Cookbookaholic

Ned's Bag of FREE

Okay, so you know I have several different but specific cookbook collections going on, right? The other week, I was looking through my saved searches on eBay. I’ve taken a long break from eBay, not really because of anything specific, just haven’t been on there in a while.

Anywho, I did a search and found an auction that had a couple of Moravian cookbooks that I don’t think I have. Now, I can’t tell you for certain—but I don’t think those are in the collection. I waited a few days and finally put in a bid—the minimum. That starting bid was a little on the far end of what I was willing to pay, so no tears if I ended up not winning.

Good news—I did end up winning the auction. A couple of days later, my box arrived. The seller, Ned, had packed a sandwich sized Ziploc bag with a free mini flashlight and his business card as an extra freebie! Here’s what I won:

The three Moravian cookbooks that sealed the deal for me: The Hopewell Dinner Bell (Women’s Fellowship Hopewell Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC),Christ Moravian Church Cook Book (A.R. Carr Sunday School Class, Christ Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC), Pine Chapel Moravian Church Cook Book(Women of the Church, Winston-Salem, NC) and Centenary Cookbook (Centenary Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, NC). 

“Let Us Thank Him for This Food” Centennial Cookbook (Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, Inc., Thomasville, NC), Seasoned with Love (Christ Temple, Winston-Salem, NC), Our Favorite Recipes (AFL-CIO, Raleigh, NC) and Favorite Recipes of The Carolinas.

Ground Beef Cookbook (Favorite Recipes Press, Inc.), Taste of Home’s Family Favorites: “Clip & Keep” Recipe Collection, Cooking with Soup & Rice (Campell’s Soup Company and Uncle Ben’s) and New Metropolitan Cook Book (Metropolitan Live Insurance Company).

So, all in all, some are great, some are not as thrilling…but I’m happy to welcome them. Then, I notice a larger gallon-sized Ziploc bag with the word “FREE” on it.

Did this seller send me a bonus cookbook?

I open the bag and find a bonus of three cookbooks! They’re not in great condition, but perhaps he thought I’d appreciate them.

Untitled Cookbook (Pine Grove United Methodist Church Cookbook, Winston-Salem, NC) with no back cover, Yadkin County Extension Homemakers Clubs Cook Book with torn off cover and no back cover, and Grace Pentecostal Assembly (Harbor City, California) with missing corner of cover.

Okay, so that was nice. They’re a little tattered, but they were free and that’s awesome. I flip through the yellow one and notice something interesting: there’s a bio of famed North Carolina food editor and cookbook author, Beth Tartan.

 

That’s interesting, I wonder if she had a connection to this branch of the Extension Homemakers Club? I flip through a few more pages and the same thing is written in the header on every page:

Beth Tartan’s Cook Book

Oh boy. I really do appreciate Ned’s bag of FREE! And, I don’t think Ned realized what he has just given me. It’s a copy of a revised, second edition of Beth Tartan’s Cook Book! Granted, it doesn’t have a front or back cover—but there it is.

This is quite a find! Thanks Ned!

I Got Clearance, Clarence

One downside of a corporate job located 50 miles up the road is that I haven’t been able to go to Friday morning estate sales down in Charlotte. At the radio station, no one really noticed if I showed up a little late and let’s be realistic—no one really cared.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to start off my weekend with a sale on Friday morning. Last weekend, I noticed an advance listing for a Friday morning estate sale AND it was super close to the office!

I got clearance to come in a little late and made my way to the sale. It was scheduled for an 8am start and said “no early birds.” So I’m guessing they’re holding the door until then? I rolled in a few minutes early and find the front door wide open…ugh! I’m already late…

I park up front and get inside as fast as I can. I find a table with some cookbooks in a middle sitting room. There’s already a lady looking through them but I get on the other side and start looking. And then I see the price tags.

They’ve got $4 on every single one of them! Are you kidding? Four bucks?

I walk away and look through the rest of the house. I find a broach with different shades of blue stones in a jewelry display case and pick it up. It’s dull but looks like it has potential—after some serious cleaning up.

When I see the lady running the sale, I mention that I thought the cookbooks are a little on the high side. She tells me that she runs an antique store and that she sells church and community cookbooks upwards of $8 a piece. Wha-wha-what?

Oh well, I keep looking through the house, find an interesting piece of Tupperware and snag it.

