternoon (er, a naptime) dusting, reorganizing and putting up Halloween decorations. Yeah, I'm a nerd and was excited to clean and rearrange for my new treasures...

 My mom gave me the first two: a Delphite Pyrex bowl and fun Wizard of Oz glass

Check out the mod little witch and tornado!

and some of you may recognize this as the mug from our antique outing I was ogling but it was $20!! I couldn't rationalize randomly spending that much on a Pyrex mug!

 

but then I remembered my birthday and I always want to spend a little more money on something unusual while still feeling like I got a good deal.  I'm not sure how good of a deal it was but it is something I don't see everyday.

My mom also found a small stripe bowl to match the big one from grandma's house.

 

I Picked out this juicer a few months ago. The tag said it works! but I have yet to try it. The top juicer part is glass so I would probably break it.

 

The Bluebird casserole got my attention not only with the color but the mod shape of the caddy. Frankie found the carafe at what he referred to as "the creepiest garage sale ever." Well, I'm glad he was brave to wander this guy's house because it looks lovely in my cabinet. The peanuts were my attempt to make it easier to see the pattern...

 

 The buffet area also got a fall makeover.

 

Some fall colored Pyrex and this year's Halloween Pyrex I came across at Target. I missed last years so I was happy to accidently find it this year.

 

The Hex Signs bowl I brought home and found it was the same size as my huuge Christmas bowl. I also discovered it originally came with the same lid and caddy which is fantastic because now I can stack away my Christmas bowl and not worry about where to store the huge lid and caddy!

French Pyrex and Chocolate

I don't usually do food posts. Heaven knows there are enough food blogs not to mention I mostly eat pizza and spaghetti so the variety would be lacking.
Last weekend I was scouring that estate sale for some interesting Pyrex. I discovered her stash in the basement store room and there was a lot but it was all crystal. How boring! I did pick through it and found this set.

as modeled by Cammie and some stray baby toys.

 

I'm guessing it's not that old, 70's/80's? Though I forget that's getting to be 30+ years old now!

 

This is the side which caught my attention as they are made in France. That and the handles are funky. I didn't find out much about my new set with a quick internet search...probably because they are boring crystal!

 

 

I wanted to break in my new dishes and decided to try my hand  at a brownie recipe I pinned on Pinterest last week which replaced the flour with black beans. Hmm, veggies in with dessert? The recipe I used is found here: http://honestcooking.com/flourless-chocolate-chip-brownies/ and I am sure there are others out there. One commenter marveled it still tasted like chocolate. Yeah, probably as it still has butter, sugar and cocoa powder! With that being said, I'm sure the calories are still up there but hey, you're getting some fiber out of the deal.

 

Well, it looks like the picture on the recipe's site so that is a good start. (I posed it in front of my counter display to provide some eye candy for those of you who don't care about my brownies)

 

and a texture shot. The texture also looks similar to their photos though I think I needed a bigger brownie for the final product photo.

 

They don't have a horrible flavor and they look relatively normal but they have kind of a gelatinous? texture and I'm having issues getting over this. The husband had half of one, first thinking they were dark chocolate which he doesn't like but I think the texture got him too because he didn't eat any more after finding out what was "wrong" with them. I probably won't be making brownies with beans in them again despite the fact it is a good idea to sneak some veggies into dessert.