Friday 30 November 2012

Moroccan - Style Stuffed Acorn Squash

The warm spices of India and surrounding area, are ever becoming a fast favourite and go-to when preparing a delightful dish for supper. We were given an acorn squash and I had no idea what to do with it. I'd never had an acorn squash before, but was up for the challenge. I googled possible recipes and stumbled upon the one I'm about to share with you on allrecipes.com. I thought I'd give it a whirl and see what happens.


The results were quite delicious. I would like to say that I savoured every mouthful, however the truth is, I was so hungry, and this dish so good, I pretty much scarfed it down in 30 seconds flat. :) I don't recommend eating it that fast though. :) So, with that said, go pick yourself up an acorn squash and give it a try! Enjoy!

MOROCCAN-STYLE STUFFED ACORN SQUASH
(gluten-free, vegetarian)

Ingredients:
(serves 2)

1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp butter, melted
1 Lg acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 clove organic garlic, chopped
2 stalk organic celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup organic garbanzo beans, drained (if using dry organic garbanzo beans, soak overnight before using)
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
14 ounces organic vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked couscous

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Arrange squash halves, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.


cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds

After squash is cooked, brush with brown sugar/butter mixture

Keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.

Get your stuffing ingredients together and ready

- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, celery, and carrots, and cook for 5 minutes. Mix in the garbanzo beans. Season with cumin, salt and pepper and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.


- Pour the vegetable broth into the skillet/deep frying pan and mix in the couscous. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Allow the couscous to absorb the liquid for 5 minutes.


- Stuff squash halves with the mixture.


- Serve hot and enjoy!



Happy Eating!



Monday 26 November 2012

Monday Feature: Chinook Arch Meadery

I love reading. Ever since that fateful summer, when my mother gave me a reading challenge, (you know the kind, if you read this many books, you'll get that in return) I was hooked and have never looked back. To this day, I still love to curl up with a great fiction book, purely for entertainment's sake and a reprieve from the real world, if only for a few moments. A couple of my favourite genre's are historical fiction and fantasy (not futuristic fantasy, but in a way, historical fantasy, such as Lord of the Rings).

I bring up my love of reading for one reason. In these epic tales of war, victory, love and tragedy, sitting around the cook fires, in the vast, fire lit halls, and in the cheery pubs, no matter if during war or celebration, men and women raised their mugs of mead and drank to a brighter day. Vats of mead were prepared for festivities and it was mead that was praised for its perfection and noted for it's divine taste.

Molly and her bottomless Mead Mug 

With this ever in my mind, and Hayden's as well, for that matter, we longed to try this mythical "mead."  Was it just a drink of stories long past, or did mead truly exist. Our search was rewarded one evening, when Hayden stumbled upon a bottle of mead at one of our local liquor stores.

Now you may be wondering, what the heck is mead? Most people do. Unless you read the types of books that we do or historical books in any genre, most have no idea what mead is or that it even exists for that matter. When I would tell people, with jubilant excitement, at our discovery, I was met with a quizzical look and an astute reply of "you found what?" Mead is honey wine, made from the fermentation of honey and water. If you like honey, and you like wine, then there's a strong probability you will LOVE mead. :)

Random casks in a cellar

It was with great anticipation that Hayden and I opened our first bottle of mead, and although delightful, it did not live up to the expectations we had placed on this historic beverage. Having never tried mead before, it was sweet and delicious and quite pleasant, but yet I was still slightly disappointed. I had imagined a much more grandeur drink, worth singing about by the bards. Hayden and I have tried a few varieties of mead, as it is slowly gaining popularity and becoming easier to find, but none have ever sufficed or overtly impressed. That is, until this past summer.

During one Saturday, at the Millarville Farmers Market, Hayden was placed next to Chinook Honey Company. When I arrived at the market, it was then that Hayden told me, with much excitement, that they made and sold mead and were giving out samples...and it was incredible. Well, I had to taste for myself and I meandered over and proceeded to sample 8 different meads from Chinook Arch Meadery. In that span of 10 minutes, my life was transformed, as that liquid honey ran down my throat, as though I were drinking light itself. This mead was smooth, clear, and pure, with not a trace of after bite. Just a lingering, delicate, absolutely delightful sapidity, left to entice the taste buds for more. This was what I had always imagined mead to be. This was the drink that was so praised, loved, and prized in those beloved stories. We had found it at last.