What do you think? It’s vintage and it’s got some height to it. Do you think it’s for bread? Or chicken?

As I make my way around the house for a final look, the lady running the sale approaches and says she’ll do a lower price on the cookbooks for me. Well that was nice…so, of course, I have to scoop up a few:

From North Carolina Kitchens Favorite Recipes, Old and New (North Carolina Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs), Our Favorites (Rowan County Extension Homemakers, Salisbury, NC) and Carolina Cooking (Telephone Pioneers of America, NC Chapter No. 35)

Two of them have the name “Katherine” written in them. I snagged the blue one specifically because I had also noticed an Extension Homemakers Club pin in the jewelry display case. This organization meant something her. I spoke to the lady running the sale again and she tells me that she found a mission statement, meeting minutes and attendance rolls for the local club in a closet. It was a great history of the area’s extension homemakers club—but she said that the papers were badly mildewed and had to be tossed.

That was unfortunate. But I’m glad that I grabbed the cookbook that was specific to Rowan County! That one was definitely important to Katherine.

Now that the day is done, I've made it back home. I went straight to the jewelry cleaner and spritzed some on an old toothbrush and gently worked it around all the facets on that blue broach. Cleans up nicely, doesn’t it?

Nigella Times Three

Spring has definitely sprung. I’ve got eleven sales on my list for this morning. Now I know that I won’t be able to hit all of them, but I’m hoping I get the good cookbooks! Plus, Dunc has asked to tag along with me—so I’ll have my travel buddy with me.

Our first stop is a sale at 7am, and it’s already open for business as well roll up a few minutes early. I spy a table of books and head over, I see a cookbook or two in a pile on top of a bookbag and confirm my worst fear, there’s someone already at the table and they’ve grabbed two cookbooks. I get to work quickly and scoop up some great finds and try not to get distracted by the Bill Neal cookbook that is going home with someone else. Ugh!

Around the Southern Table (Sarah Belk), Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Kitchen and The Olives Table (Todd English and Sally Sampson).

A Tuscan in the Kitchen (Pino Luongo with Barbara Raives & Angela Hederman), Private Collection (Junior League of Palo Alto, CA), Cooking Seafood & Stuff with Chef Dirt & Kids from the Outer Banks (Jerry G. Smith) and Good Old Grits Cookbook (Bill Neal & David Perry).

Now, I understand that I that have the Bill Neal grits cookbook but there was another cookbook there that I would’ve liked to have as well. Oh well, on to the next sale.

It was a bust and Dunc asks to go back to the first sale because he saw some Nerf toys and some t-shirts. I usually frown on going backwards, but I give in. The sale I’m waiting on doesn’t start until 8am on the dot.

After picking up a few t-shirts and some shorts for Dunc, we head over to the 8am sale. It has started to drizzle, but they’ve got items in the garage and under a tent. This sale is the last garage sale before Suzanne, The Tiny Chef, packs up and heads off to Italy. I met Suzanne at another sale several years ago. Since then, she’s been super busy catering and appearing on The Food Network’s Extreme Chef. I’ve picked up some great cookbooks at her other sale—so I’m really excited about this one!

When we get the go-ahead to come down the driveway, I make a beeline straight to Suzanne in the garage. I don’t find a ton of cookbooks but here’s what I found:

Professional Cooking (Wayne Gisslen), Favorite Restaurant Recipes (Bon Appetit), Gates, Gaits & Golden Plates (Camden Junior Welfare League) and First Lady Cookbook 1983: South Carolina It’s Best (American Cancer Society, SC Chapter).

Plus, I found a rolling pin, copper biscuit cutter and this fancy set of Godinger Silver Plated Cheese Picks! The picks look like they have tiny Ritz crackers on them and the cheese has some sparkly crystals on them….fancy!

On the way out, I stopped by a tent and found these two cookbooks:

Carolina Sunshine Then & Now (Charity League of Charlotte) and Charleston Receipts (Junior League of Charleston, SC).  

I’ve got other sales that started at 8am and they are probably well underway by now, so I decide to head on to the 8:30am sale. It’s a moving sale and cookbooks are mentioned so we’re off!

It’s a small house off of a main road, so I have to park on a side street and hoof it. As I ask about the cookbooks, I’m pointed towards the kitchen. There is a very long shelf filled with some really great cookbooks. And, it’s got already got someone looking through them. He’s on one side, so I start looking at the selection from the other side.

