Christmas Shopping: Keep it Local/Domestic!

With all the political mudslinging that flies around this time of year, and with all the “hot topics” that Mr. Prez & Mr. Romney chose to discuss during their debates (which we watched all of…even with the National League Championship going on), there’s something that I wish either (or both) of the candidates would have focused on: buying local/domestic.

It’s one of the easiest ways each & every one of us can benefit the economy.  Real, true, tangible results.  The Hubs & I were discussing the Reagan days on the way to church yesterday (because we were kids during that era and are therefore totally experts on Reaganomics…)  Reagan was faced with a similar challenge of coming into a crappy economic situation, and came out of his Presidency as the new Golden Boy of the Republican Party.

How?  Well, one thing was that he championed buying domestic-made products.  I remember going to WallyWorld as a kid and seeing banners everywhere that screamed “Made in the USA!”  “Proudly Selling USA Products!”  “Buy USA!”

“U.S.A’s A-OK!!!” (One of my favorite movies, everrrrrrr.)

Time Magazine  has reported on the benefits of buying local, noting that money spent in your community stays in your community, and helps generate and secure local jobs. 

I read another article (which I cannot find right now) that noted if every American adult spent approximately sixty additional bucks per year on domestic products, that it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.  I can’t remember the exact number at the moment, but with some simple math we can make some assumptions: there are over 239 million adults in the United States.  If each of those adults spent $60 on domestic goods & services that they would have normally spent on foreign-made products, that’s over $14 BILLION staying in the domestic economy, rather than going overseas.

Granted—there are plenty studies out there that discuss how buying ONLY American goods would actually hurt our economy, since American-made products are often higher-priced, it would effectively decrease the “buying power” of the dollar, etc. etc…

But we’re not talking about boycotting foreign products.  I’ve tried that.  It’s next to impossible.  And that’s fine; we have a very global economy.  What we’re discussing here is the good ol’ “everyone pitches in a little” methodology.  Send one kid out to pick up trash, it takes all afternoon.  Send ten people to do the same job, and it’s done in 15 minutes.

 

ANYWAY… *hops off soapbox*  I’m here with a few suggestions for your Christmas Shopping Delight, so that you can perhaps take a stand and chip in your $60 while getting some truly fabulous Christmas gifts at the same time.

 

(NOTE: I refer to some local-to-here businesses in this post; if you’re not a fellow Missourian/Springfieldian, fear not—just seek out similar types of locally owned businesses in your own area!)

 

• Have a friend who loves artistic knick knacks, or want to buy a gorgeous Christmas ornament?  Here in Springfield you can check out Springfield Hot Glass.  They’ve got beautiful hand-blown glass ornaments in a variety of colors and styles…and if your friend (or yourself) is a bit accident prone, no worries…they’re not overly delicate.

• Look for locally owned boutique shops that champion good works.  Here in Springfield, we have Five Pound Apparel, which carries the motto “Every purchase benefits someone, somewhere”.  Every brand they carry in their store has a charitable cause that they donate to.  The 5 Pound brand itself donates 5 lbs of fortified peanut butter to Nepal Nutrition for every article purchased.  It’s hard to feel buyer’s remorse when you’re helping fund something like that!

 

• Heading to spend the holidays with your family?  Before you leave town, call up AmyCakes & reserve a pan of her famous take ’n bake cinnamon rolls.  You are guaranteed to be your parents’ new favorite child.

• Got a company Christmas party coming up, and you want to get that truly AWESOME gift that everyone keeps trying to steal in the Dirty Santa game?  Swing by Mother’s Brewing Company, and fill up one of their classic glass growlers or NEW stainless steel growlers with some delicious Mother’s brew. 

• Oh, beer’s not your thing?  How about a bottle of local wine?  Small, craft-style wineries seem to be popping up all over the place these days.  Missouri has over 100 wineries scattered across the state.  And if you visit their onsite stores, many of these wineries also sell other local artisan foods like jams, salsas, cheese…you could make a lovely gift basket of local goods pretty easily for $60!  Or heck…two small gift baskets for $30 each!

• Did someone mention cheese?  Artisan cheese making is HUGE here in the US.  Missouri has the Osceola Cheese Factory (they make a chocolate cheese that tastes like fudge.  I’m not even kidding).  OR…if you’ve got an uber-foodie-cheese nut on your shopping list, pick up a Cheesemaking Kit for them!  Ricki’s is based out of New England and they have a big variety of supplies & kits.

(This is actually on my Christmas list.)

• On the Louisiana front: Perhaps you want to play a role in the restoration of the famous Hubig’s Pie Company?  Their factory in New Orleans caught fire in July, and there has been an AMAZING outpouring by the public to help get these guys back on their feet.  You can purchase logo’d merch at their website and the proceeds will go to helping rebuild the factory.  Because seriously…I NEED these pies when I visit down south.

