Kitchen Pickin’: Tupperware and an Oscar

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - Mama Steph and Digital Content Manager Jeff Awtrey have been co-workers for 11 years and have found a mutual interest to showcase.

Of course you know Mama Steph as host of East Texas Kitchen. If it has to do with cooking, Steph knows it.

Jeff and his wife have recently taken on garage sale picking as a hobby. Every weekend they venture out to garage sales and hunt for great deals.

This is how “East Texas Kitchen Pickin’” was born. Every week, Jeff will show off his finds to Mama Steph, and Steph will share her thoughts or stories related to his finds.

Here are some finds from the weekend of Sept. 3:

Tupperware storage container:

Jeff: Tupperware is the prevailing theme this week and you could see it plenty of weeks. I don’t know much about kitchenware, but growing up in my mom’s household, I knew Tupperware. More on that another week. Anyway, the first find is the Tupperware storage container. The ID number is 515-3 and it is the nine-inch container.

Steph: Yes, this is a handy 9″x9″ container to store cupcakes, cookies and that sort of thing in. Very handy! I think this old white, more pliable plastic lid means it may have been made in the ‘50s. Regardless of when it was made, I may just have to buy it from Jeff.

Tupperware Jello-Mold:

Jeff: This thing is super clean and cool. It’s got a lid on top and you can change the symbol for the season. A heart and star are two examples of shapes.

Steph: It really is a nice gelatin mold! Looks like someone’s Mamaw didn’t use it very often. I love that it has the different shapes for the various holidays; Christmas tree, heart, etc. Anyone have any fruit cocktail? Let’s make this.

Tupperware trays:

Jeff: These just look like they’re something you give out in the lunch line at the school cafeteria. I only brought one to the newsroom but we actually bought five last weekend, all different colors.

Steph: I’ve never seen these, so they were definitely made after my mom’s Tupperware years. It would have been fun to have these when I was raising my three little boys in the ‘90s, especially with those fun colors.

Tupperware crisper:

Jeff: This is my favorite of the weekend Tupperware haul. Again, super clean and it’s green. This is item 892-2. We got all of this week’s Tupperware from a widow in Cherokee County. Really sweet lady who knew how to keep her stuff clean.

Steph: This pretty Jadeite green produce keeper is from the 1970s. My mom had the matching colander and lettuce keeper, which had a cool spike in it you stabbed the head of iceberg lettuce onto. We had salad with every meal, so that thing got a lot of use and really kept the lettuce fresh! The one you found would be perfect for storing carrots or celery, for sure.

CorningWare tea pot:

Jeff: The first thing I look at when I see any kind of dish is where it was made. If it’s made in the USA, I keep looking at it. If it’s not, I put it down. Nothing to do with personal preference. I’m just looking for value and that’s where the value is right now. I was at an estate sale looking at some CorningWare dishes when someone came up to me and asked if I’m a picker. I said I was and he said “this is a good price. I can’t get it because I have too much stuff.” So I decided to pick it up. “Le the” is painted on the front of it. A Google search says it means “the tea.” There you go.

Steph: Tea is definitely what my mom made in ours! Hers had the original blue cornflowers on it, but otherwise looked just like this one. They are so useful! My sister-in-law still uses hers.

Oscar Coleman cooler:

Jeff: Same estate sale. I had heard about this but hadn’t experienced it over the summer. But I walked up to the carport and saw a cooler. As I walked closer to it, that logo was more evident this was an Oscar! I scooped that thing up so fast. I didn’t care how dirty and nasty it was, I needed to say I found one. Oscars are always popular in picking circles and I can say I have one now. By the way, my daughter cleaned this up and it is spectacular. I learned there’s a little calendar on the bottom that tells you when it was made. My Oscar was born in September 1981. It’s 40 years old! And it holds up great. Eat your heart out, Yeti.

Steph: When Jeff told me he’d found an Oscar I thought he meant someone’s old Academy Award. Nope, something he likes much better: a cooler from the ‘80s! I’ve never heard of it, but there is no denying how well this thing has held up. Nicely done, Coleman.

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