He’s gives me the side-eye but I see a few really good ones right off the bat. There’s someone with him and they make a remark about how there were more good ones at another sale. So they actually leave.

That was interesting. But now, I’m alone with the cookbooks so I start going through the entire shelf and get a really nice stack. I pay for the cookbooks and ask why the lady is selling so many great cookbooks. She tells me that she’s getting ready to move…to Portland. Wow! Now, that’s not exactly across town, is it?

I see other cookbooks on a shelf in the living room—but there’s a gauntlet of chairs stacked in front of them. She tells me that those are the ones she’ll take with her as she moves across the country. There must be some great ones over there—because I can’t believe that I was able to scoop up these:

Williams-Sonoma New Orleans (Constance Snow), Julia Child & More Company (Julia Child in collaboration with E.S. Yntema), Lee Bailey’s City Food, Lee Bailey’s Country Weekends and Forever Summer (Nigella Lawson).

How to be a Domestic Goddess (Nigella Lawson), Nigella Bites (Nigella Lawson), Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Café Cookbook (Fannie Flagg with recipes from The Irondale Café), The Paris Cookbook (Patricia Wells) and Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Friends and Family (Marion Cunningham).

Out of Our League (Jr. League of Greensboro, NC), Savannah Style (Jr. League of Savannah, GA) and Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League (edited by Linda Glick Conway).  

Well, hello Nigella. By my count, I’ve got Nigella times three! That probably equals some fancy foodie equation. And that has got to be some sort of record!

My GPS tells me I’m really close to another sale that I had penciled in (literally). We make it to the sale and it looks like it has been open for a while. I walk around the garage and don’t see anything that thrills me. I go through the house and ask the crew that’s working here on the inside if there are any cookbooks. They look at each other and say, “Oh, were there!” Just from their tone, I could sense there must have been a ton of them. And this must’ve been the other sale that the couple talked about a few minutes ago. I’m guessing that this sale had a lot of them, but now they’re all gone. Oh well…

Wish I could…but I can’t be at all them right when they open!

I’ve got some truly fantastic cookbooks and I’m not going to let this missed sale bum me out….well, not for too long, anyway. Time to get my Dunc to breakfast and then back home!

Spring Break in Hilton Head

For the first time ever, we’ve been able to spend part of the boys’ Spring Break in Hilton Head. Usually, we get to come down for July 4^th and New Year but, for some reason, that didn’t work out this past Holiday season. So, I’m really thrilled to get opportunity to give the guys a Spring Break vacation.

On our first full day on the island I was able to get out and visit my favorite thrift stores. Not quite the door buster, but I was able to get to St. Francis Thrift Store a few minutes after it opened. The parking lot was packed! Of course, there’s a new Dunkin Donuts next door—but still, it was hard trying to find a parking space. Once I got in the store, I was able to find a nice little stack.

True Grits: Tall Tales and Recipes from the New South (The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc.), A Taste of Enchantment (The Junior League of Albuquerque, NM), New Southern Cooking (Nathalie Dupree) and Cooking with a Beat (Longview Washington Civic Symphony Auxiliary).

The Nathalie Dupree cookbook is autographed!

The next stop was the nearby Goodwill store but I came up empty on cookbooks. I did find a super cool Christmas tree Bundt pan and decided to pick that up.

And now for my favorite thrift store in the whole world! I pulled up to the Hospice Community Thrift with about fifteen minutes to spare before they opened. And then I see that they’re already open. Okay! I was amazed at the selection I found.

There’s a reason this is my favorite spot and here’s why:

A Touch of Atlanta (Marist Parents’ Club, Marist School, Atlanta, GA), Ursula’s Cookbook (Ursula Knaeusel, Ursula’s Cooking School, Atlanta, GA), Tullie’s Receipts: Nineteenth Century Plantation Plain Style Southern Cooking and Living (Kitchen Guild of the Tullie Smith House Restoration, Atlanta Historical Society, Inc., Atlanta, GA), Christmas Gems for Holiday Entertaining (The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.), Atlanta Natives’ Favorite Recipes (Frances Arrington Elyea, Atlanta, GA), What’s Cooking at Rock Spring (Rock Spring Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA), Atlanta Cooks for Company (Junior Associates of The Atlanta Music Club), Plains Pot-Pourri (Plains Jr. Woman’s Club, Plains, GA) and Charleston Receipts (The Junior League of Charleston, SC).

