Each of them has a story before they landed somewhere and finally at the fleamarket. I think they are fun to collect. And without any particular reason, I just collected each of them.
I use them to store little things, needles, curtain hooks, etc. They are very handy and decorative and they create a big impact if grouped together on top of a dresser or side table.
Some of them were carved and I think the one on top came from North Africa. I would guess this one is from Morocco or Algeria or can also be Tunesia because of the way it´s carved. I have a wooden box with similar carvings that hide my box of tissue paper.
This box here is intricately carved and came from my husbands family... it was said that this was made by an uncle who´s bread & butter was to make all the mother of pearl buttons I featured on this blog. This box needs some restorations, the wood used is very soft and delicate...
This is a box I found at the flea amrket...the surface is with inlays partly out of mother of pearl shells and partly wood... they are common works seen in the Middle East.
This one here has a laqcuered-finish surface and was given to me by a friend... It is made in Vietnam.
Again, a box with inlays
The top of this one has a thin sheet of metal that was inserted into the wood to form the design ..
I presumed that the box above had been used to store cigars because it smelled of tabak when I got it from the fleamarket. The external wood surface is nicely treated with a marble like design.
A pretty wooden box that I got almost for free because the fleamarket dealer was about to go home. It probably had been a school project of a boy whose birthyear was 1967...
All of these boxes really cost almost nothing, but it´s fun to collect. Thank you for reading my blog today and wish you all an enjoyable weekend!
Til next,
Mercy
I´m the only daughter in my family of 5 brothers. As I was growing-up, I had the chance to see how my mom cooked....not that it was a privilege in my early teenagers days, but I seemed to have enjoyed it seeing how food was being processed.
While my girlfriends enjoyed playing outside, I was in the kitchen helping mom peeling potatoes & carrots, seeding the bell peppers, my mouth stuck with matchsticks to prevent teary eyes while cutting the onions...it´s the paraffin that creates a chemical reaction against the sulfuric acid of the onion, I was told. There are actually other methods to prevent sobbing sessions when cutting the onions...like, peel its skin under running water.. or have an exhaust fan running towards the onions while peeling and cutting them, that way the sulfuric acid is being scattered away from you.
My recipe below is a deviation of the sweet and sour pork filet being offered in a chinese restaurant, my mom´s version simply calls for more vegetables where the meat isn´t coated with flour... here´s how I did it....
Ingredients
- 1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained (juice reserved)
- 2 tbsps table vinegar
- 2 tbsps soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- Vegetable oil
- 2 medium carrots thinly sliced and then cut into elongated 2 cm x 2 cm strips
- 300 gramms of pork filet cut into thin strips ( see photo above)
- a bunch of spring onions, cut into 1-inch lengths
- 1 each red & green bell peppers cleaned from seeds, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1/2 head of broccoli stripped into flowerettes
Instructions:
In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup pineapple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup water. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook pork, in two batches, until well browned on one side, about 1 minute (pork will cook more later); transfer to a plate.
To skillet with 1 tbsp oil, fry the crushed garlic til golden brown, add the spring onions and bell peppers; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until peppers are crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes, set the spring onions aside.
Add pork to the skillet together with any juices left, then add broccoli, and pineapple chunks. Whisk the sauce and add this to skillet. Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring, until broccoli is heated through, around 4 minutes. Stir in spring onions , and serve with rice.
Wishing you happy cooking and a beautiful weekend!
Til Next,
Mercy
