50% off at GW today

[mccoysnina]

And I found a mate for my bird.  I have ceramic bird that I found a while ago on a thrifting expedition.  He has sat on the nightstand in my guest room ever since.  All alone.  Today at the GW I was browsing and not finding much of anytihng, disappointing since everything was 50% off today.  Then I saw her hiding in among the gee-gaws and hoop-de-dos.  Her head all turned shyly away, just like my blue boy at home only a touch smaller and pink.  And half off.  So now she sits with the blue boy in the guest room.  If I come in some day and find little ceramic eggs, I guess I will know they are indeed boy and girl.  Both from China although different markings on the bottom, they look to be pheasants or some other game birds.
Never expected to find a match.  Prolly means now I will end up with a collection, although not my intention.  You buy a couple then people start giving them to you assuming that is what you collect.  That's how my mother ended up with all those cardinals.
I also found a small handmade vase, a new journal still in it's plastic wrapping and a whole spool of bias tape, great for reinforcing seams and other sewing needs.
So how was you week-end thrifting?  So far it had been so cold and rainy on the week-ends there hasn't been much activity on yard sale or flea market fronts.  I am getting anxious.
Jeannie

[dukek9]

It's always neat to find a mate for something you own!  Do keep us updated if you do find any little eggs. 

I hear you about the unintended collections.  My mom always said two is a pair and three or four is a few and five or more is definitely a collection!  But it does seem that things get up to that collection number rather quickly at times!

Anyway, great find.

Really no garage/yard sales here this weekend.  The sale season here doesn't seem to start until school's out at end of June.

Did go to a converted defunct department store that is now turned into a "rent a space and sell stuff space."  Has some "stores" with crafts, art work, lots with used items, and the ones with information that are seling services such as insurance and a section with tables rented for the day..  I don't think it has quite found it's heart of what it will be since it is quite a mishmash of iitems.  Work in progress though, so we'll see.

Did go to the big Salvation army I like, but because of gas prices have been severly limited in getting to.  Nothing spectacular there though I did get a couple more pices of vintage tupperware which i am happy about.  Usually I get tupperware i can use but I was captivated by the velvetta cheese storage container complete with the measurement rod so you can cut off a measured amount of velvetta.  I don't like velvetta and i don't use it, but this just seemed something I had to get!

Dee

[mccoysnina]

I used to have one of those Velvetta cutters.  I think it wa a premium for ordering something.  I don't even know what become of it, as I never use Velveeta.
A funny aside.  DH isan accomplished amateur photographer and used  specialty papers from a company called Ilford, out of England.  Some years back, they introduced a new paper supposed to be the best soft  matte finish available.  Shoud have done a little more market research  before introducing it to this country though.  They name it Velvia. You can imagine the jokes, well if your photos don't turn out, not a total loss, you can eat them for dinner. Or you'll never go hungry in the darkroom, you won't have to stop for lunch. etc.  Name never failed to bring a smile to people's face. After a little while, teh company cut their losses and stopped selling the paper in this country.  Too bad, really a nice paper.  Just should have researched the name a bit more.
Jeannie

[dukek9]

That is so funny about the paper.  Too bad for the company, but certainly a funny name.

Yeah, I never use velvetta either but I am sure i can find a use for it.  At any rate, it's an interesting item to me and now that i know the story of the paper, I even have an interesting and funny story to go with it!

Dee

[mccoysnina]

I have hordes of useless kitchen gadgets, some of them so complicated they are funny.  I collect them.   Thrift shops are great for them. If my kids ever move out and I can get rid of the kitchen wall full of soccer medals and various other kid thing, I plan on using that wall to display them all.  I dumpster shopped a great cork board a few years ago.  New coat of paint and I am good to go.  Assuming my kids ever  leave though. Some days I am not anxious for that to happen, other days I could pack their bags. 
Jeannie

[loveit]

Could you use that Velveta cheese cutter for "real" cheese, like hard cheese?

I used to eat a lot of Velveta in college. We had a little pot and we melted Velveta in the pot, on top of a hot iron. Oh, those were the days!

