I have a pretty big collection of vintage aprons from Duckie, my grandmother. (And by vintage, I mean the aprons that she used to use.)

There are a bunch of pretty hostess-y aprons, that look like you would never, ever want to get them dirty in the kitchen. Some are lacy, some have little frills, many have pockets. There are a few with little embroidered birds on them. When I can, I’ll take some pictures and post them.

In the meantime, I’m happy to see the resurgence of vintage (or at least vintage-style) aprons in the last few years. They seem to be everywhere. I can imagine my grandmother screeching at the thought of paying a lot for an apron, but here are some of the nicer ones I’ve seen lately.

Artgoodies has a bunch of lovely aprons and tea towels for sale at Etsy. Here’s her Block Print Nest Apron ($38).

Cupcakes anyone? Jessie Steele makes a fantastic collection of vintage hostess aprons. The Bib Audrey Cupcakes apron sells for $32.95. They also sell a bunch of kids’ aprons, and heavier-duty ones that you’d feel safer cooking in. Not to mention, they have a line of matching tea towels and pot holders.

I also kind of like this one (also $32.95 by Jessie Steele), which is made of heavy cotton and covered in a nice (and oh-so-informative) butchering diagram.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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A quick note on equipment. You’ll want an actual double boiler to make this. I’ve had disastrous results improvising one with a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water, mainly, I think, because of the long cooking time. If you don’t have one handy, well, you’ve been warned.

Duckie’s Rice Pudding

1 quart whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1/2 tsp. salt
golden raisins (very, very optional)
1 whole egg
1 additional egg yolk
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a double boiler. Cook over medium-high heat (enough to keep the water in the bottom of your double boiler at a good simmer) for 2-3 hours. This is quite a while, so replenish the water in the bottom of your double boiler as needed.

Beat together the whole egg and the egg yolk and add it slowly to the mixture in the double boiler. You’ll want to temper it so your eggs don’t scramble. Do this by adding small amounts of the hot rice mixture to your beaten eggs. Stir the rice and eggs to bring the temperature of the eggs up slowly, then add the whole thing back into the pot.

Cook for 2 minutes. This is to cook your eggs through and thicken the pudding.

Add 1 tsp. of vanilla and stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste and cool.

Keeps for about 4 days in the fridge. If it’s too thick once it cools, you can thin it out with a little cream.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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Follow the recipe exactly. There’s a ridiculously small amount of pasta in it, but trust me, it’s just enough. Also, I’ve only used thin spaghetti to make this, though I think you could probably substitute angel hair with almost the same result.

A note on equipment. You’ll want to use a very large frying pan, as everything in the recipe basically gets mixed in the pan before it goes in the oven.

Duckie’s French Spaghetti

1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
6 Tbls. butter
1/2 lb. ground pork (optional)
12 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/4 lb. thin spaghetti
salt
ground pepper
pinch of thyme

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large oven-proof casserole dish and set aside.

Step 1: Make the pasta
Boil the pasta in salted water until it’s *almost* done. It will cook a little bit later on in the oven, so this part is important to ensure your finished dish isn’t mushy. Drain it well, then pour it into your buttered casserole dish. Set aside.

Step 2: Make the sauce
While the pasta is cooking, get going on the sauce.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and saute the pepper, onion, and pork for 15-20 minutes over medium heat. You want the pork to cook through, and the rest of the ingredients to brown a little.

Add the tomatoes, stir, and saute for 15 minutes more.

Lower the heat to low, and add the cheese in by the handful, stirring until it’s all combined.

Step 3: Combine it all & bake
Pour the sauce over the spaghetti in the casserole dish. Stir it to mix well, then sprinkle the top with a little salt, black pepper, and thyme.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. After an hour, turn the oven off and leave the dish in the oven for another 15 minutes before serving. It should be a little bubbly and have a nice golden brown crust on the top.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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