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TOP JOBS

When I first began collecting tea cups, I didn't really know it would become a passion.

I was in college and I saw a cup and saucer at an antique shop. It was pink and white with little roses hand painted on the inside rim, and I fell in love. It was so delicate and special, and no one else had anything like it.

The little tea cup sat alone in my kitchen window sill for a little while, and then I found another, unusual piece. The collection was born.

My friends would bring me cups from travels to Turkey, Hawaii and Canada through the years. Those trinkets certainly beat a T-shirt.

Antique shopping lent a few more, and by the time I got married, the collection was so large I needed a display cabinet.

Packing and unpacking those dainty things is like Christmas each time. I can remember each pattern and where it came from.

I think the collection hovers somewhere near 100, and I have trouble finding room for all of them, so I put out a few at a time for a few months at a time. Now, though, I tend to put them away because the baby is beginning to go mobile.

My second favorite thing to collect is antique tins - not those just a few years old, but old ones from estate sales and grandmother's cupboard. I clean them up if it's possible and put wax paper inside for cookies and candies I give away for holidays and birthdays.

People love to get them, and the best compliment so far was one friend who said his little girl loves to put her crayons in the tin I gave him.

It seems as though the oldest ones are the most elaborate and beautiful.

I would love to hear about your kitchen collections. If you have a love of antique linen, Mary Engelbreit cup towels or even old mixing bowls, let us know in Readers' Swap. There may be someone out there with something to share!

A follow up on last week's slow cooker homework:

Patrice Taylor, of Whitehouse, submitted this recipe she found on the "Taste of Home" recipe boards.

Crockpot Chicken

4 to 6 chicken breasts

2 Tbs. melted butter

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 Tbsp. dried Italian salad dressing

1/2 cup sherry, white wine or chicken broth

1 bar cream cheese, cut into cubes

1 Tbsp. onion, minced

Brush chicken with melted butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in crockpot, add remaining ingredients, cover and cook on low for four to six hours.

Chicken is great over rice or noodles.

Ms. Taylor recommends the low sodium soup and adding more seasoning after cooking.

Crockpot Bread Pudding

2 packages of brown sugar and spice oatmeal cereal

Blend to a fine powder in a blender or processor.

Heat in saucepan:

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 stick butter

Whisk until blended.

Tear chunks of dried raisin bread into a bowl. Add 1 cup raisins, slivered almonds or chopped walnuts.

1/2 cup apple pie filling

Then add all ingredients into the saucepan and stir.

Put in a crockpot and cook low for two hours. OR ... place in casserole dish (greased or sprayed) and bake for one hour at 350 degrees until liquid is absorbed and is light brown on top.

Cream Soda Sauce Topping:

1 package of whipped powder topping

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. rum extract

1/2 cup cream soda

Whisk until blended and pour over top of bread pudding.