Cookbookaholic

Now is the Winter of My Discontent

Okay, that’s going too far. Today started out a little on the chilly side but ended up being a warm and beautiful day. Here’s how the morning played out: not a cookbook in sight. Seriously, not even one. I went to two estate sales and a moving sale…nothing. 

I did end up with a lot of art and some jewelry. Wanna see?

The first sale was a moving sale and they were open early. This small framed painting caught my eye. It’s a beautiful combination of colors. I asked the lady having the sale if she was the artist of the painting. She said no, but that I was making a good investment as she had purchased it at a gallery.   

Here’s the painting:

 

My next two sales were both at 8am. One started yesterday and the other is an estate sale. I choose to go to the estate sale. I’m there with about fifteen minutes to spare. But it looks like I’m about the seventh person in line—I guess the chill in the air has kept the line down? Or, if this is the sale I remember from an email, there is a collection of Grandma Moses prints inside. And that looked to be highlight of the sale. I bet someone up at the front of the line will make a beeline straight to those prints.

The door opens and I walk around the front of the living room, the upstairs bedrooms and downstairs. Nothing. Even in the kitchen, I didn’t see anything. I rounded the corner out of the kitchen and into the back of the living room. Hidden in the corner are the Grandma Moses prints. In fact, there’s a stack that includes a boxed collection of Andrew Wyeth prints as well.

So, should I sink some dough into these? Why not. Here they are:

Hubby and I both loved the one titled “Teel's Island.” But there are so many in that collection. My friend Janet just had a birthday on Friday and she loves Andrew Wyeth. I think she may get her pick of the box!!! 

The last stop is another estate sale—but by a very high end company. I’ve never been able to afford anything at one of their estate sales. Sure enough, I walk around the house and there’s nothing in my price range. I can honestly say that I’ve never had a spare $695 for an antique chest of drawers.

On the way out the door, I notice a tabletop filled with jewelry boxes and small trinket boxes. Those small trinket boxes are $45. There’s a plain wooden box that catches my eye but no price tag—and when I opened the lid, it was filled with buttons. There’s another box under a $145 Wedgewood Leaf. The tag says it’s an antique leather jewelry box and when I lift the lid, it’s filled with jewelry. Do they know jewelry is in there?

I sift through and find two pieces that interest me. One is a rhinestone studded leaf that looks like a bookmark or broach. The other is a glass cameo pin surrounded by an oval of rhinestones and pearls at the top and bottom. I buy them and bring them home for a little cleaning.

Let's hope that next week will get me back on track with at least one cookbook.

Gimme Shelter...Cause It's Drizzling

It’s supposed to be a rainy weekend. And there’s nothing like a little falling rain for someone to cancel their yard sale—without any notice. If it’s not an indoor or a literal “in the garage” sale, there’s a good chance that rain will cancel most of this weekend’s sales. I wonder if I’ll get any sales or just drive by darkened homes and empty driveways.

The morning starts off very overcast but nothing worth worrying about. Then, my car wouldn’t start. Back to bed? Nah, I’ll just grab the keys to hubby’s car and head off to sale number one. It’s nearby and they did mention cookbooks, but it’s in an apartment.

When I arrive, I find a box of cookbooks and the ladies say they are a quarter each. Say hey, that’s a nice price!  I find a few but as I’m checking out the rest of the apartment; I hear them say they had another sale a few weeks earlier. Great, now I’m picking over the leftovers. Here’s what I ended up getting:

Southern Living 30 Years of Our Best Recipes, Fondue Magic: Fun, Flame and Saucery Around the World (Anita Prichard), Cooking with Sour Cream and Buttermilk (Culinary Arts Institute) and Something’s Cooking at American Savings (Elsye Wexler).

Can you imagine the time when Cooking with Sour Cream and Buttermilk was considered a recipe resource? This one is dated 1956! I have to admit, one of the best cakes I’ve ever made used buttermilk as an ingredient. I may have to focus more on the buttermilk recipes.

I actually spent more time at the apartment sale than I should have. Add to that, the hubby’s GPS took me on a large circle to get me around taking a left on a divided highway. By the time I figured out what it was trying to do, I’d lost a good five minutes of drive time. The next two sales were at 8am and I decided to head over to the one that said “no early birds.” If they hold the entry until 8am, I think I’ll have a better shot of getting there before it gets picked over.

