Saturday Shopping

My family is more apt to partake in Small Business Saturday shopping than Black Friday shopping.
So, today that's what Zoe and I did with Grandma.
We hit the toy store at Striglos, Del's Popcorn Shop, a store called Giggles, a great French store Tournesol, lunch at the Downtown Cafe, and Embroidered Expressions.
That last store is so cute...purses and shirts and many other things to buy and then they will put your name or your school or your dog's name or whatever you want on it in whatever font and color you want.
Zoe had money to spend so she found an owl purse and she bought it and we can pick it up in a few weeks after they get her name put on it.
My mission today was to buy stocking stuffers for the girls.
And some chocolate covered espresso beans for moi to eat right now (which I am as I'm typing this!)
Lots of sales downtown today.
It's nice to go to our sweet downtown area for holiday shopping.
We will go back soon to see Santa in his little red house by the park. 
Small Business Saturday shopping...supporting small business owners with my purchase of pickle flavored candy canes and owl socks.

Pickled Babies

I don't think that there is a pickle out there that I don't like. Gherkins, kosher dill spears, those giant pickles you see at baseball stadiums and roller rinks, sweet pickles, hamburger dill chips, deep fried pickles, bread and butter pickles. I could go on and on. I craved Steak N Shake pickles while pregnant with Zoe. Those are the BEST! Gigi's nickname in the womb was "pickles" and it was etched with icing onto the cake my mom had made for my baby shower. Gigi loves pickles and that delights me to no end.

Since we have moved to the country and we grow a lot of food in our garden, I have thought about growing cucumbers to make my own pickles. But, would I like my own homemade pickles? They wouldn't taste like the good ol' vlasics in the store. Would they be better? I don't like cucumbers too much, so I don't usually grow them. I would have to pick just the right type to grow and then do some research to decide which spices to throw in to pickle the cucs to make pickles. I have made my own butter before from organic cream. It was very easy and very good! I make bread and pizza dough from scratch. Chad makes hot sauces and salsas. We also love to make our own pasta and pizza sauce from roma tomatoes fresh from the garden. We make our own salad dressings to toss with our lettuces. I'm going to try pickles. It's decided.

Zoe hates pickles. If she didn't look so much like me, I would say she was switched at the hospital with my real kid.