A day of shopping

I am feeling a bit self-indulgent. Ordinarily I pride myself on not being much of a shopper... I am a bit of a tightwad. Yesterday we went to Colorado Springs for my car to be serviced and it ended up my car was worked on from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. They gave us a loaner car so we had to keep ourselves busy in the area. (Where I get my car serviced is over an hour from our home so going home did not seem like much of an option). We went out to breakfast at Panera, we went for a hike in Red Rock Canyon open space across the highway from Garden of the Gods (wish I would have had my camera to show you this place... cool red rocks jetting out of the earth), we went to Manitou Springs for the old fashioned arcade and window shopping, we went out to lunch, we played mini-golf, we did some sporting goods shopping and I checked out Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers, and we went out to dinner. I just have to show you my indulgences... I am rather tickled about them.

There's a new store in town... "The Olive Tap" in Manitou Springs is an olive oil and balsamic vinegar "tasting emporium" and it is just a few doors down from my favorite kitchen gadget store. The Olive Tap is filled with shiny metal kettles filled with olive oils and vinegars and you can sample just about everything. They bottle the goods from the kettles for you if you find something you like. I found I love the Sicilian Lemon Balsamic Vinegar... bright, vibrant, slightly sweet. I couldn't decided between Basil Olive Oil and Garlic Olive Oil so I purchased one bottle half filled with each of the two... smells like pesto.


I've mentioned the Manitou Kitchen Shop before. While my son and husband play at the old fashioned arcade in town, I explore the Manitou Kitchen Shop. I have to limit myself to one item per visit because I tell you... I could do some serious financial damage in this store since I love kitchen stuff so much. I know I said I am a bit of a tightwad but somehow I seem to be able to justify kitchen purchases more so than other purchases because I know kitchen items will get used since I enjoy cooking and baking so much. I have been eyeing this red tea kettle for a long time. See how well my new tea kettle matches the other red things in my kitchen? The salt holder and pepper mill are things I purchased on previous visits to the Manitou Kitchen Shop. Why I think it might be time for a cup of tea!