Cookbookaholic

Last Trip to The Book Lady?

It’s official. The in-laws are selling their Hilton Head Island condo.

We’re all incredibly sad. It’s been such an oasis for my family when we needed to get away.

Just like this trip! We found a great deal on a car for our youngest and it’s at a small dealership down in Savannah. We were able to drive down the night before, relax at the condo and then head out the next morning to test drive and purchase the car.

On the way back to the condo, Hubby and youngest son are driving together and decide to drive back to the island via Savannah downtown and backroads. And wouldn’t you know, since I’m driving all by myself, I decide to take a detour and visit my favorite used bookstore, The Book Lady.

I texted hubs to tell him my plan and then make my way over.

Luckily, I’m able to get in pretty quickly without having to wait for people to leave. I head back to my favorite corner and I get to pulling some really great finds…and several autographed ones, too!

North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time (Bob Garner)

Autographed!

Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey (John Currence) and Sister Schubert: Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters (Sister Schubert).

I grabbed the John Currence book because it has a forward by John T. Edge. That must mean it is fantastic! And the Sister Schubert cookbook? Inscribed…

Shrimp, Collards & Grits: Recipes, Stories and Art from the Creeks and Gardens of the Lowcountry (Pat Branning, select watercolor images by Nancy Ricker Rhett) and Headline Recipes: From Your State-Times and Morning Advocate (Pat Baldridge, Editor; Baton Rouge, LA).

The Shrimp, Collards & Grits cookbook is autographed by both Pat Ballard and one of the watercolor artists.

A Southern Collection: Then and Now (The Junior League of Columbus, GA), Manna from Savannah: Recipes from St. Peter’s family and friends (St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Skidaway Island, GA) and The Gingerbread House Cookbook (Mary Flanagan Bazemore and Janet Perkins Galloway).

I love when I can find great local cookbooks from Savannah! For some reason, I feel like this Gingerbread House cookbook is a great find. After doing a little research, I find out that this place is still in business today and is actually a leading location for events and weddings in the area.

And when I check out, the guy behind the plexiglass shield remarks on how many autographed cookbooks are in my stack. I tell him that his bookstore has always been a great resource for me to find  signed/inscribed cookbooks.

I hope this isn’t the last visit to The Book Lady. I would miss it so much!

The Old Fancy House

I could kick myself for this one. Not the cookbooks I got…but the fact that I had photos of me standing in line for this estate sale and I deleted them.

This estate sale was so long ago, but I held on to the photos on my phone. And, of course, now that my phone is “ancient,” it’s starting to have battery issues. It would suggest that I lighten the load, so to speak, and delete unused apps and dump photos.

And as I started looking at photos, I thought to myself, I don’t even know where the cookbooks from this sale are, so maybe I need to just let these images go. Now, with a recent purchase of another cabinet, I’m doing some cookbook shuffling and guess what I found….the small haul of cookbooks! Figures. LOL

Anyways, there’s this very old house near where I live. It’s one of those old, fancy two-story homes with columns in the front. Don’t think antebellum, more like early 20^th century.

Word was that the family was selling the home and it was going to be plowed. They even brought in an estate sale company to help with the pricing and sales for the entire house and toolshed in the backyard.

I showed up early but not early enough. My number was 13 to get inside. The line moved quickly and I went straight through to the kitchen and then into a side pantry. I was hoping to see a ton of old cookbooks, but, instead, only found a few.

Looking around, I saw a shockingly few number of cookbooks. Maybe the family took them already? That’s fine but I’m seeing thick files of recipe clippings instead of cookbooks.

Here’s what I did find and snag:

What’s Cooking at Pleasant Grove (Pleasant Grove UMC, Charlotte, NC) and What’s Been Cooking at Pleasant Grove for the Past 100 Years (Pleasant Grove UMC, Charlotte, NC). The green one of the left is actually the older cookbook!

I love, love, love that I was able to get both of these cookbooks from Pleasant Grove UMC. I think it’s great to see how a church congregation’s cookbooks and recipes change over the years. The really awesome church cookbooks are before the low-cal days!

Suncoast Seasons (Dunedin Youth Guild, Inc., FL) and Eudora’s Cookbook (Eudora Garrison)—it’s really a  pamphlet but when The Charlotte Observer is footing the printing bill—call it whatever you like! Eudora was the Homemaking Editor which probably covered a lot of territory back then to include sewing, crafts as well as food. What a heavy lift she had! I adore Eudora!

And, of course, I felt the need to look through the newspaper clipping files. I came across one that just seemed to be calling my name….

Cakes & Frosting!! The file folder itself is packed with not only newspaper clippings but pages from a recipe notebook, recipe cards and recipes written on notebook paper.

