Newbie- feel at home-lol

[BargainCat]

Its great to find somewhere where I won't get strange looks for being all excited that all the stars line up just right so that two of my favorite thrift shops have 50% off days (one does first & last Tuesday of each month, the other picks a day near the end of the month); plus the university surplus store is open to the public (only Tuesdays & Fridays). I live between two larger cities, so I have to plan my trips to make the most of them, but there is no way I can pass up a day like tomorrow!

Since this is the forum to share great buys, I recap a few of mine from the last month or so:

• Cuisinart DLC-10E food processor, complete with all the normal attachments, for $2.50...it was $5, but they passed out coupons to change the color of one item to the color of the week, so it would be 50% off, up to $2.50 off. I didn't need an entire another Cuisinart, as I had bought a DLC-10E from the university surplus 6 months ago for $5, but it only had a chopping blade & a grating disk. Now I figure I have a second work bowl, with a spare motor unit to stash in the basement...pretty good for $7.50, don't you think? 
• Sunbeam MixMaster, model 7B stand mixer in off white from the late 40's, $10, with both original bowls, beaters, manual, etc. It had apparently been packed away in the 'new' MixMaster box, when the original owner got a new one in the late 60's/early 70's, and probably hadn't been touched since then. I needed a smaller stand mixer for mixing up small batches of lotions & such- my 5qt KitchenAid stand mixer is great for making large batches of stuff, but not itty bitty amounts.
• Squezo food mill for $5- should make processing apple sauce & tomatoes even easier then with the attachments for my KitchenAid mixer
• Oster blender, 1970-80's vintage, with a spotless glass carafe & a very sharp blade for $1.50. It was priced so low because it was missing a button, but I already have a couple Oster blenders, but an extra complete glass carafe set with blades always come in handy. I had just picked up another one a week or two earlier for $3, also with a glass carafe; plus I picked up one of the small mixing containers for 50cents.
• Romertopf 3-4 qt clay baker, unglazed, new in box for $5. Its actually their "stuffing baker", which they no longer make, though it will also work well for anything else you'd put in a clay pot roaster...whole chickens, vegetables, roast beef, bread...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it 
• 6.5qt digital, oval crock pot for $7, looked like it had only been used once or twice, still had its manual (thankfully-lol)
• Electric Brisker box for $2 (half off), which is normally for keeping cereal & crackers crisp, though I'll be using it to proof (raise) my bread in & maybe to make yogurt in
• Older model, as in one of the very early ones, Food Saver's for $3. It gives me more control over the vacuum & sealing function then my 5-6 year old Food Saver does, plus the vacuum seems to pull a better vacuum when seal hard sided containers too. Also scored several rolls of Food Saver bags for around $1 per roll at various thrift shops...those, along with water filters, I almost always pick up, because you know you'll need them sooner or later.
• 10-12 dozen pint sized canning jars for about $10-12, or $1 per dozen. A lot of them are the wide mouth, canning & freezing pint sized jars, which is a nice option.
• 2- 4' wide by 3 1/2' high Steelcase metal cabinets, with sliding doors for $15. It was by one-get one free on file cabinets & the like at the university surplus store, and for $15, they will work great in my basement to store pantry food items on...as soon as I find someone to help me get them to the basement.
• 19" monitor for my computer for $15 (Dell brand, only 4 years old). And $25 for a newer laser printer to replace mine, which I got because the original one I bought 10 years ago as a store display for $20 ended up not working, so they replaced it with a top of the line, $800+ laser printer, as it was the only one the big box store had in stock-lol. Mine old one still works, but its been making some strange sounds, so when I had a chance to pick up a much newer one with more features & a fairly new laser cartridge for $25, I figured why not! I've also been getting a lot of vintage cookbooks from the university surplus, $2 each or 6/$10, as they have been selling off no longer needed ones from special collections. I love using them, especially ones from the 1930-40's, since most of the recipes are safe for my allergies.
• Pampered Chef round baking stone, $3; large rectangle no-name baking stone, $3
• Lots & lots of Tuperware...is there a support group for those of us who just can't pass Tupperware up? I've never been to a Tuperware or Pampered Chef party, though you wouldn't know that by looking at my kitchen 

Wish me luck tomorrow- hopefully I'll find some good bargains & some interesting- and hopefully useful- items!

[valleythriftshopper]

Wow sounds like you do alot of cooking!  The Sunbeam mixer sounds neat.  If I found one of those it would be mostly for display as I don't do a whole lot of cooking.  What kind of lotion do you make?  I always wanted to try to make soap or lotion.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

That is an AMAZING list o' finds. Welcome, and absolutely, best of luck to you in your searching. It looks like you're to small kitchen appliances what our "Big Daddy Audio" is to vintage audio electronics. Impressive!

