Junk Finds!

On our "backroads only" trip home from Norwalk on Saturday we found a barn sale. Need I say more?? For less than $20 we came home with the following:

We always thought an old school desk would look really nice on our front porch. We scored this one for $5 and think it looks awesome!

We found these old oil containers and knew exactly what to do with them when we saw they had the hen and chicks for a buck.

Ali fell in love at first sight with this old tricycle.

The colors on this 1950's cake carrier make me unreasonably happy! Now I'm off to bake a cake – we have a cookout to go to this afternoon! Happy Memorial Day!

Firsts

We had a weekend of the "firsts" of summer.

The first flea market of the season. We came home with a mint plant, some fresh rhubarb and some old children's books.

The first game of cornhole. We made our own set last summer. Girls + power tools! I think cornhole may be a Midwestern phenomenon. We decided to keep running track of our wins over the summer. As of Sunday evening, it was 1-1.

The first rhubarb cobbler.

The first summer tomato and the first sweetcorn of the season. Brinkman's has Tennessee tomatoes right now and they are really, really good!

Better hurry and get some rhubarb. It doesn't last long. Here's my cobbler recipe.

Fruit Filling
5 cups fresh rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces
orange zest (from 1 orange)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
1 dash nutmeg (optional)

Cobbler Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk, melted
1 egg

Combine sugar and cornstarch; mix well. Add rhubarb, nutmeg, butter and orange zest. Let stand 10 minutes. Place in 9x9 baking dish.

Bake in 375 F preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Mix cobbler topping ingredients and drop "blobs" of topping on fruit. Bake for an additional 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm – with vanilla ice cream if you're feeling decadent! Enjoy!

Possibilities

When we went to the flea market on Saturday, Ali's nephew B came with us. He loves to look at stuff, and unlike most 8 year olds I know, doesn't mind a two hour car ride. He had $23 in his wallet and spent a lot of time looking for the perfect paperweight that was within his price range. He was patient and finally found one that he loved and could also afford. Persistence paid off.

However, when we got to the junk store where we found and liberated the windows in yesterday's post, he got a little confused. He just couldn't understand why we were so excited about rusty metal floor grates, doorknobs, cracked windows, old sinks and peeling fence posts. 

"This stuff is just junk. Why are we looking at it?" he asked.

"You have to learn to see things differently," I explained. "You can't think about what this thing used to be. You have to imagine what it might become."

He's a smart kid. He got thoughtful while we wandered around. A few minutes later I saw him digging in his wallet. He called me over and pointed to an old glass jar with a lid. It was dirty but still in good shape with a $2 price tag.

"If I buy this, will you help me turn it into a terrarium?"

You betcha kiddo.

Just a gentle reminder of the possibilities for the future without the burdens of the past.

Flea Market Find #2

Hi there! I'm the post that was promised on Monday but I'm running a little late. My most sincere apologies. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm the exceedingly interesting thing that was found and rescued on Saturday afternoon in a junk store in Springfield and liberated to new life in Findlay.

What do you mean. . .I'm just an old window? I am destined to be SO MUCH more than that if you will just give me a minute to change.

What do you think now, smarty pants?? All I needed was some scraping, sanding and imagination and now I have a whole new lease on life! It's good to be young again!

I am in need of some fashion advice however. Do you think I should put on a fresh coat of white paint? Or do you like my vintage feel? How about some ideas for my bottom half – I do feel rather exposed. For scale, my bottom half is approximately 21x29. . .and no smart comments about the size of my rear if you please! 

Here are a few thoughts I've had on the matter thus far – a piece of a vintage quilt that already has holes in it, so it can't really be used as a quilt any longer. A map of the world that could symbolize a journey. Possibly removing the glass and painting a board with chalkboard paint so I could further be useful as a message board. Oh, the possibilities!

Please leave me a comment with any thoughts, ideas or criticisms!

Oh. . .and by the way, if you happen to talk to my refinisher in the near future and she appears to be a bit "slower" than normal, if you know what I mean – she realized about three quarters of the way through sanding me that I am probably covered in lead paint. The poor dear, she didn't really have many brain cells to spare. TTFN!* Looking forward to hearing from you!

* ta-ta for now!

Books, Books, Books

Another reason that winter drags in Ohio is that there just aren't any good flea markets. You have to content yourself with antique malls, and in my humble opinion, the thrill of the hunt just isn't the same. You might find something interesting, but in looking at the price tag you want to put a padlock on your wallet and go screaming for the car. It's just not the same as the booths filled with junk from someone's attic that's going for a quarter a box.

Finding ourselves in serious junk withdrawal on Saturday, we went to the large antique mall in Maumee.

I came home with these.

If you weren't a preteen girl in the early 1970's, you might not recognize the first three books as numbers 1, 7 and 39 in the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. Grosset & Dunlap published the original series, of which there were 56 books. The first, The Secret of the Old Clock was published in 1930. The last, The Thirteenth Pearl, was written in 1979.

I think Nancy Drew was my first girl crush. She was independent, confident and smart. She wasn't afraid as she outsmarted villains, endangered herself and her friends by going into hidden staircases and abandoned mansions and crossing haunted bridges. 

And do I dare mention that her best friend was a tomboy named George – short for Georgia??

Critics said that the Nancy Drew books were formulaic and predictable – the characters never aged; the plot was always about restoring an inheritance or a missing identity; the clues involved jewels, maps, diaries and wills; and that each chapter ended with a cliff-hanger. They are correct. But when you're eight or nine and reading book after book, jumping right into a formula that you recognize makes you feel like you're with an old friend and the fun is about to begin.

I'm sure that I read all the books in this series more than once each. And I loved every one of them.

Maybe reading them again will help pass a few dark, late winter Ohio  evenings.

Stay tuned for more on the two books on the bottom tomorrow. You're dying to know more aren't you?? I just pulled a Nancy Drew and used a cliffhanger ending!  

I feel so girl detectiv-ey!!

The Find of a Lifetime

Saturday afternoon we were returning home from the dog park when we saw a sign that said SALE. I drove by kind of slow and Ali said, "We HAVE to stop! It looks like good stuff!" I had my doubts but turned around anyhow.

This is what we brought home.

Guess how much? 

$40.

No – I'm not kidding. 

What's that wood called with the grain that goes in all those directions? I know it has a name. . .

Thrifting

Last weekend we went to the Tiffin Flea Market. Some weeks we don't see anything worth anything. Some weeks it's a score!

I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets.


The thing in the front is a hard boiled egg slicer. In a pinch I've used a french fry cutter but this is just so much more elegant! Next to it is an old tin measuring cup. It's identical to the one my mother had in the kitchen when I learned to cook. Got a little misty about that purchase.

The pan in the back is cast iron and I got it for $4. It's a cornstick pan. Each of the little indentations looks like an ear of sweetcorn. You pour cornbread batter into the hot pan and it makes little fun shaped sticks. Ali fell in love with cornsticks when we went to Shakertown. And I do make the best cornbread in the world. . .if I do say so myself!

I also found this Boston Baked Bean Pot.


It's marked "made in England" on the bottom. I plan to try it out – with this recipe – this weekend when we have friends over for dinner!

The last thing I found was this cookbook.


It's another in this series. I love the little wooden covers and quirky illustrations. This book is all about Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, but interestingly, is full of German translations of words. The cooking is quite German as well. It's plain, homestyle and sometimes a little odd.


Maybe I should serve Pretzel Soup on Saturday too? Maybe not. . .