Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 3)


Tere

Recommended Posts

We stopped at a chip stand today and the the lady who runs it was selling some stuff.  Cheap.  On another table she had laid out some other stuff marked "free". So I grabbed these books and a cookie tin.  The books are likely to be of interest only to Canadians and are somewhat dated.  However, you just never know when you'll find a useful recipe.  After I go through them I'll donate them to the thrift store.

20180928_180320.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

We stopped at a chip stand today and the the lady who runs it was selling some stuff.  Cheap.  On another table she had laid out some other stuff marked "free". So I grabbed these books and a cookie tin.  The books are likely to be of interest only to Canadians and are somewhat dated.  However, you just never know when you'll find a useful recipe.  After I go through them I'll donate them to the thrift store.

20180928_180320.jpg

I think if you bake that the Edna Staebler books are still relevant.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought the original Food That Really Schmecks in 1968 when it was first published.  

And the More edition.

I was interested in Mennonite and Amish cooking.

There were Amish communities in the area in Kentucky where I was born and raised so I was familiar with the foods, which are very similar.

  • Like 2

"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

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, andiesenji said:

 

I bought the original Food That Really Schmecks in 1968 when it was first published.  

And the More edition.

 

Me too!   The only recipe that I recall that I still make occasionally was the cucumber salad.   Cucumbers, onion, sour cream, vinegar and sugar as I recall.  Very simple but it hit all the right notes.  

  • Like 3

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Me too!   The only recipe that I recall that I still make occasionally was the cucumber salad.   Cucumbers, onion, sour cream, vinegar and sugar as I recall.  Very simple but it hit all the right notes.  

A light dusting of paprika makes that salad just about perfect.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, dscheidt said:

A quick trip through a chamber vacuum sealer makes cucumber salad even better.

 

 Yes but the paprika is cheaper. 😂

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

E58A0D2B-A911-44D5-A59D-97193652ED7B.thumb.jpeg.7e2b42b637d4336c4f3c7297c660f9d5.jpeg

 

 

Today I found this in a thrift shop in Milton, Ontario. Having done a fair bit of research on Japanese customs and cuisine I understand that matching tableware is most untraditional. Dishes are chosen very carefully keeping in mind not only the food but also the season. There are even guidelines as to how food should be placed on the plate if the plate is square or oblong or rectangular or whatever.  But I also know that the Japanese are very open to new ideas.

 

 The colour and the shapes of this tableware called out to me and for less than $10 (with the seniors discount) I couldn’t resist. Perhaps I will use it as a set but more than likely I will mix and match it with other pieces that I have. It Is very hard to accumulate enough dishes to  cover all four seasons!   It is even harder to figure out a way to store them all.

 

 Also in the same thrift store @Kerry Bealspotted this mug:

A1B61AC7-7BF6-444F-9671-C7739869734C.thumb.jpeg.20d89bdc83b786f2e07843600f1bae82.jpeg

 

 I could not resist.  

  • Like 14

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also wouldn't have been able to resist...especially at that price. What beautiful and delicate colors! Please tell more about not having matching dinnerware. Do you mean that each person would typically have a different color/style, or that different stages of a meal would have different patterns as well as shapes?

 

This also made me laugh:

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

It is even harder to figure out a way to store them all.

Sing it, sister.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

Please tell more about not having matching dinnerware. 

A  traditional household in Japan would have four sets of dishes one for each season of the year.   These dishes are usually small and organic in either shape, colour or material. The typical Japanese meal consists of soup and three dishes along with rice. As you can see this requires five different pieces of dinnerware for each person x 4 seasons. That is a lot of dishes to store!  That’s for a single person. 

 

In a formal setting the food is arranged on the selected piece of dinnerware to represent something in nature. 

 

 

Check this for a brief discussion:

 

Each food is served in a separate dish.  Japanese dinner presentation can be very pretty with many dishes having different sizes, shapes, and materials (ceramics, wood, bamboo, iron, etc).  A drawback is, however, you end up with a lot of small dishes to wash after dinner.  You’d better have a nice American size dishwasher or husband to put to work.”

  • Like 4

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is what Anna noticed for me at that same thrift store.

 

IMG_2800.jpg.a88ca0ad359df9b2d59658963dedf273.jpg

 

This is one of the French made T-fal pans - very substantial and induction compatible.

