Hi there. Can we talk about a serious topic for a moment?
Garage Sales.
As I mentioned several posts back, I'm an avid garage saler. I have been since the age of nine. However lately, I have been coming across more and more of them where I ask myself why I even bothered to stop or go out at all. I really enjoy them and would be sad if it becomes a thing of the past because people don't get the fundamentals of having a garage sale.
Several years ago, I compiled a few of my garage sales pet peeves. It was done more for a laugh, but now I'm wondering if it was research in disguise for a new book.
So, I thought I would share. Feel free to comment below some of yours.
So, I thought I would share. Feel free to comment below some of yours.
Please have a good look over the stuff you are planning to sell. If it's dusty, dirty or filthy, take a cloth to it and clean it up. Make me want to buy it.
Please don't sell anything that is broken, chipped, torn, or completely out of date. Nobody wants your duffel bag with the broken zipper, the shirt with the ripped sleeve that "can be fixed", or that 1980s Miami Vice-ish hotel print of a seascape with dusty rose matting and shiny, gold frame. Please put it out with the trash or take it to the dump.
I should not have to be the one to say hello to you first. Eyeing me up and down while you sip coffee out of your famous coffee chain
travel mug does not constitute as a greeting. You're the one who put the
ad in the paper and invited me to come and look at all your stuff. The
least you could do is acknowledge that I'm standing on your driveway.
Bonus points for eye contact and actually saying Hello or Good Morning.
Don't be ridiculous with your pricing. It is a garage sale, not an antiques auction.
Please have your stuff out on display. Don't make me dig through boxes. I don't know how long that stuff has been in there and I don't want to find that spiders have taken up residence, or God forbid, a small, furry creature with 8 babies.
Please don't follow me around and comment on every item I pick up to have a look at, telling me how great it is. Also, passing on your pit-stained sweater as 'like new' or the Christmas dish with several noticeable fork scratches on it as 'never been used' is insulting my intelligence. I know the difference.
If I give you a dollar for something that you paid fifty dollars for over three years ago, I really don't want to hear about it. If you can "get more money for it on eBay", then by all means, go for it. I just don't understand why then you are selling it at a garage sale in the first place.
If I give you a dollar for something that you paid fifty dollars for over three years ago, I really don't want to hear about it. If you can "get more money for it on eBay", then by all means, go for it. I just don't understand why then you are selling it at a garage sale in the first place.
Don't expect to get more than a quarter for the following items: VHS or cassette tapes, mugs, glasses, especially if it's an incomplete set, paperback books with a published date before 1992, kitchen utensils, Matchbox cars, or half burned candles. In fact, the last one, just toss it out.
Unless
you are picking up a piece of furniture or large item, please don't
block the driveway. It's disrespectful. I feel bad if I have to trudge on someone's lawn just because you're too inconsiderate to park a block away.
I'm sure this is a debatable issue, but it needs to be said. Please don't mumble under your breath or complain if I hand you a twenty dollar bill. Unfortunately, ATMs don't give out rolls of quarters at 8am on a Saturday morning. Be prepared.
Please don't smoke. If you need to have a fix, go around back, in the house, or throw a couple patches on your arm. Your junk is not worth my health.
And finally, if you choose to sign post your garage sale around town, kindly take them after the sale. Not 6 weeks from the date.
Anyway, onto the good stuff.
Like these brownies. Worth more than their weight in gold.
And definitely more than that 1980s geometric rug you have priced at $125.
TIGER BROWNIES
Shortbread
1 cup butter, unsalted and at room temperature
½ cups sugar
¾ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ cups sugar
¾ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, unsalted and at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups chocolate chips
Brownies
Recipe adapted and slightly modified from E. Guittard Chocolate
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups chocolate wafers or chips
2 large eggs
½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Topping
½ cup melted chocolate
½ cup caramel sauce
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray or butter. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray or butter. Set aside.
To make shortbread:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, salt and
vanilla together until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add flour all at once and mix on low speed until dough is soft and
starts to come together.
Press shortbread cookie dough evenly into the bottom of baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
To make chocolate chip cookies:
In bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and
salt together; set aside. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg and
vanilla until smooth. Add flour mixture into butter mixture and beat
until incorporated. Add chocolate chips. Mix until combined.
With the cookie dough, create a stripe effect across the dish, leaving space in between. Set aside.
To make brownies:
Using a double broiler method over low heat, melt butter and wafers or chips until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until pale and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Add chocolate on low speed, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in flour until combined.
Pipe or spoon batter into the sections reserved. I found piping was much easier.
Note: You will have cookie dough and brownie mix left over.
Bake for 27-30 minutes at 350ºF. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Once cooled, cut into squares and drizzle with melted chocolate and caramel if desired.
Yields: 24 Tiger Brownies.
Yields: 24 Tiger Brownies.
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These tiger brownies look ridiculously delish!
ReplyDeleteI've been searching for a recipe like this one! But, sadly, part of the brownie recipe is missing! How much flour and salt do I add? :)
ReplyDeleteI do apologize about that. For some reason, several of my recipes have been omitting ingredients upon formatting. The recipe calls for ¾ cup of flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. I've made changes as necessary.
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