The Le Creuset That Wasn't

I am a real craigslist addict. It's so full of surprise nuggets every now and then, and I was hooked a couple of years ago when I scored a perfect condition set of Pyrex Crazy Daisy mixing bowls for a good price. More about that some other time!

My typical searches include looking for vintage Le Creuset items. The other day I found an aqua coloured vintage #26 oval roaster/dutch oven with the old Cousances look, noted by the seller as being in "excellent condition". I really love the flared handles... Not a huge fan of the lid handle, but I admit it looks nice and sleek despite it seeming too hot to handle. Here is the photo from the craigslist posting:


When I met up with the seller, she told me that her mother owned this piece but the seller just doesn't use it in her cooking. I noticed that the exterior of the roaster was in great condition; however, when she opened the lid, I saw orangey utensil scratches on the bottom of the pot.

Because I have been purchasing a lot of items lately, I respectfully declined. I told the seller I was so tempted and I was sure she would sell it soon to someone who would love it. I wonder if a good baking soda soak would have made it better... What do you think, was this a good buy at $30?

Value Vintage Housewares!

On my way home from work, I decided to make a quick dash into my neighbourhood Value Village. I was pleasantly surprised (ok, I was super excited) when I saw the sign on the door reading "Manager's Special Today Only! 30% off All Housewares!" My pet peeve with Value Village is how some items are badly overpriced.

The first thing I spotted was a flamingo pink Pyrex round casserole dish which has been sitting at the store for about two weeks... reason? It has baked on stains all over it and is still priced at $5.99. I moved on and was rewarded with a couple of vintage diet pepsi glasses, 70 cents a piece with the discount! I looked on ebay for more information and found that they were calling these "slim" tumblers and some of them had "One Calorie" written on them.


These will go well with an old Pepsi bottle I kept for many years. You know, from my "private collection", haha.


We have just finished building our deck and purchased a barbecue on the weekend. I spotted a nice BBQ fork in great condition. It has a really nice wood handle and even has its' original Woodwards Department store sticker on it. It's made in Canada and seems to be of nice quality. The leather hanger looks quite cracked so I think I will cut that off.


Usually when I have time, I double back over the shelves that I just checked out, to make sure there isn't a little gem hidden away. I realized that one of the staffers just unloaded a cart with THREE vintage corningware round pots! They were in great condition and were $6 each, less 30%. I stacked them up to see how they would look and swooned a bit. Realizing that I don't really need three very similar pots, I settled on buying one 750mL pot that should come in handy. When I was in the checkout line, a lady mentioned that it was such a pretty pattern and in such great shape. I almost turned back to the housewares section and picked up the other two, but I restrained myself!


The last item I saw when I was about to wrap things up was a vintage mustard coloured fondue set.


Not only was it in its original box, it had its wood fondue forks in their original bag and had the warming rack and burner. It was missing it's bottom plate but for $3.50, I'm not complaining.


That was a great day at Value Village. I purchased all these goods for about $11 total but I sure have a lot of dish washing to do.

Vintage Hungarian Lock

I found a new hospital thrift shop that is conveniently located on my way home from work and popped in to have a look the other day. A couple of interesting finds were my reward for rummaging.


I purchased this old vintage lock noted "Made in Hungary". It had it's Army and Navy Department store sticker on its box. I don't have much use for this but I couldn't put it back on the shelf after seeing the nice shape of the keys. The volunteer working behind the counter told me that someone donated a huge case of these little keys and everyone that has been coming in has picked up one or two of them. The low price of a dollar doesn't hurt either.


There was also a perfect condition Avocado coloured Pyrex Divided Dish for $3 which will come in handy in the kitchen. It fits perfectly into our Breville countertop oven - a wedding registry splurge!

Unique Pyrex Carafe

In March, I had a string of unsuccessful trips to the thrift. Perhaps I am successfully showing more restraint? It is probably a good thing to be more selective because I have bought a useless thing or two in the past that has just sat around collecting dust.

Since seeing the Chemex Coffee Carafes for the first time, they've always been on my secret please-please-please wishlist when I'm out shopping. Last week I went to a thrift shop that I have driven by dozens of times, but never explored. Lo and behold, they had a carafe with beautiful lines, in the shape of an Erlenmeyer flask. Upon further inspection, I found the distinctive green Pyrex glassware stamp on its collar and scooped it up for two dollars.


I have tried googling for more information on this carafe, i.e. whether it is flameware and therefore can be in direct contact on the stovetop? I have not been able to find anything like it. I'm also tempted to remove the handle/collar to better clean the piece but am concerned it might shatter when I re-tighten the screws.


In any event, I think it'll be useful for holding a pitcher of water or juice during a backyard barbecue now that summer's just around the corner...