Tim and I are deep in to holiday shopping and came up with a few more "Made in the Midwest" shopping suggestions for your gift lists:
Are you near a larger city? Many Convention and Visitors Bureaus have nice local shopping sites highlighting local boutiques, small businesses and other places offering locally made products and services like the site for Columbus, Ohio which I highlighted in a recent blog here and, one of my favorites, Detroit's fab shopping section.
Visit Detroit's shopping section includes a few of my favorite places for Detroit themed gifts like City Bird in Midtown Detroit and the Pure Detroit stores in places like the Fisher Building and the Guardian Building (where I purchased Tim's City of Detroit coffee mug last year). The Detroit Shoppe also has an outlet in Troy's Somerset Collection near us where you can also get Detroit-branded wear and gifts.
Call up "pure Detroit" at Amazon and check out some cool things like a Michigan Midwest Mitten T-shirt that pictures the state with the Great Lakes and the site tells me is "designed and printed with pride in Ann Arbor, Michigan".
In a pickle when it comes to choosing a holiday gift? There are plenty of options here in the Midwest when it comes to getting a few cool pickle-oriented gifts!
Framed and signed hot dog buns at Tony Packos riverfront location
We often head on down to Toledo in Ohio for great pickles and relishes at the in-house stores at the Tony Packo's Restaurants on the riverfront near the Mud Hens ball park downtown. Our favorites at Packo's include the classic pickles and peppers, and Tim is a big fan of Packos' relishes like the mustard relish for using with hot dogs. We also like the "Super Charged Chili Recipe" if we want to spend a little more time to make our own spicy pot of chili at home. We ordered a Packos gift pack with pickles and relishes to send to one of Tim's siblings a year or so ago, and it was a real hit!
Sechler's in northern Indiana is another favorite when it comes to pickles, especially when it comes to sweet varieties like the sweet orange strip pickles. We've visited the Sechler's factory store a couple of times and bought a ton of pickled goods like some of the more off-the-wall varieties that I prefer like pickled hot cauliflower.
Pickle bar at Sechlers in Fremont, Indiana
Want some more pickles? Try heading to a hardware store in the Midwest! I found another favorite pickle brand at a small meat butcher in Carmel, Indiana...I picked them up on a whim after the clerk raved about them, and I've since shopped for them at hardware stores in Chagrin Falls (Ohio), Put-in-Bay (Ohio) and at several hardware stores near where Tim's father lives in Grand Rapids (Michigan). The pickles have a unique spicy punch and, as their Web site proudly proclaims, the product is "Proudly Made in the USA" (in this case, the product comes from Indiana and western Michigan). Now that I've discovered a little more about Rickle's online, I really want to find, and try, some of the company's pickled asparagus!
Speaking of spicy, if you like spicy spears, Detroit's McClure's Pickles should be especially to your taste. We can find them all over town, including at Detroit's great outdoor farmers market (Eastern Market), local produce stores and major grocery outlets. Out of town? No problem as you can find the company's classic garlic dills, sweet and spicy pickle chips, pickle relish and a great Bloody Mary mix at Amazon.
Check out my most recent post for more Made in the Midwest suggestions that include more chili, some sweet cherry goodness and some crunchy pretzels to help fill up your pantry!
Do you have any other Midwest favorites I missed? Let me know as I'll be adding more Made in the Midwest suggestions in upcoming posts this month.