~ Baking in Pyrex....

I have a odd attachment to this set of lime green bake ware from Pyrex. This lovely lime green square 8x8 Pyrex pan, is my favorite one for brownies.

The thing about the vintage Pyrex for me... is that I know how it will perform in the oven. No guess work. Preheat the oven to 350. Cook for 23 minutes. And I get a perfect set of brownies each time. 

And of course, I always bake them from scratch. That is if a package of Betty Crocker brownie mix and my favorite can of Baker's Joy counts as, from scratch. :)

~Farm Girl Pink

Vintage Pyrex shines in the news!

Christmas fudge in Pyrex, recipe here. 

I just had to pop in to share this article I just read, as it talks about newer Pyrex & Anchor Hocking compared with older, vintage pieces. Turns out, a recent study shows that vintage Pyrex is less likely to break and explode!

Here's a quote:

"‎"Not your grandmother’s Pyrex... Their article, published this fall in the American Ceramic Society Bulletin, concluded that the newer glass is far less able to withstand rapid swings in temperature than the older material, now used mostly in pans sold in Europe." "

Just one more reason to support our addiction, isn't it?

Read the full article here.

Merry Christmas!

Heather @ Lark & Lola

A good morning...

After not really looking very hard the past while for any Pyrex in stores, I decided to pop into our VV, where there's usually not much in the way of 'great' Pyrex finds - at least for me. Though, maybe my timing's been off.

So, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a lime pie plate, a Candle Glow (I know, not Pyrex, but I still like it) casserole with lid, and a Pyrex Early American gold on brown casserole all in excellent condition.

The lime pie plate is something I've been wanting for some time and I couldn't believe my luck, though it has a few marks on the lip's underside, which luckily do not show. All washed up, the three pieces are looking great.

I quite like the gold on brown Early American pattern, though I know it's not hugely popular. In the fall and winter months it suits the colder seasons.

I'm at the point where I'm selling my Pyrex pieces bought in the past that I'm not crazy about and only accumulating the ones I really like. Like many, I went overboard two or three years ago when I hadn't settled on the items I'd eventually prefer and collect. Now it's time to pass them on to others who'll appreciate them more.

On a humourous note, I had a friend over for coffee last week who's in her late sixties. She took a look at some of the vintage Pyrex I have on display in my kitchen and I asked her what she thought.

"Aren't they beautiful?" I asked, to which she replied, "Yep, I remember those. My mother used to have them."

And that, boys and girls, was the end of our Pyrex conversation...

I guess some people just don't see the beauty in them as we do! ;-)

Finally!

Here in the Great Northwest, there has been quite a shortage of decent Pyrex.  Sure I can still manage to come across at least 2 yellow Primary 404 bowls in a week along with a never ending supply of Spring Blossom.  But that all changed last week.  I managed to find some awesome pieces and I didn't have to go into one single antique store to get my fix!

My husband brought home the Colonial Mist 404 and I got the Old Town butter dish from a mobile home community rummage sale.  It was only 50 cents!  The Desert Dawn yellow 024 and lid were a steal from Goodwill for 99 cents FOR THE SET!  Crazy.

I got this HUGE 9" x 13" Snowflake Blue casserole dish and this 8" x 8" lime green square browning pan at the same Goodwill on the same day!  All of us Pyrex maniacs know that doesn't happen very often!

And let's not forget about the Butterprint refrigerator dishes and Family Flair dishes I blogged about earlier in the week.

Wow, what a week, huh?  Hopefully this is only the beginning.......

The Pyrex Gods Are Smiling...

I've had such good pyrex luck lately.
Found these beauties on my way to do a trade. I stopped in at my local VV at 2:30 in the afternoon and they were just sitting there. I couldn't believe my eyes. The 401 was 2.99 and the 403 was 4.99.

I found all of this one day... a JAJ black snowflake, an old orchard divided dish (which isn't a pattern I like, but, this specific dish is growing on me.) a clear fridgie (which I think is newer) a little blue, a red 402(both from the 1940s primary set, the red is for trade) and two pink cake pans that were ridiculously dirty with baked on gunk. I soaked and scrubbed and they look way better.