As I walk up the driveway, I see a closed gate and three people already there. No worries, I’m familiar with these three and none of us are after the same items. Just as we’re standing there, the very slight drizzle becomes a bit heavier. Luckily, all the items are protected under a wide, covered garage. When they finally open up the gate, I see a lot of books on fat-free cooking. Not interested. I round a corner and find a basket of more cookbooks. Here’s what I find:

Top Secret Recipes: Classics (Todd Wilbur), Top Secret Recipes: More Classics (Todd Wilbur) and Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies.

Plus, I find a Pyrex 2-cup measuring to replace one that was broken a few months back. Woo-hoo!! Only a dollar!!!

Last stop on the list is an estate sale that started yesterday. Picked over? Probably. Plus, it’s in a part of town that I don’t usually put on my list. Turns out there’s not a lot in my price range. Lots of furniture with hefty price tags. I venture around to the living room and see a box of hardback cookbooks. I’m not looking to bring any of those home. I spot a lady in the kitchen behind some yellow ropes. I think she’s a family member. I ask her if there are any more cookbooks and she goes to the shelf and brings me back this one:

Weeping Willow African Methodist Episcopal Lutheran Zion Church (Charlotte, NC) Wow—it’s what, three or four denominations rolled into one?! That’s impressive! I never knew what A.M.E. stood for…now I know!

Plus, now I know a little more about this part of town. This house was nice and as I wind my way back to more familiar territory, I see a lot of nice, well-kept homes. I wonder what I've missed by not coming to this part of town before?

How fortunate that all the sales were inside or in a garage? The rainy weather didn’t keep me from any of the sales on the list. Now I’ve just got to cross my fingers that we can get my car to start so I can go to work Monday morning.

 

Just Calm the Bleep Down!

It seems the world around Paula Deen exploded this week with her recent—or actually, not so recent—diabetes diagnosis. I’m so torn on this whole controversy. I really enjoy her personality, her backstory and her food. Granted, I haven’t watched any of her shows in a couple of years. I can say that I did book her as a guest on Bob & Sheri a couple of times. She’s just this vibrant personality that makes you feel happy.

So much has been thrown at her this week and I wanted to put some of my thoughts down. Hope you don’t get offended or disappointed, it’s just my opinion.

First off, calm the bleep down. It’s not like she’s the Dalai Lama. She’s a southern cook who loves to cook with butter, flour and sugar. Are you actually surprised she has diabetes? I’m sure there has been an oddsmaker in Las Vegas taking bets on when she’d have a health crisis for years now.

Second of all, she’s a person. Let’s all remember that she’s a fellow human being that was given a life-altering diagnosis. She has a right to keep it private as long as she needs in order to deal with the long-term implications for her health. She can make her own decision as to whether or not she will make dietary changes, take medication or both. Any criticism that she needed to immediately jump up and proclaim herself a diabetic needs to simmer down. That is, unless you want to volunteer to get on your Facebook page and shout to the world every one of your ailments. It’s none of our beeswax. What was that? I thought so.

Then you have to keep in mind that she’s not just Paula Deen. She’s also the brand "Paula Deen" with a big ole “incorporated” behind it. Millions of dollars run through that brand and “she” probably had to carefully think through how that diagnosis would affect her brand on both a short-term and ongoing, long-term basis. “She” may even be a committee—butting in and putting in their two cents worth. Heaven help her, but that’s what companies with big money do—they sit, they think, they strategize, they run test scenarios, they consult focus groups, they analyze—and only then do they chose the option with the least amount of risk/fallout with optimal profit potential.

But then again, I don’t reach for a Paula Deen recipe for something health conscious, that’s not her field. I go to a Paula Deen recipe for something that tastes amazing, regardless of calories. Again, we’re going back to the “brand” Paula Deen. I don’t really know if I would want a healthy version of her cooking. Who knows, maybe that’s what she’s been doing these past few years but pushing it out through the son’s “Not My Momma’s Cooking” show? (She did add in salads, didn’t she? Back when her husband had a heart attack, I think?) Would her brand withstand a colossal, 180 degree change in direction? I’m not so sure it would.

Many have taken the stance about her responsibility to inform her fans and change her way of cooking. Did New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme stop being so popular and respected when he was scooting around on his Little Rascal? The man could barely walk because of his weight, but did the world rise up and demand that he change his recipes? They might have…but still, I think he pretty much decided for himself to lose the weight and get his health back on track. And if I want a Cajun red snapper recipe—I reach for one of his…from his fat phase!

