Crazy Crafty: That's MISTER Potato Head to You!!!

I don't know if "Potato Head" has ever been used as an ethnic slur against the Irish, but I think it is high time that the Irish, and those of us who boast some kind of vague Gaelic heritage (mostly by way of seasonal, marathon viewings of The Quiet Man (1952) and Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), claim the term as our own.  An entire corner of the toy industry was founded on transforming the humble potato into a thing of greatness and that, as they say, is no small potatoes!

Invented in 1949, with distribution by the Hasbro toy company beginning in 1952, Mr. Potato Head has been a mainstay of toy store shelves for nearly seventy years.  Right up there with the Easy Bake Oven, old Mister Potato has never experienced a season of famine.  Year after year, the farmers at Potato Head Farms must supply a bumper crop to keep up with perennial demand.  Using the 1949 toy/craft as inspiration, I set forth on our St. Patrick's Day Crazy Crafty!

It was obvious from the image on the front of the original "Mr. Potato Head Funny Face Kit,"
that making Mr. Potato Head a leprechaun was not going to be too big a stretch.
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The original Mr. Potato Head Funny Face Kit included only prosthetic appendages and accessories, requiring the use of an actual potato.  Not until 1964 did the kit come complete with the lumpy, plastic potato body, so well known to folks of my generation.  Always one to bring a little vintage wacky tacky stylings to the holiday proceedings, however, I decided to go old school and craft a homemade potato head with only materials I could find around the house - including fresh produce.  While challenging in its own right, finding a picturesque potato would prove to be the easiest part of this holiday craft.

I mean, have you ever sewn shorts for a potato?
Authoring this blog has taken me down some roads of questionable creativity, but this was a first.
The eyes are made of layered buttons.  The hat, ears, nose, glasses, and shoes are made of paper.
The eyebrows and muttonchops are made of unraveled yarn, while the belt is grosgrain ribbon.  The
legs are made of wire wrapped in yarn and the pipe is made of a bamboo skewer, paper, and a cotton
ball.  And who needs arms when you have the luck o' the Irish and the magic of the leprechauns!
I was particularly pleased to be able to use my grandmother's pot as our little leprechaun's pot o' gold!

This potato has eyes!!!
Speaking of eyes, I think I have unwittingly discovered how I want my next pair of specs to look.
Can someone please manufacture these glasses in a size suitable for the world's largest potato head?

Did you ever play with Mr. Potato Head or his lovely wife?  According to Wikipedia, Mr. Potato Head was the first children's toy to advertise on television.  Obviously, the strategy of marketing directly toward children was a winner.  Lo, this many years later, children (and the perpetually childish) continue to play with their food, making funny faces with Mr. Potato Head!

An early commercial for Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head Kits

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Kitsch-en Kounter: Tricky Dick's Irish Trifle

St. Patrick's Day always makes me wonder what the Irish think of our antics - the mad rush for corned beef brisket, the boiled cabbage, the marshmallows and instant pistachio pudding...  That's part of everyone's St. Paddy's dinner menu, right?  Well, it always is at our March 17 festivities.

Among the many other offerings that have little-to-nothing to do with genuine Irish cuisine, a healthy concoction of non-dairy whipped topping, pistachio pudding, crushed pineapple, and marshmallows that we so cleverly refer to as "Green Fluff" takes pride of place next to the dyed-green beverages and other obligatory St. Patrick's Day staples.

"Green Fluff"
While recipes vary, this is the basic ratio that we generally use:
1 - 8oz. tub of non-dairy whipped topping, 1- 10 oz. can of crushed pineapple,
1 - 3.4 oz. package of instant pistachio pudding mix, 1 1/2 Cups of mini marshmallows.
(In a stroke of further Irish fakery, I added some shredded coconut because I had a little left in the pantry)

In looking up information on the origins of this dessert (my grandmother was creative but with a blender absent from the necessary tools for this recipe, I knew it couldn't have been born of her imagination), I discovered that Green Fluff is an American creation of 1970's pedigree, better known by its era-appropriate moniker, "Watergate Salad" (leave it to our great nation to define something with negative nutritional value as a salad).