I probably need to do some research on ole Ursula and find out more about her and any influence she may have had in the Atlanta area...but her cookbook is also autographed!

And here is the rest of the haul:

Southern Sideboards (Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi), Yuletide on Hilton Head: A Heritage of Island Flavors (Edited by Dotti Trivision, Marion Conlin, Mary Murray and Phyllis White), Three Rivers Cookbook II (Child Health Association of Sewickley, Sewickley, PA), Temptations (Junior Service League of Rome, Inc., Rome, GA), Trader Vic’s Tiki Party (Steve Siegelman), Southern Delights: Recipes from Williamson County (Williamson County Chamber of Commerce, Franklin, TN), Famous Recipes from Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Historic Savannah (Sema Wilkes, Savannah, GA), Country Days and Nights (Fox Chapel Country Day School, Fox Chapel, PA), Culinary Treasures: Hilton Head Island (The Avid Gardeners, Hilton Head Plantation, Hilton Head Island, SC), Old Mission San Juan Capistrano Cook Book (Catholic Women’s Club of “Old Mission” San Juan Capistrano, CA) and I’ve Got a Cook in Kalamazoo (Service Club of Kalamazoo, Inc., Kalamazoo, MI).

I’ve got some time until The Bargain Box opens up later in the afternoon. But I see some people waiting on the front porch of the building. I pull up and ask them if the Bargain Box crew has started to give out admission numbers. They said “no,” but there were about five boxes that were out front with the label “Free Stuff.” I spot a Better Homes & Garden cookbook sitting on top of one. I park the car and go through all the boxes. After going through the boxes, I get a nice stack:

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, Ladies’ Home Journal Dessert Cookbook (Edited by Carol Truax), The Great Cooks Cookbook: A Good Cooking School Cookbook, Appetizing Dips & Spreads, Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Craig Claiborne’s Gourmet Diet, Potomac Area Newcomers Recipe Book (Potomac Area Newcomers Club, Maryland) and Famous Native Recipes of the Virgin Islands (Gathered by Dea Murray).

These are some pretty decent cookbooks! If these are the books they’re giving away for free, I wonder what they’ve got still left on the shelves inside? Definitely coming back this afternoon.

I head back to the condo and have lunch and try to talk the whole family into going with me…but no luck. I arrive and have to park in the side auxiliary lot. They have limited capacity inside the store and only allow a certain number of customers inside. And while I’m the only one in line—I still have to wait for someone to leave.

When I finally get to go inside, there’s a long line that I have to get around to get to the cookbook shelf. And at first glance, the shelf looks untouched, maybe one or two spaces where a book may have been removed. I don’t really see much that grabs my attention. Maybe I got the good stuff in their free box a few hours ago?

I guess I’d feel better about what’s in front of me, if I could actually get to the cookbooks in front of me. There’s some woman just standing there reading through one of the cookbooks. She’s just standing there. Hello?! I’m trying to look at the selection—could you move?

Thankfully, her friend came over and they decided to get in the checkout line. Finally, a chance to get a proper look at the selection. Here’s what I find:

The Greens Cook Book (Deborah Madison with Edward Espe Brown), Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making (James Peterson), The Trellis Cookbook: Expanded Edition (Marcel Desaulniers), Fish & Shellfish Grilled & Smoked (Karen Adler & Judith M. Fertig) and Great Meals for Busy Days (Nathalie Dupree).

Now this Nathalie Dupree cookbook isn't autographed...but the fish one is:

Now that’s the way to start off Spring Break! I’m thinking that with all these great finds, I can finally relax and enjoy the rest of the week…

Wish I’d Seen the Sign

Today’s going to be interesting! I’ve got a sale on a sure-fire street in Charlotte and a sale all the way over in Maiden that mentions cookbooks. And maybe one in the middle? We’re talking about going from one end of the world to the most opposite point possible. Oh, and all within an hour…and hoping that the cookbook sale doesn’t open early. Yeah, right…

The first sale at 7am is on a street where I’ve had great success before. Not necessarily with cookbooks—I got my favorite Christmas nutcrackers at a sale on this street. Turns out that it’s not the same house, but I’ve got my hopes up. They have a ton of stuff across their back yard and two (yes, two) garages! I find two  boxes with books and cookbooks and start a little stack.

