Thrifting Finds #72: Randoms

Hiya, kids!  This week's post is going to be even more random than usual, I'm afraid.  Actual thrifting finds were few (again), but I have a couple other minor things to share, so let's get down to it, shall we?

No, wait.  I want to complain about something first.  Huge surprise, no?  Anyway, I'm reading through all the sale flyers in the Sunday paper, but have you noticed that the latest thing seems to be "buy one, get the second at 50% off"?

That just really irritates me.

Most of the time, I don't need two of something.  And when you do the math, each item ends up being 25% off, which I don't consider much of a sale, do you?  It's not until you hit a 40% discount that I start listening up and paying attention.

Sorry.  I'll try to keep it under control from now on.

Anyway, on to the finds 'n stuff!

1.  Tupperware!  Sharp-eyed readers will remember that I bought a Rubbermaid jar a couple of weeks ago for toting my half & half to work.  Unfortunately, if I don't remember to take the durn thing home on Friday, I'm out of luck come Monday*.  So this is a backup.  I think it's some kind of diet shake maker, as there's an insert that looks like it's there to break up the lumps.  Goodwill, $0.50.  I think that's the first time I've seen anything for less than a buck at the GW.

*So this morning, I tried using the half & half that was left over from last week.  While it tasted okayish, the coffee was really quite...chunky is the only way I can describe it.  Not good.

2.  Eydie!  I like Eydie (and Steve, too), but she's not someone whose albums I ever felt the need to own (other than the Christmas album.) This was staring at me from the front of one of the record bins, so what was I supposed to do?  I still don't ever look through the records, but if a good one is staring me in the face, well...  Plus--and this is probably going to be the gayest thing you'll hear all day--look at that hair!  Miss G. is rockin' a truly Marlo-grade flip.  You might not be able to tell from the picture, but take my word for it.  Unfortunately, some wear on the jacket makes it look like her cleavage is dirty.  And that makes me giggle.  And one of the songs is...are you sitting?...I Walk the Line.  Anyone else think that's kind of an odd choice?  Goodwill, $1.00

What I Didn't Buy Dept:

Not creepy.  Not creepy at all...

Update Dept:

Electromatic Tray:  Couple of weeks ago, I got a Corningware Electromatic heating tray sans cord.  I lamented that the cord I had didn't fit it.  Well, it finally hit me that I'm kind of an idiot.  What I was using was just some random cord I had in my kitchen drawer.  Once I tried an official Electromatic cord, it fit perfectly.  And the tray got nice and hot, so this officially becomes a  five-dollar score!

The Coffee Situation at Work:  Back at my old job, I would make coffee every morning in my West Bend Fiesta Perk (which you can see Mary Richards using in an episode of season two of the Mary Tyler Moore show.  How sad is it that I know this?)  Unfortunately, there are no dish washing facilities close by here, so that wasn't going to work.  I could join the Coffee Club, but it's Keurig-based, and I think I've complained about that before.  So then I got the Regal Poly Pot and tried making instant coffee, and youall heard how well that worked out.  So I finally thought that I should just get a non-Kcup coffee maker (think I can't make this story any longer?  Think again!)  So I went online and found the Black & Decker Brew 'N Go:

Which got really good reviews at Amazon, Walmart, and Target.  So I went ahead and ordered it from Target because it was like 10 bucks cheaper than Amazon.  Oh, and free shipping?  Yes, please.  It came to 17 dollars and change after sales tax.

Youall may know that I'm not the most patient person in the world, so when I stumbled across a different machine that I could just go to the store and buy, that's exactly what I did.

This little baby was nine bucks at Wally World and to be honest, I didn't have much hope that it would work.  Boy, was I wrong!  This cheap little machine makes a nice hot cup of coffee, which is kind of a pet peeve of mine.  I can only drink coffee if it's practically scalding.  It also makes a 12-ounce cup, which is a decent size.  And there's a little shelf thing so you can make coffee in a regular mug or in a travel mug.  Word to the wise:  If you get one of these, try to find a mug that fits as close as possible to the basket, as there's some splashing.  This isn't a problem at home, but at work I like to keep my desk reasonably splatter-free.  Also, some of the reviewers said that the power button is hard to push.  It does require a certain amount of determination, but overall, not a big deal.

So I guess I'm going to give the Black & Decker to someone as a Christmas present.  Or maybe I'll keep it as a spare.

What I Made Dept:

In a word, vanilla!  I got the idea from Coleen over at Coleen's Recipes.  I decided to try it because it's a simple process, there are only two ingredients involved, and I really like high-quality vanilla.  I used to be able to get Mexican vanilla in the Latino section of the supermarket, but all I can find lately is Mexican imitation vanilla.  Really?

