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.