Here’s what I found:

Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book (Second Edition, first printing, 1956), Mary Lyles Wilson’s New Cook Book and A Touch of Grace and a Pinch of Salt (Grace Chapel Widows Ministry).

Cooking with Class: A Second Helping (The Parents’ Council, Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC), The Charlotte Cookbook (Charlotte Junior League, Charlotte, NC), The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook (Jennifer Appel) and The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook.

Nice start!

I head to the first 8am sale a little early. Keep in mind that I didn’t map it out, so I’m not really sure where I’ll end up. All I do know is that the other 8am sale that mentions cookbooks is far away.

By the time I figure out where I’m heading—I’ve put my cookbook sale in jeopardy. It’s too far in the wrong direction and when I finally make it there—the sale itself is terrible. I really should’ve just headed straight to the cookbook sale.

Lesson learned and my trip to the sale in Maiden lands me well into the 30 minutes late zone. Ugh. And, when I finally see the small table with books and cookbooks, there’s already someone looking through them. And man was she slow going through the stacks. I did find a few as soon as she walked away.

The American Country Cook (Pat Katz), Get a Taste of EHS  (Eisenhower High School Family Cookbook) and Favorite Personally Proven Recipes by the “Buxton” Family and Descendants.

I turned around and spotted some hardback cookbooks on a table. They were all bread baking cookbooks—and more expensive—so I grabbed this one:

Crust & Crumb (Peter Reinhart)

I don’t want to kick myself but I really wish I’d just headed straight to this sale. It always bugs me later and I wonder what could’ve been there. If only….

Anyway, as I’m heading out of the neighborhood I notice that their entrance has a brickwork sign. I’ve just been in a neighborhood called Ridge Crest. How about that? My grandma had a place in Ridgecrest, NC where she would host church groups that were visiting the nearby Baptist Conference Center. I spent many a summer there exploring nearby Black Mountain, Swannanoa and Asheville. Wish I’d known the neighborhood name—that might have been the heads-up I needed to make me go there first. Interesting, huh?

Marilyn Kept the Card!

Only two sales this morning? And to top it off, the first sale is at 7am and the second one is at 9am. What am I going to do with a two hour wait between sales?

The first sale was listed as an estate sale with more than 70 years worth of stuff. You’d think that some really choice cookbooks would be in there somewhere, right? Nope. I even asked. The lady looked in a cupboard and said that she only used two cookbooks. She wasn’t ready to sell. Oh well…I did find this super large black and gold painted metal tray.

With a two hour wait staring me straight in the face, I decided to take a chance and drive by the 9am sale. Maybe they’d open early? I did a slow drive-by and saw several cars parked nearby. There was a steep driveway and chain across the backyard gate. So, I guess they’re closed? But then, I see someone walking down the driveway (empty-handed!) and there seems to be people looking at items on the front porch. I’m parking and giving it a try.

The front porch has some interesting folk art decorations for Halloween and Christmas. But then I notice that the sale is really on the inside. I walk in and see a lot of expensive folk art…no wonder I saw people leaving with nothing. I make my way over to a couple of bookshelves. I scan and scan but no cookbooks. I see a bunch of gardening and folk art books. Plus, there’s a bunch of books on the history of the state of Virginia.

As I’m looking on the last bookshelf, I notice a familiar title: The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph. It’s another one of those historic cookbooks books written in the late 1800s, not unlike The Carolina Housewife. The Virginia Housewife was also re-published as well by The University of South Carolina Press back in the early 1980s. This reprint has historical notes and commentaries by noted cookbook author Karen Hess.

I’ve seen this on eBay, but never had the urge to spend money on it. But seeing it right in front of me for a dollar? I’ll take it!

I looked through the folk art books again and found two that interested me…of course, I grabbed the ones published by Southern Living.

Decorating with Americana (Carter Smith) and Southern Folk Art (Edited by Cynthia Elyce Rubin).

Alrighty then…seems like I’m done for the day? I did have one more possibility so I pulled out my phone and give it a try.

Last summer, I went to Marilyn’s yard sale and had a nice chat with her. She didn’t bring out any cookbooks as they were still in a box up in her attic. I left my card with her and hoped that she would one day retrieve those cookbooks and give me a call. Seldom do people ever call me back, but luckily Marilyn brought down the box, found my card and gave me a call.

