First it was the trip to the Gap, where he bought sweaters for his daughters. He talked about it for weeks.

Then, on Thursday, he dropped by the Golden Fig in St. Paul, Minn. According to the White House, it is "a small, specialty food store that carries Midwest-produced foods and gifts."

According to the pool report, Obama bought a lot of stuff. Salted caramels, salsa, blue corn chips and apple chips.

Then, the pool report says he chatted with two young women at the checkout counter.

"This is the kind of store you want to pop into," said Obama. "They don't let me do this stuff anymore. I used to be able to do this stuff."