On the other hand, ouch—she is a public figure who did decide to share her condition. And boy, it really did take her a long time to come out with the news. Three years is a huge swath of time. That’s an extended period to figure out where you’re going and map out a strategy to get there. 

Should she have taken the money from the pharmaceutical company? If the long-range outlook for her brand is not positive, then this drug company money will be what keeps her and the brand going a little bit longer. That huge payout does one of two things. It either buys her some time to bow out of public life gradually and graciously; or, it gives her the cash to keep everyone employed until the controversy blows over and she finds a way back to the limelight.

Who knows? Maybe she’s found that the drug has really helped manage her diabetes. Has it occurred to any of us that perhaps she’s actually the one pulling the strings? Maybe she convinced that drug company to give her oodles of cash to wave their product in front of her fans? I honestly don’t know. But I do know that it’s not easy to get an endorsement deal out of those big drug companies—that kind of money is a game-changer and you have to work for every penny. I’ve seen someone attempt that process…it was like watching them jump through never-ending hoops for an unbending, unimpressed taskmaster. Have no doubts, she’ll be working her bohonkus off day and night until that contract runs out. 

Here’s what I take away from all this. I still think she’s a great lady, a great cook and an inspiration. She’s dealing with a life-changing diagnosis and now she’s dealing with a possible career-ending public relations nightmare on a public stage. I wouldn’t wish either one of those on anyone. Given the right forum, she’s got the right ingredients (and sass!) to potentially turn this all around and back in her favor. She’s a strong, smart lady and I think she’ll be just fine. I wish her well.

 

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Who are we kidding? The first yard sale on my list starts at 6am. You know I’m not going to make that! The hubby and boys are on a weekend trip so I’ve got the house to myself! I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend and I’m wondering if I should just sleep in.

As luck would have it, I have four sales on my list and there’s one for every hour. There’s the too early sale at 6am and then I can take a leisurely pace all the way until an estate sale (which is probably already picked over) at 9am.

It is beyond cold and pitch dark out there! I’m out the door too late for the 6am sale, but plenty early for the 7am sale. It’s an apartment but it’s a moving sale. I’m the first to arrive and the apartment is thick with the smell of cigarette smoke. I find one cookbook and grab it quick. The lady running the sale tells me that her sister had already taken the cookbook their mother used when they were growing up. Don’t tell me that…ugh! I go into the kitchen and find a deep cast iron skillet for five bucks! I usually don’t buy cast iron items, but it's been kept in great shape and I can’t pass up the low price.

Here’s the cookbook I got:

Because We Care (Ladies of the Shrine, Hickory, NC). This one is from the mid 1980s and it’s stuffed! There are many recipe cards, multiple Green Bean Casserole recipes and several newspaper clippings focusing on roasting a Thanksgiving turkey and other holiday side dishes.

Well, now I have a dilemma. It’s just a few minutes past 7am. Should I head over to the earlier one from 6am? Or, should I try to be an early bird for the next one?

The 8am sale is on the same street as last year’s super mega-jackpot sale. I can’t remember the exact house number, could it be the same house? Sadly, no. I soon realize that as I drive toward the jackpot house…and then keep on going. Oh well…the sale turns out to be a bust as well.

Now’s the time to head back to the 6am sale. That estate sale isn’t going to open up early so I might as well check out the 6am sale and whatever is left of it. When I arrive, it still looks packed. I wonder what has been sold? Tons of baby stuff and old board games. I see an older man with a stack of books. Right there at the bottom is Southern Living Secrets of the South’s Best Barbecue. Wow—if only I’d been here a few minutes earlier. Then I look around. There seems to be another stack of books on the other side of the table. And there’s another copy of the BBQ book…still in the plastic wrapper!

Looks like this is a yard sale for someone who was a rep for Southern Living at Home. Glad I found the last copy of this cookbook!

Now, it’s over to the estate sale at 9am. It started yesterday, so I’m not expecting great things. Plus, these things almost never open early. By the time I pull up at 8:30am, I’m the only one waiting outside. Oh boy it’s cold! The line starts to form behind me and at 9am, the door opens.

I find my way to the kitchen and a little desk alcove filled with cookbooks! I even hear one of the workers say something like "the cookbooks had been hidden in a closet yesterday." So this was the first time they were put out for sale! Oh wait, it’s filled with a lot of low fat, diabetic cookbooks. Oh well…

I look a little more closely and find these two:

How to Beat Those Cordon Bleus (Rita Leinwand & Lois Peyser) and Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Cookbook.