Owners of Chinook Honey Company and Chinook Arch Meadery are Art and Cherie Andrews. When looking back on their journey to where they are today, Cherie recalls, "The development of Chinook Honey Company has been a life journey for my husband, Art, and myself. We were both working in the airline business when Art decided to buy a few bee hives to help pollinate our vegetable garden. The "hobby" slowly took over our lives - bees are that fascinating! So much so that we eventually took early retirement from the airlines in order to commit ourselves to developing unique honey products, one of which is mead (honey wine)."


"Mead was the natural extension of producing honey and it helped that Art had been a hobby beer maker for many years. Making mead is a challenge - it is so simple in concept - honey, water and yeast - yet can be so complex when trying to make a top quality wine. And we love challenges!"

The first challenge lying before Art and Cherie was being able to legally sell their honey mead. Thus, they spearheaded the Cottage Winery Licensing for Mead with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. After that was taken care of, the next challenge was to perfect their recipes, as there is very little written about commercial mead production and even fewer experts available (apparently there are no dwarves from Alegasia* here, though they are praised for their exquisite mead).

"Much has been learned by trial and error, with occasional consultation with specialists in various areas. The culmination of all our preparation was the grand opening of Chinook Arch Meadery in May 2008. Since then, Art has continued to develop his techniques and recipes and our mead sales have become a major part of our business."


Chinook Arch Meadery produced 14,000 litres of mead in 2012 and hope to increase that to 18,000 litres in 2013. That's A LOT of mead! "To increase our production capacity, we are planning a new fermentation area in 2013. It will be able to hold at least 8 tanks (compared to our current 4 - 2000 L tanks), an improved mead transfer system and a higher capacity bottling system."

Fermentation Tanks

Mead has three main styles - traditional, made totally of honey (my personal favourite), melomels, made with honey and fruit, and metheglins, made with honey plus herbs and spices. "Art loves to use unique fruit in his melomels, such as black currants in 'Bodacious Black Currant', and even combine a number of berries such as in 'Berry Blisssss'." Chinook Arch Meadery's meads highlight, not only Alberta honey, but often Alberta fruits as well. "We use Evans cherries in 'Cherry Mi Amor' and [Art] is experimenting with Saskatoon and Haskap berries. Of course, coming up with the mead names can be a challenge in itself. We like to have fun with them. They often reflect the nature of each particular mead, such as 'Buckaroo Buckwheat' (Hayden's favourite) and 'Ginger Snapped', or the history of mead as in 'King Arthurs Dry'" Or my personal favourite, 'Excalibur'. Oh yum!

Chinook Arch Meadery have also released Canada's first Iced Mead. Last year it was 'Raspberry Ice' and this year they are featuring 'Frosted Blisssss'. "Iced Meads are very rich and potent at approximately 20% alc/vol. They are quite labour intensive, so they are specially priced, but not as high as Ice Wines."

Filtering before bottling

Bottling 'Cherry Mi Amor'



In addition to their love of creating and perfecting their mead, Art and Cherie also have enjoyed teaching people about mead. Like I mentioned earlier, many people have no idea what mead is. "In spite of the fact that it is the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world, it is relatively unknown in most of North America. It may take one person at a time, but we're making progress! The number of people who have taken our Meadery tour and purchased our meads has increased at least 25% every year since we started. Also, we have a number of chefs in the Calgary area who are taking interest, not only with mead food pairings, but also to cook with."

In 2010, Chinook Arch Meadery's meads were featured in the prestigious Calgary chef's competition 'AGC Cooks'. Next year they will be highlighted in a program on Discovery Channel's 'Chef's Domain' with Chef Hayato Okamitsu.

