Chesterton, Indiana has all the ingredients for a tasty life

It's tea season, and there's nothing quite like a cup of chamomile at bedtime. Whole flower, loose chamomile, that is. The grocery store only has tea bags, so where can I find whole, loose tea?

Duh! They've got that at Molly Bea's!

Tonight is leftover night at my house. Being that it's gotten cold, most of our leftovers are soup. I like making something fresh to go with leftovers, so I was thinking bread...no, biscuits. Yum! And, seeing as how I'm a total nut about whole grains, I want to try out a new recipe for whole-grain biscuits using old-fashioned oatmeal and whole wheat pastry flour.

Hmm...whole wheat pastry flour...

Oh yeah! They've got that at Molly Bea's!

My friend had a problem. At least, he thought it was a problem. It went something like this:

"I have to cater a banquet with a Japanese menu for this class I'm taking. I've got this recipe for these amazing gooey dough balls with a red bean paste in the center...but...where the heck around here am I going to find adzuki beans?"

To which I promptly responded:

"Oh! They've got those at Molly Bea's!"

Have you caught on to the theme yet? Molly Bea's Ingredients in Chesterton (right across from Jewel on Indian Boundary Rd) is a foodie's (meaning "my") dream come true. Bin after bin of specialty flours, whole grains, beans, loose teas, fresh-roasted coffee, spices, nuts, dried fruit, herbs, and candy...all available in bulk, by the pound, in bags that you pack for yourself. It's the place to go if you're looking for that hard-to-find ingredient, or if, like my dad, you like to create your own trail mix to keep in a jar on your desk. They even have a station where you can grind your very own peanut butter. And, if you're looking for that perfect gift, they've got kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, fun chocolate bars, gourmet sauces, honeys, syrups, and on and on and on. I pretty much go crazy every time I'm in there. As they put it, "Whether you are a cooker, a baker, or eater...there's something here for you."

Just be warned: Don't go to Molly Bea's when you're hungry*!

*Not that there's ever an excuse to go to Molly Bea's hungry when Third Coast Spice Cafe is just a few doors down...But that's for another blog. (*suspenseful music here*)