Not bad, a total of three for a cold day in January. I had the rest of the day to myself so I decide to check out my favorite used book stores.

My first stop finds a first edition, first printing of Puttin’ on the Peachtree from the Junior League of DeKalb County, GA. Score!

I’m getting excited about the next stop! And with good reason, here’s what I find:

Nigella Bites (Nigella Lawson), A Third Course: More Cooking with Class (Charlotte Latin School), Charity League Cook Book (Charity League, Charlotte, NC), Louisiana’s Fabulous Foods (Lady Helen Henriques Hardy and Raymond J. Martinez) and The Hooters Cookbook. Wait, a Hooters cookbook?

Yes, there’s actually a Hooters cookbook. And yes, there’s an entire chapter devoted exclusively to wings. We’ve got Beer-Battered Wings, Buffalo Wings and Waikiki Wings, and Wings of Fire among others. I originally bought this as a hoot, but there’s a section on drinks and lots of tailgating ideas. There’s a big football game coming up in a few weeks. This Hooters cookbook may come in handy after all.

 

First Haul of 2012

I honestly thought I’d get this weekend off. I’m still trying to shake this cold, so I was betting (hoping, really) on zero garage sales. A much-needed sleep-in was high on my list. But I actually ended up compiling a list of four sales and one potential trip to Kernersville for a moving sale.

I was up and out for the first sale at 7am with plenty of time to spare. When the garage door opened, it was a bust for me. No worries—just move on to the next two sales at 8am. The closest one was not open early so I decided to head down to the one farther away. They were open early but they were literally chunking out all of their Christmas items…and no cookbooks.

I headed back up to the other 8am sale and passed by a sign for another garage sale not on my list. My friend Mary Dana lives on this street so I’ll definitely swing back by. The other 8am sale was open by now and I found three books:

Relax, Company’s Coming! (Kathy Gunst), Your Favorite Southern Recipes (White Lilly) and Galloway Grazing: Cocktail Companions. That Galloway Grazing cookbook has some fancy recipes like Caviar Dip—using real caviar!

Okay, time to head back to the other sale. I find a lot of kids clothes but no cookbooks and two small kids selling Starbucks Hot Chocolate. I was about to leave but then asked the lady having the sale if she had any cookbooks. She headed inside so I took a closer look at the items for sale. And what do I see? I spy two of those Redneck Goblets!

One of my co-workers, Erin, bought a pair of them at the recent Southern Christmas Show. I think she needs a complete set of four, don’t you?

I grab the goblets and then she brings out these two cookbooks:

The Innkeeper’s Collection Cookbook (C. Vincent Shortt) and Thyme to Cook (Covenant Day School Families). The lady said that the Innkeeper cookbook was given to her but she never got around to using it. I get it home and start to flip through it. The title page has an inscription….and an autograph by C. Vincent Shortt!

 Not too shabby for the first haul of 2012. 

 

Tragedy in San Antonio

Did you read about this yet? http://www.ksat.com/news/Man-steals-Krispy-Kreme-truck-crashes-into-gas-pump/-/478452/7653614/-/i4nlm1/-/index.html?source=ANT

Seriously? This is how a guy dealt with losing his job? He steals a Krispy Kreme delivery truck and then crashes it into a gas pump? The doughnuts could've been burned up in there! I can’t believe how some people would be so careless with a truck full of Krispy Kreme doughnuts…oh, and also their future. I mean, who's going to hire you after you've pulled a stunt like that?

Well, I stepped up and did my part. On Friday after work, I took the first coupon from my Krispy Kreme 2012 calendar and saved a dozen doughnuts from a horrifying, fiery end.

I know...it's like the Nobel Peace Prize is practically already mine.

 

Starting 2012 Off Right

The end of 2011 was sad with the thought of forever losing Flamingo’s Doughnut Café. But what can perk up a New Year’s Day like the traditional Hoppin’ John meal? I usually try to seek out a restaurant that features it as a special. For a couple of years, we always found one particular restuarant that it on their New Year’s Day menu. About three years ago, they didn’t and I was done with them. Listen at me, I sound like I’m in the mafia. They didn’t honor our unspoken understanding just one time and now, they’re dead to me.

We were able to find an amazing Hoppin’ John at One Hot Mama’s last year. That restaurant is super close to the condo and the two thick slices of smoked ham were tender and out-of-this-world delicious. This year, we made it our mission to be at One Hot Mama’s again on New Year’s Day.