"As an Alberta cottage winery, our mead distribution can take many channels. Our primary sales point is our on farm store, where we have a boutique setting which, in addition to our mead, also features our honey, honey made jams, jellies and sauces, beeswax products, apitherapy items and even a honey bee learning centre." The store is open year round and is located only 20 minutes South of Calgary.

In addition to their store, you can find Chinook Arch Meadery at two seasonal Farmers Markets - Millarville Market on Saturdays (from June till Oct) and Hillhurst-Sunnyside Farmers Markets on Wednesdays. They are also able to deliver their meads directly to liquor stores, instead of having to "depend on the ponderous, carbon hungry liquor warehousing & distribution centre, Connect Logistics, in St. Albert, AB."

Chinook Arch Meadery has their meads available in Calgary at Willowpark Wines and Spirits (Willowpark), Inglewood Wine Market and Highlander on 16th Ave W. "We obviously have limited production, so we are careful not to overextend ourselves. As well, mead still needs an advocate, so it sells best where it can be sampled and explained." Hopefully this feature helps with that as well.

Chinook's next special event is just around the corner! 'Christmas at the Hive' is Saturdays, Dec 1st and 8th. This event is free to attend and is a fundraiser for World Vision Beehives. There will be free tours of the meadery and apiary available, with plenty of tasting! woot woot. They will also be featuring their 2nd release of 'Fire 'n Spice' (a metheglin mead), which will be 10% off for those 2 days only. "It'll be a great family day in the country as we have 'Christnas Critters' to enjoy, snow candle crafts, horse drawn wagon rides and much more."


"So our life journey continues! It's all about learning and teaching and we've never regretted leaving the comfort zone of mainstream occupations."

I, for one, am oh so thankful that Chinook Arch Meadery ventured into the world of mead, to bring to my palate the very taste I always envisioned with every word ever read, in all those beloved stories.

For more info, please visit Chinook Honey Company's website (Chinook Arch Meadery has a tab within their main website) at www.chinookhoney.com and take a look at the different varieties of mead available at this time as well as a plethora of other information for the gleaning.

If you have any further questions, would like to book a tour or inquire about some mead, please feel free to call 1-403-995-0830 or email at info@chinookhoney.com.

Please go to Chinook Honey Company's facebook page and "like" it here.
Follow Chinook Honey Company on twitter @chinookhoney.

As a special for my Growing Green readers, give the PROMO CODE Mead me @ Chinook Honey and receive 5% off a bottle of 'Fire 'n Spice' during the month of December, 2012. Don't delay! Go experience this heaven in a bottle!

For those of you who have tried mead, what did you think? I'm curious to know what kinds/brands other people have tried and your thoughts on the world's oldest alcoholic beverage.

Next week's feature hint: Hot and spicy

*Alegasia is the land found within the "Inheritance cycle"

Sunday 25 November 2012

DIY Christmas Wreath

Christmas is hands down, my favourite holiday. I love the closeness it brings with family and the prospects of sitting in front of the fire, sipping on an assortment of hot, spiced beverages, cozy in an oversized sweater, leggings and big, fuzzy socks. I love the soft, warm glow of the lights adorning a tall, fragrant tree, covered in decorations that bring back a flood of memories. Small dishes are in every nook, cranny and on every flat surface, filled with nuts, fruit, chocolate and treats of every kind. Pleasant music plays softly in the background as the sounds of conversation and laughter fill the house, all the while, outside, large, fluffy snow flakes float down silently from the heavens. Reflection, thankfulness, contentment, hope, and excitement for a new year, looms in the forefront of the mind. This is bliss.