So here's what I started with:

Coleen's instructions call for a quart of vodka, but I determined that that much vanilla extract would outlive me, so I decided to cut the recipe in half.  The beans came from Amazon, the vodka from the liquor store, and the shaker from the Goodwill.  Basically, you cut the beans into half-inch pieces (TIP:  Use kitchen scissors) and soak 'em in the vodka for a month.  When you're done, strain through a coffee filter.

Here's what it looks like after just one week:

Isn't that crazy?  It's so dark already that light doesn't shine through it.  And it smells really good.  I probably should have started this earlier, since Christmas Baking Season is fast approaching, but better late than never, or something like that.

Now let's do a little math.  The beans were 12 bucks, the vodka was 5, and the shaker was a buck-and a half, for a total expenditure of $18.50.  Assuming I get 15 ounces of vanilla out of this (I'm guessing the beans are going to absorb some of the vodka), that comes to $1.23 an ounce.  I think it would have been cheaper if I made a whole quart (4 ounces of beans would be 18 bucks), but the price seems okay to me, as long as it tastes good.  McCormick vanilla was on sale at Weis for $2.00 an ounce, but I don't know if that's high, low, or the going rate.  Anyone?

And that's all I've got for this week.  You're probably tired of reading anyway, right?  Linking up this week with Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, We Call It Junkin  and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #58: Do I smell bacon?

I smell something, that's for darn sure.

Anyway, it was a significantly better weekend at the thrifts this time around.  However, I am becoming more and more convinced that I'm kind of a Thrift Jinx or something.

Case in point:  Our everyday china is Corning Centura (with the blue cornflowers, natch.)  All the experts say not to put it in the microwave, which always seemed kind of silly to me.  It's Corningware after all, right?  Well, I've been microwaving it with impudence for years now, with no ill effects.  Until the other night, that is.  While reheating something, a chunk just sort of parted with the rest of the plate and shot across the microwave.  It didn't sound quite like a gunshot, but it was loud and weird enough to startle me.

Okay, so point taken.  No more microwaving of Centura for me.  Don't need a house to fall on me, no sir.  So I figured I'd pick up a few Butterfly Gold or Spring Green Corelle plates at the Goodwill this weekend, since you really can't turn around without stumbling across a whole stack.

You see what's coming, right?

We visited eight thrifts this weekend and not a single plate.  See what I mean?  Every other time we've gone I've seen stacks and stacks of them.  Now that I want them...

But enough complaining, since I did pick up some good stuff this week:

1.  Eye-Fi!  I'd been toying with the idea of getting one of these for a while now, but just never found one at a price I was willing to pay.  This one (8GB) runs $44.00 at Amazon.  What you do is stick it in your camera and when you take a picture, it automatically sends it (via WiFi) to your computer.  I don't use my camera much because it's a pain to either take the SD card out and put in in the computer or connect the camera with the cord and have to tell Kodak that I don't want your software, thanks.  After a couple of stumbles, this worked just great.  And you can see that I got a really good price!  Rescue Mission Thrift:  $5.00

2.  Coffematic II!  I had one of these years ago and it was the best drip coffeemaker ever. It eventually wore out, and I have no idea what I replaced it with.  You may remember the new percolator from last week.  Wellsir, no matter how cool it looked, it made the worst coffee ever.  No matter what, the grounds overflowed the basket and made the coffee positively crunchy. This was in a taped-shut box for a completely different machine and when I opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised.  It may never have been used, it was that immaculate. Plus, it was half-off day at the Goodwill, so I got it for cheap.  'Course, now we have to get used to a new coffeemaker, but I'm guessing this won't be the last time...  Goodwill, $1.50(!!)

3.  Bacon! Baconbaconbacon!  This is the Hamilton Beach Baconer, and the previous owner was nice enough to put the instructions inside:

Basically, it's a pop-up toaster for bacon, which sounds awesome, but must be an absolute pain to clean.  I cleaned it up and plugged it in and it smoked for a while from whatever leftover grease was there.  It's in nice condition, though it has obviously been used.  This is not going to be part of the collection.  I've seen these go for mad bucks on ebay, so that's where it's headed.  Once I get my act together, of course, and actually manage to post some stuff on ebay.  So far, it's mostly been a lot of talk.  Goodwill, $1.50.

And that's it, though I don't think I have anything to be embarrassed about this time around.  Next week I'll fill you in on the Saga of the Glasses, which may be never ending.

