Doorknobs, Carrot Poodles and Rainy Day Fun

On the front door of our old house in Canada is a pretty brass door knob that Auntie bought at a rummage sale when she was 17 years old.

I kept it in my hope chest for 13 years, all the while dreaming about the pretty house and handsome husband I'd have some day.

When I turned 30 and married that handsome husband, aka, Uncle Jim, we bought a pretty house and together we installed that very same door knob on our front door.  It's still there, decades later.

Since you read The Auntie Times, smart, fabulous you, you may have gathered that Auntie is a tireless devotee of flea markets, garage sales and rummage sales.  Wherever I travel in the world I can sniff them out like a truffle dog under an Italian oak tree! 

As a useful life skill, Auntie knows how to say, "what's your best price?" in 6 different languages.  If that doesn't work, I clutch my chest and caterwaul about how expensive that little figurine or do-dad is.  That, I'm proud to say, I can do in 4 languages.

Saturday morning when it was pelting rain, I was looking for some second hand amusement and learned about a rummage sale just down the street. There's nothing like a bargain to brighten up an otherwise damp day.  I dug out an umbrella and off I went.  Curiously, it was being held in the very same church basement where I bought my pretty door knob decades ago.

Once I arrived at the church and after I shook off my umbrella and wiped my wet paws, I bolted straight to the book stand where I saw something that looked like goofy rainy day fun. "Festive Food Decoration for all Occasions" was the find of the day. It cost Auntie $2 and $2 was their best price!

It seems that the book's author, Ms Ostrander, was quite a prolific writer.  She penned her book, Festive Food Decoration, in 1969 and she then went on to write  a potpourri of other books:  Gadgets and Gifts for Girls to Make, Astrological Birth Control, and Performance Learning.  I'll need to keep my eyes open for them the next time I visit the flea markets.

I thought I'd give some of the festive food sculptures in Ms Ostrander's book a go.  After all, the rain showed no sign of stopping and I wanted to get my $2 worth.

I dug around in the vegetable crisper to check what I had on hand and decided to start with the carrot poodle.  I seemed to have a lot of carrots.

I used my kom kom knife from Thailand to make the fluffy tufts on the poodle's legs, tail and ears and stuck it all together with toothpicks just like in the book.  I felt like a mad scientist making a Frankenpoodle!  Once I finished the poodle, I made the potato car, an homage to Uncle Jim and his love of sports cars.  I think it brought a manly touch to the whole silly fun.

The rainy day zoomed by.

My dinner that night included poodle Carrots Vichy and boiled potato car with basil pesto. The poodle's head was particularly tasty mainly because of the pepper corn eyes and nose.

I'm looking forward to making Ms Ostrander's potato chip sculpture, "Crunchy Coiffure" for my next party.  You should try it too!

I'm not sure if that little book will last as long as Auntie's brass doorknob but it sure brightened up a rainy day!