I tried to get over to her house last week, but one of those marathons blocked off her street. I had Marilyn’s contact info and decided to give it a try today. I got her answering machine and left a message. Now, time to cross fingers and hope that she calls me back soon.

After twenty minutes, my phone rings and I’m on my way over to Marilyn’s! When I get there, she invites me in and shows me a stack of cookbooks. Here are the ones I got:

Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook, Betty Crocker’s New Dinner for Two Cook Book, Out of This World Cook Book II (Cocoa Beach Women’s Club, Cocoa Beach, FL), Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League (Edited by Linda Glick Conway, Junior League of Charleston, SC), Frederica Fare (Parents Association of Frederica Academy, St. Simons Island, GA), Specialties of Salem (Salem Baptist Church, Apex, NC), Venture in Cooking (St. John’s Episcopal Church, Charlotte, NC) and Betty Crocker’s Party Book.

I did spot a Betty on her shelf. But she’s not ready to part with her Carolina Recipes Volume II just yet. Don’t blame her!

Marilyn was incredibly nice and very thoughtful to call me after all this time. I’m very thankful she was willing to share some of her collection with me. I’m still holding out hope that she’ll call me when she’s ready to let Betty come stay at my house. Let’s hope she holds on to my card a little longer…

My Own Worst Enemy

Remember how excited I was when I got the Betty Feezor Carolina Recipes Volume III at the estate sale? It was such a great find…and rare, too. I got a lot of great cookbooks that morning. My butt was cold on that freezing brick back porch, but it was worth it.

I had the box of those cookbooks in the floorboard of my backseat of my car. I should’ve taken them out of my car sooner. Or, at the very least, I should’ve grabbed the Bettys and taken them inside for safe keeping.

Anyway, my daily commute to work along I-85 has been taxing to say the least. We’re deep in a lane expansion project which always has had a ton of construction disrupting both the North and Southbound lanes. On many afternoons, I experience constant stop and go traffic. On one particular afternoon, I had to slam on brakes when the car in front of me stopped short.

A box of cookbooks in the backseat flew forward, hit the back of my seat and landed on top of that box from the estate sale. Take a wild guess at the only cookbook that ended up with a smashed plastic, spiral spine.

Yep.

That cookbook sat in the old house in Derita for more than thirty years with no problems. Less than a month in my car and it’s lost a chunk of the spiral spine. Sometimes, I’m my own worst enemy. Argh!!!!

Was Today Art Day at Yard Sales?

I can’t believe how much artwork was at almost every single yard sale this morning.

The very first sale was at 7am and from the other side of the gate, you could see a bunch of framed bird and duck prints. Needless to say, when the gate opened and the masses went towards the fancy duck prints—my path went to the opposite side of the yard. Cookbooks? Nope. But, as I rounded the yard and headed back toward the gate, I spotted this cool looking framed painting:

The lady having the sale was the artist! Instinct told me to grab it and this was my first find of the morning.

My second yard sale got my heart racing. When I asked if there were any cookbooks, a lady told me that there were a ton of them in the room right beside me. I looked on all the shelves and didn’t see any. When I found her again and told her that I couldn’t find any—she said that the “Mom” must’ve taken them with her. Okay….I thought this was an estate sale. Did “Mom” take them with her to the great beyond?

I’m disappointed, but found this cute needlepoint of the state of North Carolina:

On the way to my next sale, I spot a sign that says “Moving Sale.” I decided to turn around and give it a try. Good thing I did! When I finished looking at the items in the garage and rounded the corner to the back of the house, I spotted a box of cookbooks! I grabbed most of them and went to check out. A lady helping with the sale found a box for me and said there was room in the box for more. I totally agreed—so I asked if there were more cookbooks coming out.

She pointed me to the lady holding the sale and I went up and asked. She paused for a second and said that she did have more. She went inside and a less than a minute later, she brought out a stack—as did her husband!

I started looking through them and adding to my box—now it was overflowing! Take a look at the haul:

Southern Living Annual Recipes 1979, The Martha Stewart Cookbook, Out of Our League (Junior League of Greensboro, NC), Finest Old Southern Recipes(Wooden Cover) with Southern Cookbook: 250 Fine Old Recipes (Lillie Lustig, Editor), Charlotte Country Day School Cook Book (Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, NC), Pick of the Crop (North Carolina Chapter 35 Telephone Pioneers Cook Book), The Charlotte Cookbook (Charlotte Junior League, NC) and Charlotte is Cooking with Allen Tate.