• And since this is a Cajun blog: CajunGrocer.com offers a HUGE selection gift baskets, chock full of authentic Louisiana-made products, delivered straight to your door!

• For the person who has “everything” and doesn’t need “stuff”—go with services!  Do they like to be pampered? Get them a gift certificate for a massage, facial, or mani-pedi.  Got a gun nut?  Try a Groupon for the local shooting range.  Golf fanatic?  Seems like I see Groupons for golf courses at least once a week.   And the nice thing about Groupon/Daily Deal/etc specials is that a lot of the time, once your friend goes to get the service, the provider will often offer them a follow-up deal for a discount on a future trip as well in order to keep them coming back.  So there’s the potential for your friend to save money, AND give more business to the provider.  It’s a win-win!

 

• Sometimes, even if the product isn’t necessarily domestic, the salesperson is: I’m talking about buying from independent consultants, and products like Thirty-One Gifts, Pampered Chef, or Scentsy… also, my cousin just became an Independent Designer for Origami Owl jewelry, and this stuff is SUPER cute:

• And if someone’s been ESPECIALLY good this year, there’s always Kitchenaid!

(Note: Only the stand mixers, blenders, and coffee grinders are made here in the US.  All the accessories are made overseas.)

Foto Friday: Summer Fun Recap!

As I prepare for my return to Academia this coming semester (new parking pass, textbook reservations, getting my pic snapped for my all-new-student ID, because apparently my original one from 1998 is a little out of date, paying tuition--$224 a credit hour now!!!!), it occurs to me that “summer” is coming to an end.  Not the blinding summer heat, or this ridiculous drought, but the “summer” as defined by “school” is definitely ticking away.

Therefore, I’d like to take this post & dedicate it to reminiscing over the fun things we’ve done this summer!  That way, when I’m sitting in class next month sweating over the chemical components of fibrous clays, I have something to reflect back on with a smile.  So here’s just a few fun pics from the Summer of 2012.

May: Annual Memorial Weekend Trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama!

Sometimes, low lighting blur makes for an awesome photo op.

That would be my husband getting pummeled by his best friend while we wait for dinner.

Also—dolphins can surf:

June-July: Float trips!

I should clarify something here, in case there’s any confusion.  In Missouri, “floating” involves a canoe and occasionally paddling.  Whereas in Louisiana, “floating” involves an inner tube and a prayer that no trees get in your way.  Either way, you’re not moving very fast & can easily kill most of a day with your friends.  We got in about three float trips so far this year, which is a pretty nice way to spend a Sunday.

This is my floating hat.  I bought it for $2 at WallyWorld in December.  It pays to shop off-season.

The Pugster also loves to float and swim, although he spends much of the day trying to get into someone’s lap, or into someone else’s boat.

He is less than fond of his life jacket though.  However, when you have a small dog who frequently likes to go AWOL, a life jacket is essential.

Mainly because it has a handle.

Rocky sez: Algae iz tastee.

 

June: Somewhere during the summer, I got addicted to Bubble Safari on Facebook…and apparently, it got addicted to me, too…

Geez, Monkey, co-dependent much?

 

June: We took my folks up to Kansas City to watch the St. Louis Cardinals slaughter the Royals.  My dad is a die-hard Cards fan, so I like to take them to one of the “I-70 Games” each year as a Father’s Day gift.  This year, we teamed up with my cousins and aunt to make it a family outing!

 

Yay tailgating with the fam!

Yay beating the Royals! Go Cards!

 

July: We took a jaunt about 4 hours north to Columbia, MO for an Independence Weekend camp out. Rocky made friends with some alpacas:

 

And then he made friends with a gi-normous Great Dane:

…who later decided he didn’t want to be friends with Rocky anymore, and attempted to literally bite his head off.

Yup.  That be’s pug-blood.

Alas, Rocky’s still young & ornery…whereas Diesel (the Dane) is older and gets crotchety after midnight.  We’d like to think Rocky learned some sort of life lesson from all of this…but no, after he was patched up & calmed down, he was right back to his antagonistic lil’ self.  *sigh*

July: The Hubs & I celebrated our one-year anniversary!  We made a week-long celebration out of it, starting off with a quick work trip down to Louisiana, then a fancy dinner at Fire & Ice here in Springfield:

 

Left: Flavored butter for our rolls—raspberry and orange.  SO good. Right: Some of the best creme brulee I’ve had in YEARS.

And we finally ate the top tier of our wedding cake, which was still moist & delicious, thanks to AmyCakes:

 

Then & Now: Vanilla Buttermilk w/Triple Berry Compote.

We also received this GORGEOUS handmade ceramic casserole dish from my friends Kathy & Matt in New Orleans as a belated wedding gift. 

