Jackerz, Fermented Grape Juice, Vintage Pyrex, and Tea Time with Normie

Julie Andrews, I think your favorite things are adorable; however, my weekend in Elmira with Lydia and the rest of the Harkness gang brought me back to some of my old favorites and a few new loves.

New Love: Meet Jackerz

Can you fall in love over a weekend? I did. Jack (or Jackerz as he is affectionately known) is Lydia's furry son. He is one of the sweetest, most well behaved puppy's I've ever met. He doesn't even demolition kitchen wall's with his rump like my own giantess. More on this another time. Jackerz was my inspiration for re-enrolling said giantess into a refresher course of puppy school and trying out doggie day care. Lydia and Shawn swear by it! Again, love love love this pup.

Old Love: Fermented Grape Juice

What a whiney weekend! (Would it be a pepper&poppy post without puns?) Lydia, Shawn, and my ever lovable PA mama Betty Lou went wine tasting at over seven wineries and one whiskey distillery on Saturday. We started our day at Chef's for a french toast breakfast and continued onto lake country in the Bou-mobile. We braved the snow and tasted Finger Lakes' finest "fermented grape juice". We even stopped in Watkins' Glen for post wine lattes and moccasins. Okay, not everyone got moccasins, only me. How fun would a group moccasin purchase have been?

List of Wineries (Not necessarily in order, it was a long day...)

Liedenfrost (Log Cabin White for my Betty Jean and Gewurztraminer for me)

J.R. Dill (Home of Jabber Waulkie wine and a sea glass bar top! So cool!)

Finger Lakes Distillery (No purchases, just warm, squinty faces. Maple Jack whiskey was rough.)

Rasta Ranch (Home of Piece of My Heart and Arlo's Apple, think liquid apple pie!)

Penguin Bay (15.00 three tier turquoise and yellow wine rack! A bottle of Tuxedo Red for Tricia Gail, a close cousin to The Deadliest Red)

Lakewood Wineries (Got the award for the best bartender, he talked to me "real slow like" because Betty Lou told him I was from NJ. I got something in a pretty frosted bottle?)

Pompous Ass Winery (I am not making this up. I got a bottle of Pretentious Port for brother Brian. He loves port and he is oh so pretentious.)

Fulkersons (Free fondue! Also a very cool gumball machine, did I buy anything here? I know I debated purchasing cupcake measuring spoons but resisted.)

New Love: Vintage Pyrex

This weekend, I discovered I love vintage pyrex. This weekend alone, I collected four pieces from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Lydia gave me a tan bowl with a hibiscus-like print and a white plate with a bright green border (methinks a cake stand is in the future of this piece) I also picked up two casserole dishes at "the boutique" with Stephanie. They are all lovely and I'm already making up excuses to use them like, wouldn't a sliced up apple and cheedar cheese snack look great on this pyrex plate?

Old Love: Tea Time with Normie

This is a little harder to write than I thought it would be. One of the best parts of becoming friends with Lydia at KU was getting to know her wonderful family. My favorite part of going home with Lyd to PA was visiting her grandpa, Normie. Each time I visited, Normie had us over for tea and cookies. Once, he even cooked us a pot roast! Lovely Normie passed away around Christmas time this year. It was pretty sad to think we wouldn't get to have tea or cookies with him anymore, however, after this weekend, I learned that this was only half true.

Lydia arranged for a trip to the Elmira salvation army when I told her I would like to go thrifting during my visit. When I told Betty Lou about my cakestands, she suggested Lydia take me down to Normie's house to go through some of the old plates and things that they were going to auction off. The trip to the Salvo was deemed unnecessary after we browsed around Normie's old store.
My favorite find in the store was a set of teacups and an orange tea pot because it reminded me of when the three of us would get together for tea. This teapot and teacups are now proudly displayed in the apartment of Laurie from NJ. I miss Normie Harkness more than "knee deep to a tall indian", one of his favorite expressions.

Last words:

Discovering new loves is almost as wonderful as revisiting old ones, driving home on Rt 80 is not wonderful at all.

I now have a crush on a store in Corning, NY called Corning Stitch Works. My bank account was safe until I found out the owner has a shop on etsy.

Is it spring yet?

-L

P.S. This unruly pup's rump is available for hire if you're thinking of doing a kitchen wall remodel.

Contact Info: 1-800-DEMODANE, just say the word, and she will wreck whatever your heart desires, with the whack of a hipbone.