[valleythriftshopper]

Could you use that Velveta cheese cutter for "real" cheese, like hard cheese?

I used to eat a lot of Velveta in college. We had a little pot and we melted Velveta in the pot, on top of a hot iron. Oh, those were the days!

That's classic!

[loveit]

Another great recipe, using the pot on the hot iron: Spaghetti-O's with Velveeta melted on them. Yum!

[valleythriftshopper]

I still like Spaghetti-O's, sometime right out of the can!  When I was a kid my next door neighbor loved Spaghetti-O's & even ate them for breakfast.  One day he came to school not feeling well & ended up throwing up Spaghetti-O's all over the floor.  I can't imagine them with Velveeta though, but I like the Velveeta Mac & Cheese mix.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Another great recipe, using the pot on the hot iron: Spaghetti-O's with Velveeta melted on them. Yum!

My favorite is what I call "Bachelor grilled cheese"  Take 2 slices of bread, toast them in the toaster, then slide 2 slices of cheese between them and microwave for 10 seconds.

[valleythriftshopper]

My daughter makes those when I won't make her a grilled cheese because she doesn't like to use the stove, I finally forced her to try to make a real grilled cheese so she would learn how.  I think his is the result of no Home Ec at her school.  I remember making lots of thing on my own at her age, most likely due to all the stuff we made in Jr. High cooking class.

[dukek9]

Oooh, that is a great idea about the display area for kitchen gadgets. I need to find a place for that sort of thing myself.

When my grandmother died, my mother had her whole collection of kitchen gadgets out for family members to chose from.  We had to keep asking mom what the heck the items were and really a lot of hem seemed like more trouble than they were worth.  For example, a device to pick the tops off strawberries when I ahve fingers that can easily do the same job (and I don't have to hunt throughdrawers to find them)! So needless to say, I didn't take hardly anything of my grandmother's and now I find myself drawn to some of these odd gadgets.  Live and learn!

Wow, interesting velvetta recipes. The talk of hot pots and such reminds me how easy kids going to college have it now, with fully equipped kitchens, microwaves, and so on.  Occasionally I find an old "so you're going to have to learn to cook in college" cookbook and give it to a recent graduate of high school, just so they can get a laugh.

They really are amazed by the ones who talk of having a "basic" kitchen with so many pots and pans and dishes and so on, more than would ever be required today.  And they always are sure that the hot pot recipes are ones that no one would ever make and eat, until they talk to their parents or other older relatives who report they did indeed subsist on such meals!

Dee

[genuineimitation]

should we offer a prize for the "first one to find a velveeta cookbook" at the thrift store?

[mccoysnina]

should we offer a prize for the "first one to find a velveeta cookbook" at the thrift store?

Funnily enough, I have never seen  a Velveeta cookbook, surprising considering how many recipes the stuff is in.
A co-worker, quite the gourmet natural foods/organix cook,  kept trying to make a nacho cheese sauce like one served at Chili's or Applebees or somewhere.  She tried every combination of cheddar, colby, jack, you name it cheese and cream combinaiton she could think of.  Never came out right.  Then right before the Superbowl last year the local paper ran the recipe.  It contained, you guessed it, Velveeta.  I cut it out for her but I think she was quite offended by the use of the Velveeta. 
And I have to admit, my sister makes this absolutely yummy broccoli casserole that uses Velveeta.  She tried it with regualr cheese once but it really didn't melt the way it should have.  Just wasn't the same.
Jeannie

[keentina]

should we offer a prize for the "first one to find a velveeta cookbook" at the thrift store?

 

I got a Velveeta cookbook at a Thrift shop for 25 cents and passed it on to my mom who has always had a love for Velveeta.  Don't know if she still has it but I thought she would enjoy some of the old recipes.

I also found some old Gracie Allen/George Burns dvds at the library which advertised Carnation evaporated and condensed milk right in the shows.  I think those little blips were the funniest parts.  She always needs it to cook but doesn't always remember to open the can - it's just visible on the stove as she makes dinner.