Tasty finds... in an antique store.

My first boss -- the owner of a small graphic design studio -- would sometimes say, "Some people's taste is all in their mouth."

As that saying implies, there's more than one kind of tasty. And I recently had a tasty experience of the shopping kind.

In my world, a good shopping day doesn't always have to mean I bring something home. Window shopping can be just as enjoyable as actual shopping. And there's never any buyer's remorse.

(Although, to be honest, I didn't make it out of there empty handed. But I didn't take out nearly as much as I loved looking at!)

Having a bit of time to kill the other day, I stopped in Juliana Daniel Antiques, which is next door to Traditions, near Douglas and Hillside. (Wichita, KS) They have a fun assortment of items -- small to large, antique to mid-century modern, linens, clothing, furniture, kitchenware, etc.

Here are some of my fun finds.

Before I'd even set foot in the store, I saw this cute cafe chair out on the sidewalk. I love the pattern of the metalwork, and the bright happy color.

The next lovely that caught my eye was this unusual dress -- the tag said "turn of the century." It was sort of a coat-dress over a long skirt; the skirt was a hefty linen material and seemed to be in pristine condition.

Nearby was this cute vintage tin.

There were some vintage linens, as well. (Can you hear my heart go pitter-pat?) This is the area where I caved. I bought a lovely, pristine, white linen tablecloth with a wide blue border. So classic! And for less than $20!

I loved this bright, happy piece of fabric, too. I'm guessing it was post-WWII, or early fifties. I just don't have any purpose in mind for it, and that's hoarding, so it stayed in the store.

Two or three of these suitcases would be cute stacked up as a bedside table in a guest room. If I had one.

My parents had some suitcases just like this, but without the alligator texture. That's one thing I kinda wish we hadn't sold in the estate sale.

I almost didn't post this next item, because I sorta wanna go back and get it myself. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's a child-size Eames-ish chair. So cute! I'm sure it would be quite the rage on Apartment Therapy.

Fun, fun! And a (nearly) clean escape!

One-ingredient, gluten free, low carb pie crust (plus some cute dishes)

Disclaimer: If you're already familiar with my no-bake lime cheesecake shooters, you'll recognize that this post is a bit of a rehash, but I think this crust is such a problem-solver it deserves a post of its own.

This crazy-simple crust is made of: pecans! That's it! No butter needed. So it's completely gluten-free, pretty low carb, and you can be assured there's no weird man-made chemicals in it. (Pecan nutrition facts here.)

In the photo below, you can see two different blender blades that came with my bullet-style blender (currently my favorite kitchen gadget). The four-bladed piece (top center in the photo) chops things up from coarse to fairly fine, depending on how long you run it. The shorter, two-bladed one (on the left) minces things down to a fine powder or -- in the case of nuts -- butter.

In the pic below you can see the difference. The left-hand image shows the pecans after running them with the four-blade piece for a few seconds. This would work just fine for crust if this is all you have. But if you have the second kind of blade, you can grind the pecan pieces until they're so fine they begin to stick together, like in the image on the right, below. This gives you something with the look and consistency of a crust made of graham crackers and butter. Neat, huh?!

Then you just place a small amount of ground nuts in the bottom of your serving vessel, and tamp it down with the top of a bottle (securely capped and very clean, of course). I use these little shot glasses (actually votive holders form Hobby Lobby), and 1 tablespoon of pecan crumbs works perfectly. 

And you're done! With the crust, that is. Fill it with your favorite no-bake pie filling, chill, and you've got a healthy, easy -- not to mention adorable -- dessert.

Here are various dishes you could serve such in:

Cheap-o "shot glasses" (votive holders) from Hobby Lobby; you could also find these at Walmart, etc. I'm sure.

4 oz. Mason jars. If you keep the filling short enough, you can cap these for easy, spill-proof portability.

6-oz. Libby glass bowls with plastic lids. Ditto on the portability. 

Weck jars. Available in sizes from 3 to 6 oz.

Pricey but adorable individual pie pans. 8 oz; also available in olive.

(Disclosure: Some of these links go to my Amazon store.)

When "Sugar Free" isn't

I don't normally buy Cool Whip. It's not that I'm a food snob (okay, I kinda am), but mostly that A) whipped cream is not that hard to make, B) I trust whole food over manufactured food, and C) whipped cream tastes better!

But today I was making some lemon cheesecake desserts (the lemon version of my lime cheesecake shooters) to take to a shower tomorrow, but because of scheduling issues, they have to be done tonight. Whipped cream won't last that long. So I decided to go with Cool Whip for the topping, since it's very stable.

I grabbed a tub of the fluffy stuff -- the "Sugar Free" version -- and headed home. Then I read the label.

First ingredient: water. Second ingredient: corn syrup.

Are you kidding me?! It has corn syrup, and you're calling it sugar free? Is this even legal?

(The Harvard School of Public Health includes corn syrups on its list of added sugars in disguise. Corn syrup has been proven to raise triglycerides even more than and faster than sugar.)

Lesson learned: Always read the label -- before you leave the store!