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Wow!  Also amusing that here in my part of the US we call it by Salvation Army, you say Sally Ann and my Aussie bunch say Salvo  I do abbreviate and say I got it at SA when complimented on a garment.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18ED33B7-2363-4CC2-A9C2-EB03F767B46C.thumb.jpeg.8b43058a734dd09d37499ab503c6d6da.jpeg

 

On the left a set of four melamine mixing bowls with spouts ($.99). In the middle a book that @Kerry Beal spotted in the Burlington Humane Society thrift shop ($3). I know nothing about it. Have not even opened it as I am hoarding it for a couple of hours. And on the far right is set of quite sturdy stainless steel prep bowls also spotted by Kerry and handed to me ($1.50). She then followed me around the store as I repeated over and over again, “I don’t need these. I don’t need these. I don’t need these.”   To which she responded ad nauseum, “But they’re so cute.”   I now own a set of four stainless steel prep bowls which I don’t need but which I will surely learn to love. 

  • Like 9
  • Haha 6

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
5 hours ago, Porthos said:

I just found this for $22.49. It's an 8 quart.

 

 

20181120_122203.jpg

FANTASTIC!!  That is an incredible value!  Of course the weight is considerable but they are great for braising.  I still have the Descoware 8qt I bought in 1968.  It's stained inside and I can barely lift it now, empty, but I love it.

  • Like 7

"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

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No pics, sorry, but for a grand total of $13, I got a copy of Ikea's 'Swedish Cooking' cookbook, a circular 1930s chrome art deco Sunbeam tray that originally came with two of their coffeepot serving sets, and a brand-new-still-in-box (I checked, carefully) FoodSaver that is exactly the same as the one I already own. -I got the vacuum sealer in 2007 and have been wondering if it will break anytime soon. Since I already own accessories for it, and the price was right ($7) this made sense for me. When I crack it open after my current one dies, hopefully, it will work for a few years.

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

No pics, sorry, but for a grand total of $13, I got a copy of Ikea's 'Swedish Cooking' cookbook, a circular 1930s chrome art deco Sunbeam tray that originally came with two of their coffeepot serving sets, and a brand-new-still-in-box (I checked, carefully) FoodSaver that is exactly the same as the one I already own. -I got the vacuum sealer in 2007 and have been wondering if it will break anytime soon. Since I already own accessories for it, and the price was right ($7) this made sense for me. When I crack it open after my current one dies, hopefully, it will work for a few years.

Those Sunbeam trays also went with the Sunbeam Toasters and had glass trays (1939 and after) with the 1939 World's Fair logo Sunbeam used on all its appliances for years.  I've had several with and without the glass, some sold with toasters and some with the Sunbeam Coffeemaster vacuum pots and I think all were sold. The last went with this set of coffee/tea brewers with their own little "stoves" and these were earlier in the '30s. 

Sunbeam twin coffee:tea servers..jpg

  • Like 9

"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

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please tell more about the little "stoves", @andiesenji. Did they run on Sterno? Were the intended simply to keep the coffee warm after brewing?

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, @andiesenji I did not know about the glass top. Mine doesn't have it, but I now think maybe it's missing from mine because the tray has no markings. It's exactly like the tray in your photo.  (and still worth the $4 I paid!) Even without markings, I recognized it when I saw it because I have been collecting the Sunbeam vacuum pot and related accessories (plump shape) for years. I've got a bunch of the sugars and creamers, I should sell some. I have wanted to get the beautiful deco set in your picture but have never seen it in person. (trying to find it out in the wild rather than pay a marked up price from a dealer)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/20/2018 at 12:47 PM, Porthos said:

I just found this for $22.49. It's an 8 quart.

 

More info.

 

It's a Model 28 which is 7.25 quarts.

 

It is cleaning up beautifully. It will go to my younger daughter, who recently commented on Facebook that she wanted an enameled cast iron Dutch oven.

 

Another customer in the Goodwill store commented to me that some other woman had looked at it and passed on it because "it was scratched up."

It wasn't scratched up; there was a little bit of fond in the bottom with some spoon marks in it.

 

  • Like 6

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Porthos said:

...Another customer in the Goodwill store commented to me that some other woman had looked at it and passed on it because "it was scratched up."

It wasn't scratched up; there was a little bit of fond in the bottom with some spoon marks in it.

I think the appropriate quote starts with "Casting pearls before swine..."

Great find!

  • Like 4

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...