I still remember our first Christmas after Hayden and I were married. I, of course, was so excited to put up a tree and decorate our home and make it all "Christmasy", but Hayden wasn't keen on getting a tree, because we wouldn't be here. What was the point? Neither of us are from Medicine Hat, and thus we are always away at one of our family's homes for the holiday's. We wouldn't be here over Christmas, so why spend the money. That first year I had a hard time with this idea, feeling like something was missing, but the idea has gotten easier and now, as we near our 4th Christmas together, I'm totally in agreement, as far as the tree goes (once our wee family is a bit older, however, that will change :)) Other holiday decorating, however, is fair game :)

I just love the cozy, warm feelings that go along with the decor and the time leading up to Christmas is the best time to enjoy it. I'm not going to go over the top, mind you, but I started this season off with making our very first wreath for our front door that we can now use every year. I was so excited and found many different styles of wreaths I could attempt. With limited time and funds, however, I opted for an easier style which would be very cost effective. I believe that the more we can make and do ourselves and the less we buy from the stores, the "greener" we can be! Why pay $50 for a wreath when you can make one for $7.

Thus I'm sharing with you my wreath and how I made it, incase you too would like to endeavour in creating your own, personalized wreath. It honestly took very little time and energy and it was a proud moment when I hung it on our door.


The supplies you'll need to make this wreath are:
- Hot glue gun
- Hot glue sticks
- Wooden letter of choice (I chose "W" for our last name) (If you're feeling extra artsy, you could make your own letter out of reclaimed wood for an even "greener" wreath :) )
- Grapevine wreath (Michael's Store. $2.50 with a 50% off coupon)
- Flowers of choice (if you want to use flowers) 
- Paint color of choice
- Sandpaper
- Any other adornments you may like. The sky is the limit!



We love earth colours, thus I found some fake green and orange flowers for our wreath. I also got some fake pearls to place in the centre of the flowers.

First I painted my W in white. I aimed for a "distressed" look, so I only did one coat as I wanted the wood to show through. 


I then used the hot glue gun to glue pearls into the centre of the flowers


I then placed the flowers where I wanted them on the wreath, planning it out and re-arranging till I got the look I wanted, and then hot glued the flowers into place. I then added some of the leaves to fill in the gaps and make it full.




 I then used 120 grit sandpaper and sanded down the edges of the letter, to distress it some more.



I then placed the letter where I wanted it and hot glued it to the wreath.


My completed wreath hanging on our door! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and look forward to using it every year :) It's not too Christmasy that I could actually put this out once fall is upon us each year and leave it up for a few months. I like that idea.


What's your favourite Christmas decoration that you've made?

Till next time.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

With the Christmas season fast approaching, cookie and baking exchanges commence with gusto. I used to love participating in such festivities, however, now that I'm gluten free and my husband doesn't eat absurd amounts of cookies or baking, it's become rather pointless, as I would't be able to eat the goodies I received. That doesn't sound too fun to me, especially because I LOVE cookies and sweets and baking. Christmas baking is my kryptonite. This year, I have no choice but to abstain, and my hips will probably thank me for it :) I'm always trying to think on the positive side :)

BUT, that doesn't mean I can't do my own baking, turning delicious treats into gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and even dairy-free delights. It's a challenge I'm up for. It's been a while since I posted a dessert, and since I love cupcakes, why not another cupcake recipe. I think the world would be a better place if we all just ate more cupcakes, and the fact that you can now find "healthified" cupcakes, the guilty pleasure becomes more pleasure and less guilt. I'll take some of that!

Thus is was that I found the urge to make some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. I couldn't resist, with the description that these cupcakes are like Reese's peanut butter cups in cupcake form, and I'm so glad I didn't. The results were nothing short of fantastic (although a few dropped in the middle, the taste was still incredible). They were rich, creamy, light and absolutely delicious! I'm still in awe that I can make a gluten-free cupcake that is just as light and fluffy as a normal cupcake and not a dense, edible doorstop. That is worthy of a pat on the back, if I do say so myself ;) Of course, I take no credit for creating this recipe, but instead went to my ever faithful cupcake book.


Ok, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Enjoy these decadent, rich delights and remember to be kind to your body this Christmas. Eat less refined sugar and empty carbs and use as much portion control as you can muster. You will thank me come the New Year when your clothes still fit.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES 
(gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free)

A treat so good, I guarantee your family and friends will have NO CLUE it's gluten-free! 


Got my ingredients!

