Thursday, August 16, 2012

The hundred dresses

After a mammoth shop this morning I came home and reorganised the pantry - fascinating stuff I know.
It looks much better though.
Unbeknownst to me I have been stockpiling wholemeal pasta spirals of a particular size. Very specific isn't it? I have no idea why I have so much or why I keep buying it. I must have 2kg or more now. Don't be fooled by the photo, those glass jars are huge.
Have you ever cleaned out the pantry and found you've got an inordinate amount of a particular ingredient?

A little gem I picked up recently is this crocheted doiley complete with standing swan heads. It's the height of kitsch. I couldn't believe my luck. What better to pair it with than a footed bowl of faux candied fruit.

I also recently found this (supposedly) 1970s gumball machine, sans stand, this one would have sat on a shop counter. Remember they used to be outside every corner store.
We did have it full of lollies at one stage, but we've since eaten the whole lot.
I wish I could time travel back to 1982 and tell my 10-year-old-self, trying to jimmy more lollies out of one of these things at the North Street store, to relax. 'One day you'll own one yourself, then you can eat all the damn lollies you want, sweetie', I'd tell her.
Actually on my way back to now, Í may as well drop in on 1989 and tell my 17-year-old self to stop sun-baking and hit the books -  'this isn't a joke Miss'.
Do you remember the book called 'The Hundred Dresses'. I had it myself as a little girl and I recently bought it for Mim who is days away from turning eight. The story has aged well. She finished the whole book in one day and loved it. It was only when I was trying to buy it on-line that I realised what a classic 'The Hundred Dresses' is. You can even buy reading companions for it.
It's about a little girl who tells everyone at school she has a hundred dresses. She gets teased by the other girls because she wears the same old dress everyday. I didn't realise it the first time around, but it has an anti-bullying message.
I also discovered why my pseudonym is always 'Wanda'. You know how sometimes when you buy a coffee or a juice or something you need to give your name, which irritates me no end for some reason. I always say my name is 'Wanda'.
As it turns out, the main character in 'The Hundred Dresses' is Wanda Petronski. It obviously left more of an impression on me than I realised.

6 comments:

  1. Have just discovered that I have stockpiled cous cous. Packets and packets of the stuff.

    Not sure why.

    I love that your pseudonym is Wanda.

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  2. From my own experience you always seem to stockpile completely useless ingredients with a very limited use, like Cream of Tartar or bulgar wheat, or in your case, couscous.

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  3. Alison Tait from Life In a Pink Fibro did a blog post about her huge amount of Oils when she cleaned out her pantry. Laughed so loud because I could appreciate her situation ... a pasta one as well. Here is the link to Alison's post
    http://lifeinapinkfibro.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/how-not-to-clean-out-pantry.html

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  4. I stockpile weird stuff like rose water essence and baking powder.

    Love a clean pantry, congrats

    Is that book where she has all the drawings of the frocks??? Tell me the end! x

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    Replies
    1. Yes, she has drawings of a hundred dresses. I can't remember the end, but I'm going to read it again any day now and I'll let you know.

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  5. I hoard Kewpie mayonaise. Our local IGA doesn't have it so whenever I'm in a big supermarket I feel compelled to stock up.

    I have a bright yellow version of your swan head doily. I love it, but find there is something slightly creepy about all those little waving heads.

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