TASTY BITES // roasted tomato + eggplant flatbread

Tasty Bites

photo flatbread.jpg

When we originally made this dish I don’t think I gave it enough credit. Sure, the recipe is quite easy to follow, and can be pretty quick to make. But it is so much more! We are talking classic flavors here. It really does not get much better than eggplant and tomato in our book, and this preparation is about as close to perfect as we can think of. Hearty and healthy. Tangy and full of flavor, but with minimal ingredients. What’s not to love? Pair these roasted veggies with your favorite flatbread, pizza crust, or even pita and you’ve got yourself an awesome meal. Honestly though, you could just skip the bread all together. Put it on your eggs, spread it on a sandwich, eat it on a cracker, dip a carrot in it. Hell, eat it straight out of the pan! It’s so deliciously versatile, you’ll figure it out after just one bite.

roasted tomato & eggplant flatbread

  • 1 med eggplant
  • 1 32oz. can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 Tb lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  •  your favorite flatbread, etc….

 

for garnish:

 

  • feta cheese
  • flat leaf parsley
  •  cilantro
  • toasted cumin seed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub a small amount of oil on a 9×13 pan. Slice eggplant in half lengthwise, sprinkle with kosher salt, and place skin side up on the pan. Combine together tomato, lemon juice and spices, add to pan. Place pan in oven and roast for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully scoop out the eggplant from skin. Add eggplant back to tomato mixture, mix well. Spread mixture onto bread/crust, top with feta and return to oven. Bake until golden brown. Garnish w/ parsley, cilantro, cumin seeds, and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Eat that thang!


Want more Tasty Bites? Go here. If you are on Instagram, be sure to follow @birdandclever for more delicious photos.

photo BirdCleaver.jpg

Retro Round Up:: Christmas in July!

Retro Round Up

Ho ho ho!!! Who doesn’t love being prepared?  Can you ever start too early to get on top of your holiday shopping? Exactly! In fact, I think I’m going to start looking for vintage holiday stuff now before they double in price in December. With that in mind I rounded up some darling vintage holiday cuteness for you all. Enjoy, my friends!

Check out this great home for the holidays sweater! I love the collar. From Etsy seller, Linda’s Time Compass.

Isn’t this robe perfect to wear Christmas morning to open presents in? From Etsy seller, Olive Road.

Who doesn’t love a good peter pan collar made of red corduroy?  We do! From Etsy seller, Bugeboo.

Everyone needs this book and this version of it is so darn cute! From Etsy seller, Muddy River Antiques.

This little Rudolf Christmas outfit is killing me with its cuteness! From Etsy seller, Tiny Tortoise.

Boy and girl twin vintage cuteness?  DYING! From Etsy seller, DOLKA.

This dress is ludicrously cute. I’m so bummed this isn’t the Peach’s size… From Etsy seller, Nesstiques.

OK–this Christmas stocking is truly perfection.  Hello Christmas tree hair do!  From Etsy seller, Miss Munnypenny.

Red + plaid + overalls = HOLIDAY MAGIC! From Etsy seller, Potato Cake Vintage.

This snow man night light will be perfect for those longer nights! From Etsy seller, Ismoyo’s Vintage Playground.

Happy Monday!

The Little Mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs

Vintage Pop Culture

photo WeekiWachee_0.png

photo WeekiWachee_2.jpg

Gather round friends, have I a special retro find to share with you today! The all but forgotten art of the Underwater Mermaid Show. Oh yes…feast your eyes on this:

photo WeekiWachee_25.png

photo WeekiWachee_7.jpg

photo WeekiWachee_8.jpg

photo WeekiWachee_6.png

Back in the 1950s in the sunny state of Florida, the Weeki Wachee Springs was a unique and popular destination, thanks to the beautiful mermaids who performed there daily. The attraction was created in 1947 by an ex-Navy frogman named Newton Perry. Perry based the show on an innovative underwater air hose breathing technique. He built an 18-seat theatre into the limestone at the edge of a spring and recruited pretty young girls to be his mermaids.

“Without masks, mermaids learn to take gulps of air from the hose, balancing the pressure on their ears and sinuses while being buffeted by a 12-mile-an-hour (19-kilometer-an-hour) current. They also learned to drink beverages and eat underwater.” source

photo mermaidB.jpg

photo WeekiWachee_28.png

photo WeekiWachee_10.jpg

Eventually ABC bought the property and created a much larger 200 seat theater. This unique underwater theater was embedded in the side of Weeki Wachee springs 16 feet below the surface. The glamorous mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds who thrilled to the sight of these underwater beauties.

photo WeekiWachee_14.png

photo WeekiWachee_20.png

The “mermaids” captivated the crowds with a variety of themed shows with elaborate props, music, and story lines — Underwater Circus, the Mermaids and the Pirates, and Underwater Follies. They even performed underwater renditions of classics like Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Snow White.