Got all this today; A woodland 441, a lime green pie plate and utility dish, a daisy divided with cradle, two red fridgies and 3 pink dinner plates!(they're in awful shape, but, I had to have them)
The Woodland has a funny story behind it. Well, It's actually kind of a sad story... It was awful, I picked it up and next to it was its mate, a 442 that had been dishwashed. Then if that wasn't enough I saw an older asian lady with a Gooseberry pink casserole dish in her cart. I went up to her and tried to explain that it couldn't go into the dishwasher, she smiled and nodded and muttered something in a very thick accent. Almost like she didn't understand me. I went off to look around the store for a bit in the hopes that she would put it back. No such luck. Oh well, Poor Gooseberry. Save the Pyrex!



If you want to see better photos or more of what I've got recently wander on over to my flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/lulubellevintage/
I hope you've all had luck as good as mine!
Happy trails!

First charcoal snowflake!

There it was, just waiting for me: a charcoal snowflake divided dish! It passed the "finger around the edge check for chips" test, and I gleefully plunked down the $3.00 required by Goodwill.

It wasn't until I was home and washing it in the kitchen sink, that I turned it over and saw:

OMG!! It doesn't say PYREX! A funny logo instead...

Of course I went right to the computer and found out that I had apparently purchased a piece of Crown Pyrex, i.e. made in England.

This piece is marked with just the crown, not the JAJ plus crown stamp, so if anyone knows about these marks, I would be interested to hear.

So now we have Pyrex of three nations: the Canadian-made lime cake dish was recently thrifted for $0.75; it was half-price week at that thrift store.

And finally, here is my January 2012 kitchen display of blues and whites (Snowflake Blue, Horizon Blue, and opal).

Happy 2012, and good hunting!

Verde, Fridgies, and Philbe--oh my!

My recent finds report!

After hitting up about 8 thrift stores this week {I have a problem} I *finally* found some decent Pyrex! This Verde casserole set is exciting for me because I found it in absolute mint condition. You know when you can just tell that a piece was never used? It's as shiny as the day it was born and there is not a utensil scratch to be found. I picked this set up for $19.99.

To show you how minty this set is, here I have the middle casserole next to an identical one I'd found ages ago, very beat up. I only paid 99 cents for it, though. 

 Speaking of 99 cents...

 I never find fridgies! But just as I was about to leave a Goodwill the other day empty handed, they bussed out another cart full of things to rummage through. After a little digging, I found these two Butterprint fridgies. Score!

Only one had a lid, but, check out these prices!

 99 cents each. Now that's more like it, Mr. Goodwill!

I was expecting to see $5.99 or possibly more, the way thrift stores have started to recognize collectibles and gouge us. So this was a happy surprise. 

Another Verde, another fridgie was destined to find me this past month, also:

 I'm thinking I'm going to use it to pile up my Christmas cards in this year!

This set is promised to a friend since I'm not a huge fan of Colonial Mist, but just one more bowl will make it a complete set. It was sold as a bundle, which I've been seeing more of lately--have you? It came with a sad, destroyed Daisy bowl:

Snowflake Blue, on the other hand, is one of my very favorites. I own almost the complete set of Corelle dishes which I've thrifted here and there. Those have been easy to find, but the actual Pyrex has been more elusive. Finally, I found the large Cinderella bowl recently, and a friend swapped me the casserole for a pink Dessert Dawn that I had multiples of. We both win!

 And I already owned the lime loaf dish, but I was excited to pick up the baking dish this past month, too. I love this color. It's so cheery. I will definitely hope for more of it...

One last thing!

So until recently I've considered myself a "Pyrex Purist." But then I started to fall for Fire-King's Sapphire Blue Philbe pattern. I'm curious if any of you other collectors pick up other glassware, or do you all just stick to Pyrex?

 I absolutely fell in love with this Sapphire Blue Philbe refrigerator dish I found recently! I snatched it up for $5.99. I didn't even know this pattern came in this size.

 I've also managed to thrift a pie dish and a casserole...

I just have a thing for this pattern, I guess! Are there any other Philbe collectors out there???

 I guess I'm a Pyrex Purist no more!

My husband is probably thinking, "Greeeaaat... another thing to collect!"

Merry Christmas!

