I recently sold this army of small ceramic owls. Each one had a single hole on top of his head, and a set of holes in his back. Each also had a rubber stopper on the bottom. I to would seem quite clear that these were designed as shakers of some sort. Then comes the realization that the salt or whatever else you might wish to sprinkle out the hole on top, simply falls out the holes in the back, rendering this a pretty useless shaker!
Second Mystery
My suspicion is, that this one is relatively straight forward. Apparently I’m just not that straight forward! I have a guess or two, I’ve just yet to find any proof that my guesses are either correct or incorrect. One of these is marked "CALIF US" on the bottom. I don't think these are a matched set.
UPDATE - MYSTERY SOLVED!
Thanks to Rachel from TheCuriousCrow I now know that these are Coeur a la Creme molds. Coeur means "heart," in French, and so the molds are the traditional heart shape. The molds have holes in the bottom, for draining excess liquids, and should be used with cheesecloth, to contain the cream cheese, or cottage cheese. Be sure to place the molds on another dish, to catch the liquids.
Here's a recipe
Courtesy of Fantes Kitchen Wares
Coeur a la Creme with Sauce
Makes 6 servings.5 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1.5" piece vanilla bean
or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 pint strawberries
1/4 cup sherry
3/4 cup currant jelly
Soften the cream cheese and beat with an electric beater.
Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the cheese.
Continue beating, adding the sugar gradually.
Whip the cream until stiff and fold it into the cheese.
Rinse out six pieces of cheesecloth in cold water and use them to line six small coeur a la creme molds.
(Or one large piece of cheesecloth to line the large mold.)
Spoon equal portions of the cream mixture into the molds.
Bring up the overlapping ends of the cheesecloth and fold lightly over the top of each portion of cheese.
Chill thoroughly.
Meanwhile, trim and rinse strawberries.
Drain.
Blend the wine and jelly and cook over low heat, stirring, until blended and smooth.
Combine with the strawberries.
Unmold the cheese onto chilled dessert plates and serve the strawberries and Creme Fraiche on the side.
Pass a sugar bowl for those who wish it.
Creme Fraiche
Makes about 1 cup.1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
Combine the cream and buttermilk in a jar with a screw top.
Secure the top and shake the mixture for a second or two.
Let the mixture stand 8 to 12 hours, or until the cream is lightly thickened.
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Owls
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I love a mystery!
ReplyDeleteThe owls are sachet hangers. You fill them with smell good stuff (I think they used to make scented sachet beads). The hole at the top is for a hanger. You could fashion one by attaching a stiff piece of wire to a ribbon - stick the wire through the hole and then let it catch on either side.
The hearts are molds for making coeurs a la creme which is a cream cheese dessert.
I think they are for putting scents into, the old school rock like scents
ReplyDeleteRachel.... YOU ARE A ROCK STAR! Thank you- Check the update to this post above-
ReplyDeleteHow cool those little owls are! I would have had no idea about the scent thing...perfect though, now that we know! Strawberry cups for the hearts. Just a sweet way to serve individual sized berries...but that dessert sounds tasty:)
ReplyDeleteI'm the lucky customer who purchased these owls! I had no idea what they were and I am usually pretty good at sniffing these things out. So thanks a bunch for finding out for me. I have plenty of projects planned. I have figured out that for some reason they look much cooler in a row than alone. I think it is that although they are identically shaped, each one is just a little different because the eyes are hand painted. So it makes them look real somehow. Anyhow I still love them. If you want to check out my shop I'm currently working on something with them should be up in a day or two! Thanks again I can't believe how much I like these little guys.
ReplyDeleteI would say the owls are definitely sachets! very cute too!!
ReplyDeleteI would have thought the owls were dual salt and pepper shakers, sold as a novelty of one piece. The only way to know for certain is if you took the rubber stopper out to see if there was a divider ie: divided ceramic fill area. If so, the top hole is for salt and should be bigger, and the holes on the back would be smaller for pepper. Even though a strange design it would actually work if you tilted it on it's side and put your finger over the top salt hole only pepper would come out. Turn it up and down and only salt would come out. That would be my guess but I wouldn't want to use it and have pepper flying everywhere.
ReplyDeleteOooo, I like this mystery section! Thanks for sharing and now learning!
ReplyDelete-vestieteam mate
It is great to discover new things together with friends ;)
ReplyDelete