The Next Generation in Shopping

On my lunch hour I wanted to take a break and get away from the office. I opted to go to a home décor/crafts store with a two world rhyming name. While there I noticed a mother with two small kids. She was carrying her youngest child, under the age of one, in her arm balancing the child on her hip. The other child was about three and she had hold of that child’s hand. She was trying to maneuver a shopping cart with her elbow and her body. The cart had an unused child seat with a seatbelt holding nothing but the woman’s purse.
I noticed the woman as she was standing at the greeting card aisle talking to the older child about how they didn’t have christening cards and she was sure they had to have them. Then looking around, the woman complained that she couldn’t believe there wasn’t an employee to help her. Of course, I couldn’t believe it either. Where in the world was the personal shopper for busy moms in the greeting card section. Perhaps she could give them all the details of the child being christened and get a perfect card selected by the personal shopper for her.
Continuing on through the store just browsing, I found a red fleur de lis piece of décor for my office. And I found it all by myself. No one can ever have too many of fleur de lis is what I think. I pick it up and move to the registers at the front of the store. I approach the registers to see my favorite high maintenance mom.
Mom is pushing the cart with her hip. She is still holding both kids in the same manner as before. Her cart is full. I am not sure what she found to purchase but she must have found a personal shopper to help her get that christening card and all the other stuff in her cart. After she completed her purchase she tells the cashier – now listen to me here – she tells, not asks the cashier, that she is leaving her cart at the register and is going to go get her kids situated in the car. She tells the cashier that she is driving a white SUV and she will drive to the front of the store and she needs the cashier to bring her purchases out to her. Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize this store had personal shoppers and a frigging valet service. I must remember this in the future. 
 

 What is that you say, this is how to use a shopping cart when you have children.  Amazing!!!!

Independence Day

The Gaither Vocal Band sings the Star Spangled Banner like no other.  Sit back or stand, listen and enjoy.  It’s our favorite rendition.

For those of you needing a reminder of what today is all about, please read the full transcript of the Declaration of Independence here:  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html



 

Pappy’s Smokehouse – St. Louis, Missouri

Living in St. Louis, Missouri you can’t exist as a Food Channel and Travel Channel enthusiast without have heard of Pappy’s Smokehouse. So one Friday when we were both taking a day of vacation we decided to trek to Pappy’s to try it out.
Located in an old warehouse just off Lindell we found a place to park in the lot behind the building and walked to find at least a dozen people lined around the corner to order.
We reviewed the menu and decided to get the Rib Combo which includes: A half or full slab of Ribs, 1/4lb. of your choice of meat with 2 sides. Half $15.99. While we were in line to order one of the workers walked by asking if anyone had any questions. We asked him about the size of the combo and if it would feed both of us. He let us know that with the combo you can add additional ¼ lb of different meats for a nominal fee (I believe it was something like 3.99).
The ribs had a dry rub and were apple smoked. All the meat was served without sauce. On the tables there were different sauces including a sweet sauce called Sweet Baby Jane, their Original Sauce with a pepper kick and a Hot Sauce. The meat had delicious flavor and I used the sauce sparingly just so I could try it – my tender taste buds went with just the Sweet Baby Jane.
The sides we ordered with the combo were Fried Corn on the Cob and Sweet Potato Fries. We added an extra side of corn. This was our only disappointment of the day. The Corn on the Cob was a fail. But the Sweet Potato Fries more than made up for it. These fries were thin and the right combination of crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They were coated with a brown sugar coating that made them sweet enough that we saved them until last as our dessert.
We would make Pappy’s our lunchtime destination more often if it weren’t 45 minutes from our home.
 

See Adam Richman visit Pappy’s below.  Go to 6:41 on the video.