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 10th 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!