Home is Where My Pyrex Is

The last four months of my life were completely consumed by a renovation and then a move into the newly renovated home. It's been a very exhausting experience, but also a true blessing layered with amazing learning opportunities.  Throughout that time I had 90% of my collection packed away and did my best to not continue adding more and more Pyrex to the pile of boxes (28 boxes :x). We've been settled in our new home for one week now and it's been wonderful. My Pyrex collection is out and ready to play.

I don't have most of it fully displayed because I've lost all of my plastic containers I used for stacking, but I'll aquire more in no time. I do have a new to me server that I couldn't resist jazzing up with my spring display.

The server is a family heirloom and I'm so lucky to have it. The side cabinets are amazing for storing divided dishes, which I've decided I have too many of. 

I'm thinking I'll give one away shortly through my Instagram account, @morepyrexplease. Stay tuned for more info on that. 

Now that the renovation and move are behind us, we have a cross country trip coming up where I hope to do more treasure hunting. I'm feeling so blessed and excited about life!

💛Beth

Soup, Chicken Noodle

Chicken Noodle soup has never really been my idea of a delicious meal. At least, not until I had an awesome homemade serving of it a few years ago. My mom, best friend, and myself road tripped down to Atlanta to spend a few days with my high school best friend, Ashley.  Let's take a minute to discuss how wonderful Ashley is. She's AMAZING.  She befriended me the day she started working with me at the dry cleaners. She is one of the funniest, sincere, and downright stylish woman I've met in my 28 years.  I can't get enough of her, especially now that she lives thousands of miles away. Well, Ashley got right to it after college and by the time we got down to see her, she was serving up a lovely dinner of homemade chicken noodle soup to us, her three boys, all under 3, and her husband. And let me tell you, that chicken noodle soup was a game changer. It was so simple, yet so tasty. I had never considered making homemade soup until that moment. Three years has gone by since that experience, and now I can't stop making soup at least once a week.

I've made this one a few times and I appreciate it because it's so simple. I used this recipe from food.com.  

I served it up in 441 cinderella Pyrex bowls because they are the perfect size, and the spout and handle make picking them up when the soup is steaming much more comfortable. 

There are only two of us for now, so we tend to have excessive leftovers from soup. I package a few in small mason jars to take for lunch and freeze the rest. 

Stay warm out there and snuggle up to a warm bowl of homemade soup soon! 

The Weekend Haul

This weekend was unintentionally one of the most lucrative weekends I've had in my year of collecting Pyrex.

We spent the weekend in Cincinnati and Dayton and I was not disappointed.  I attended a bridal shower with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and while we were in Dayton, my husband and father-in-law spent the afternoon scouring re-sale shops all over Cincinnati.   My husband has been incredibly supportive of my Pyrex problem and he has a great eye for pieces for my collection.  He scored me the 8 cup coffee carafe new-in-box.

He also came across this Snowflake oval casserole and clear  Pyrex for Westinghouse loaf pan with the knob lid. 

When we got back into town this afternoon, I had a yard sale on my mind.  My Instagram friend, Trisha of My Wicked Vintage, was having another yard sale within a mile of my house and she had at least one item set aside for me.  When I got there I was delighted to find all kinds of goodies.  It was her yard sale that I got the rest of the treasures you see in that first picture.  I love the promotional cinderella bowl and casseroles so much more now that I've seen them in person.  I'm delighted to have them and they look great in my china cabinet (picture to come soon).  

I'm really excited for the lime green cake pan as well, and I'm going to start putting a lot more time and energy into growing this set in my collection.  Next up, some pie pans.  I've been practicing making homemade pie and crust, so I'm due for some beautiful vintage pans. 

Ok, there's a lot more I want to talk about with these finds, but Breaking Bad is about to start, so it will just have to wait until next time. 

Happy Hunting, my fellow Pyrex fiends. 

When Shipping Pyrex Goes Wrong

One of the most convenient ways to add to my Pyrex collection is shopping online.   In the online Pyrex market the only thing I have to be selective about is how much I want to spend on items.   I've purchased from a variety of places including ebay, shopgoodwill.com and even Instagram.  All of which have been very lucrative and vital in the growth of my Pyrex collection.    Out of the dozens of items I've purchased this way, only once have I suffered any damaged items.   But once is heart breaking enough.  The item I lost was a Horizon Blue #403 2 1/2qt mixing bowl.  Luckily, the 401 and the 402 made it in one piece still.

Often when Pyrex is broken in transit, it's the fault of the shipper, however in this case, I do not believe that to be true.   I'm fairly certain that my USPS postal worker treated it like a kickball.  She doesn't tend to show us as tenants a lot of respect with any of our mail and the item was very well bubble wrapped.  Here's what I found when I opened up my package: 

Luckily, this was the first time I opted for insurance on since I've started buying online.  The cost of the item and the shipping was covered, but I haven't had the heart to bring myself to place another online order since.   In the meantime,  I'll be spending my time weeding my collection of items I'm not truly in love with.

