The Mercantile Box from J.Q. Dickinson is something I look forward to every month! It's full of Appalachian food ingredients, accessories and more. Here's a look at what I got this month!

Mushrooms, a spurtle, salt, soy sauce, pawpaw jam and polenta!

Since we arrived in Portland, we saw a line wrapped around Duckfat.


I wanted to make sure I hit this place up, but I was mostly just interested in duckfat fries. So when we walked inside, I prepared myself for a long wait.


But, we were seating almost immediately. Win!


I ordered a small of the Belgian fries, which are fried in duck fat. I also opted for a flight of sauces, which included: truffle ketchup, thai chili mayo, curry mayo, horseradish mayo and garlic mayo.


Perfectly crispy - and my favorites were the truffle ketchup and the garlic mayo. Delish.


Also, the combination with a salty caramel milkshake was perfection.

Can we please take a moment to pause for the incredible candy stores in Charleston, South Carolina?


First of all, this place drew me in with its promises of cocktail flavored gummy bears. 


But then there are bouquets of gummies.


And the biggest lollipops you've ever seen.


And international kit-kats.


And take a look at some of the other offerings:

While exploring Portland, Kaitee and I stumbled upon two local groceries.


And, I love a local grocery store so we popped in to check them out.


The first is Micucci Grocery, which is an Italian grocery store.


They have a deli with all kinds of fresh meats and cheeses, wine and microbrews, bakery, oils, pastas and more.


They even have hot slices and ready-made cannoli.


The other grocery we stopped at was Lois' Natural Marketplace.




They had tons of natural and health foods.


Plus some fresh-made options, too.


Kaitee got a portable fork/spoon to travel with - which is genius!

Can you pass up a storefront window with shining caramel apples lined up in a row?


I know that I can't.


Charleston's Candy Kitchen is a magical spot full of goodies.


The shop has even been on The Food Network.


Whether you want gummies, weird suckers with scorpions or barrels full of taffy, this place has it all.


Of course, I went for caramel apple.


But look at all these goodies: