Market Friday: A couple of local treats!

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It is pretty rare that I post twice in one day from the same account. I just happened to visit a couple of really cool places this past weekend that made me realize I absolutely needed to jump into the #marketfriday initiative started by @dswigle.

Aviator Cookie Company has a kind of cool story. The guy that started the business used to be a commercial airline pilot. When Covid hit and the majority of people were refraining from travelling, that put him in a bit of a tight spot. I am guessing pilots all across the country were getting laid off or placed on furlough or whatever you want to call it.

Who would have guessed that something great could come out of something so horrible.

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Given the number of businesses that were shutting down during the pandemic, it is pretty safe to say starting your own at that time was likely a risky move. Thankfully this guy did it anyway and Aviator Cookie Company was born.

He secured a small storefront in the downtown area of my home town and he has been pretty successful so far. I think I read the other day that he is actually getting ready to open a second storefront in a nearby town.

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One of the highlights of the business is the fact that he sourced an old airplane wing for the front counter in sticking with the aviation theme. It is a pretty cool touch.

You can see it in the photos above. I stopped in late on a Sunday evening with a couple of our friends kids who we were babysitting. I let them each pick a cookie for themselves and then I decided to grab a couple for @mrsbozz and I as well.

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They come in what looks like a pizza box if you get a "flight" of cookies. I can't seem to get the photo to show in the preview, so hopefully it shows up in the final post.

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One of the kids picked chocolate chip (of course) and the other one picked the plain sugar cookie. For @mrsbozz and I, I picked a molasses, peanut butter, and two oatmeal chocolate chip. Our favorite was probably the peanut butter cookie. They wrapped the molasses and peanut butter separate to keep them from "tainting" the other cookies in the box.

I think the molasses came in a close second to the peanut butter. The oatmeal chocolate chip were good, but not the best I have had. We have another local cookie shop in the next town over that I actually feel is better than this one. Also, if you are lucky enough to have a Crumbl near you, they are pretty legit too. I wouldn't put this place on that level.

It should be noted that we did visit less than an hour before they were slated to close. I have a feeling if you are able to get a cookie fresh out of the oven, it might be a whole different experience. They also have a variety of cookies that they rotate through the week, so it could be we just didn't try the right flavors.

They do ship nationwide, so if you are wanting to give them a try and you live in the US, feel free to check out the web site I linked.

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While this might not really fall into the market category, the next day I was lucky enough to visit one of our local food truck vendors and have a delightful cup of spiced chai.

My wife works as a school social worker for one of the elementary schools in the district where we work. She recently wrote a grant to the local native american tribe that supports our area. Due to state laws, general fund money from the school can not be used to purchase food for staff members.

Knowing this, and knowing that staff mental health is just as important as student mental health, my wife wrote a grant for $6000 to have money on hand so she can do special things for the staff members without needing to worry about all of the red tape that is usually associated with a public school budget.

Her first use of the grant funds was to hire Travelin' Tom's Coffee Truck to visit her building. She was able to work out a deal where the guy came for two hours and she was able to have the staff pick up to 100 items for consumption. It cost $550 for the two hour period. Based on our staff size, the 100 items gave her a bit of wiggle room.

I was lucky enough to be that wiggle room.

Even though I am a district employee, I walked over to the truck around 7:15 in the morning and got the aforementioned spiced chai.

It was a pretty cool setup. I didn't get any pictures, but if you are interested, you should check the web page I linked. They had all manner of hot and cold drinks from coffee to espresso, chai, iced black tea, hot cocoa, the menu was pretty extensive.

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I don't usually drink warm beverages in the morning, but on this cold December day it was just what I needed to get me going. If I had been in a more adventurous mood, I might have tried the "dirty chai" which has a shot of espresso in it. The staff absolutely loved it too! I can't wait to see what she does next with the grant money.

Travelin' Tom's appears to be a franchise, but the guy who manages the truck was fairly local to our district. We always like supporting local business owners, so it was a great selection. It's amazing how many of these little businesses are alive and thriving in your community.

#marketfriday is a great way to get out and discover them!

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Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced