Cookbookaholic

Score at Sleepy Poet

I’ve been asked where to find used cookbooks around town. One really good place is The Sleepy Poet in Charlotte. On a recent trip, I was walking around the booths that have books and found this little gem!

The New Southern Cook: 200 Recipes from the South’s Best Chefs and Home Cooks (John Martin Taylor).

John Martin Taylor is also known as Hoppin’ John…of the Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking cookbook fame. It’s a first edition, first printing and I’m stoked to have found it.

John Martin Taylor is one of those cookbook authors who loves Southern cooking and has made a really good effort to both preserve and promote it. He’s one of those authors that I would absolutely love to meet in person. There’s a blank title page—maybe I’ll be able to get him to autograph it for me one day? Won't he be thrilled...LOL!!!

Review: The S’mores Cookbook

True confession: I never went camping when I was growing up. I was not in Girl Scouts. My very first s’mores experience was by the light of the microwave in my kitchen. Remember when microwavable s’mores were sold in little plastic packs at the grocery store? Would Nabisco have done something like that? Well, that was my first s’mores experience. And it was so goooooooooood!

I’d always loved the three parts separately: graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate and marshmallows. You’re reading a blog by a gal that still keeps a jar of marshmallow crème in the cabinet. So, when I saw that The S’mores Cookbook (Adams Media, 2013) by Susan Whetzel (www.doughmesstic.com) was coming out, I jumped at the chance at getting a review copy.

  The S’mores Cookbook by Suzan Whetzel, Copyright © 2013 by F+W Media, Inc.

Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

If you’re wondering how someone can make an entire cookbook out of graham crackers, marshmallow and chocolate—strap yourself in for an amazing ride. We’ve got everything from S’mores Cereal Bars to S’mores Frappuccino. There’s even a Homemade Graham Crackers recipe that, alone, is worth the price of admission.

How about throwing off the traditional and stretching our expectations for a s’more? There’s a recipe for Reese’s Cup Fluffernutter S’mores that sounds like a really great idea. And you can roll this one right on over to me: Chocolate Carmel S’mores made with Rolos. Although, I think I would switch that up and use one of my favorites, Nestle Treasures Milk Chocolate Caramels. Although, I’m hearing a nasty rumor that those have been discontinued? Perish the thought! If so, I’m sure any of those caramel filled Ghirardelli squares will do just fine.

If you can find some graham flour at your grocery store, wouldn’t you love to try Graham Waffles? That sounds good even without topping it with chocolate syrup! Although there’s a recipe for S’mores Stuffed French Toast that looks awesome as well.

For more fancy schmancy desserts, I think the tall, three-layered S’mores Layer Cake, with its thick, gooey Marshmallow Frosting and coffee-infused chocolate cake, would cut an impressive figure at any gathering. And on a personal note to myself: the next time I have refreshment duty at church, I think I’ll have to try out the S’mores Puff Pastry Mini Tarts.

Check out Chapter 6 for “Grab-and-Go Treats,” I’ve already made the S’mores Cereal Bars with my childhood favorite Golden Graham cereal. The S’mores Turnovers and S’mores on a Stick aren’t far behind on my to-do list.

Remember when marshmallow-flavored vodka showed up about a year ago? And we all wondered, why? There’s a “Drinks” chapter that starts off with a S’more-tini featuring the flavored vodka and chocolate liqueur…so there you go.

The “Giftable S’mores” Chapter has a S’mores Popcorn Bag idea that had me at “hello,” well…more like they had me at caramel popcorn. It’s meant as a “giftable” treat, but I think actually sharing them is optional.

This cookbook contains a lot of delectable and interesting incarnations for the pretty simple ingredients of graham crackers, marshmallow and chocolate. Look to the final chapter, “Essential S’mores Recipes,” for Homemade Marshmallows, Marshmallow Meringue, Chocolate Ganache, Marshmallow Frosting, Homemade Chocolate Syrup, Simple Marshmallow Syrup and the previously mentioned Homemade Graham Crackers. These are certainly fantastic basics that could be easily transferred to other desserts to jazz them up a little.

So, raise your personal kitchen torches high in honor of Susan Whetzel and The S’mores Cookbook. I think we’ve got a must-have addition to any cookbookaholic’s collection. There are too many amazing recipes ideas in here to not have at quick reach!

 

p.s. I just got back from the grocery store and Nestle Treasures are now known as DeMet’s Treasures. Same packaging, just a change in the name.

Is It Fall Already?

As I was getting ready this morning, I heard the sound of rain hitting the roof. For a brief moment, I thought of crawling back in bed. But—you never know—it could be clear skies just a little further down in Charlotte.

I walked outside to see an overcast sky, but it felt like it could’ve been late September—certainly not mid-August. Hasn’t this heat wave been unbearable? Ugh!

I’ve got four sales on my list and none of them mention cookbooks. Today is going to be a lot of wishing and digging.

My first stop is near the house. The sale doesn’t open for another hour and it’s around 6:30am. The drizzle has started up again but as I drive by, I see the garage door is open and tables are filled with items. I park the car and walk up. The light in the garage is on—but no one is out there.

I look around and see a chair at the end of a table with a small stack of cookbooks in the seat—but I don’t think I’ll get those. On the other side of the table is another chair—now these are more my style!

BarclaysAmerican Buffet (Employees of BarclaysAmericanCorporation, 1982) Gone With the Grits (Diane Pfeifer), Taste the Nation (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Republican Women’s Club, Charlotte, NC) and Taste & See that the Lord is Good, Psalm 34:8 (Thrift Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC).

And that’s when the light goes off! I guess the timer ended?

I knock on the door that leads into the house—the door that is cracked open, by the way. I hope someone is awake in there.

A man’s voice answers and says he’ll be out in a second. Then, I hear him call to his wife. They both emerge—he’s finishing a biscuit and she’s still in her nightgown!

She walks into the garage and tells me that she’s been laying in bed, listening to the drizzle, wondering if anyone would show up for the sale. She goes on to say that the whole house is for sale, but that these were the only cookbooks she’s run across. I pay for the four and move on to my next sale.

When I pull up, I don’t see many cars—but a glance down the driveway spots a garage full of stuff. As I walk down the driveway, I notice that the entire back porch is filled with items as well. I must have spent ten minutes going through every table—no cookbooks!

I ask around and no one has any. Then, a gentleman in the garage tells me that they don’t cook. Then, I hear someone else say that they’re not even supposed to be open—but decided to let people come in early because of the weather.

That’s curious. I thought this was my 7am sale? When I get back to the car and my list. A dread sets in. I’ve mistakenly punched in the 8am sale on the GPS and now I’m a good fifteen minutes late to the 7am sale. I just hope that this weather kept too many people from going.

When I finally make it to the 7am sale, it’s a small home with a few tables in the garage. I look over the table to see linens, lamps and some serving pieces. Then, someone mentions that there’s a table full of items through the living room and in the enclosed back porch.

I walk through the neat and elegant living room out to the tiny back porch. Three people are already packed in. There are a few old board games, some gardening tools and knick-knacks. No cookbooks. So I didn’t miss anything? That’s a relief!

There are several helpers at this sale, but I seek out the elderly lady that owns the house. She’s very sweet looking and is wearing a very nice outfit of cream colored slacks and a beautiful blouse with large blue and purple flowers. (It crosses my mind that when I’m her age, I hope I’m as put-together and elegant.) I ask her if there are any cookbooks she’s interested in bringing out. “Oh boy, I didn’t think about those. I’ve got a ton of them.”

I told her that I would gladly wait if she wanted to look through them. She agreed and a few minutes later, one of her helpers emerged with these:

Miss Daisy Celebrates Tennessee (Daisy King, researched and written with James A. Crutchfield and Winette Sparkman), The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, Pleasures of the Good Earth (Friends of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, Bucks County, PA) and The Philadelphia Orchestra Cookbook (The West Philadelphia Women’s Committee for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bryn Mawr, PA).

The Cookie Book (Edited by Ruth Berolzheimer, Culinary Arts Institute) and The Cookie Jar (Savannah Sugar Refining Corp., Savannah, GA). I love this wooden cover on The Cookie Book! How cute is the little kid as they get into the giant cookie jar? Plus, when I went through the booklet inside, I found this small cookie recipe pamphlet, shaped like a cookie jar, featuring Dixie Crystals sugar.