Imagine my surprise when I came across this handwritten gem:

Moravian Sugar Cake is a thrill to find. Keep in mind, I’ve never attempted to bake one from scratch. I buy mine straight from Dewey’s in Winston-Salem. I did buy an while enamel square baking pan many years ago to try baking a Moravian Sugar Cake, but never got around to it.

I don’t know…never say never.

Anyways, a few years have gone by and that fancy old house was never plowed for a new home or business. It’s still sitting there, now empty, without even it’s fancy glass door knobs while the grass just keeps growing up higher and higher.

Favorite Used Bookstore in Charlotte

I tend to post a lot about my favorite used bookstore in Savannah, GA. I’ve got to spend some equal time telling you about my favorite spot in Charlotte.

I don’t get there as much as I would like because it’s way across town, but it’s a great space and the money goes to a good cause. If I didn’t have a great morning at yard sales and didn’t want to head home just yet, I would drop by here.

It’s Julia’s Book Café which is part of a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Charlotte. Like I said, I don’t get there often, but I’ve found some really great selections there!

On this particular trip, I had just come from an estate sale that was being held inside a storage unit. It had a line to get in and I was interested to see the Bob Timberlake pieces they had listed.

Once I got in, the Timberlake pieces didn’t interest me so I took a turn around the storage unit. No cookbooks, but I did pick up a large, antique dough bowl and a punched metal light shade.

The morning was still early and I didn’t really want to head home yet. So, I decided to drop by the book café and check out any new additions.

I will give them credit because their selection has really improved over the years. Cookbooks used to be a small shelf but now it spans two very tall and wide shelves. I’m so glad to see their donations now include a bigger selection of cookbooks! So thank you to whoever is donating all these amazing cookbooks!

Anyways, I was looking through the selections and started making a stack. In no time at all, my stack was pretty tall. Some guy even walked through and said, “You’re getting all those? That’s great!”

My thoughts exactly!

And I can’t believe the selection that I’m going through today. It’s as if someone donated all the cookbooks that I like to snag! I’ve found two Moravian cookbooks including the one from my former church, Little Church on the Lane! The Junior League cookbooks are in almost pristine condition. The Charleston Receipts and Victuals & Vitamins cookbooks still have stiff covers and look like they’ve barely been touched.

The stack gets a little taller with a few more picks. So when I was finally ready to check out, the stack had to make it to the register in two trips.

Here’s what I got:

From top left to bottom: Charleston Receipts (Jr. League of Charleston, SC), Inverness Cook Book (All Saints Episcopal Guild, Inverness, Miss.), Gullah Cooking (Oscar Vick), Party Potpourri (The Junior League of Memphis), Moravian Women’s Cook Book (Little Church on the Lane, Charlotte, NC), Victuals & Vitamins (The Junior League of Greensboro), Recipes of the Deep South (The Tylertown Garden Guild, Tylertown, Miss.), Favorite Recipes of the Lower Cape Fear (The Ministering Circle, Wilmington, NC), A Southern Lady Cookbook (Dora Blaine Little, Family & Friends), From My Kitchen to Yours: Southern Cooking (Stella Rutledge Thurston) and Teeny’s Tour of Pie: A Cookbook (Teeny Lamothe).

From bottom to top: Plantation Tours & Tastes (Prince George Winyah Parish, Georgetown, SC) Louis Osteen’s Charleston Cuisine (Louis Osteen), At Home with Magnolia (Allysa Torey), The Lee Bros. Simple, Fresh, Southern (Matt Lee and Ted Lee), Savannah Entertains (Martha Giddens Nesbit), The Mast Farm Inn Cookbook (Kay Philipp & Martha Hinshaw), Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French Accent (Ellise Pierce), Celebrating Food & Fellowship (Messiah Moravian Church), The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook (Albert W. A. Schmid) and Southern Cocktails: Dixie Drinks, Party Potions & Classic Libations (Denise Gee).

Hope you like the pictures! The cookbooks are in the huge dough bowl I picked up at the storage  unit estate sale!

After I made it back home and went through the cookbooks, I found two really cool things:

The Charleston Receipts cookbook is really old. Not first printing old, but it is a fifth printing from November 1951. And taped on the first page is this note:

And remember the blog post from a while back about an Etsy purchase of the Stella Rutledge Thurston cookbook? I bought it from Mrs. Thurston’s neighbor and asked if she could get it signed. Turns out that she bought several copies from her estate sale…so no signature.

The one I picked up actually has an inscription along with Stella Thurston’s signature dated September 1, 1999. Now that is a treat! This copy only cost a dollar and comes with the signature!

