A couple of mornings ago, John and I headed off to the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market. The weather was sublime and we enjoyed waking the aisles in the Sunday sunshine. I wanted to find some home decor items for our new living room, but we weren't able to come across anything that said "Take me home!" However, I did buy a couple of things for our kitchen, shown below: a pair of Shawnee Pottery salt and pepper shakers in the perfect shade of aqua, and a copy of The Basic Cook Book from 1947. I really like its simple, clean cover design.
As you may have noticed, I like to display books facing out on shelves all around my home. And old cook books with interesting covers are always fun to have around the kitchen. Not only do they look great and add a bit of vintage charm, they have useful tips and provide insight into how foods were prepared in the past.
I found The Basic Cook Book from a friendly dealer who was selling off her late father's collection. He was once a chef and had amassed an impressive array of culinary literature over the years. Thanks to his hard work, I was able to purchase an instant collection of eight of his cook books, below.
These appetizing treasures will make an appearance in my Etsy shop very soon. Until then, you can find the two cook books for children, below, in my shop. Both are classics and are a great way to introduce kids to cooking. Plus, their sweet covers make them irresistible.
When pretend kitchen play is preferred, I am offering my 1950 Marx Modern Toy Kitchen Set for sale. Found at the Wellfleet Flea Market on Cape Cod last summer, I was thrilled to find a complete set with stove, fridge, broom closet, sink, dishwasher and storage shelves. Plus, it has retained all of its plastic door handles, knobs, faucet, utensil rack, sink basin, dishwasher tub, pots, pans, dishes, ice cube trays, tea kettle, canisters, cooking tools and flatware. There is even a red plastic turkey and a t-bone steak!
I've so enjoyed this toy kitchen, but I can't keep everything. So now you can find it in my Etsy shop HERE.
Happy cooking . . . or playing . . . or both!
Susan
P.S. Almost forgot to mention — we saw them filming an episode of HGTV's Flea Market Flip while at the Elephant's Trunk. Pretty cool!
Oh the Fun to Cook Book brings back memories! It was my first cookbook handed down to me from my Mom as it was her first one! I still have the poor thing, it is falling apart from use but I can still remember feeling so grown up and cooking dinner for my folks with my cousin using the recipes from it! I also have made every birthday cake for mom since I was about 7 or 8, I think I have only missed one and I am now 46!
Posted by: Christopher | May 20, 2014 at 12:38 PM
Lovely post. I do love your picks and your pictures! I'll be sharing a couple of them on Pinterest in a moment.
Posted by: Treasures By Brenda | May 20, 2014 at 06:12 PM
Christopher~ Thank you for sharing that sweet story! Glad to have brought back a fond memory for you.
Posted by: Susan | May 21, 2014 at 08:21 AM
Brenda~ Many thanks for your kinds words — and for sharing!
Posted by: Susan | May 21, 2014 at 08:22 AM
Hi!
Wow, I haven't been able to leave a message for a while..busy with Mom and Dad, but today I couldn't not say hello. Love the post. Lucky you to get to the Flea...sigh...hard to get away with my parents. sigh.
Hope you come by for Rednesday and link in your post!
Posted by: Melody | May 21, 2014 at 01:45 PM
Too neat Susan! Love your cookbooks, I have my mom's and it is so worn. I love to read the ingredients, some I have never heard of.
That is so cool to see HGTV filming. I will be looking for you in the background. LOL.
Posted by: Elsie | May 25, 2014 at 09:39 PM