Now this was a really nice selection! As I’m about to leave, the lady comes back out and I thank her for looking through her collection for me. I ask her name and she tells me that her real name is Lorena, but that everyone knows her as “Mickey.” One of her daughters chimes in and says that Mickey is almost 90 years old. (I bet she used to be a Vegas showgirl back in the 1940s…) I ask if she’s moving and she says yes, to a small apartment. She then tells me that she has a half acre of landscaped backyard that she can’t take care of anymore.

So then it hits me, she’s close to 90 and she didn’t bring out a Betty Feezor? I mention that I was a little surprised that a Betty didn’t make an appearance in the stack. She smiled and said that I can come back when she’s off to the nursing home. I knew there was a reason I liked her! That means Betty was in there and Mickey isn’t giving her up just yet. Neither would I Mickey, neither would I.

Friday Morning Rush

I could get used to hitting an estate sale every Friday morning. Let me tell you that when I can swing it, there’s no better way to begin that last day of the work week. On this particular Friday morning, I think every person who owns an estate sale company had one scheduled. One guy’s company was holding two separate estate sales at the same time!

Of all the sales this morning, only one actually mentioned cookbooks. It was written as “loads of cookbooks.” So, let’s be honest, I guess you know where I’m heading. I’m banking on one of the other estate sales being the big draw and maybe that’ll buy me some time with this one. Plus, the parking instructions for this one is complicated—they’re asking people to park and then hoof it to the sale. That’s definitely courteous to the small neighborhood, but a giant pain to those who plan on leaving the sale carrying things.

So, the sale begins at 8am sharp and numbers are be handed out at 7am. Looks like I need to get there a little early and secure my place in line.

I’m there at 6:30am and grab a parking space right at the house. The sale is in a very nice, but small, upscale neighborhood. The house is located in a cul-de-sac, so there’s not much room for other cars.

I’m the first one to arrive and one of the helpers is already bringing lawn items out of the garage and lining them up in the driveway. We chat for a few minutes and he tells me that the cookbooks are all on a bookshelf inside the garage. What?!  So, do I even need to line up at the front door at all?

And just to be sure, I take a peek inside…

Yep, there they are. Now, I just don’t know what to do. Should I line up or ask to go through the garage?

He tells me the lady that owns the home is moving to a smaller apartment and this is the third house they’ve helped liquidate for her. She must be very wealthy—‘cause this is a nice side of town. Plus, the listing and pictures of items for this sale are very nice and worth a ton of money

With an empty copy paper box in hand, I go ahead and stand at the front door. 7 am rolls around and I’m still the only one there—and no one is handing out any numbers. Fifteen minutes roll by and I’m still the only one. The lady running the sale comes out and hands me the first number. I’m wondering if she realizes that there are about another five estate sales happening at 8am.  I’d love for her to forget the number system and just open up the door—or let me into the garage first.

On a side note, the gentleman that I saw helping in the garage comes around the corner with a sheet of paper. It’s the price list. He tells me the prices for hardback and soft cover books. With this info, I’m thinking I can afford to load up pretty heavily. Let’s hope these cookbooks are worth the wait.

When I ask about opening up early, she shakes her head no but then tells me that there’s a door just inside the front hallway that leads directly into the garage. So, as soon as she lets us in, I take a quick left, go down the steps and arrive at the bookshelf. That’s great—but I still wish she’d just let me in now.

I’ve got a meeting scheduled this morning at 9:30am. And with my hour long commute, I’ve got to get in, get the cookbooks and get out—quickly. This address is a little further down the road than I thought and I’ve got to bust my beehonkus. I need to be back on the road by 8:15 to even have a shred of hope of making to the meeting on time.

Time rolls by and, slowly, a few more people line up behind me. There are a few neighbors that have been in the house before, are familiar with the contents of the home and know exactly what they’re looking for. By 8am, there are only about seven of us there. But when the door opens, I make my way to the bookshelf and start loading up.

There are four full shelves and they’re all looking like they’re right up my alley. I’m moving cookbooks as fast as I can from shelf to the box as fast as I can. As I’m busy doing this, one lady walks half way down the steps, grabs a cookbook off the shelf and then leaves. What the what? What did she just grab? Oh, that’s going to bother me for a while. A long while!   

