Holiday Toddler Date

On a recent Saturday morning, Jones and I set out on a mommy-son date to new local store, Provisions, and to The Mad Platter.

This was my first venture into Provisions, and Genevieve made us feel more than welcome, which is to say she was very sweet about the fact that Jones wanted to "sample" every.single.thing.inthe.store.  Provisions aims to sell local bulk food and spices, as well as locally produced and farmed produce, eggs, dairy, meat, and bakery items.

And there were plenty of local food items for sampling that day.  Nuts, candy, chocolate covered pretzels, blue cheese with Sallie's Greatest Blueberry + Lavender Jam.

My friends know--and laugh about the fact--that I am usually a strict no "fruit in weird forms" kinda girl.  Meaning, no dried fruit, no hot fruit, no fruit in sauce or liquid, and especially no jelly or jam, typically crosses my lips.  Seriously, it usually disgusts me.  But, because I am an adult and I am all about trying to get my toddler to try new things, I set the good example, and tried the offering of blueberry + lavender jam on blue cheese.  Suddenly, my life of not eating fruit-in-weird-forms flashed before my eyes with a pang of regret.  (Not really).  But, I conceded to the fact that I really liked the jam on top of blue cheese.  I even bought a jar.

We also bought a bag of apple rings candy and some DiPrato's Pimento Cheese.

that's my card, right on top...fingers crossed.

After snagging some cool local food, and vowing to come back closer to Christmas to put together some gift baskets for family, we headed just down the street for the artistic portion of the date.
The Mad Platter pottery-painting studio is totally catered to accommodate kids.  Jones had a blast picking out his items to paint, then picking the colors, and then painting.

I mean, with a potty-training toddler, half of our time is spent in the bathroom, and Mad Platter even makes that easy with a family-friendly bathroom!  (If you have ever potty-trained a child, you get it).

We painted 2 nativity scenes for Jones' grandmas, and he also picked out one small train to paint for himself.

I'm pretty sure Jones' grandmothers were thrilled with their special gift, and Jones & I had an awesome time painting together.  Thanks, Mad Platter!

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DiPrato's Brunch

After going to the All Local Farmer's Market Saturday morning, my mother-in-law took me and my husband out for brunch. DiPrato's, (owned by Dianne, of Dianne's on Devine), is now open for brunch on Saturdays!

My mother-in-law ordered Eggs Benedict:


I had a 4-cheese Panini served with a pesto mayo and pasta salad as my side...so unhealthy, but so good.

And the hubs had a ribeye sandwich...he would have preferred the steak be shaved, as it was difficult to eat as it was, but the fries were awesome...James said they must have been dipped in a cornstarch mixture before frying and that's what gave them a good crunch:

And as we left, I got a container of homemade pimento cheese and fresh pita chips to serve to my family that was coming over for dinner that night.

DiPrato's has an amazing deli counter full of homemade salads and items like stuffed grape leaves, fried green tomatoes, and much more! A great place to pick up a meal or appetizer to serve at home!

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