My oldest sister had discovered, a few weeks prior, 5 little cottages off of Old US Highway 50 that have been turned into a cute little village of home shopping called Cockrell Mercantile Company. These cottages are little gems packed full, in some places floor to ceiling, of every single kitchen item (plus some!) that you could ever desire. You cannot appreciate the wonderfulness of this place unless you were to experience it yourself. I can tell you, however, from the moment I stepped inside I was in heaven. From the outside it looks like a modest little center off an old dirt road, but inside is rows and rows of household treasures.
The 5 cottages all have a specific purpose. The Main Store holds an array of cooking must haves from spices and sauces, to aprons, Chai latte mixes, decorative plates, cookbooks, pots and pans, grilling tools, bowls, coffee mugs; table runners; the list could go on and on. This is where we did the majority of our shopping. Literally, every corner we turned or isle we disappeared down held a great new find more exciting than the last. I probably could have spent hours and endless amounts of money in just this one store, but there were still 4 more cottages to explore.
Right next to the Main Store is the Cockrell Annex; a quaint little potting shop with various sized and beautifully decorated pots for a variety of gardening needs. Some of the pots would have been perfect for my ever growing tomato plant and numerous pots of herbs, but I had to restrain myself, knowing that there was no way I could get them back home. Maybe next time.
Up next was the perfectly named Morton House. This is a baker's dream store. From sugars, to mixing bowls, baking books, cookie cutters, extracts, baking utensils (in an endless number of colors), cake pans of every shape and size, I could not believe just how much they were able to pack into this little cottage. Again, I could have spent days in there, but we had two more stores to go and only a little bit of time left.
After getting our baking fix, we headed over to the Fiesta Cottage. This cottage literally contains every shape, size and color of the entire Feistaware line. They had the mugs, bowls, cups, plates, flatware, pitchers and every other piece ever manufactured. Room after room we found shelves stacked with the brightly colored dinnerware. If you have any Fiestaware or were hoping to get some, this cottage is calling for you. They even had pieces that I had never seen before at in mainstream department stores.
Finally, we reached our final destination and the one store that was a little different than the previous themes of kitchen items: Cockerell Cottage. This store was a variety of decorative pieces, candles and bags. A single room was dedicated entirely to Vera Bradley. It was the perfect place for gifts or perhaps even a little present for yourself.
I left Cockrell with a few items, a Stonewall cookbook (another one of my favorite kitchen and speciality food companies), grilling planks and 2 on sale Le Creuset pans and even a longer wish list of items! There were numerous sauces, decorative plates, place mats and dinnerware that I would have loved to take home with me, but had to restrain. I am happy to know each time we are able to get away to the lake for additional fun filled weekends we will be able to take advantage of this little paradise of shops. For those of you who are near by you should make you way out there. It is definitely worth the drive!
I am excited to put my new purchases to use to create some great meals to share with you all. Be looking for them in upcoming posts!
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