I keep going through the cookbooks shelf by shelf. The box is already filled and getting two stacks on top of that. I can safely say that the ones that are left behind are of no interest to me. There aren’t very many left behind, but I’m pretty certain that I’ve got a great selection.

Now, the box is too heavy for me to lift. So I’m pushing the box with my foot over to the checkout table a few feet away. While the cookbooks are being priced out, I take a quick look around the house. I see a lot of gorgeous things at really high prices. Oh well….I head back out to the garage, pay for the cookbooks and load up the car. By the time I crank up the car and put it in drive, it’s 8:12 am and I need to ease on down the road.

Wanna see what I snagged?

Top Row: Bobby Flay’s Grill It! (Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson), The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking (Louis and Billie Van Dyke),Paula Deen & Friends (Paula Deen with Martha Nesbit), The Plantation Cookbook (The Junior League of New Orleans), The Glory of Southern Cooking (James Villas) and Brunch (Marc Meyer and Peter Meehan). Bottom Row: Paula Deen Celebrates! (Paula Deen with Martha Nesbit), More Amazing Tastes (St. Gabriel’s Church, Charlotte, NC), Paula Deen’s Kitchen Classics: The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too! (Paula Deen), The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook (Paula H.Deen), Four Great Southern Cooks (Daisy Redman, Ruth Jenkins, Beatrice Mize and William Mann, Jr.), and The Lady & Sons, Too! (Paula H. Deen).

Top Row: The Junior League at Home (The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc.), Eat This Book (Tyler Florence), Tyler’s Ultimate (Tyler Florence),Down Home with The Neelys (Patrick and Gina Neely), Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker’s American Desserts, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea (Martha Hall Foose) andQueens Royal Recipes: Cooking with the Class of 1957 (Queens University of Charlotte, NC). Bottom Row: Not Afraid of Flavor: Recipes from Magnolia Grill (Ben & Karen Barker), How to Cook Everything: Revised 10^th Anniversary Edition (Mark Bittman), Nigella Express (Nigella Lawson), A Third Course: More Cooking with Class (Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC), Cooking with Class: A Second Helping (Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC), From Mama’s Table to Mine(Bobby Deen and Melissa Clark), Mama Dip’s Family Cookbook (Mildred Council) and Mama Dip’s Kitchen (Mildred Council).

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (Marion Cunningham), The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking (Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker),Jim Early’s Relections: The Memories and Recipes of a Southern Cook and Home Town Recipes of Stone Mountain (Veteran’s of Foreign Wars, Post 5257, Stone Mountain, GA). Bottom Row: Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (Ina Garten), Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (Ina Garten) and Barefoot Contessa at Home (Ina Garten).

I don’t think it registered with me at the time, but I think there’s a ton of “must have” Southern cookbooks in here. I’m very thrilled to welcome The Neelys, that Glory of Southern Cooking and Screen Doors and Sweet Tea into the fold. And I’m super glad to score that Nigella Express cookbook. Definitely called it right on this estate sale! Now, to get to work before that meeting at 9:30!

Down Home Cookin

So, I was recently going through an eBay search for Moravian cookbooks. I’m always on the lookout for a Moravian cookbook for my collection! This time around, I’m seeing ones from churches in the Midwest. As you may remember, I had to make a tough decision to stop collecting from Moravian churches outside of North Carolina. It was getting out of hand…as you can imagine.

Anywho…I was looking through the current auctions and found one called Down Home Cookin from Providence Moravian Church in Winston-Salem. Do I have that one yet? The cover design is very unique and lighthearted. It’s a woman in a long dress and apron chasing after a chicken. (I’m assuming to make a fresh Moravian Chicken Pie?) I’m not 100% certain, but it doesn’t look familiar.

The opening bid wasn’t too outrageous, so I decided to try for it. It was a long, agonizing week—but I won the auction!

A few days later, it arrived:

Down Home Cookin (Providence Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC)

Nice addition to my Moravian church cookbook collection! I wonder if anyone over at the Southern Provence has a list of all the cookbooks (past and present) from North Carolina Moravian churches? Could a list like that exist? If it did, I wonder if I could get a copy. That would certainly be helpful! I’d use it as a checklist of sorts. Let’s be honest, there’s who-knows-how-many Moravian churches in and around Winston-Salem. It could be a full-time job tracking down and buying cookbooks just from that area!

