Take a trip to the I-O-W-A Ocean!

This weekend Matt and I will be making our annual pilgrimage to the one, the only I-O-W-A Ocean, otherwise known as Okoboji. The major summer holidays are filled with multiple flea markets in the Okoboji area and we both love a flea hunt.  Vick's Corner will be celebrating its 118th flea market, while Treasure Village and the Dickinson Co. Expo Antique and Flea Market will also be crawling with bargain hunters, junk pilferers, and antique junkies.  

In addition to the flea-trifecta, the Iowa Rock n Roll Hall of Fame will be holding their annual induction ceremony.  The schedule of events seems quite promising and I hope Matt and I get a chance to view some of the celebration.

And for those not familiar with the term I-O-W-A Ocean, check out Wally Shoop and the Zombies here (scroll down to the bottom of the list for a listen). 

photo link

Tea and Tarts

Last week I decided to have a little lady pampering party for a few friends. When I was planning the party, I really wanted to use these vintage display pieces that I had found recently. They are kind of like mini cupcake trees, but I haven't seen them anywhere else.

I began searching for dessert recipes that would be appropriate for the display tree and thought; Tarts! They'd be perfect. I eventually found a recipe on the Joy of Baking for Shortbread Tarts with Cream Filling, using blueberries for the topping, and they were delicious!

Here is the recipe:

SHORTBREAD TARTS:
1 cup (227 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (72 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch or rice flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
1-8-oz. (227 grams) package cream cheese - softened
1-14 ounce (396 grams) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

GARNISH:
Any combination of berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) or other fruit such as slices of kiwi.

Shortbread Tarts: Lightly butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, 36 miniature muffin tins (approximately 2 inch (5 cm) in diameter). Set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together (approximately two minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix just until incorporated.

Divide the dough into 36 even pieces and place one ball of dough in the center of each muffin tin. With your fingertips, press the dough up the sides of the individual muffin tin so there is an indentation in the center. Once filled, place the tart pan, with the unbaked shells, in the freezer for about 10 minutes so the shortbread can become firm. (This will help to prevent the shortbread from puffing up during baking.)

Bake for approximately 18 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned. About halfway through the baking time, lightly prick the bottom of each shortbread, with the tines of a fork, if they have puffed up. Check again after another five minutes and prick again if needed. Once they are fully baked, remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, remove the tarts from the pan. (These may be made in large quantities and frozen.)

CREAM CHEESE FILLING: In your food processor or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and process until smooth. Transfer the filling to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. It is best to make the filling at least a day in advance to give it time to become firm and for all the flavors to mingle.
To serve: Using two small spoons, fill the tart shells with the cream cheese filling. The filled tart shells can be made several hours in advance and refrigerated. Just before serving top with fresh berries or cut up fruit.
Makes about 36 - 2 inch (5 cm) miniature tarts.

Hometown Vintage Style

In postcards that is. Over Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I spent some time in Okoboji, Iowa at their various flea markets and antique shows/shops. We go antiquing quite frequently, but I've never really found any memorablia from my hometown, mostly due to the fact that Ossian is only home to 850 people.

Well in Okoboji I ended up purusing the booth of a woman with about a zillion postcards. She had the Iowa postcards separated by town and to my surprise found not only one, but three postcards from Ossian.

I guessing the top one was a stock "Good Luck" postcard, with the gold painted on later for which ever town wanted them.

The middle postcard has a house that looks very familiar, but has no clues as to its location. The writer indicates "I suppose you know this house without me telling you." Too bad you didn't tell me. I think it is a house on E Broadway, near the railroad tracks, but I'm not certain.

The colored house at the bottom I think is actually now on what is known as Becker Ave. The house still stands there and is home to some former neighbors. They worked on restoring the house and they might have even had a copy of this postcard, as the paint scheme is very similar to what it is painted now.

Any Ossianites out there recognize these homes? Do they still stand? Am I correct in their location?

It's Yellow!

And totally great!!!! I found this awesome table at an estate sale for $30! With the chairs! I was pretty excited to get it and love it in my kitchen. It happens to go well with the way I redecorated as well.

Re-decorating

This past weekend I decided it was time to clean. And by clean, I mean everything, dust, wash, mop, vaccuum, everything. And by doing this I gave myself the opportunity to redecorate everything. I decided to go with some fun bright colors since it is summer after all (the 90+ degree weather with crazy humid sure shows me that). Anyway, here are some pics of my redecorating!
There's my great little estate find (see previous post).

Print and photos by wmah! And you can buy the print at my etsy shop :) http://dameling.etsy.com/
And hey its me and my fam :)To see more pictures of my redecorating, see my flickr :)

Garage Sale Finds!

I found some great stuff this past weekend! Matt and I went out to West Des Moines so he could look at some records (he owns a record store). Although the records weren't good, my garage sale finds were! My first find was this awesome chair.

I found this at an estate sale for the grand total of $6! I love the back and the tapered legs! The upholstery is a little worn, but I plan on fixing that...maybe with my next find! This fabric was calling out my name when we stopped at another sale!

I found three unopened packets of this material of these great little birdies. Inside the packets were little instructions on how to make a tea cozy, typewriter cover, and telephone book cover, among others out of the fabric. It also came with some lime green fabric that matches the little green birdy perfectly.

And, finally my last awesome find!

This little tea pot was at the same estate sale as the chair. I couldn't pass up the little retro geometric shapes! It's a little more on the yellow cream side than the pictures show, but soon I'll be posting where I put my little tea pot!