Goodwill Hunting, Part I

No, not the movie with Matt Damon, but just the fruits of my recent forays into the 3 Goodwill stores in my realm. I drool when I see what others find, and am so sure that there is nothing as lovely in my stores, and that really is true when it comes to textiles. The pickings are a little better when it comes to dishes, though, and so I thought I'd share my recent successes. Really, there are quite a few pictures, and I think I will share them in more than one post, just to keep it sizeable. I had good light for picture-taking this morning, and got started in the southeast corner of the house, between two windows. Then I didn't like how they were coming out, and took a break to nose through the camera manual. Then Jeff dug the tripod out of the basement, and that helped even more. By then, the sun was gone, and it was snowing, but I plowed on anyway....(get it? I "plowed" on while it was "snowing"? C'mon people!)

Now that I've put evertything away and sit at the laptop, to type, the sun is out again.

The Amy Vanderbilt Cookbook was not a Goodwill store find: it was offered to me by a colleague who was de-cluttering. (?That's clutter?!) The oldest books I usually see in in GW are from the 1970's, and with apologies to 1970's fanciers, I personally do *not* fancy the 1970's. I don't have much use for any of the fashions, home dec, etc. after, say 1964. That's pretty unfortunate, since I turned 2 in 1964. I told you I was born in the wrong era.

We will re-visit that cookbook in future. It's one of those visits to the domestic ideals of another (pre-1964) time that I love so much (and I hope you do, too).

So, the pic below shows a little better close-up of the dear little creamer....when I was fiddling with trying to learn how to get better focus in the close-up mode. I should've turned off the flash, though. And set up the tri-pod. Here's the progression.

Before I read the manual (You know what they say, "When all else fails, read the directions!").

After I read the manual, and had the camera on the tripod, but forgot to turn off the flash.

After I turned off the flash, ahh... much better. I think this double-handled cup-and-saucer set is referred to as a "cream soup" bowl or set or something. You know, for the soup course you serve to your family when you gather to dine (in colder weather, as warmer seasons dictate a clear soup, or even a cold soup).

These next two aren't exactly "vintage", but are sweet nonetheless. I have admired Lenox's Butterfly Meadow for a long time, and never purchased any. Imagine my surprise to find this mug selling for $0.99! Snatched that puppy up right away, you can be sure! It pays to keep your eyes peeled when looking through all the cheap novelty mugs nobody wants.

And who could resist this little bone china vase from Towle? I can't wait to tuck some Spring buds in it, perhaps on my night stand. Wouldn't some grape hyacinths do it justice?

This next pic affords me the opportunity to link to my cousin's blog, here:http://dothenextthings.blogspot.com/. Diane lives about an hour's drive away, and among many things we have in common is an affection for our red kitchens. Her kitchen is getting a facelift right now (see the blog!), and her red counters are no longer, as she prefers her "red" in accent doses, against a clean white background. Her everyday dishes are clean and simple white Corelle, but I found a few to mix and match in on occasion. I hope she likes the cheery red stripes. They have a vintage feel for me, reminding me of the stripes on Buffalo or Syracuse restaurant stoneware. The beauty of a GW-store gift is that it's hardly money wasted if my guess is all wrong!

I know I'm not alone in my fondness for Pyrex/FireKing/Anchor pieces. I sometimes collect the fruit-shaped pieces, mostly apple (I think made by Atlas), but today's is a strawberry, probably not very old. I especially *heart* custard cups. (The one shown is FireKing aand the handled bowl is Pyrex). I recently have been cooking more, and trying new recipes and bought some new Pyrex cups for measuring out ingredients, so that "measuring" is one step, and then "assembling" is another step, quicker and easier, like how the pros do things on TV. It seems way more fun (and less chaotic) that way, getting all your washing and chopping done at once. Then I re-dicovered custard. When I was growing up, my Mum used to serve simple desserts almost every night. Something baked, like an applesauce cake or some cookies, custard or rice or bread pudding, a bowl of sherbet or ice cream, often with fresh fruit or a stewed fruit sauce. (Have times changed or do most people still serve dessert regularly? I know I rarely do, as my boys usually prefer to fill up with hearty meat-and-potatoes meals, and would rather have extra biscuits or garlic bread than something sweet for dessert, so you can imagine who ends up nibbling leftover desserts....) I have made custard in individual cups lately, and I've discovered I can save leftovers in the fridge for snacking, etc. My next experiment is to see how they come out using eggbeaters and Splenda, as much as I loooove to make it rich with whole milk, eggs and sugar.

That's all for now. More next time.