Kathy & I are old friends & fellow cheesemongers from Martin Wine Cellar back in the day, so Kathy’s only request was that the first dish I make in this beautiful piece of artwork be SUPER cheesy.  And I am true to my word!  Stay tuned for seeing this dish featured in a blog post coming SOON!

 

July: My husband MADE FLOUR.  Seriously, this still blows me away.  He is so stinkin’ resourceful!

We also had some very tasty beer.  I love trying new summer seasonals, and this was my fave of Summer 2012:

Grapefruit and GINGER.  It’s a refreshing citrusy ginger beer.  I love it.  So much so that we asked Finn’s to put it on tap.  Thus far, no dice, but it was worth a try.

 

July: We also rented a pontoon for a day and had a lazy day on the water at Lake of the Ozarks with six of our friends.  I brought my camera…but didn’t take a SINGLE PIC.  I just think of it as a sign of having a really great time—I was enjoying myself too much to bother with photos.

 

August: The Hubs & I volunteered with our church for Project Partnership to help paint a local school.  Springfield is a city of about 160,000 people with 55 public schools in the district.  As such, maintenance is just severely underfunded. Without the community’s help, the schools in this area would only get renovations & upgrades (painting, landscaping, minor construction/repair projects) completed every 20 years—but with the assistance of Project Partnership, the schools get these well-needed updates every 8 years.

 

The Hubs & I are in this photo from the local news: He’s the blue shirt up on the ladder, & I’m the blue shirt just below.

There were about 300 volunteers this year and while they had slotted the whole day (8am-5pm) for the work, we finished up all the painting & construction projects by 1pm.  We sometimes catch a lot of flack for attending a megachurch (weekly attendance averages 9,000 between the two campuses), but I’m proud to be a member of a church that provides so many opportunities for community outreach, and sometimes it’s our sheer numbers that makes so many amazing things possible. 

This summer, our church also sponsored a “Bags by the Bumper” campaign: on the first Sunday of each month, patrons could bring a bag of groceries to church & leave it out by the bumper of their car, and the parking lot attendants took care of bringing everything in.  All the groceries go to local families in need through our One Heart community outreach.  We also did a “Stuff the Bus” drive, both at the church & at various drop-off locations around town, where good Samaritans could fill a backpack with one set of school supplies and drop it off for a local kid whose family can’t afford supplies.

Even if only half the people at our church participate, that’s still 4,500+ bags of groceries & sets of school supplies.  Not even counting what non-church members in the community might donate.  It’s totally awesome to be a part of something like that.  My husband & I have been truly blessed in our lives—loving families, good friends, college diplomas, steady jobs with decent paychecks, one devoted but mildly psychotic dog, no debt but our house… we couldn’t ask for more & wouldn’t want to. 

To be able to turn around and bless others is really what life should be all about. :)

Guest Post: Crawmlette!

It’s just a week of firsts around here, isn’t it?  This is my first time hosting a guest poster on my blog.  As such, it’s only appropriate that my first guest poster is also one of my favorite people on the planet—my cousin Primo.

(Former Missourian-turned-NOLA resident, fellow Cajun food lover, and Dive Buddy Extraordinaire.)

Primo moved to Louisiana in 2008 for work & then stayed for school (along with all the other awesomeness that is New Orleans).  Now he’s got a rock star job with one of the consulting firms in the Crescent City. Like myself, Primo loves the local fare—along with putting his own unique spin on it.  So here we go!

