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Why I Love Garage Sales

See that nasty-looking serving dish? Only a buck, but come on, who wants something that gross?

Well, a couple of minutes with some silver polish — yes, it’s real silver — and look what my wife did with it.

You can’t see it in that photo, but there’s a glass insert in the bottom. And just how clean is it?

Yeah, that’s worth a dollar.



Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.

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11 Comments

  1. Scattered Brain
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 3:02 pm | Permalink

    Beautiful job. I love real silver dishes. What a great find.

  2. Kate in Italy
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 3:17 pm | Permalink

    Do I smell a visit to Antiques Road Show? What a great find! Your wife is a GENIUS.

  3. Sunshine Mom
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 3:28 pm | Permalink

    beautiful! i love garage sales!! my daughter is obsessed with chickens and last weekend we found a stained glass chicken lamp for $2. thankfully, it is staying in her room and not the family room, but she loves it! :) :)

  4. Posted October 19, 2009 at 4:02 pm | Permalink

    Scattered, I was actually looking for cast iron pans. :-)

    Kate, if we planned on having it appraised we'd have left it looking bad. They always tell people, "You ruined it by cleaning it."

    Sunshine, you have noticed that your avatar is a chicken, right?

  5. onlinepastrychef
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 4:12 pm | Permalink

    Thank goodness that so many people don't know that tarnish is a two-way street and that it can be removed! Nice find, Drew:)

  6. Trixie
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 4:57 pm | Permalink

    Next time, instead of silver polish, try this neat trick. Line a larger vessel with aluminum foil, place the dish in it and sprinkle with baking soda to cover. Then pour on a kettle of boiling water and watch the tarnish vanish! This method doesn't remove any of the silver.

  7. Sunshine Mom
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 8:14 pm | Permalink

    ha! I know, we have pet chickens. I just don't need a stained glass chicken lamp in the family room to remind me. :)

  8. Cerise
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 11:44 pm | Permalink

    I haven't been to a garage sale in years. What fun! I have 8000sft of stuff…the husband would kill me if I brought home one more thing! What I NEED is drapes and shutters. If you find the exact ones I NEED, buy them! Wink.

  9. Ali
    Posted October 20, 2009 at 6:18 am | Permalink

    I'll buy that for a dollar! A fabulous find if you don't mind polishing. I miss garage/yard sales so much. They don't do them here in England. The best you can get is "car boot" sales, usually held in a muddy field way out in the country somewhere.

    Ali

  10. Amy
    Posted October 20, 2009 at 11:27 am | Permalink

    I have one of those! (minus the glass part) Actually, I have a bunch of tarnished silver from my grandma. I leave it tarnished and use it for decoration though…

  11. Refrigerator Gaskets
    Posted November 1, 2009 at 1:00 am | Permalink

    Silver polish does do wonders. I'm a fan of garage sales, I've found some great items for great prices. If you look in the right places, you will definitely find some gems.

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