Cookbookaholic

3 Through Facebook Marketplace

Wow…it’s like another three-cookbook pick-up!

Last weekend saw me snag three cookbooks on eBay. Two have already shown up and I’m still waiting for the third one to appear in the mailbox. Perhaps it will be a Valentine’s Day surprise? I hope so!

Anyways, I was looking through the cookbooks for sale on Facebook Marketplace on Wednesday and saw a grouping of three cookbooks. One was a very early cookbook from a nearby church while the other two were from a Junior League here in North Carolina.

What’s Cooking at Pleasant Grove (Pleasant Grove UMC, Charlotte, NC)

I have to admit that this was the cookbook that first grabbed my attention when I saw the picture. I’ve already got a copy of it somewhere…but it’s also the one cookbook that the lady from the “Hot Dog! It’s a Betty!” adventure decided to keep. So, I’m really excited to come across it again and since it’s such a rare find I wanted to jump on the opportunity.

It’s not in the best shape. The cover is almost torn off and there are two visible bent corners. But, once I opened up the cover, I found a photocopied sheet of paper with recipes for Mexican Layer Dip and Chicken Tetrazzini. Not thrilling recipes…but an interesting find.

The other two cookbooks are great finds as well.

Taste of the Town (Jr. League of Lexington, NC) and Taste of the Town—Second Serving (Jr. League of Lexington, NC).

By contrast, these two cookbooks are in super great shape. The covers are almost pristine, and the pages are clean and tight. It was really nice to find these two together, the original and the sequel as it were.

The Second Serving, I’m thrilled to report, is a First Edition/First Printing! Not so lucky with the original Taste of the Town which appears to be a later printing from 1977. But then again, I can always search for a first printing to add to the collection!

The pick-up for these three cookbooks was relatively nearby, only about 20 minutes down the road. In fact, I made the trip during my lunch hour on Thursday. And with all three cookbooks totaling only $5, I think this was a really great deal! And that deal is beginning to make me want to get back out to yard sales….

3 Cookbook Weekend

A three-cookbook weekend would’ve sounded so pathetic pre-Covid, right? It’s been ages since I’ve been out and about; plus, the in-laws’ Hilton Head Island condo sold…so no trips to my favorite used bookstore, either.

But this past weekend had a few cookbooks catch my eye. I ended up buying all three but only two have shown up so far. The third was just shipped so I’ll write about it when it shows up.

The first one I saw on eBay was the one from my very own church, New Beginnings Moravian. It was pretty sweet to see it listed and I immediately added it to my Watchlist. A few hours later, I got a notification that the seller offered me a slight discount. Nice! I ended up getting it and got another note that it was already being shipped.

It showed up yesterday which is pretty quick, but it didn’t have too far to travel since it was coming from the next town over.

Here it is!

Joyful Seasonings (New Beginnings Moravian Church, Huntersville, NC).

The cover is in great shape! I see some highlighted sections in the church history but that’s about it. But then, I see the back cover:

It’s upside down! Now that’s a publisher mishap, but it also makes this one a unique little gem.

Cookbook #2 arrived this afternoon. It’s another eBay purchase I found as I was doing a search for Nathalie Dupree cookbooks. I was watching an autographed copy of her Southern Biscuits cookbook for a really long time…but it was $70. Eventually, that cookbook disappeared but I keep doing searches periodically. This weekend, a copy of Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories & Recipes showed up and I snagged it.

It’s not autographed but it was very, very affordable and I couldn't pass it up! And we know that I’m not afraid to have multiple copies of cookbooks…so if I do happen upon an autographed version in the future, it’ll have a home with me.