(NOTE: Portions in italics are comments from me.)

~~~~~

Crawfish season; it’s the magic time of year between February and June when these amazing crustaceans are in full swing and everyone is happy. Well, everyone in my area at least. These guys are consumed by the sack full (that’s about 30-35 pounds for those of you not fortunate enough to live near the Gulf) at crawfish boils. Rarely do I have any leftovers when I boil.

One of my local watering holes holds a crawfish boil every Friday evening. This past weekend, they had had an excess of crawfish at closing time, so I was able to purchase an ice chest full for $30. …It sounded like a great purchase after a night of drinking. When I woke up, I had 40 pounds of crawfish boil leftovers in my kitchen.

  

(A thing of beauty, I tell you…)

I knew I could salvage the tails. What about the rest?

Being time for breakfast, the answer was easy. The Crawmlette had been born. All of the ingredients were already in my kitchen. All but one was in the ice chest awaiting preparation.

(Breakfast of Champions!  …or, hungover Cajun foodies.  Whatevs.)

 

The recipe is simple:

2 large eggs

½ C crawfish tails, removed  from the rest of the body

¼ C spicy boiled corn, cut off the cob

1/8c spicy boiled mushrooms

2 spicy boiled Red Potatoes

 

Directions:

Heat a skillet to a medium-high heat.

Chop up the mushrooms to your desired consistency. The ones I had were button mushrooms so I quartered them. 

Whisk 2 eggs.

Combine the eggs, crawfish tails, mushrooms, and corn and cook yourself the best high protein, omelet your taste buds have experienced. That’s it. No seasoning required. All the flavor of the boil is still with your ingredients.

Dice up a couple potatoes from the boil leftovers. Throw them in your skillet and quickly pan-fry the outside to a nice crisp for some spicy home fries.

(DUDE.  I am stealing this plate next time I visit.  You’ve been warned.)

 

Rough nutritional facts for the Crawmlette: 332 calories, 15 grams of fat

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesdays.

Monday Morning Shoutout: AmyCakes!

Hi folks!  I did a good bit of cooking this weekend, but thanks to a bit of a hectic work schedule it’ll be a day or two before I can get everything typed up & posted.  So instead, I figured I’d just do a quick shout-out post to my dear friend Amy of AmyCakes here in Springfield!

I met Amy about 2.5 years ago while we were playing together on a trivia team at Finnegan’s Wake (which happens to be right around the corner from Amy’s bakery).  Back then, Amy was just getting her bakery up & running, after purchasing the bakery from Barb Baker (formerly The Bakehouse). 

(308 W. McDaniel in downtown Springfield, MO)

Prior to buying the bakery in 2009, Amy concocted her craveable creations using the kitchen at Finnegan’s (then “South Avenue Pizza”).  During the last 3 years, Amy’s made a big name for herself & her business around town by doing what she does best—making some of the most amazing baked goods on the face of the planet.  And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased or a fiercely loyal friend.  It’s a fact, Jack.  And I’ve had my share of cupcakes & other baked goods from AmyCakes (I’ll spare you the photo of my muffin top that proves it), because one of the fringe benefits of hanging out with someone as awesome as Amy is that aside from just generally being a super fun, super sweet, super creative person who hosts the best Murder Mystery parties in town, is that, well, Amy brings cupcakes. :)  And I, for one, have NO problem whatsoever in being my friend’s guinea pig when it comes to sweets. 

 

(The only REAL question is, which one to start with???)

 

Last year, my husband & I hired Amy to make the cake & cupcakes for our wedding.  We got married in July…on what ended up being the hottest day of the year to date at that point.  And yes, we had an outdoor wedding.

 

And when people come up & talk to my husband these days, after the inevitable (and utterly trite) question of “So how’s married life?”, the topic always shifts to discussing a) how hot it was that day, and b) how we had some of the best wedding cake said person had ever had.

We did a small cake with about 40 servings, and then the rest was cupcakes.  Our cake was vanilla with a tart triple berry filling and vanilla buttercream:

(The combination was AMAZING—sweet & tart & fruity & delicious.  I hungrily eyeball the top layer that’s still sitting in our freezer, taunting us until our 1st anniversary)

And for the cupcakes we did a “strawberry lemonade” (lemon cake w/strawberry filling) and a cookies-n-cream (chocolate cake w/a whipped cookie crumble frosting).

 

And birthdays with Amy have never been boring!

 (Death by (mostly) Chocolate: Double Chocolate, Chocolate Mocha, Junior Mint, Chocolate Peanut Butter…and Strawberry, to round it out.)

 

And during a recent Murder Mystery Party, which was pirate themed, even Amy’s cupcakes got into character!

(Blood red velvet, of course!  YAR, MATEYS!!!)

 

Alas, a few weeks ago, AmyCakes made the announcement that they were no longer going to offer a walk-in case, and would be moving to custom orders only (with the exception of downtown’s First Friday Art Walks, when the case will still be open & you can buy an individual cupcake…or seven).  I know it really troubled Amy to do so, but she wanted to be able to have more time to focus on her custom cakes and cupcake orders, which have really been picking up.  While it saddens me that I can’t run by & grab a cupcake any time I feel like it anymore, I’m so excited that she’ll be able to use this opportunity to grow her business (and perhaps have time to come play trivia with us a little more often).

FYI—as a small compromise to her regular walk-in customers, AmyCake’s famous giant cinnamon rolls (which topped the charts in 2011 as one of 417 Magazine’s Five Best Cinnamon Rolls) are now available in the cooler for take-and-bake. YUM.

Of course…this DOES afford me something of an opportunity to try out some of the other walk-in cupcake eateries around town.  As previously mentioned, I’m a fiercely loyal friend, so I actually haven’t tried any of the other cupcakes that are available here in Springfield, because it felt like “cheating” on Amy’s bakery (plus, I mean, why go searching when you already have a great go-to cupcake???).  And while I can still pre-order 6 or more cupcakes from AmyCakes if I need to bring something amazing to a party (or just pig out at home with the hubs), I DO, on occasion, just NEEEEEEEEED a cupcake “likeOMGrightnow”.

Soo…maybe some experimentation + reviews are in order, yes?  :D