Package from Daniel

Did you ever have friends in high school that always made every day more fun? Made you wonder how they could be so hilarious every single day and deep belly laughs were the norm.

For me, one of those friends was Daniel. High school and all its pitfalls were more livable thanks to him, his twin brother, Aaron, and another friend, Russ.

We’ve both left that hometown and live in different parts of the state. And thanks to Facebook, it helped restore that lost connection about a decade back.

Daniel reached out to me a while back asking for help in connecting his wife’s phone number to her loyalty card. It was a quick fix once I forwarded the info the team. Luckily, they sit very close to me.

Later, Daniel reached back out to say he was going to send me a cookbook as a thank you.

“Thanks. (don’t get your hopes up) I mean, I will mail it. Just don’t know if you will like it.” (2/23/19)

That’s a super sweet thought and a kind gesture, but he didn’t have to do it.

Dear Angela, Remember about 15 months ago when I said I would mail you something? …I mailed it yesterday. Be on the lookout for it. Your friend, Speedy.”  (5/19/20)

So after a few days, a package arrived!

Here’s what he sent:

Mix it with Aloha (The Windward Newcomers Club). This is a great welcome gift to new residents. It’s got helpful recipes to get them into the Hawaiian spirit of cooking/flavors as well as familiar recipes from the mainland.

A Gracious Plenty: Recipes and Recollections from the American South (John T. Edge). I’m a huge fan of John T. and the work he does with the Southern Foodways Alliance. In fact, I used to be a member of the organization and attended a symposium in Birmingham, AL, a few years back.

I love this line from the Author’s Note and I think it’s a great reason why I keep collecting cookbooks:            

“When all the dishes have been cleared from the table, these recipes remain a tangible link to a time, a place, a people.”

So, in the spirit of the long delays, I have finally posted about this really thoughtful package from my friend, Daniel! Not quite 15 months after it arrived but a good 13 months later. LOL!!!

Speaking of Louisiana Cookbooks

So, after I found the New Orleans estate sale cookbooks, I clicked around on those “suggested items you might like.”

I ended up discovering the cookbooks by Mercedes Vidrine. And I’m so glad I did!

Mercedes LeDoux Vidrine (1920—2010) began writing for newspapers at the very young age of fifteen. By 1962, she was writing a column for the Opelousas Daily World newspaper. By 1964, she had published her first cookbook, Quelque Chose deDoux avec une Demi-Tasse. Using the recipes she knew from family and those sent in by readers, she followed up with additional Acadian-centered cookbooks: Quelque Chose Piquante (1966), Quelque Chose pour un Joyeaux Noel (1967), and Quelque Chose Beaucoup Bon (1973).

I have three of them! I don't have the Beaucoup Bon...yet! I'm working on getting it. And look, the Joyeux Noel one was autographed!

In 1973, all of her “Quelque Chose” cookbooks were combined into one large colossal edition called, Louisiana Lagniappe. It’s huge and heavy, but it is literally four small cookbooks compiled into one binding.

I think the original version of Louisiana Lagniappe has the blue cover, but you will most likely find it in the red cover.

Oh, and this one is autographed!

It looks like she also published Louisiana Cajun Seafood published later, but I don’t have a copy of that (yet).

I also stumbled upon a copy of De Bonnes Choses a Manger (St. Matthew’s Guild, Houma, Terrebonne Parish, LA)

There’s no publication date that I can find. I wonder if this is a first edition?

And then there’s Roger.

Roger’s Cajun Cookbook (Vernon Roger, WAFB-TV, Baton Rouge, LA). Vernon Roger was a television reporter for a local station in Baton Rouge, LA. This cookbook is a compilation of recipes he knew as a child growing up in the area and from stories he did throughout the community.

This is a hard one to get. I lost a few eBay auctions before one finally came my way! There’s a “Lite” version for those watching their calories and I want to say a Christmas Cajun cookbook as well? I’m just thrilled that I was able to get this one. I mean, I’ll keep trying for a first edition, first printing but that is a hard “get.” The people of Louisiana know how good this one is and keep them!

New Orleans Estate Sale

Don’t ask my why, but I was recently looking for an antique pie bird vent on eBay. Not sure what got a hold of me, but during the search I found one that was part of a New Orleans estate.

I ended up clicking around the other items this seller had from the estate and found some great cookbooks. So I didn’t end up with the pie bird but I did get several of the estate’s cookbooks.

Hot Off the Press: Good Cooking from the Pages of The State Times-Morning Advocate (Pat Baldridge, Food Editor). This is from the local newspaper in Baton Rouge in 1977. It’s set up and printed landscape as a tip of the hat to the traditional reporter’s notebook, which allows for it to stand freely—without a stand. 