A Goldmine of Recipes (Cabarrus County Extension Homemakers), Three Rivers Cookbook (Child Health Association of Sewickley, PA), Cooking with the Cobb Clan (Descendants of Katie Lee Sockwell Cobb), Sharing Our Best: Taste of Travelers (Travelers Insurance Company), Sugar ‘n Spice and Everything Nice! (The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh, PA) A Book of Favorite Recipes from Charlotte BPW Club, Tried and True Volume II (Craig Avenue Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, NC).

I asked Ruby about her these cookbooks and she said this was part of 50 years of collecting them!

She pointed to the inscription on this Southern Living Annual Recipes from 1979:

(To "Supercook" on her 38th--I don't see how her culinary ability could get any better, but she wanted it anyway.)

She said, “This was from my first husband when I was 38—now I’m 71!”

Ruby then showed me several that were from when she and her first husband lived in the Pittsburgh area. She points on Three Rivers Cookbook and tells me about how this was a gift from the real estate agent when they closed on their home. The agent even had their evening meal catered for them on the first night after they moved in. Isn’t that nice?

I was on the fence about Cooking with the Cobb Clan. But when I asked Ruby if I needed to get this one, she said that this cookbook was from her friend, Phyllis’ family, and she had once owned a restaurant. I guess that settled it!

I’m so glad I turned the car around and gave Ruby’s sale a try. But now I’ve got some decisions to make. It’s about 7:45am and I still have two more 7am sales—but I’ve got two sales coming up at 8 am that I need to think about as well.

I give up on making it to the other 7 am sales and head for the closest 8 am sale. Fifteen minutes later—it’s a bust. Now I’ve got another decision to make. My 9 am estate sale is further down and across the border in South Carolina. If I leave now, I’m there around 8:20 am. That’s a good bit of time to sit and wait for the door to open. But, on the up side, it’s an estate sale from the awesome Bell. Remember the morning spent with her mother-in-law’s shed and the later one inside the house? Plus, she’s listed cookbooks in the advertising.

It looks like I’m heading to South Carolina!

As I’m pulling into the neighborhood, I notice a brand new Krispy Kreme. I think we all know where I’m visiting after this sale…

This is a development of apartment/condos and the sale is in one of the smaller units. I knock on the door and Bell says to come in. Bell is ready and her cousin is there as well. Bell points me towards the kitchen and I find a bookshelf with some cookbooks. Here’s my stack:

Nathalie Dupree’s Southern Memories, Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals: Get Togethers, Cooking with Rachel and Friends (First Baptist Church, Rock Hill, SC), The Magnolia Collection (Gene Westbrook), The McClellanville Coast Seafood Cookbook (McClellanville Arts Council, McClellanville, SC) and Sweet Savours of Summerville (Bethany United Methodist Women, Bethany UMC, Summerville, SC).

I take a look around the rest of the condo and it’s very nicely decorated. Lots of doo-dads and decorative boxes you’d find at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. Plus, there are tons of paintings on the wall…

Turns out that the condo is owned by a lady who is an artist—and all the paintings are all by her! Seriously, it’s like I’ve stumbled onto Art Day at yard sales. The prices for the framed art are a bit too steep for me, so I’ll just stick with the cookbooks.

At this point, it’s after 9am and the sales are over for this morning. I’ve got some nice finds in the cookbook area and a two interesting pieces of art. I think it’s time to treat myself to some Krispy Kreme!

This Isn’t Stalking, Right?

I had to take Dunc to get a pair of khaki pants for a band concert the other night. As we were walking back to the car, we passed this car. Dunc said something and I turned my head toward him. When I did, something caught my eye.

Of course, it was a cookbook. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the cookbook. Then, I noticed that almost the entire back window was filled with them. Some I had, some I didn’t. Then I took this picture….

That’s not stalking, right? That’s just me being impressed with their selection. Dunc thought it was weird. I mentioned it to a few of my co-workers and they thought it was weird, too. I just think it was nice to see another cookbookaholic in the area. Their license plate was from Georgia, so maybe they were just visiting family? Okay, that’s beginning to sound weird.