[ChrisMiss]

Welcome to the forum!  Wow you found a lot of great bargains.  When my kids and I used to live with my parents we made homemade yogurt.  It's so much better and less expensive than the store bought stuff.  Do you have a cow or do you have to buy milk?  It sounds like you do a lot of canning too.  Do you have a large garden?

[superiorgirl]

Sounds like you've been making a haul! I LOVE the older Oster blenders! I think I could grind rocks in mine. I make smoothies all of the time, gave a recipe to my sil and she thought I wrote it wrong. No matter what she tried she could not get them to turn out like I do in my old Oster. I picked one up with the idea of using it as a gold fish bowl on my counter. So that no one accidentally pulverized the fish I left the blades out. It was a cute idea, but the vertical shape wasn't so great for a fish tank. (I have a cartoon of a fish in a blender with the caption, 'And you thought you had stress in your life!)

Anyway, welcome!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Sounds like you've been making a haul! I LOVE the older Oster blenders! I think I could grind rocks in mine. I make smoothies all of the time, gave a recipe to my sil and she thought I wrote it wrong. No matter what she tried she could not get them to turn out like I do in my old Oster. I picked one up with the idea of using it as a gold fish bowl on my counter. So that no one accidentally pulverized the fish I left the blades out. It was a cute idea, but the vertical shape wasn't so great for a fish tank. (I have a cartoon of a fish in a blender with the caption, 'And you thought you had stress in your life!)

Anyway, welcome!

It depends on the type of fish.  I imagine that a beta would do great in a blender-sized containter. 

I love the old Oster blenders as well.  I have an old 1,200 watt Oster "Commercial" blender that I swear will make a smoothie out of a pound of nails.  I make super thick smoothies and my own homemade peanut butter.  One thing to note:  the chopper assembly from an Oster, Sunbeam or older Hamilton Beach blender will screw onto a small mason jar.  Just use 2 of the rubber "O" ring gaskets.  I bought about a dozen gaskets on Ebay in one lot, got it for like $5.  I picked up the mason jars with the handles for $0.25 - $0.75 at various thrift stores.  Now when my roommate and I have guests everyone gets their own drink blended right in the glass.  I also make homemade salsa right in the jar.  Saves cleanup.  I just unscrew the chopper, toss in the dishwasher and screw a lid on the salsa/peanut butter/whatever and put it in the fridge.

We have a whole 3 foot section of the counter devoted to the blender.  Its right beside the freezer so drink mixes & ice are convenient.  On the counter with the blender we stack the various "adult" additives such as rum, gin, vodka, whiskey, etc.  I keep about 6 mason jar mugs on the counter within easy reach (with more in the cabinet above if needed), and 3 or 4 retainer rings pre assembled with a chopper and 2 gaskets ready to go.  We also have 2 or 3 large mason jars for making big milkshakes.  I also have a few of the Oster "Blend & Store" jars within easy reach as well.  That is my favorite blender and best of all I got it for $7 @ Salvation Army about 5 years ago.  The way we torture our blenders if I had bought a new one it would have broken by now.

-Jay

[Other People s Junk]

They don't make blenders like they used to, that's for sure!

Welcome to the boards, BargainCat!

[genuineimitation]

welcome bargaincat! sounds like my kind of thrifting.. if you live close to a university, you must get some great stuff - i never thought of it but of course people that are moving on don't want to pack it all and take it with them. sounds like a lot of people are getting presents and just not able to use them! next time i'm in a college town, i'm hitting a thrift shop!

[Big Daddy Audio]

Hi and welcome to the group.  It would appear to me that you are a

Newbie In Name Only.

I can appreciate all the cool gadgets and equipment that you've excavated over the years.  There's some really good stuff in there.

See you next time
bye for now.

[oceangurl]

 :DWelcome Bargaincat! Wow you really hit it good with all that Kitchen stuff! Iam a Kitchen kindof girl to so Iam impressed with your great thrifting, and you are lucky to live near a college town, I can only imagine the great bargains that you encounter, thrift on!

[Femme1]

Welcome! I'm impressed with your finds,BC. You're in the right place!

Just the other day, I found one of those Romertopf clay pots for $3 at Goodwill. It was brand new, and I snapped it right up. I've been cooking all kinds of good stuff in it since then, and my husband loves the results. I was thinking that people must get these for wedding gifts and then never use them. They sell for about $40 to $60!

[oceangurl]

I see those clay pots all the time in thrifts, and I heard that they do make good meals, roasted chicken I think someone told me is faboulous in that , good find!

[eddieb]

yes welcome! i love bargains AND cats!