Ringing in the New Year

          It's the end of 2012...I would have thought that I'd have found time to come up for air, relax, take a day or two off...hasn't happened.  Still, there are a few days left before New Years Day and there are two things that I can still partake of that will help get me into the spirit of the season.
          And that brings me to Doug's Stolen...

          For me, this has become an essential part of my holiday celebration.  I discovered it several years ago at Play it Again Sam's cafe before Doug opened his Evergrain Bakery.  I forget WHY it was that he gave me a loaf - right before Thanksgiving - but I'll never forget having my first taste.  I was reluctant - too many visions of bad fruit cake dancing in my head but I decided to try it.  Oh my...this was different.  A few days later a friend came to visit, we went to the cafe for coffee, bought a loaf and the two of us finished about half of it before we got up from the table...
          This is a labor of love...fruit soaked in brandy (rumor has it that it's for a year now) all fresh ingredients, wrapped in powdered sugar...and now you can have it with a cappuccino to eat in...or as I prefer, at home with Spanish Coffee...comes but once a year...enjoy it while you still can and there is some left...
          Stay tuned for New Years Egg Nog...better late than never.

Our Lives are marked and bound together by Concentric Rings

         It's easy to get used to what I see on my walk to the bakery every morning...the Royal Farm Store on the corner of 219 and Philosopher's Terrace, The Kent County Court House with it's centuries of history that whisper to me as I walk along the moss covered brick walk way, Leslie and Suzanne, Margot and Mary on their morning walks, the sycamores that stand and lean keeping watch over Cross and High Street.  There used to be two outside the Evergrain windows, familiar sentinels that had stood there for decades.
         On Tuesday one of those creatures was taken down...Had I not seen the red X that is always a sign that a tree is going to be cut down...was I really that oblivious to its impending fate?  And so I sat, not reading the morning N.Y.Times but instead I looked out the window watching, pausing for a moment to say goodbye.  

          Later in the day, around 3 PM I decided to walk back to the bakery to see the stump and count the rings (and get a pastry) but lo and behold, a new tree was in it's place, new life to grow, clean the air once Spring arrives.  Matilda says its a pin oak.  I go inside, get a cup of coffee and a scone, look out the window and try to imagine what the world will be like when that new planting reaches its full maturity...

I'm reminded of what I believe to be a Jewish blessing..."may you be buried in a casket made from a 100 year old tree...that I will plant for you this day."

The title of today's blog is taken from the chorus of a song by Pam Ortiz...the Story of the Wood...www.pamortizmusic.com  

Do they know where they are?

           There was a time when I used to think that I lived in a sit com...like Cheers (which I never watched) or Seinfeld.  And  I imagined that I had a part in this sit com...a walk on part as the town furniture maker.  When I walk into the bakery wearing my apron I sometimes kid people by telling them that the town pays me to walk around in that costume to add "local color.."  Sometimes people actually believe me.
         These days I no longer believe that I live in a sit com.  I live in a novel.  Chestertown is a living novel.  Everyone around here has a role.  That's why you can be sitting at the bakery, by yourself, reading the paper and the next thing you know you're in the middle of some else's conversation sitting at the next table...or someone walks in - whom you barely know - and soon they are telling you what they think about what you just said to someone else.  Really...this happens all the time.
          By and large, I'm willing to play along...it's usually entertaining, frequently fun and sometimes I learn something about a issue of which I know nothing.  But there's a limit...there are some questions and conversations that leave me feeling like Ricky Ricardo...

         

          Here's a partial list of the questions that make me crazy when I hear them in the bakery:
          How many calories are in these croissants?
          Do you have any low fat pastries?
          Do you have any gluten free bread or pastries?
          Do you have any skim milk?
         
          Really?  You've walked into a French Bakery where quality ingredients are what rule the day.   The bread and pastries are made by hand, daily, not in a factory where everything is apportioned by machine.  Today's sun bun might be just a tad bigger - or smaller than last week's.  It's about the butter and cream and chocolate and...it's about the aromas, the romance of fine hand crafted foods
         Yes, I know that I'm preaching to the choir...just had to get it off my chest...been holding this in for a while...I feel better now.  Thanks.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

          I know...the weather doesn't seem like that time of year.  December 3rd and I walked to work this morning in a sweater...still this was what the window at Evergrain looked like yesterday...

         That's Matilda Wessel decorating the tree.  With the expansion of the bakery there are now twice as many windows to decorate as last year to say nothing of mouths to feed when you throw in farmer's markets in Balston, Virginia, Easton and Denton.

         My son Daniel has been waiting for the arrival of Egg Nog at Evergrain but as for me, the main event is the arrival of Doug's "Stolen."  I still remember the first time I tried it several years ago.  I was skeptical but a friend of mine was visiting from Baltimore, we ordered two slices and a cup of coffee and what a surprise.  Details when I can finally announce it's arrival in Chestertown.

         Speaking of egg nog, I posted my father's egg nog recipe last year and will do the same in a few weeks but I'm also thinking of experimenting and making a "Mocha" egg nog...using Kahlua as the new ingredient...I'll keep you posted.