Kraft Foods lays claim to the creation of Watergate Salad but I like to believe the version of events that gives credit to a crafty sous-chef at Washington, D.C.'s own Watergate Hotel...yes, that Watergate Hotel.  Upon further investigation, I learned that there was also a recipe for a pistachio-pudding-based Watergate Cake.  As if Watergate Salad wasn't scandalous enough, my favorite one-liner about the cake is that it has "a cover-up frosting and is full of nuts."

Mmmmmm...green cake.
Much like the salad recipe, recipes for the cake have slight variations but are at their
core an easy combination of pre-made ingredients - cake mix, pudding mix, soda pop.
To unify the flavor profile, I added some drained, crushed pineapple to the mix.

wacky tacky is proud to remain politically-neutral on most occasions; as Richard Nixon's name generally elicits discussions of corruption and unsavory political practices, we thought it would be more fun to implicate him in the sweetness of our own culinary crimes.  Combining the frothiness of Watergate Salad with the green glory of Watergate Cake, we imbued our St. Patrick's Day dessert with the spirit of President Nixon (of Irish descent on both sides of his family) and created "Tricky Dick's Irish Trifle."

"Tricky Dick's Irish Trifle"
I am ever tempted to elevate kitschy recipes by upgrading ingredients (real
whipped cream, freshly-shelled pistachios, etc.) and implementing more
finesse.  It is then that I remember the old saying, "That would just be putting
lipstick on a pig."  And everyone knows, a fresh-faced pig is the purdiest pig.
Therefore, I just load on the inappropriate toppings like gummy lime wedges
and pearly-green Sixlets.

"I am not a crook!"
This kid can handle his scandal.
Once he deemed it edible, everyone
 dug into dessert with gusto!

Seriously, one taste of Tricky Dick's Irish Trifle and you'll be ready to chase the snakes out of the Emerald Isle, swim in a green river, exchange strands of plastic beads (since when was SPD reduced to Irish Mardi Gras?), and enjoy all of the other "traditional" activities for which St. Patrick's Day should be celebrated.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Kitsch-en Kounter: The Luck O' the Irish

It is possible that I've mentioned it here before, but my paternal grandparents were absolutely enchanted by the Emerald Isle.  Having seen The Quiet Man (1952) one too many times, my Yugoslavian grandfather and his Swiss wife named their kids Patrick Joseph, Jeffrey Logan, and Michael Anthony. If they'd had a daughter, there is no doubt in my mind that her name would have been - now you have to imagine this in my best John Wayne impression - "Mary Kate....Danaher."  Yep, they totally would have changed their last name to accommodate the ruse.

The Quiet Man (1952)

A wonderful movie starring John Wayne & Maureen O'Hubba Hubba...err...O'Hara

Committed to their charade, we were raised on a strong Irish-American diet of corned beef, boiled potatoes, and malarkey.  Carrying on in the faux-Irish tradition, I decided to turn to the March issue of Every Woman's Magazine from 1952 (the very same year that The Quiet Man was released) for some wacky tacky St. Paddy's inspiration.

Every Woman's: The Woman's Guide to Better Living - March (1952)

I was anything but disappointed to find a fitting recipe for our type of St. Patrick's Day festivities (totally devoid of actual Irish heritage).  I daren't fiddle with the traditional fare, but our dessert course allows for the taking of some liberties; Mary Alden's St. Pat's Peppermint Candy certainly fit the bill. 

I was sold by the first check mark; "So easy - youngsters can make it!"  I 'll take Mary Alden's word for it.
If a youngster can do it, then chances are I will think I can do it and then be shocked at my own ineptitude!

As it turns out, May Alden was not only the Director of
Home Economics for the Quaker Oats Company, she
 was a successful cookbook author.
Mary Aden's Cook Book for Children is now on my wishlist!
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Full disclosure:  I used generic crispy rice instead of the called for Quaker
Oats Puffed Rice; I didn't even know they still made the stuff.  Crispy Rice may
be an adequate substitute but "Shot from Guns" it ain't!  Looking more like
Fruity Pebbles than Rice Krispies, I decided in retrospect that I should have
shot the works on name-brand cereal and upped the Irish ante with Lucky Charms! 