But for now, I’m happy to welcome Down Home Cookin to my home.

Arby’s Salted Caramel Shake

Let’s be honest about this whole wave of salted caramel craze. I think it crested in popularity with salted caramel chocolates around Christmas of 2012. We’ve had a few proven hits (Salted Caramel Cupcakes at Sweet Bakery in Florence, SC) and some huge misses. Side eye honors go to you, Red Robin, and your chunky Salted Caramel Milkshake…so thick with rock crystals, I thought I was drinking the ocean in the form of a slushie.

Recently, Arby’s has been touting their brand new Salted Caramel Shake. If you received that sheet of Arby’s coupons in the mail recently, then you noticed it took up the bottom third of the page. Also notice that there was no coupon for the shake? Oh well…. It looked interesting, so I decided to give it a try.

For the price, you get a very large portion. The cup is generously coated with swirls of caramel along the inside. The shake itself is smooth, buttery, creamy and sweet. And when you get that combined with the small pink Hawaiian salt crystals—it’s really amazing. The salt is literally sprinkled on top as more of a treat and not overpowering. In fact, I found myself hoping for a little more salt to fold into the shake.

But let’s jump back for a minute to that very generously-sized cup. For all of my best efforts, I couldn’t make it through a whole shake! I really did give it the ole college try and only conquered half before I finally gave up. But I’m not deterred…I will try it again. That caramel shake is an unexpected delight!

Caroline Does It Again!

Remember a while back when my colleague, Caroline, found a cookbook for me at garage sales? She also enjoys hitting the sales on Saturdays and we’ve even gone to a few on Fridays together during the lunch hour. When I got to work on Monday morning, she sent me a note that she had something for me.

“Is it candy?,” I replied.

“No, something better!,” was hers.

“Cookie? Cake? Chocolate?”

“No, but it does start with a c….”

 “I’m on my way over!”

When I rounded the corner and made it over to her desk, she presented me with these two beauties:

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book and Tiger Riffic Cook Book (Clemson Athletic Department).  

How cool is that? That was so nice that she thought about me while she was at the sales. I paid her back the cost of the cookbooks. And who knows? Maybe a few more may come my again soon? I certainly hope so!

Frosting Shots: How Happy Would I Be?

Earlier this afternoon, I was looking through my newsfeed on Facebook and saw the most wonderful thing ever.

They’re called Frosting Shots. A bakery up in Burlington, NC, called Emily’s Cookie Mix Shoppe, is offering these at one of their locations. How happy would I be if I could have this? No cake, no crumbs…just a spoonful or two of sweet frosting. Yummmm

And not that whimpy stuff made with Cool Whip. I think at a hotter temperature, you can spread it on the side of your house and call it stucco. I’m talking about the icing made with Crisco and lots and lots of confectioner’s sugar. Add a little flavoring and you’ve got something pretty awesome!

I’ve always loved frosting. Other than presents, it’s my favorite thing about birthdays. Even when I was very little, my Aunt Loretta would mix up a batch and pipe out icing roses, freezing them in a Tupperware container. For a treat, she would remove one from the airtight plastic box and put it on the counter to thaw. A perfect little icing rose was way better than any cookie, candy or chocolate for me.

For birthday celebrations growing up, I always wanted the corner piece. That way, I’d have the top and two sides covered in frosting. Extra happiness if there was icing piped around the edge, extending the sugary border a little further, and some of that made it onto the plate. A good scraping of the knife on the rim of the Dixie plate would be a good way to secure the additional bounty of icing. Or, if forced to eat the interior slices from someone else’s cake, I would hope for one with a substantial icing flower on top.

While expecting, of course, I craved birthday cake—for the frosting. And no, that’s not a weird craving. Pretty normal one, I think.

Nowadays, I enjoy picking up cupcakes to celebrate birthdays, happy occasions and milestones. The ones from Food Lion have a pretty thick swirl of icing on top of theirs.

And when I visit my hometown, there’s no better way to mark a birthday than with a birthday cake from Freeman’s Bakery. They’re pretty good at it.

