Christmas in April

It's true! Santa has arrived, in the form of Jon's parents coming to bring us goodies from the US. To follow up on yesterday's post, here are the items that Thom and Lornie graciously added to their luggage.

It's been like Christmas in April for us. So far as we know, as long as the food is not perishable, no one at the airport cares about bringing food items into the country. In addition to the items shown, Jon has a birthday coming up at the end of this month so I had some of his birthday gifts sent to his parents in advance.

If you are near central Virginia, there is a little town about 20 minutes off of highway 81 called Stuarts Draft. If you didn't know it was there, you probably would pass right by it without thinking twice, but it is the home of one of the greatest food stores I have ever been to. This great little place is called The Cheese Shop that has a wonderful variety of homemade items, baking ingredients, dried fruits and, of course, cheeses. This amazing spot was first introduced to me when my in-laws moved to Lexington, and they raved about this store that was ideal for folks that like to cook (just like me!). We went there to pick up a few items and I started with holding my findings in my arms, then I decided to get a shopping basket, then I broke down and got a cart. The shop has unique items like wasabi peas, chocolate covered espresso beans, trail mixes and all sorts of dried fruits. They also have every spice you could imagine and a variety of mixes for angel food cake, pizza dough, cookies, dips, soups and cakes.

Everything in this box has come from The Cheese Shop. Delish!

Thank you for all of our wonderful gifts! We want lots and lots of visitors while we're here, but beware, we will probably ask you to bring presents too!