Thursday, July 28, 2011

Vintage in my cabinet





I was first married in 1975 ~ gasp.
 I didn't know how to cook ~ gasp, gasp.

Whenever I tried to make gravy, it turned out lumpy.
Finally, my mom told me her secret was to use cornstarch.
She then gave me an empty coffee can to keep the cornstarch in.
(I know, don't end a sentence with a preposition, but....)

Fast forward 36 years, three houses later.
I now live in Roanoke, VA.
This is what I see several times a week.




H & C Coffee is a Roanoke based coffee brand, started in 1927 by two brothers Harold and Clarence. You can see some other views of this sign here on Flickr, with this daylight view by Debbie at PhotoVirginia.com being one of my faves. According to her caption “A few years back a group of citizens got together and raised thousands of dollars to repair and keep this sign in Roanoke”.

(I took the picture and this caption from an internet google search. I don't know how else to cite it. Can anyone tell me?)




Back to my cornstarch story:
After living here 5 years and fixing gravy once a month several times, 
I actually looked at that coffee can Mom had given me all those years ago.


I kept this coffee can for years because of the memories
it evoked whenever I saw it.
Isn't that the attraction of vintage today?
It brings back memories of times gone by.

What's in your cabinets?

I'm linking up to:
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/




4 comments:

brokeintrovert said...

I don't have anything good in my cabinets....Do you remember the cans that had the key? Spam comes to mind. My gravy is still hit or miss after all these years; I blame it on the cut of meat. I should try cornstarch.

Karen said...

I still struggle with my gravy, that's why I only make it once a year lol. I love that sign and its so sweet that you've kept that can all of these years.Visiting from French Country Cottage.

Poppy @ With a Dash of Color said...

Roasting a chicken is so much easier than making gravies..... lol! I like your vintage coffee can.... memories are so precious!Thanks for sharing and for your sweet comment on my burlap runner. Have a great weekend!~Poppy

http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

We love Roanoke and visit friends there as often as we can. What a sweet story about your coffee can. It is the memories behind things that make them even more special to us. I love to hear about the past lives or uses of things I buy at yard sales.