Linking up this week with the usual suspects:  Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, and We Call It Junkin.

Thrifting Finds #43: A Better Week!

We knew this weekend wasn't going to yield its typical thrifting.  My brother invited us to dinner on Sunday, so our usual Sunday rounds weren't going to happen.  Still, I had planned to drop in to the Goodwill Where We Never Find Anything (except a couple of cool lamps) and the GW in Frederick that we don't get to often.  Not much for a Sunday, but better than nothing.

On Saturday, we stopped in at our local GW, our "usual" Saturday GW, and both branches of the Rescue Mission Thrift (I wanted to get in as many stops as I could since I knew Sunday would be skimpy.)  So overall, we covered 6 thrifts this weekend, which isn't too bad.  What's even better, is that I actually found some stuff!

Want to see what I got?  Well, let's start with this

1. Piece of Avocado deliciousness!  Yessir, it's a mint, still-sealed Rubbermaid Message Center in lovely avocado!  Even still has the little packet of pushpins inside.  Now, this is not really my style, and definitely not my color, so I think I'm going to flip this on the 'bay.  Surely there's someone out there with a Brady Bunch-style kitchen who would be willing to shell out big bucks buy something as cool as this.  Rescue Mission Thrift, $2.00

(I also got a big serving spoon there for a quarter, but didn't take a picture of it.  Not taking pictures became a habit with me, as you'll see in a moment.)

2.   Rubbermaid Bread Keeper!  I've been looking for a Tupperware one but there are none to be found, so I picked this up since it was there.  Just plan on using it to keep bread in the freezer, since it seems to dry out if I freeze it in just the bag.  Goodwill, $2.00

3.  DVD Recorder!  My DVD recorder has been making a noise like a Diesel truck lately, so I figured it was time to replace it.  I wanted a recorder, not just a player, in case we ever want to record anything.  Okay, so we haven't recorded anything at all in years, but you never know.  They're expensive new, so I thought I'd take a chance at the GW.  The first one I saw was 20 bucks and didn't have the remote control.  I hemmed and hawed a little, but just a little.  Then I decided to go through the rest of the pile and see if there was another one.  Well, lo and behold, there was, and it had the cord and the remote.  Best part?  The price was only 10 bucks.  Of course, I had no idea if it would work or not, but I figured for the price, it was worth taking a chance.  I hooked it up and it does indeed work.  It's not great, and some buttons on the remote are kind of touchy, but it's definitely good enough until something better comes along. I looked up some reviews from the past (they don't make it any more), and some of them are absolutely scathing.  Still, for the price, it's fine.  Goodwill, $10.00

4.  Extremely Cool Coffee Pot!  This wasn't a thrift find (they never have cool percolators in the thrifts), but an ebay purchase.  Isn't it the coolest style?  Isn't it the ugliest color?  Do not adjust your monitor--it really is that ugly barf green/yellow.  Once the weather warms up, I plan on spray painting it a lovely off-white.  This is kind of an interesting design, as the percolator started out life as a corn popper.  See the base?  Yeah, that's a popcorn popper with a clear tank glued to the top.  Thrifty engineering, Chilton!  Oh, and it makes coffee that's actually hot, so I'm loving it.  Most other coffee makers seem to make lukewarm coffee.  I can't drink it unless it's scalding.

What I Made This Weekend Department

Not my picture

A:  Chili!  Haven't tasted it yet, but Hubby reports that it was good.  Not as good as his own, but good.  I don't think I've ever made chili before, so I wasn't confident that it would be edible at all.

Not my picture

B:  Cornbread!  To go with the chili, of course.  Hubby also reported that it was good.  It was a mix I got from Aldi.

Nope, this one's not mine, either.

C:  Chicken Pot Pie!  Haven't even baked it yet, so have no idea how it is.  Okay, I've made this hundreds of times before, so pretty sure it'll be at least somewhat better than meh.

In Other News Department:

Don't you love Walgreen's?  Heaven knows their regular prices are nothing to write home about, but they sure do know how to do a sale.  Between sales, coupons, and Register Cash, I got two big bottles of Scope for $1.50 each (regular price is like $4.79) and two bottles of Hubby's Nivea Shower Gel for $2.50 each (regular price $5.29 each.) Then I used the coupon for a free jar of Noxzema ($4.99.)  Plus, I got 2000 bonus points (worth $2.00) on my card!  After ringing me up, the cashier said "Nice job!"

Since I actually found some good stuff this week, I am proudly linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, and We Call It Junkin.