Icing or frosting…whatever you call it, is smooth, sugary, buttery (slightly almond-y) goodness. One bite and all other issues or distractions melt away. It’s bliss followed by a sugar rush. So, bring on the frosting shots, oh ye bakeries in Charlotte! I’m ready!

Coolest People Ever

A couple of Sundays ago at church, my friend, Sara, said that her husband, Paul, had found some cookbooks for me at a garage sale! What a super nice gesture!

Paul also spends his Saturday mornings hitting the sales—although I’ve never run into him. He did tell me one time that he passed me on Providence Road. I wonder if I was fussing at my GPS at the time? The answer: there’s a good 70% chance that’s an affirmative.

Anywho, Sara (the better half, LOL!) told me that the cookbooks were in their other car—but they would try to bring them the next Sunday. Well, this past Sunday I got the cookbooks!

Mama D’s Homestyle Italian Cookbook (Giovanna D’Agostino), Home Gardener’s Cookbook (Marjorie Page Blanchard) and My Yesterday Your Today Cook Book (Inez Wendell Alfors, Winston-Salem, NC).

Check out that humongous lasagna on the Mama D cookbook! It’s like the size of Rhode Island! And what did she use to bake that thing? There’s no way on Earth that thing is fitting in your normal Kenmore oven.

I think I go to church with the coolest people ever. You hear me? The coolest…EVAH!!! Thanks again Sara and Paul!! 

Nice Start, August!

I don’t know about you, but the last couple of weeks in July were not my friend. I was quite relieved when the calendar turned over to August.

So, I had a quiet hope that this morning’s garage sales would be pretty good. I had only three sales on my list and the one that listed cookbooks was the only sale at 7am. I could spend some time going through them and not worry about having to rush off to the next round. That is, if I get there at the right time.

The next morning as I’m typing in the addresses in the GPS, it’s having trouble locating the very first one…the one that has cookbooks. Oh boy, time is ticking and I’m getting “no matches found.” I had some juice left in the phone battery, so I found the ad online again and double checked the address. And, of course, I goofed up the street name. I’m my own worst enemy…and now I’ve cost myself precious time.

I roll up to the address right after 7am. I move through the garage looking for the cookbooks. They’re stacked on top of a tall dresser at the very back…but I’m the only one there, so I get to go through them and take my time. Yeah!

Then, the husband brings out another stack. What a great way to start the morning. Here’s what I snagged:

Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, How to Cook Everything (Mark Bittman), Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes: Chocolate! and Weeknights with Giada(Giada De Laurentiis).

LaBelle Cuisine (Patti La Belle with Laura B. Randolph), Dori Sanders’ Country Cooking and The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches (Susan Russo).

What a relief! There was a copy of The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook, but there was no dust jacket for it. I decided to leave it behind in the stack.

And, on top of these finds, I spotted this cake stand on a table at the side of the garage. I dropped so many hints about what a great gift it would make for me when Target had them for sale. But somehow it never showed up for anniversary, birthday or Christmas. Now, it’s all mine for the low, low price of two bucks!

As I was checking out, the lady holding the sale thanked me for buying the stack of cookbooks. I asked her why she was selling so many and she told me that she had intended to start collecting cookbooks. What a noble endeavor!

But somewhere along the way, our newbie cookbookaholic decided to let go of that beautiful dream and just keep a few of her favorites. Then she mentioned that the only cookbook where she really found a bunch of great recipes was The Blue Willow Inn. So I asked, “Why don’t you keep it?”

“You know what? I think I will!” And with that, she and the cookbook disappeared inside the house. 

Off to one of the 8am sales, and it’s swarming with people already! I walk through the items on the curved driveway, then up and along the long porch and down into the side garage. Lot of great stuff, but no cookbooks.

It’s definitely a multi-family sale, so I ask a lady wearing a white apron holding a pen and writing prices on sticky notes. She didn’t have any out for the sale, but she took my business card. Hopefully, she’ll go through her collection and then remember me. Then, she was super nice and introduced me to another lady selling some items at the sale. She took down my information as well and maybe I’ll get a call from her, too. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

The final sale of the morning was a complete bust…not even worth the drive. But I’m pretty happy with my first garage sale of August. What a nice start!