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Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 2)

Darienne

By Darienne
in Kitchen Consumer

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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted

It is beautiful. I wonder if it's somebody's one-off pottery experiment, given that it has no markings? No way to know, I suppose. It looks very well-made.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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It's beautifully made, obviously an expert potter.  Achieving that ribbed effect around the body is difficult and the complexity of the glazes also indicates a great deal of expertise with the process.

 

It was very dirty when I first saw it and I thought it was black.  It had been on top of their fridge for a very long time, near the back, and she told me she couldn't remember the last time she washed it and doesn't recall ever using it.  She thinks it was a gift from one of her ex-husband's relatives...

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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haresfur

haresfur

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Posted (edited)

Found another jug at a yard sale while out walking my dog early Sunday morning.  I had no money with me so asked the gal to hold it but she said no sense we walking home and back so sent her son along with me to carry the rather heavy jug. 

I gave him the money and a bottle of my homemade red wine vinegar for his mum and just got around to washing the jug this morning.  It's quite attractive and has an interesting glaze.  There are no marks on the bottom.

 

There is a red/brown underglaze and a blue/purple glaze.  I don't know if you can see the ribbing detail on the lower body of the jug but it looks like hand-incised ridges - they are not perfectly even so not from a mold.  Sorry the one photo is just a tad out of focus.

I paid $2.00 for it plus the bottle of vinegar!

 

attachicon.gifHPIM6760.JPG

attachicon.gifHPIM6759.JPG

attachicon.gifHPIM6764.JPG

attachicon.gifHPIM6763.JPG

 

That's a piece of stoneware glazed in a quite well-known but somewhat finicky glaze called "Floating Blue". As you can see, when the kiln gods are happy, it is wonderful. The glaze is brown breaking to tan where thin - like around the rim and getting the blue highlights where thick.  It really brings out the fluting on the side of that pitcher.  The glaze contains a lot of the ingredient Gerstley Borate (aka Ghastly Borate), which isn't mined any more.

 

The pot is fired in oxidation - most likely an electric kiln to cone 6.  Common in pottery schools and I suspect this is a student piece.  Nothing wrong with that.  Worth every cent. How well does it pour?

Edited by haresfur (log)
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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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  • 1 month later...
Porthos

Porthos

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Posted

Steal of the year. My Sweetie spotted this in a Goodwill this afternoon for 99 cents. It is the 6 qt size. I didn't take time to clean it before snapping the picture.

 

K_A_Paddle.jpg

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Anna N

Anna N

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image.jpg

It's been a while since I posted a thrift store haul.

Here you have a Romertopf Clay Baker. I want to try baking some bread in clay and I liked the size of this one. I already have a larger one.

A mug tree/hand towel holder

Two plates, a luncheon size one and a dinner size one.

A long bread tin

A small copper dish with brass handles unsuitable for cooking but fine for serving.

And a tiny covered casserole dish made not of enameled cast iron, not of porcelain but of aluminum with a nonstick finish.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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Smithy

Smithy

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I love the looks of that turquoise-colored plate.  It reminds me of pottery I'd find somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Anna N

Anna N

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I love the looks of that turquoise-colored plate.  It reminds me of pottery I'd find somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona.

It is by Dansk and the pattern is Mesa! Kerry Beal spotted them! Sorry I only grabbed one!

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

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I love the looks of that turquoise-colored plate.  It reminds me of pottery I'd find somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona.

There were about 5 or 6 more if you want me to go back and get them for you this evening.

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FauxPas

FauxPas

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attachicon.gifimage.jpg

It's been a while since I posted a thrift store haul.

Here you have a Romertopf Clay Baker. I want to try baking some bread in clay and I liked the size of this one. I already have a larger one.

 

Was that Romertopf only $4???? 

 

What size is it? I assume it's in good shape? 

 

You two are amazing shoppers. But I thought you said you had a very small kitchen, Anna?????  Where do you keep all this stuff?   :smile:  :smile:  :smile:

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Anna N

Anna N

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Was that Romertopf only $4????

What size is it? I assume it's in good shape?

You two are amazing shoppers. But I thought you said you had a very small kitchen, Anna????? Where do you keep all this stuff? :smile::smile::smile:

The Romertopf is in pristine condition. It is a 110 which Google tells me is 2 to 5 lbs and will accommodate a 1.5 pound loaf of bread. In truth because we know the clerk the Romertopf, southwestern plate and the copper dish were all of $.25.

