Things I Didn’t Buy 74

I really liked this old sci-fi book—two books in one. Each side of the book was a cover for a different story. I just love the art on these covers. The first side: The Light of Lilith.

The second side: The Sun Saboteurs.

Next was the book: The Joy of Nothing.

It’s really just an empty notebook.

Really nice design on this Good Housekeeping Cook Book.

I liked this Building America book cover.

This home appliance book cover is so simple and bold.

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While I have a Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, this one for juniors is pretty adorable.

This English in Action cover is awesome.

And I love the vintage look of this atlas.

This Wildlife Portfolio book cover is so cute.

And this bloopers cover is just amusing.

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This Pan American’s World Guide has a really cute cover.

I really like the typography on this My Naughty-graphics book (and it was a silly workbook that made me laugh).

More cookbooks. I like the art on this one.

This cover is so simple and graphic.

I like the font on this one.

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I thought this Boy Scouts handbook was interesting.

This Fabulous Foods cookbook was rather impressive. I love the script font on the cover.

It was super thick book and divided into many sections. Each section began with a full-color illustration.

And then had cute 2-color drawings throughout the section. I liked this cookbook but restrained myself from getting another cookbook.

And finally, I really liked the cover on this sewing encyclopedia. So cute. But the interior didn’t interest me much.

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Here are some interesting cookbooks I saw at an estate sale that I resisted in buying. First up, this Carnation’s Easy-Does-It Cookbook. Super cute cover.

Next were some Betty Crocker cookbooks. I liked this graphic cover.

An Outdoor Cook Book.

And a Cook Book for Boys and Girls.

And lastly, Simple German Cookery.

Vintage Chinese Cookbook

I have a weakness for vintage cookbooks. I picked up this Chinese cookbook at an estate sale for $1. You can tell it was well-used, as the tape doesn’t even hold it together anymore. The cookbook was created by Benedictine nuns; this one is from 1960 (but the first printing was in 1956).

The book is divided by protein (so there’s beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables, desserts and miscellaneous sections). I love the illustrations. They’re awesome—so cute and so many of them. Every page has as an illustration, and I can only imagine how much time it took to create these drawings.

As for the recipes themselves, I haven’t cooked any of them. Some are familiar recipes (like chow mien) and some I’ve never heard of before.

Another interesting thing is that some of the pages have Chinese proverbs relating to food and eating. Some are rather amusing.

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I love books. And I love vintage books. But I don’t always have a need for them or a place for them. So here are some books that caught my eye but I restrained myself from buying. First up, I really liked the cover of this cookbook—super cute.

Another adorable cookbook.

I liked the cover, but thought that the information inside could be quite dated.

Cute sewing book.

Another book cover that I thought was interesting.

I liked the simple use of color for this cover.

The front and back cover of this children’s workbook had great drawings, but I didn’t need it.

$7 at an Estate Sale

I enjoy cooking, but admittedly, I find most of my recipes online because it’s easy and there’s such a wide range of recipes available. However, books can carry a lot of recipes and it’s great to peruse them and find something unexpected.

I bought a recipe book set: Prudence Penny: Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book and The Prudence Penny Regional Cook Book for at total of $4. They’re from 1958. These books don’t have the cute retro illustrations that some of my other vintage cookbooks have, but there’s a lot of interesting information and recipes in them.

Prudence Penny: Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book has 856 pages of content. It has a large introduction section that covers a wide range of information: freezing food, cooking times for meats and produce, rendering fat, how to buy food, meal planning and table settings. An extra tidbit I liked was a list of recipes to use of when you have an extra egg white or yolk (which is so smart because then you don’t waste anything).

Many recipes look pretty good and may be similar to other recipes I already use. And then there are the recipes that I question, like the peanut butter and pickle sandwich or the peanut butter and onion sandwich. I haven’t eaten either, but they don’t sound very appetizing…

The Prudence Penny Regional Cook Book is interesting because it breaks the recipes into ten American regions: New England, Southern, Pennsylvania Dutch, Creole, Michigan Dutch, Mississippi Valley, Wisconsin Dutch, Minnesota Scandinavian, Southwestern and Western.

Each region has an introduction about the region and influences on people’s cooking. There are a lot of recipes in this book that I’m unfamiliar with, probably due to a strong European background.

And finally, although I’m not really a paisley person, I bought this red scarf for $3. I liked that the pattern was muted and I think it’ll add a nice pop of color (since most of my wardrobe is white, black and navy).

Thrifted for $9.03

I don’t know why, but this little table spoke to me. I originally thought it was a stool, but it had water rings on it that indicated that maybe it was a small table. I just really liked its simple design. I bought it for $5.

I also got another cookbook that I absolutely don’t need for $2. It’s Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book; I’m not sure what year it is (but it looks like the 1950s to me.) I initially got it because I thought it was cute, but once I started reading it, I thought it was really interesting as well. Of course it has tons of recipes (some more relevant to today than others), but it also talks about food planning, canning, table setting, stain removal, as well as other interesting tidbits relating to food.

I love the organization and design of the book. Tabs divide each section so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. And there’s a list of everything within the section so specific recipes are easier to find.

I like that the recipes are really short—it gives the feeling that it’s simple to do. And I like that the little piggy bank icon that shows you money-saving recipes.

I also like this cut of beef diagram (which is also quite useful).

I thought this calorie section was interesting because it’s so straightforward: food makes fat. I’ve never been a believer in fad diets—they just seem silly to me because they seem like “quick fixes” that will eventually fail. It’s just common sense to eat everything in moderation…it’s not rocket science.

I picked up a pair of gold and green earrings for $2. They’re fairly large earrings (at least for me), but I liked the simplicity of the design and the deep rich pop of green for a statement earring.

Finally I got a silk black and white Vera polka dot scarf for $0.03. It looks like the white polka dots are silkscreened onto the silk (which is why it’s a little crackled looking). I’m not sure what I’ll do with it but it’s cute.