Spring is still struggling to stand up to winter. Magnolia trees with drooping brown frozen flowers are evidence of the struggle and on April 18th I saw a snowman on my way to work - only about 4 feet tall, but there it was - the perfect symbol of the upside down world we live in these days. Ramps are fighting the good fight and may be big enough for a good harvest next week. Ken harvested a few in our woods and he made ramp pasta for the two of us. He planted them about seven years ago just so he could do that. What a treat! What a guy!

To help us cope in the bakery, we’ve made a huge batch of one of our favorite comfort foods, a porridge that we call Jook . It is in the savory rice pudding family which includes Congee and Okayu - the Asian equivalent of oatmeal but that comparison does not do it justice. It’s a breakfast, it’s a lunch, it’s a dinner., it’s a bowl of umami! It consists of rice cooked and cooked and cooked in our terrific brown chicken stock to make a rice soup/pudding flavored with lots of fresh ginger. Then we top it with peanuts, bacon, scallions, and sesame oil. It is available frozen with toppings on the side , or hot and ready to eat. When you need to be comforted this will do the trick!

Remember, we can deliver your baked goods! If you are over 60, we have volunteers ready and waiting to bring your order to your door step. Here is a photo of them practicing their social distancing.

All you have to do is call the bakery and place your order. We then take your credit card information and a volunteer brings your order to you.

We also have Take-Out and Curb-side pick up available. We generally only have two people in the store at one time and have a one way path through the store. We insist on people keeping their distance. We have a portable hand washing station at the entrance and at the exit.

We are open 7:30 to 5 week days, 7:30 to 4 on Saturday and are temporarily closed on Sundays. Being closed on Sundays is very sad to me - that's when we had live music and singing and were so enjoying being together.

I guess we must all be patient (not my strong suit) and try to figure out how we will build our new reality.

Love,
Judy

Please Spring, Get Here We Need You