My kitchen is small but I have a full basement (full in more than one sense of the word!). Also one feels no deep attachment to most thrift store finds so they can be quickly recycled back to the thrift store. It is like having a never ending supply of toys to play with. Here today and gone tomorrow.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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  • 3 weeks later...
Kim Shook

Kim Shook

Posted
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I don't know if this counts, but I was disinterring a roasting pan (never used - I usually buy a disposable one at $Tree) from my tip of an attic and discovered a brand new, never opened, programmable,  computerized, 6 qt. Crock Pot.  I have NO memory of buying or receiving this.   :blink:  Time to clean out that attic.  

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Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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OOOOh...  Nice find.  I have "several" Crock Pots, slow cookers and the jumbo vintage electric roasters (4) and sometimes I have two or more going at the same time.

Right now I'm making apple butter - from the applesauce I made late last winter and had in the freezer. 

My neighbor came across the street and took the big tub of sauce out of the freezer and set it in the deep side of the sink so as it thawed I could easily ladle out what I wanted to fill the crock pots. 

One advantage, the house smells absolutely wonderful and I am sitting here sort of drooling.

 

As the acidity and sugar is high enough, the canning (in half pint and 12 ounce jars) can be in a water bath instead of the pressure canner (which I can't lift now). 

 

-----

 

Took a short break, made some toast and got a small dish of the "butter" and am now replete. 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Anna N

Anna N

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Posted

image.jpg

Kerry Beal and I did a little thrift shop shopping today. This is my haul. Two vegetarian cookbooks, one from Cooking Light and one from Australian Women's Weekly, the Cook's Illustrated Restaurant Favorites at Home and for fun Fifty Shades of Chicken. Inside the small casserole dish is a sake flask which will be re-purposed to hold cooking oil near the stove.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Anna N

Anna N

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image.jpg

Today's thrift-store haul. The small wok I visualize as a serving dish not a cooking vessel.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Porthos

Porthos

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I forgot to put this up. A few days ago I found this Ballean Bay Hammered Pewter 12 oz mug for $1.25. It is the second time lightening has struck. A couple of years ago I found a plain Ballena Bay 12 oz mug made in 1988 for $3.00.

 

Ballena Bay Thrift Store Mug #2.jpg

 

I paid full retail at their booth for this one but it is my favorite:

 

Ballena Bay Wolf Mug.jpg

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Porthos

Porthos

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I have a new project and (I believe) an heirloom in the making.

 

Griswold Bottom.jpg

 

I found this pan today for $8.99.  My best guess is that it is late 30s/early 40s but I don't know.

 

This is the interior. There is a lot of clean-up to be achieved.

 

Griswold Interior.jpg

 

This is the side. I have no idea whether I should try to take this back down to bare metal before seasoning or not.

 

Griswold Side.jpg

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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MSRadell

MSRadell

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I would definitely take that back to bare metal before using it. I've never heard of or tried the electrolytic method mentioned above, although it sounds like it would work. I would suggest taking it someplace and having it sandblasted, the cost would be minimal and it would give you a very clean surface to work with.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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Anna N

Anna N

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Posted

I have a new project and (I believe) an heirloom in the making.

 

attachicon.gifGriswold Bottom.jpg

 

I found this pan today for $8.99.  My best guess is that it is late 30s/early 40s but I don't know.

 

This is the interior. There is a lot of clean-up to be achieved.

 

attachicon.gifGriswold Interior.jpg

 

This is the side. I have no idea whether I should try to take this back down to bare metal before seasoning or not.

 

attachicon.gifGriswold Side.jpg

Great find!

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Ashen

Ashen

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Porthos- If you are on facebook, search for the   group  Cast Iron Cooking . The open group with over 100,000 members. .    There are many serious cast iron collectors on that group  who should be able to tell you exactly what that pan is , if you post a picture after the self clean. 

"Why is the rum always gone?"

Captain Jack Sparrow

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Porthos

Porthos

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Thank you, Ashen. I will be posting a picture on the FB group page asking about the probable date of manufacture.

 

For this pan I have chosen to use the method from the link that Shel_B provided.

 

Here is the pan after the self-clean and initial steel wool scrub:

 

Griswold Isside After Self-clean and Steel Wool.jpg

 

Griswold Outside After Self-clean and Steel Wool.jpg

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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