What a terrible morning for sales. I’m coming up empty and ready to give this one last sale a shot.
I see some bookshelves with glass vases and some other knick-knacks but then I looked more closely. A box on the driveway actually had some cookbooks! And these were some nice ones, too.
I grabbed a few and then looked around some more. Those shelves with the glass vases? As I’m looking from the top and scanning down, on the shelf right at my eye level is a kitchen torch kit! What are the odds? Last week, I got the crème brulee cookbook and a bunch of ramekins. Now, I’ve got a real professional looking torch, plus—a butane torch and what looks to be a refill taped to the side. At least, I think that’s a refill?
As I tell the lady running the sale about how amazing it is to find the mini-torch, we begin talking. Her name is Betty and she’s a chef, fellow cookbookaholic and a vegetarian. She works locally for a company called the Compass Group and has worked at several cafes over the years. She’s originally from Los Angeles and told me a story of how she spent a few hours waiting in line at a bookstore in Glendale to get an autograph from Julia Child. How awesome is that?! Somewhere in that house, she’s got an autographed Julia Child cookbook. Jealous!
Then we get to talking about other autographed cookbooks and I told her about the autographed Edna Lewis cookbook I found a few weeks back. She thought she might have Edna’s first cookbook in her collection. Nice!! I hope she remembers me if she ever decides to sell it.
What a fantastic way to end my morning. And seriously, what are the odds that I’d find the mini-torch for the crème brulee the very next Saturday?
Wanna see the cookbooks?
The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country (Michael Chiarello with Penelope Wisner) and Gourmet LA (Junior League of Los Angeles, CA).
Recipes of All Nations (Countess Morphy) and Creole Feast: 15 Master Chefs of New Orleans Reveal Their Secrets (Nathaniel Burton and Rudy Lombard).