Rosemary Oven Baked Fries Recipe

For Christmas dinner this year we had Rosemary fries, steak and roasted vegetables (zucchini/onion/mushroom).  It may not be the most traditional holiday meal but it was perfect for us!

The Rosemary Fries recipe is quite easy and I was able to make the roasted vegetables at the same time so it was convenient!  But you don't need a holiday for these fries, any day would be just perfect. 

Rosemary Oven Fries

2-3 large potatoes 
1 Tbsp Rosemary 
Sea Salt
Olive Oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper (or aluminum).  Cut the potatoes into thin sticks, try to make them the same size.  Place the potato sticks in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil (1-2 Tbsp) on the top.  Mix with your hands to spread the olive oil.  Place the potato sticks on the cookie sheet and add salt and rosemary.  Bake 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.  If the fries aren't crispy enough to your liking after 40 min flip again and bake in 10 min increments until they look perfect (we like ours on the crispy side).

Serve alone or with your favorite dipping sauce.  Wishing I had leftovers right now!!

For more Fry recipes check out:

Turnip Fries

Roasted Turnip Chips

Rutabaga Oven Fries

Red Baked Potato Chips (SO GOOD!)

Fisher Price Friday - Happy Little Helicopter

Welcome back to Fisher Price Friday!  Today I'd love to introduce an oldie but a goodie, the Happy Little Helicopter #498 made from only 1953-1955.  This sweet little wooden pull toy makes a buzzing noise when pulled and has propellers on top that spin around.

Both sides of the helicopter have the same lithograph of a fuzzy teddy bear piloting the helicopter.   The yellow wheels are wooden as is the blue bottom of the top propeller.  The only plastic is in the propeller blades. 

The front and top of the helicopter are also covered with lithographs.  The front has a headlamp and windows reaching up to the top.  You can also see a smaller front (wooden) wheel.  My helicopter is pulled by a fabric string, I am not sure if it is original or not.  Most of the other Happy little Helicopters that I see no longer have their pulls strings!  It's possible that it should have a plastic string like other vintage Fisher Price pull toys.  If anyone knows please share and I'll update.  

The top of the helicopter has a big and small yellow propeller as well as a red and blue design.  The big propeller spins when you pull the toy, the little propellers only spin manually.

The bottom of the helicopter shows how it is made of wood.  Note that the underside of the helicopter has blue paint instead of lithographs.

It certainly is a Happy little Helicopter!  My helicopter is in great condition but I have to admit that I've been keeping it away from my kids.  It's 60 years old!  As a result I may have to sell it because I don't keep toys around here that the kids can't use.  

For more pull toys check out:

Queen Buzzy Bee #444

School Bus #192

Little Snoopy #693

Chatter Telephone #747

Milk Wagon #131

Bossy Bell #656

Downton Abbey is back - Is anyone still watching?

Season 4 of the acclaimed PBS show Downton Abbey returned last night.  But here's the question, is anyone still watching?

As you may know I was a big fan of the show, up until the end of Season 3 when it became "Downer" Abbey to me after so many sad-sad story lines.  There are only so many main characters that you can kill off in a series and still make it watchable in-my-opinion (unless it's a soap opera or Grey's Anatomy).

So...it was with much reluctance that I watched the first episode of Season 4 last night.  And.....I liked it.  I went on to watch the 2nd episode (you can find them online since they showed in the UK months ago) and it was even better than the 1st.  If you haven't seen the first episode you can watch it here on PBS. 

Shocking but I think they may be able to pull this off.  

So for now I tentatively remain a Downton Abbey fan.  How about you?  Which new characters do you like or not-like?  

And most importantly, did the show make you want to drink more tea? ;)

Fisher Price Friday - Fisher Price Christmas Gifts

We had a Fisher Price Christmas around here because my girls received lots of lovely pre-loved/vintage Fisher Price toys.  I love the idea of re-using and re-loving vintage toys with a new generation of kids.  Fortunately so far they do too!  Pictured above are a few of the favorites.  I'll be showing them in more detail on the blog in the year to come!

Here is a photo of our vintage fisher price ornament tree.  It's so full that I need to get a bigger tree to hold them all next year. :)

Now to show you two of my own special Fisher Price gifts that I received this year.  A lovely secret-Santa sent me the most marvelous hand-made bag.  Isn't it amazing?  Such detail and it has so many of my favorite toys!  It's a big bag too!

The back is just as cute as the front!

My secret-santa also sent me this beautiful custom bracelet from the Etsy shop The Hosford Housewife.  The Hosford Housewife doesn't have one like it in her shop right now (since it was custom) but you could send her pictures of your own favorite Little People (or vintage toys) and have one made.  I love the idea of making one that looked like your own family, or with castle people, or western people.  Oh the possibilities! 

So thank you again to my no-longer secret-santa Nancy, I LOVE my gifts. :)

As you can see it was a happy Fisher Price Christmas around here, I hope yours was too!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  May the new year bring adventure, treasures and lots of little people. :)

My little helper. :)