photo WeekiWachee_18.jpg

photo WeekiWachee_13.png

Being a Weeki Wachee mermaid was considered quite the honor, with girls coming from as far away as Tokyo to try out for the privilege of becoming a mermaid. The mermaids were treated like royalty wherever they went in Florida. And who wouldn’t love to be seen with these beauties???

photo WeekiWachee_16.png

photo WeekiWachee_12.jpg

photo WeekiWachee_35.jpg

The attraction was a definitely a family affair with guests of all ages heading to this quirky destination:

photo WeekiWachee_17.png

photo WeekiWachee_24.png

photo WeekiWachee_31.png

photo elvismermaid2.jpg

photo Elvis_mermaid1.jpg

Even celebs couldn’t resist heading the mermaids— Don Knotts, Esther Williams, Arthur Godfrey and even ELVIS all paid a little visit to the Weeki Wachee (the name kills me….could I possible say WEEKI WACHEE more times in this post??).

photo WeekiWachee_a.png photo WeekiWachee_b-1.png

photo Mermaid_1.jpg

Amazingly you can still travel to the Weeki Watchee(ding ding ding!) and see the mermaids. The New York Times also visited recently and has an video of the current show. You can check it out here. Have you ever been to see the mermaids??

Too busty for that blouse? Try this trick!

Crafts + DIY, Dottie's Kraft Korner

There is nothing I love more than a cheery button down shirt dress.  The buttons and placket are a wonderful fashion design element as well as, of course, practical.  Button down shirts have been considered a wardrobe basic for the past 100 years and I don’t see that trend changing anytime soon.  The button down shirt was originally invented for men but quickly became popular with the ladies. Of course, there are  two things *ahem*  that get in the way of making a button down shirt lay flat, looking great on women, if you get my drift…

Friends, I am a busty lady.  I have more curves than Lombard Street and I LOVE a good, flatteringly cut button down shirt.  I also have a complete and utter weakness for shirt dresses. I simply can’t say no to one. However, if I find a shirt that fits over my chest, it is usually too big everywhere else—covering my tinier waist and making me look like a block of cheese. And really, looking like a block of cheese has never been big on any girl’s fashion agenda.

I’ve also found that most shirt dresses/button down shirts look great when you are standing in front of the mirror, but as soon as you sit down, they’ll gap awkwardly. Or sometimes, they’ll just gap awkwardly regardless.

I’ve tried pinning them shut, but that can create its own problems. And I’ve tried those little long pieces of two sided sticky tape, but they pop open and I’m constantly buying more tape, so I’ve come up with this great solution that has made all the difference: SEW IT!

Here’s the way I tackle sewing a button front shirt/dress:

IMPORTANT NOTE! Before you sew it up, make sure you can get out of the shirt/dress without undoing the buttons. This is the most essential step!

1) If you have one, change out the sewing foot of your machine to the narrower zipper foot, it will make sewing around the buttons so much easier, but if you can’t or are too lazy like me, just take great care sewing around the buttons.

2.) Starting from the TOP of the shirt*, place placket buttoned up on sewing machine and hold it tight so, there is no slack. You CAN put pins in to hold the pattern in place.

3.) Very very slowly, start sewing close to the edge of the garment in a straight line, easing by hand the buttons around your sewing foot.

4.) Finish and wear with joy!

*If you are working on a half shirt dress, which buttons only on the blouse part, I would recommend starting from the waist and working your way upward to the collar.

If you are a perfectionist (and I salute you if you are!) I would recommend taking the buttons off, pinning the placket closed and then sewing it up and then sewing the buttons back on.

You can also take your dress/shirt to your local dry cleaner and they’ll do it for $10 or so.

Now you can go out and wear those shirts and dresses you’ve been passing on wearing and actually WEAR THEM!

 

widdle wednesdays // the great outdoors

Widdle Wednesdays

photo WiddleWed1.jpg
What’s up friends! It’s Ashley here. This week’s picks are inspired by awesome naturalist John Muir and the great outdoors. Let’s get to it!

photo camping1.jpg
photo camping2.jpg

SHOP IT OVER HERE: one + two + three + four + five + six + seven

We’ve been dying to take the kids camping. We have a large bin in the garage neatly labeled with all of our camping gear in it. So, what’s holding us back you ask? I’m concerned it won’t be enjoyable, and rightfully so. I think Hooper could enjoy himself, but any toddler is always a wild card. Van, on the other hand, is still a handful. For starters, he’s still crawling and putting everything in his mouth. It makes my back hurt and the wipes in the cupboard disappear before my eyes just thinking about how much I’ll have to lift him up and wipe him off.

What do you guys think….at what age are kids good candidates for camping?? I remember when Alix wrote about taking Wolfie camping for just one day. That could work. I’d love to hear your experiences!

photo Stork_signoff.png