My husband and I are flea market junkies. There’s a sort of thrill you get finding some sort of treasure and managing to pick it up a at terrific price. And surprisingly you can sometimes come across some pretty good flea market finds, too.
I found this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker at one Flea Market. Brand new, never used. Great for making any of my gluten-free, dairy-free ice cream recipes in my cookbook or my eBook. Any food related items, I always try to get brand new or items where everything can be put in the dishwasher to be thoroughly cleaned.
Since we moved to NY, we’re still trying to find all the best flea market spots here.The latest one we’ve found is the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford, Connecticut. It’s actually the largest flea market in Connecticut. And it’s only about a half hour drive from where we are in NY. The wild thing was the weekend we were there, the television show “Flea Market Flip” was filming an episode. I was so busy looking around that I bumped right up to the camera man from the film crew without even realizing it.
Found a Few Goodies
One of my daughter’s favorite books growing up was Goodnight Moon. Someone was selling a framed print from the book for only $10. I’d never seen one quite like this and had to buy it. Although my daughter isn’t quite ready (I hope not, anyway!) someday this will hang in one of my grandchild’s rooms.
Goodnight Moon Print – Margaret Wise Brown
Then as I was walking by a table mixed with antiques and a little bit of everything, I came upon this New Yorker cartoon poster print:
Joe’s All You Can Eat
It was a pretty humorous print. At first I passed it by, but then had to stop to get a closer look. I thought it was so funny and yet too close to the truth. It’s actually one of the reasons I’m glad I can’t eat fast food. I’d be 400 pounds, too. Didn’t buy it, but still couldn’t resist and had to snap a photo to share. The vendor said he’d probably never find someone to buy it, but might have to start charging people to take a picture of it soon. 🙂
The Celiac Motto: Always Be Prepared
The flea market this weekend was jam packed full. What we thought would be a quick trip turned into several hours. I guess a lot more vendors were set up that weekend because of the tv show being filmed at the market. This meant more great finds and normally would have been a great thing. Until I got hungry. Not just a little hungry – VERY hungry.
There were lots of food trucks parked, mostly fast food like the art print I found earlier. When you’re sensitive to as many foods as I am, eating off a food truck isn’t going to happen. But for some, it may be a possibility and I was more than surprised to see one of the food trucks offering a gluten-free option:
Interestingly enough, the price of the gluten-free cookies were actually the same price as all the other cookies. That’s pretty unusual. More than unusual. Throw the label “gluten-free” on something and the price goes up another dollar or two. I’d have to think that finding a gluten-free option of any kind on a food truck is almost unheard of, or at least I’ve never seen one.
Make the Best of It
Well, I left with a few great buys and another celiac lesson I was reminded of again. Always, always, always be prepared. I usually am. But was definitely slacking on this day. Keep snacks and some protein food around for times like this. One of my favorite snacks is David’s Pumpkin Seeds. One of the few protein packed, packaged foods that doesn’t make me sick. 10 grams of protein in 1/4 cup.
David’s Pumpkin Seeds