I needed to stock up on Innova Evo ferret kibble, and have been increasingly annoyed by the spammy behavior of my online supplier. So I went to the Innova site, which has a handy "find a retailer near you" feature. Lo and behold, there was a retailer not a mile from my house! I called to make sure they had the ferret kibble in stock, and stopped by on Tuesday to pick it up. This is really the best kind of pet supply store, all kinds of healthy food options (no cheap grain based foods for carnivores here!), grooming stuff, neat toys, etc., plus a resident kitty and a rather shy rescued dachshund behind the counter. The staff were friendly; I didn't have any reason to ask questions, but I suspect they would be quite knowledgeable as well. I am impressed that the only brand of ferret food they seem to carry is by far the best food on the market. They carry BARF diet as well, which is certainly easier to buy than make, if that's your thing. So, if you feed your pets high quality food, check out Animal Spirit!
Review Number Two: Various vendors at Etsy
This holiday season, I have done some of my shopping at Etsy, and I've been having the best experiences. Each of the vendors I've shopped from has been prompt with shipping, the items have been great, would do business again A++++++! Seriously, it's been fun. The thing I ordered has not yet been the only thing in the package. One person included a hand-colored comic about his creations. Another person included a mix CD, and another threw in some buttons. The stuff you can find at Etsy is creative and unique, and runs the price range from dirt cheap to tres cher for the genuine art. So if you're struggling for gift ideas, check out Etsy!
Oh, and a third review, just because: recipe for Cauliflower and potato soup, Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook. I rate it four potatoes out of five. The soup is basically cauliflower, potatoes, onion, garlic, soy sauce, a lot of parsley, cardamom, pepper and milk, which sounds a little incomprehensible but is very tasty. The parsley and cardamom especially go well together. If I make this soup again, I would use more cardamom than the recipe calls for because I love it very much, and I would add some toasted almonds either as a garnish or perhaps ground up and added to the soup. The only reason I didn't give this soup five potatoes is that it really screamed for those toasted almonds. Also, if I'd used another potato it wouldn't have all fit in the pot I was using.
Took the night off from official exercise due to general ouchiness but danced around in the kitchen while cooking. I swear sometimes I do my best dancing in the kitchen in my fluffy slippers and gothic ass sweatpants.