French Daisy

This weekend my husband and I were lucky enough to spend time in Cincinnati where my husband grew up.  Our trips to Cincinnati are never long enough because there are so many wonderful people to spend time with.  We spent Saturday morning with his parents at an annual art festival called Summerfair.  This event is always held at an old amusement park called Coney Island.  My in-laws are a real riot so we had a great time.  They are also incredibly generous, so we are bringing home this beautiful wood bowl.

Woodturned bowl by Richard Ruehle

We spent the evening with some of our friends.  Our friend Andrea bought her very first house and we are so excited for her!   As a housewarming gift I gave her an adorable Colonial Mist mixing bowl set.

  

Colonial Mist Mixing bowl set

The house is a work in progress, but hopefully she will be able to put these to use  often in the near future.  In the meantime, they will sure come in handy for popcorn.

Sunflowers

The more into vintage Pyrex I get, the more of my loved ones join in on the fun.  A few weeks ago our awesome neighbors/friends acquired 3/4 of the Butterprint Cinderella mixing bowls set.  I had an extra 444, so I shared the love and gave it to them to complete their set.  Check out her awesome capture of this beautiful set here.

My mother has also joined in on the fun of collecting vintage Pyrex.  She was on an excursion with a few of her girlfriends last week and she picked me up these fabulous Sunflower casseroles.  

They go perfectly with my Daisy Orange-Yellow mixing bowl set!

Sunflower Casseroles,  Daisy Orange- Yellow mixing bowls, Daisy Orange-Yellow Refrigerator Set

Daisy Orange-Yellow Mixing Bowls

I tried getting out my DSLR this morning to truly capture all of their beauty, but I'm having trouble getting it to read SD cards, so it will be a little while before any high quality images are uploaded.  

Not only did my mom pick up those Sunflower Casseroles for me, but she also splurged on a Primary Mixing bowl set for herself.   She is pretty excited about rediscovering the practicality of this set and the beauty it brings into her kitchen. 

Pyrex this Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

I can't help but get emotional when I really start thinking about the importance behind this day.  I'll spare you all of that and say Thank You to those who served our country.   Today is dedicated to Pfc. Devin Grella.

We are getting ready to head over to my parent's house for a cookout and I'm so excited!  I don't get to see my family nearly enough.  Plus, I'm trying to cherish all of my precious time with all of my friends and family.   I baked some Chocolate Chunk Cookies with walnuts for the festivities!

404 from the Daisy Orange- Yellow Mixing Bowls

My 404 4qt  Daisy mixing bowl works perfect with my hand-mixer.   I use a melon scooper to easily scoop and size out my cookies. 

 503 Daisy Refrigerator Dish with the finished product

The cookies were delicious with the freshly ground walnuts.  I had to take a few out to put the lid on them, but this refrigerator dish is perfect for traveling with these delicious treats. 

Pyrex in Action

Here are a few of my Pyrex in action!  The black one with the snowflake pattern has mac and cheese with brussels sprouts in it, recipe from Brit.co.   I tried it in an attempt to limit my mac and cheese consumption, but it turns out, I really like brussels sprouts.

Snowflake Oblong Space Saver Casserole

The white bowl with the red birds on it is one of my absolute favorites!  This pattern is one of the most popular to collect, as it is so pretty.   I used it for a house salad that was served next to a crockpot roasted chicken.

Friendship cinderella bowl

There will be more pictures to come, so stay tuned!

Some of my favorites

I'd like to share some of my favorite pieces in my collections so far:

Orange and Yellow belong to the Daisy Refrigerator and Freezer
 Set, while the blue belongs to the Horizon Blue line.  

Horizon Blue Oval Divided Serving Dish

Here we go!

Over the last year I've discovered the beauty of vintage Pyrex and I'm ready to start sharing my journey with the world.   Not only is vintage Pyrex beautiful, but it's also incredibly functional.  There isn't a dinner that goes by that we aren't putting at least one piece to work.

Butterprint Refrigerator set and Butterprint Casseroles. 

My collection is still far from complete, but building it has become one of my favorite pastimes.  My journey takes me to thrift stores, estate sales, antique shops, flea markets, garage sales and church rummage sales every chance I get.   Often, working and life get in the way of getting to these brick and mortar locations, so I find myself utilizing the Internet for satisfying my desire.  Sites like ebay, shopgoodwill.com and Instagram are all excellent resources for finding these vintage treasures. 

There is a good chance we have a big move in our near future so instead of spending this holiday weekend adding to my collection and the items I have to worry about in the move,  I'll be spending it catching up this blog with my favorite pieces from my collection.