Ingredients:
(cupcakes)

BATTER:
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/4 cup organic coconut flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 Lg organic, free range eggs (TLC Farms)
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar (it has been found that agave nectar has a higher fructose content then high fructose corn syrup. I recommend playing around with the recipe and substituting honey or maple syrup instead of the agave.)

FILLING:
1/2 cup creamy roasted peanut butter (you can use natural peanut butter as well)
1/4 cup agave nectar (again, experiment with honey or maple syrup if you like)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.

To make the batter, in a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, grapeseed oil and agave nectar (or substitute).

Blend the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture with a handheld mixer, until thoroughly combined. Make sure there are no almond or coconut flour bubbles you missed.

To make the filling, in a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, agave nectar (or substitute), vanilla extract and salt and mash together with a fork until smooth.

Scoop 1 Tbsp of the filling into each prepared muffin cup.

Then cover with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted 1/2 inch from the edge of the cupcake (to avoid the peanut butter centre) comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1 hour, then frost and serve. 

While the cupcakes may be dairy free, I chose whipped cream for a topping, thus no longer making them dairy-free. You could make a coconut whipped cream, and so keep this cupcake completely dairy free, if you so wish. 

The recipe called for a chocolate ganache topping, however, these cupcakes are so rich on their own, I think the ganache would set them over on sweet factor. Because this cupcake is already quite sweet, the whipped cream was refreshing and didn't need any further sweetening, just plain whipped cream, whipped with my hand mixer.


Enjoy this yummy treat!

Happy  Eating!


Monday 19 November 2012

Monday Feature: No Cry Baby

Tis the season for…babies!!! I honestly couldn't even tell you how many babies have been born in my circle of family and friends over the past 2 years. I could easily count at least 30, but I'm going to say, there's probably been way more then that. Gone are the days of wedding showers, come are the days of baby showers. In my husbands family alone, we had 4 girls (including our own) born within 8 months. This Christmas is going to be fun fun fun as they will be together for the first time ever! Even as I sit here and write this, my 10 month old is eating banana pancakes beside me and tossing them onto the floor, squealing with utter delight, her face beaming with the biggest smile possible, having the time of her life. If only life could be that simplistic for us all.

As fun as babies are however, I discovered they require an insurmountable amount of "stuff". I couldn't believe it, when our Lalaith was born, what all we needed to care for her, to care for Hayden and I, and what was used to help us establish a new, normal, day-to-day life once more. Swings, jolly-jumpers, toys, music, blankets, burp cloths, diapers, soothers, etc. These items, while some are more essential then others, do not alway do the trick. Take the swing for instance. Many babies love to sit in their swing and sleep for hours, while a content mommy can then take time to take a nap, clean the house, do some laundry and maybe even cook a dinner. My L, she HATED her swing and if I was lucky, I would get about 5 good minutes out of it. L wanted to be held and snuggled All.The.Time.

As you can imagine, getting anything else done in a day became near impossible. Until we discovered "The wrap!" That's right! The first time I used it, I was able to prepare supper while L slept, snuggled up close to me. I had use of both my hands and felt a new found freedom I hadn't yet known. I just wished I'd used it sooner. :)

my wee one, snuggled in her wrap

I had first discovered this marvellous wrap when, a year earlier, I heard about No Cry Baby from a new mommy I had seen, sporting her wee one around in one. Hayden and I then purchased a wrap from No Cry Baby for Hayden's brother and sister-in-law, who were expecting their first baby (#1 of the 4 girls :)). Once Lucy was born and we saw pictures of how it worked, I was determined to have one for myself, as I was then pregnant (with #3 of the 4 girls). Thankfully Crystal Marshall, owner and creator of No Cry Baby, frequented the Medicine Hat Christmas markets last year and I was able to procure my very own wrap, with much excitement. The fabric was soft, stretchy and oh so comfortable. I have not regretted this purchase in the least.