La Mascarade de la Cuisine (Krewe de la Famille de Lac Charles). This is a first printing from December 1985. I love cookbooks from the krewes that participate in Mardi Gras. These are people who love a good time and good food. My hope is that all of these contain old family recipes that go deep into Louisiana history.

To a King’s Taste (National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Louisiana). Now this one is old! The copyright says 1952 and I don’t see any other dates! I think this might be first printing!!

Flipping through it, I see lots of recipes with accent marks. The first section is “Beverages.” The first two recipes on the first page are coffee and the following eleven pages are all alcoholic. How hilarious is that. I even found a recipe for “The Bolo.” It’s pineapple, sugar, whiskey and champagne which sounds delicious! And then you read this line: “A favorite drink before breakfast on Sunday morning.”

Seriously? Are you heading to church with a buzz? Or, is this to lighten the headache from the night before? LOL!!!

The Asphodel Plantation Cookbook (Marcelle Reese Couhig). Apparently, this is a book form of recipes that were sold as recipe cards in an earlier time (late 1960’s?). The recipe cards came in a wooden box. Now that’s a great way to sell the feeling of recipes from a by-gone era.

I’ve started looking and have seen a few of these boxes on eBay, but the cards are never included. The box is cool but where are the cards? Did Grandma sneak them into her own recipe card stash? I’ll keep searching but I think the box and recipe card combo sounds like an amazing thing to find! 

Used Bookstore Chain?!

Oh my! I did a day trip up to Greensboro to buy a framed Bob Timberlake print early last year and discovered the used bookstore McKay Books & CDs. I bought a ton of cookbooks. Not sure where those are right this very moment….but, on a trip to Winston-Salem last year, I found that there is a McKay’s Books there as well.

My husband was with me for this trip through the store, so I had to chose sparingly and with caution.

I love, love, love the cookbooks I found. Plus, I can’t believe the variety that they had…there were some well-traveled cookbooks in there.

The Seasonal Palette (NC’s Taste Full Magazine). These were recipes inspired by Bob Timberlake and when I opened the cover…boom…Bob Timberlake autograph!

Not Afraid of Flavor: Recipes from Magnolia Grill (Ben and Karen Barker). These two chefs met at culinary school. Rick is a chef and his wife, Karen, is a pastry chef. Both are equally celebrated with a James Beard Award and Bon Appetit’s Best Pastry Chef Award respectively.

If memory serves, I believe Karen Barker recently passed away. So this cookbook is a great legacy for her vision. And as I began flipping through…boom…autographs!

Now it is inscribed to someone named Lee, but I’m thinking this is an important cookbook to pick up.

How many times have I written about my trips to Hilton Head and the island’s amazing thrift stores? Look what I found:

Twice Treasured Recipes (The Bargain Box).  

Who knew The Bargain Box compiled and published their own cookbook? It’s on the grounds of The First Presbyterian Church since being started in the mid-1960s. So, I guess it could have recipes from the church members? I’ve been going to Hilton Head for a long, long time and never knew about this cookbook. And here I find it in Winston-Salem?! Plus, this is a first edition!

Lastly, I came across this beautiful cookbook:

Christ Church Frederica Cookbook (St. Simons Island, Georgia). I love the watercolor of the church and trees. I think it’s wonderful when a congregation can get an artist to do a watercolor of the front of the church and landscape. What an amazing way to celebrate (and fundraise) with a gorgeous watercolor print on the wall. That could even turn into a heirloom piece to hand down generation after generation.

And it was the bargain of the bunch at $1.

So, next time I’m in Greensboro or Winston-Salem, I’ll have to swing by and visit McKay Books!

Yet Another Copy of the Pat Conroy Cookbook

I don’t know why, but I always feel like I need to snap up copies of The Pat Conroy Cookbook (Pat Conroy with Suzanne Williamson Pollak) when I see them at yard sales, online, etc., for a dollar or two.

Maybe because he’s a native South Carolinian, like myself? Or, maybe I think he was such a famous celebrity writer that chefs would hand over their secret recipes to him. Hmmm…that might be possible.

He lived a good portion of his life in Charleston and traveled all over the world. A quick read through the dust cover flaps tells you that Conroy himself was determined to learn how to cook by jumping head-first into learning the basics of French cooking. So, maybe…just maybe this cookbook could be a collection of short stories written by a master storyteller capped off with his own recipes.

I found this particular copy on Facebook Marketplace. It was listed as signed by the author. Now, I’ve passed over inscribed copies just because those have had higher price tags. This was a reasonable $15 with shipping included.

