Stop in at The Ice Cream Shop in Mears

On a recent trip up north to Manistee the family and I stopped at The Ice Cream Shop in Mears. It's under the umbrella of the Oceana Fruit Company in a string of neat little stores along the downtown area. Anyway, it's a great "old timey" looking ice cream shop with a huge black chalkboard displaying the available flavors, arched metal-backed chairs, little round tables, and an antique white porcelain "bubbling" drinking fountain to wash down the healthy portions of ice cream. The neatest detail about The Ice Cream Shop is the old player piano tucked away in the corner. I had thought it was just for decoration until one of the young ladies behind the counter walked over to it and inserted a roll of music. I was thinking, "How neat, a little musical ambiance while we eat our ice cream." When the music started the young lady began to sing along to the delight of everyone in the shop. She had a nice voice and it made for a neat surprise.

After that song, she put in a couple selections from the musical, Grease, and the other gal behind the counter joined her for two wonderfully entertaining duets. It was a fun experience all around with great ice cream and entertainment.

Our phones are up and running

Due to a software issue of some kind from our phone provider calls were not going through and to customers calling in it sounded as though we were closed for the day (we weren't, but I wondered why things were SO quiet :) ). Well, things are all corrected now so you can reach us again by phone at 888-800-1236 for all of your Michigan gift basket needs. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Have a Great Day!

Andrew Norton, Owner Gift Baskets From Michigan LLC www.GiftBasketsFromMichigan.com

Our phones are down, but you can still contact us

Just wanted to let folks know that for some reason our phones are down. While we work with the phone company on a workable solution you can still contact us. Drop me an email with any questions/comments at anorton [@] giftbasketsfrommichigan.com (without the brackets and spaces of course). Also, if you're on Twitter you can send me a message or @reply at www.twitter.com/nortman. Online orders are working just fine so as long as you don't need to pause in order to email a question - place your online order as you normally would. Thanks for your patience and I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause. I'll post an update here when the phones are working again.

Andrew Norton, Owner Gift Baskets From Michigan LLC

In honor of National Chocolate Chip Day

I didn't know there was a National Chocolate Chip Day, but I guess I'm not surprised. There are days dedicated to just about anything imaginable. Anyway, with today being National Chocolate Chip Day I figured we should honor the chocolate chip properly by putting them in cookies :). Doing some quick research it appears that there are actually two National Chocolate Chip Days. One was already celebrated on May 15 - who knew? I shared my Great Aunt Florence's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe a couple of years ago. It's a simple and delicious recipe that you have just got to try.

Also, I created a page dedicated to Creating the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie. It's well worth the visit :).

Enjoy your chocolate chips today nestled in some wonderful cookies!

Looking For Hickories - A Michigan Notable Book

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of reading Thomas Springer's book, Looking For Hickories. It's a charming collection of essays with the theme of nature woven throughout each one. Reading the essays made me chuckle and sigh with contentment at the wonderful life of simplicity. Much of the book covers life in an old farmhouse with a bit of acreage and all that goes with trying to live more in step with nature. I got a kick out of the free range chicken that had a love affair with automobiles until it met its unfortunate dismay in trying to answer that age old question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Springer craftily weaves his essays across the years with the perspective of youth and the wisdom that comes with getting older. Looking for Hickories was a quick read (168 pages) that left me sad as I finished it because I wanted it to keep on going.

The other main joy I received while reading it was that he is a local author so I was familiar with the territory he was writing about and could smile at his interactions with the local characters. Coming from a local author, I had heard of Looking For Hickories long before it made the 2009 Michigan Notable Books list. It's a well deserved honor for Thomas Springer and you will not be disappointed in spending a few pleasant evenings with this fine collection of essays.

Michigan sweet corn is here!

I've been hearing reports from people that the Michigan sweet corn crop is just starting. The weather has certainly held up the crop a bit this year and it looks like it might be rather staggered as well. In other words, if you see some for sale on the side of the road and think you'll just stop by later - you'll probably be out of luck. I've been told, "if you see it, buy it because odds are it will be sold out later." Remember, for best results cook your sweet corn the day you buy it. After being picked, the sugars in sweet corn break down into starches and greatly affect the flavor/quality of the sweet corn. If you can't cook it right away - put it in the refrigerator to at least slow down this process.