Heather @ Lark & Lola

Latest Finds!

Hi there, My name's Dara and I am a pyrex newbie. I have been lusting after pieces in stores for years, but only seriously been collecting this past year. I am learning as I go (and as I pass things up!) I have only 7 pieces so far, and I am VERY eager to get out there and get some more! I'd see bowl sets and pieces and swoon over them, but convince myself  "You'll never use all these, you don't need this many bowls and casserole dishes!" .. I still have that mindset sometimes, but I am slowly getting over it as I begin to complete collections and fall in love with specific patterns.  :)

Anywhoo, enough with the chatter! On to the Photos.

My Collection so far:



I've posted these over at my own blog as well. A Very Good Coat Rack.
I enjoy drawing my pyrex too! A Tweed Fox
Thank you all for listening & reading, I LOVE looking at your collections. :) Take care and happy hunting!

En Francias?

Yup, that's Pyrex!

Have you ever spotted one of these?

I picked up two of these in a Goodwill today and was stumped. I saw the "PYREX" label in the middle, with a little flame above it. 

On one handle it was embossed "FRANCE" 

and on the opposite label is said, "474-L"

At the Goodwill I got on my smartphone, 

but I found nothing. 

So, I decided to take it home. 

 

I should have made the connection at home, 

but I didn't. 

French! 12 little holes...

This is an escargot dish, I finally discovered!

I bought both, because what else would I do?

And now they're for sale in my Etsy shop. 

Have you ever seen these before???

Next, today I found my second Spring Blossom #933, 

now I have two:

So I put one for sale in my Etsy shop as well. 

I find Spring Blossom Pyrex dishes like crazy, 

and it's not my favorite print, though I like collecting it for now...

And finally, I recently scored on the lime loaf pan. 

It came with lots of scratches and caked on food, 

but with a little Bar Keeper's Friend it cleaned up nicely!

Now it sits on my hutch, collecting little tart pans.

Weekend Hauls!

Spring Cleaning is certainly working in my favor! I am finding more pyrex than I can keep up with!

Have such a special place in my heart for this pattern.

This piece is a wee little dish.

Love all of it!

I can't seem to have enough carafes or New Dots for that matter!

Primary Fridgies!

Hope you found some good things over the weekend!

Two-day Pyrex Haul

It's been quite the Pyrex haul the last couple of days around these parts. Of course, despite hitting up multiple garage sales (there's been city-wide ones the past couple of weekends) I've had the best luck at the thrift stores. These Daisy cinderella casseroles (471 and 473) were found at a thrift with the one opaque lid for $3.

I couldn't pass up this vintage Anchor Hocking juice carafe that appears to match the Daisy perfectly ... all it's stripes are in perfect condition and it has the original plastic lid! Only $1 at the same thrift.

And also there was this rather sad looking little Woodland Fridgie 501 with lid for 75 cents. It had some strange white stuff covering it... that soap and water wouldn't remove. This is the before... the after is super shiny - Magic Eraser did the trick!

These two white beauties are my garage sale finds ... an Pyrex-stamped Hamilton Beach mixing bowl (super heavy and large!) for a quarter, and an Anchor Hocking loaf pan with a pretty (but unknown) blue floral pattern for $1.

Then yesterday, I found these primary yellow pieces! The top is the largest bowl in the primary set (404) and looks like it has never been used! It was $2.50 at a different thrift store. And below it is my other yellow find ... a 503 refrigerator dish that has seen PLENTY of use! With the lid, it was only $3, so it was hard to pass up. I did scrub it up good after this picture and it's pretty much without shine, but much cleaner!

I had passed up this same 043 oval casserole in Golden Acorn earlier in the day at a different thrift store as it wasn't in great condition and was $3. Apparently the Pyrex karma gods thought I should have this piece because it was at the next store, in great condition and marked only $2. So, I snatched it up!

And finally, I found this wonderful, pristine condition 8-inch lime green round cake pan for $2. The color looks a little funky in this shot, but I assure you, it's solid throughout without any sign of wear! There is nothing I love more than shiny Pyrex!

So, what have you been finding lately? Anyone having ANY luck at garage sales? It seems I've been striking out no matter how many I hit (and I've been at roughly 40 over the last two weekends).