As per usual, the outcome of my culinary effort is decidedly less spectacular than my initial desire.  Although, I'm not sure what I had hoped for as my St. Pat's Peppermint Candies look very similar to Mary Alden's.  And really, how life-changing are crispy rice squares supposed to be anyway???

One thing I might change for future St. Patrick's Day sweets is crushing
the peppermints finer.  Allowing for larger pieces of candy (so more of
the green would show) also allowed for the possibility of a broken crown!

Because Mr. Tiny is hopping a boat for a weekend wedding, we decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little prematurely and everybody dug in; the consensus was that Mary Alden had a pretty bright idea when she added crushed peppermints to the standard, rice square recipe.

By the look on his face, I knew I had at least one raving fan!

Do you get creative with your Rice Krispie treats?  What is the craziest thing you've ever added to the mix?  Whether your St. Patrick's Day is spent with all the "traditional" fixings or with a few pals down at the pub, we hope that this March 17 brings you all the luck of a rabbit's foot, a penny, and a four leaf clover!

"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" - Art Mooney

Cheers & Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! St. Paddy's Day Special: My Pretty Irish Girl

June Haver wishes you Good Luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!  Mr. Tiny is currently laid up, so no Irish escapades on the docket for today.  The little sis, on the other hand, was invited to a very special wedding shower for our friend Dollie DeVille.  Since the shower was booked for March 17, Mary needed a frock suitable for both a daytime shower and St. Patrick's Day.

My obsession with classic films once again came to the rescue when I pulled from the fabric stash a fabric envelope full of curtain panels.  

The Von Trapp children in their curtain clothing

The Scarletts in their finest drapery duds.

Inspiration via The Sound of Music, Gone With the Wind, and even The Carol Burnett Show coupled with a single, discounted, curtain panel from Anthropologie gave me enough of a head start to create a new dress for Mary.

Mary has it styled as a late 40's-early 50's day dress with
matching basket purse!

As with all of my best-laid plans, the idea to take some nice photos of the dress in a more verdant atmosphere was foiled by the rain we're experiencing today.  So all we got were a couple of snapshots in the kitchen!

A close-up view of the green, rose print

Beyond the color of the print, I felt like I was a bit of a "greeny" after making this dress and purse.  Firstly, I recycled; the dress is made out of just one reused curtain panel.  Secondly, I used every part of the animal - you know, like the Indians.  The curtain had an attached valance piece with pom-pom trim that I used for the purse.  As I mentioned, the curtain panel came in a fabric sleeve/envelope with buttons which I used to make rosettes with button centers to further adorn the basket purse.  

Mary was not taking her modeling job very seriously.
I think she was upset when I told her that there was no
way she was going to get pinched with that much green!

We are not Irish, but there was no telling that to my Swiss & Yugoslavian grandparents.  They gave all of their children good, strong, Irish names like Jeffrey Logan and Patrick Joseph.  They also raised us on films like The Quiet Man and Darby O'Gill and the Little People.  Therefore, no St. Patrick's Day is complete without hearing Sean Connery sing to Janet Munro.

"My Pretty Irish Girl" - Darby O'Gill and the Little People

The prettiest Irish girl that ever was or ever will be is Maureen O'Hara.  For me, she tops the list of the most gorgeous and fiercely feminine women to have ever walked the planet.  After working together on the movie, Dance Girl, Dance, Lucille Ball was quoted as saying that she thought O'Hara was the most beautiful woman in the world.  I like her because she is beautiful, yes, but also because she is strong and full of character.

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“Being an Irishwoman means many things to me. An Irishwoman is strong and feisty. She has guts and stands up for what she believes in. She believes she is the best at whatever she does and proceeds through life with that knowledge. She can face any hazard that life throws her way and stay with it until she wins. She is loyal to her kinsmen and accepting of others. She's not above a sock in the jaw if you have it coming.”
― Maureen O'Hara, Tis Herself

The feisty, Irish temper could be the most attractive piece of the puzzle!
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Cheers & Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Mr. Tiny