And, it’s also a First Edition.

I know I need to sit down and actually read this cookbook!

Another Batch from eBay

Can I tell you how much eBay has been my friend lately?!!

I’ve been looking forever for an affordable copy of Thug Kitchen for a while now. I loved the idea of a cussing cookbook. Thrills me! But, it has stood the test of time. My hairdresser, Mandi, loves this cookbook. She’s a health coach and posts pictures of her meals on Facebook. I’ve seen Thug Kitchen mentioned many, many times as sources for her recipes. And if she keeps this cookbook by her side, then I know these recipes are practicing what they preach.

Remember how I posted about my cookbook source on Etsy in the previous post? Well, there was one cookbook that was listed at close to the $20 mark. That’s unusual so I took a closer look. It was listed as a rare find and autographed…but still.

So, I did a quick search on eBay and found two listings for the same cookbook. I opted for the more affordable one, and whattaya know: autographed!

 

Fancy Fixin’s: Southern Style (Ruth and Frank DeFriese). I also love that Ruth stitched all the illustrations…not just the cover, but the intro to each section. You can see the “RD” that she’s stitched into the cute scenes.

Peace, Love and Barbeque is already in my collection, but just perusing the copies that eBay had for sale…I found an autographed copy. It’s also inscribed, but not to someone with my name. But, Mike Mills passed away a few years back and I wanted to grab up this copy for my collection.

And, of course, I did a look through the Betty Feezor’s that were listed. I love it when people outside of the Charlotte and Richmond area list copies. Most of the time, they don’t ask for an outrageous price tag. This one was $15 and autographed!

 

Betty Feezor’s Best, Fourth Printing, 1962. I want to say it came from Oklahoma? Amazing how it ended up out there! Betty is everywhere.

Believe It or Not....Etsy

Since this Covid mess has shut down so many things and I’ve been at home, I’ve written about the other avenues I’ve found for finding cookbooks. But here’s a new one that I don’t think I’ve written about before? Anyways…Etsy.

Yes, believe it or not, Etsy has become a great source for finding cookbooks.

I found this one particular store, Cookbook Rescue Shop, out of Charleston, SC. The owner, Judith, is also a cookbook enthusiast but is helping find homes for the ones she finds. I’ve bought several from her over the past year and wanted to share a few with you.

First of all, her prices are great and shipping is free. And she ships very quickly the next day. Because of the proximity, I tend to get her shipments within two days.

And, the more frequently I’ve ordered from her, the more fun the packaging and notes from her have become.

Here’s the packaging from a recent purchase with some stickers on it. And inside, you can see the really artistic notes that she leaves for me!

That shows that she’s recognizing my name and that means a lot. We fellow cookbookaholics should definitely support each other!!

So, here’s one that I was super thrilled about finding:

Callie’s Biscuits and Southern Traditions: Heirloom Recipes from Our Family Kitchen (Carrie Morey). This is the gal that founded Callie’s Southern Biscuits in Charleston. I’ve never been there, but I have seen the dry mix for several varieties of their biscuits for sale. There’s even a reality-based show on the local PBS station so I consider this find quite the catch!

Then, found this whopper of cookbook:

Where There’s Smoke (Barton Seaver). This is by the same author as another thick cookbook, For Cod and Country. This cookbook is centered around grilling and that’s a good thing to do around these parts spring, summer and fall. There are a few stains on the cover and my quick once over them with the disinfecting wipe probably didn’t help much but add a few wrinkles to the dust cover.

The last one I wanted to share is a thin but very interesting booklet:

Diverse Cooking from a Carolina Kitchen (Chris Williams) is a collection of recipes from this chef who started in Columbia, then moved on to finer restaurants in the Charleston area. After graduating from the C.I.A. in Hyde Park, NY, he headlined a restaurant in New York state before coming back home to the area and running the kitchen at Lone Star Barbecue & Mercantile in Santee, SC.

These recipes are larger for serving a group of people. The Lone Star Signature Meatloaf calls for 5 pounds of ground beef!

His cookbook breaks out the favorites from Lone Star BBQ as well as some fancier selections like Shrimp Cakes and Plantation Chicken (chicken cooked with orange juice, cinnamon and brown sugar). I wonder if that restaurant is still going? A quick search says it is still operating…just may need to find this place the next time I’m near Santee!

So, yeah, I’ve found some great cookbooks at this Etsy store. Both of the cookbooks were under $8…and remember that shipping is free. She’s absorbing the costs for postage. If you were to take that out of the overall cost…these cookbooks would be around an acceptable thrift store price range.

Get onto Etsy and check her out: Cookbook Rescue Shop!