What Black Friday Feels Like

The news makes such a big fuss over the people who camp out for those insane Black Friday deals. You know what? A good estate sale will bring out the pre-dawn fanatic every Saturday morning. We know what that first-through-the-door sensation feels like more than once a year.

And on this particular Saturday, I knew I had to be that crazy fanatic camped out at the door.

Remember the estate sale where the guy holding it told me he’d kept two Betty Feezor cookbooks for himself? Well, he’s having another sale and deep down in the description, he’s written “good set of Betty Feezor cookbooks.” And there’s a picture…three of them.

Okay, he’s obviously sent this email to a wide range of people on his mailing list. Oh, and by the way, the house itself is over one hundred years old—so lots of antiques and old furniture. I can see it now, I’ll be elbowing my way past pickers trying to get their hands on a side table.

The sale is at 8am and it’s relatively close, so I decide that I need to be there before 6am to beat out the crowd. Or, at least be near the front.

I’m motivated by the force of Betty and after a little issue of actually finding the house, I’m there at 5:45am. It’s dark, it’s cold and I’m the first to arrive.

I park just across the street, walk over and but my box down at the door. With my spot staked out, I head back to the car and find my pink Slanket (it’s the knock-off Snuggie). I wrap myself up and take a seat on the cold brick back porch.

Thanks to my smartphone, I catch up on the latest news, update my Facebook status and send out a Tweet. Time passes and I realize that I could’ve slept in a little longer and have been just fine showing up closer to 7am. Oh well…I’m still first in line.

Others start showing up a little after 7am. They begin to line up behind me and await the start of the sale. A lot of them are antique dealers who are looking for jewelry and furniture. I keep waiting for someone to mention cookbooks…but I don’t hear a peep.

About 7:30 am, Tom and his crew of helpers arrive and go inside the house. I hear them setting up and getting ready. Just a little longer now!

Right before 8am, Tom comes out and explains how to tear the tags on the big furniture to claim them. And then he lets us in.

The Bettys are on the “goodie” table with the costume jewelry. I grab them and ask him to put my name on them while I look around.

Betty Feezor’s Best (Fourth Printing, 1962), Betty Feezor’s Carolina Recipes Volume I (Seventh Printing, 1977) and Betty Feezor’s Carolina Recipes Volume III (First Edition, 1984).

What? No Volume II? There’s a Carolina Recipes Volume III! I’m really thrilled to find that one. You don’t see it as often and I’m on cloud nine right now.

Just past the checkout table is a shelf of cookbooks. Wait…there are more cookbooks? I was so focused on Betty that I didn’t realize there were more.

With the Betty’s secure at the checkout desk, I take my empty box over to the bookshelf and start looking and loading up. There are a ton of people pouring into the house now, and this bookshelf is right in front of the main hallway—I’ve got to work quickly.  

Here's what I found:

The Treasury of White Trash Cooking (Ernest Matthew Mickler & Trisha Mickler), Inside the Gate (Montreat Scottish Society, Montreat, NC), The Village Cook Book (P.T.A. Pantry, Davidson, NC), Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church Cookbook (Charlotte, NC), Barbara’s Top Recipes (Barbara Stutts, Charlotte, NC), Charity League Cook Book (Charlotte, NC), Purefoy Hotel Cook Book (Eva B. Purefoy, Talladega, AL), White Trash Cooking (Ernest Matthew Mickler) and Sinkin Spells, Hot Flashes, Fits and Cravins (Ernest Matthew Mickler).

So, let me get this straight…there are two copies of White Trash Cooking? One has the metal spiral spine and the other appears to be soft bound. The soft bound one is a special edition from 2002 and this is a first printing. Score!

Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church: 250^th Anniversary Cookbook (Charlotte, NC), Charleston Receipts (Junior League of Charleston, SC, 1953 printing), It’s Not Gourmet—It’s Better! (Eudora Garrison) and Hopewell Heritage Cookbook (Presbyterian Women/Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Huntersville, NC).

Okay, now this is a nice supplement to my Betty’s. I check out and head back to my car. Time to exhale! All that and it’s only 8:15 am.

The house looks so calm and peaceful in the early morning light, doesn’t it?

That narrow residential street on the other side of the trees has gone from dark and empty to bumper to bumper.

I’m grateful for my Bettys and the rest of my finds, but it’s been a long, cold morning and I’m heading home.

As I make it back to the car, I take one last look at the back porch. It doesn’t look so dark and lonely in the daylight.