We arrived around 2pm and lucked into an open booth. Hubby and I both ordered the Hoppin’ John special. It was almost the same savory picture perfect meal, the collard greens, black eye peas and cornbread were spot on. This time around though, the ham was sliced super thin and looked…grilled?

Last year’s ham slices were thick, tender, juicy and just the right amount of smokiness. (Quite possibly the best Hoppin’ John meal I’ve ever had.) But this year’s version was much drier and tougher. Perhaps throwing such thin slices (of which there were many) onto the grill robbed them of their tender juiciness? The char marks on the ham should’ve been my first clue. Oh well, I’m still hoping for the best in 2012.

Ending 2011 with a Whimper and a Bang

Spending the New Year weekend in Hilton Head was such a needed relief! I had been suffering from a cold and missed out on the usual family get-togethers on Christmas Day. So, even though I was still feeling tired and not shaking the cough, a few days down in Hilton Head sounded like a great pick-me-up.

Last year’s NYE trip found all of my favorite thrift stores closed for the holiday. But, at least our favorite restaurants were still open. This time around, I was still prepared for the thrift stores to be closed—but I could still check for garage/moving sales. And hopefully, our favorite places to eat would still be open as well.

We roll onto the island and find a newspaper. No garage sales. Ugh. Then, we come across a story covering the recent break-in and robbery of my favorite thrift store, Hospice Community Thrift. What’s up with that?  

The good news is that it reopened and would actually BE OPEN the next morning at 10am! Yeah!

First thing the next morning, Dunc and I head over to Flamingo’s Doughnut Café. Every morning on Hilton Head should begin there. And guess what I find…

Empty parking lot.

 

Empty and dark building.

Closed sign with no hours written on it and a For Sale sign on the door. Oh no….

This must be some sort of a terrible mistake. Perhaps I’ve misinterpreted all the signs and they’re just taking the New Year weekend as a holiday, right? Come on, right? They had an ad in the December issue of Island Events…surely they aren’t out of business?

We picked up breakfast elsewhere and went back to the condo. I pulled up Facebook and tried to go to their page (after all, I am a fan!). Nothing. I googled the name, found a link to their breakfast menu and clicked on the link: “This site does not exist within the LDAP database.” Wow…I’m so disappointed. This place had become a tradition for me. Sure the service was spectacularly lousy with this last owner, but the doughnuts were always such a treat no matter who owned Flamingo’s. What a sad way to start the last day of 2011.

Dunc and I finished breakfast and headed over to Hospice Community Thrift. We were the first ones through the door and I had a great time looking through the cookbooks. And some with the pink price tags were half off! Nice way to finish out the year. I think we ended up spending an entire hour there!

Wanna see my last haul of 2011?

SLAR 1979, The Seattle Classic Cookbook (Junior League of Seattle), The Gasparilla Cookbook (Junior League of Tampa), The Cordon Bleu Cook Book (Dione Lucas), The Cupcake Cafe Cookbook (Ann Warren & Joan Lilly), Old Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking, Putting on the Grits (Junior League of Columbia, SC) and Virginia Hospitality (Junior League of Hampton Roads, VA).

Gourmet According to Saint Luke's (St. Luke's Episcopal Church, HHI, SC), L.C.W. Cookbook (St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Doraville, GA), Christ Church Cook Book (Savannah, GA), Any Bitch Can Party Cookbook, Look 'n Cook (Evangelical Deaconess Hospital Junior Auxiliary) and The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (Fannie Merritt Farmer).

Love it! Great finds including the Christ Church Cook Book from Savannah and the Cupcake Cafe. They helped take the sting out of losing Flamingo’s…until the next trip down here. Keeping my fingers crossed that some miracle happens and once again I’ll see the doors to Flamingo’s open for business.

 

Is That Kalendar with a "K"?

What a year 2011 turned out to be. I’m so glad it’s over. I’ve started a new job and had some time to reflect on the one I left behind. I’m simultaneously excited for the new job and its possibilities but exhausted at the long commute.

I am excited for 2012…and look at how I’m going to keep track of every day. With this handy Krispy Kreme monthly calendar!

A friendly worker at the Salisbury Krispy Kreme talked me into buying it back in December. Of course, the coupons at the bottom of the page really helped seal my decision.

I’ll give it a few days so that I don’t look so desperate—but that coupon for a free dozen doughnuts is getting redeemed soon!