The road to creating No Cry Baby wasn't all fun and games for Crystal, however. The inspiration came more from necessity then desire. Crystal recalls, "On October 8th, 2008, I had my second son, only 18 months after my first. I was plagued by postpartum and seasonal depression. I found it very difficult to deal with running a home, coping with my failing mental health and caring for two very small children. As we (mothers) have heard, our babies often react to how we feel. This was the case. My new baby was, what most would refer to as, colicy. He cried all the time and I couldn't put him down for even a minute without him kicking into a tantrum. This made me question my ability to raise my boys."


Crystal's beautiful 3 boys



"I already had a couple carriers, a ring sling and backpack style, but neither allowed me the security to be hands free. I went to a local store and inquired about a wrap. I don't remember the brand, but I do remember the price. $99 for essentially a large strip of serged fabric. I have sewn since I was twelve, and had recently purchased a serger, so my next stop was the fabric store. That night, I whipped together my first wrap."


Crystal then decided to make some wraps for a couple of her girlfriends, as baby gifts. This spurred on the domino effect, as they, while loving their wraps, then asked Crystal if she could make wraps for their friends. Crystal decided it was time time to find a label company and went to work making a directional DVD, which you get with the purchase of a wrap. It was definitely nice to have that DVD for myself, to show me how to properly use my wrap. I would have been lost without it!

In addition to wraps, Crystal makes and sells other baby accessories as well, including, but not limited to: bibs, slobber bibs, nursing covers and carseat covers.

"I added a couple items that would fill a table at the farmers market. Items that I found either too expensive in stores, impossible to find, or items inspired purely by my children ("Slobber Bib"). I love to sew, but in today's market it is very pricy. Most things are cheaper to buy then to make. No Cry Baby has allowed me with a hobby that pays for itself. I love seeing babies when I'm out and about, sporting something I made. A reward that I never considered when I set out on my little adventure."






One would think, with the surplus of babies being born, seemingly daily, business would be booming. However, the opposite seems to be the case, as Crystal explains. "As No Cry Baby starts up its fourth year, business has slowed. A number of other crafty momma's have taken up the hobby of making and selling baby items. It has come to a point that in order for No Cry Baby to continue, it must evolve." 

This Fall has introduced No Cry Baby's final "baby" related product, in what is likely to be, a long time, the curved nursing pillow! This nursing pillow compliments the, already successful, nursing cover, with peek-a-boo design. Although many items will be discontinued, fear not new momma's and momma's-to-be, as all baby products can still be purchased upon request. You will just have to put a special order in, instead of finding what you're looking for at the local market, which is not a big deal at all.

The exciting part, is that these discontinuations are being done in order to make room for new items, coming this Spring, to the 2013 Farmers Market Season. "A tease of what the new lines will include are; items for the busy mama, the daughter I never had, and tools of survival in a house monopolized by males." Sounds intriguing does it not? I know I'm looking forward to seeing what new products No Cry Baby will product this Spring, that's for sure.


To catch No Cry Baby before Christmas, to pick up that perfect gift for the new mommy or mommy-to-be in your life, head out to these two markets coming up in Medicine Hat:
*December 6th at the Cypress Centre 5pm-8pm
*December 8th at River Park Church (503A Allowance Ave SE) 1pm-6pm

Other markets you can find No Cry Baby at are:
*Mommylicious tradeshows. (Check out Mommylicious for upcoming tradeshows. No Cry Baby is always on site with a stroller check and wrap loans (free of charge).)
*2013 Farmers Market season.

All future markets will be posted on Facebook, so please go to No Cry Baby's site and "like" it here to stay updated on market news and new products!

And of course, if you can't make it out to any markets, no problem at all! Crystal is always happy to arrange a private sale. This can be done by contacting her directly, either through Facebookemail, or Phone.

Check out No Cry Baby's website at www.nocrybaby.com for further information on products.

For further questions, or to make an order, please contact Crystal directly and she will be happy to speak with you.
Email: info@nocrybaby.com
Phone: 1-403-488-2361

For baby accessories, you could drive 2 1/2 hours to Calgary and hit up Toys R Us, or you could save the $100+ on gas and support your local businesses. Look no further the No Cry Baby. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

next week's feature hint: Vats of golden liquid: the beverage of times long past.