THE HOLIDAYS ARE UPON US

and the music is in surround sound. I hope you made it to last week's Village of the Arts Dec ArtWalk  when we celebrated an Olde Fashioned Village Christmas.

It isn't often that you see a barbershop quartet serenading a horse...especially a Christmas horse! But Babe, the therapy horse from Prospect Riding Center was the perfect audience for The Bowery Boys' blended voices. They crooned while she smiled, along with all of the holiday shoppers around her.

Will the next holiday please step forward.  Oh it's you CHANUKAH. 

This is the Jewish holiday celebrated for 8 nights featuring burning candles and fried food, especially latkes & donuts. Since I believe that fried food tastes best when just removed from the oil, it isn't practical for me to offer you any of those. Instead, I'll just celebrate the common thread found at all Jewish occasions, both happy and sad.  LOTS OF FOOD  Here are my two holiday specials for this week.

One of the oldest Jewish restaurants in NYC was Ratner's on the Lower East Side. It was a "dairy" restaurant, famous for things like Vegetable Cutlets w/Mushroom Gravy, soups, blintzes and their Onion Pockets. The mere mention of this onion studded roll brings tears to the eyes of people who remember noshing on them. So versatile you can enjoy one as a sandwich, with soup or salad, or just on its own with a bit of butter & jam. Just available this week by special order.

For dessert here's another Jewish bakery favorite that's  rarely seen these days -- Mohn (Poppy seed) Bars. They're made up of a shortbread base, filled with a flavorful ground poppy seed mixture and topped off with sugar sprinkled streusel. Lots of textures & flavors that melt in your mouth simultaneously. The Mohn Bars are available only by special order. I'm using the fresh German poppy seeds I brought back from Berlin. I declared them, along with sacks of Swedish Coarse Rye flour, which filled my luggage. The Miami Customs agent looked at me, rolled his eyes, then just waved me through without a word. I love having authentic ingredients to bake with. 

ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

Homemade Jam & Chutney (limited amounts)  $4/8 oz

Mango Strawberry Cardamom,  Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper, Mango Meyer Lemon, Berry Basket, Meyer Lemon Bitter Marmalade, Keitt Mango Chutney, Ginger Pear Chutney.

Keitt Mango Butter  $5/8 oz  Only a few jars left for this season

Pure Keitt mango concentrated down for hours with a little sugar & citrus

Ratner's Onion Pockets  $3/pkg of 4

Soft roll filled & topped with sauteed onion & poppy seeds

Mohn (Poppy Seed) Bars  $2/each

A cookie with a shortbread base, poppy seed filling & streusel topping

Breadstix  $4/pkg

Rosemary Parmigiano, Roasted Garlic Blue Cheese, A Mixed Bag (assorted)

Mega Muffins  $2/each

Apple Cranberry Spice

Chocolate Orgasm Cookies  $5/pkg

Mostly Belgium Dark Chocolate, chocolate chips & almonds

Large Cookie  $1.50/each

Belgium Dark Chocolate Orange Walnut, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, Belgium Dark Chocolate Lemon (no nuts), Classic Chocolate Chip (no nuts)

Sunday from 11-3 I'll be at the Palma Sola Farmer's Market, held at Geraldson's Community Farm. This week I'll be turning a beautiful organic head of cabbage into that appetizing store staple, NYC DELI HEALTH SALAD. This easy to make, non-mayo based menage of veggies in a sweet/sour marinade will stay crisp for a week in your refrigerator. Stop by Sunday and try some. If you like it I'll give you the recipe, and you'll find the organic veggies very close by. 

I'll be set up under my tent with most of the menu items. If I have any extra Onion Pockets and Mohn Bars, they'll be there too, but no guarantees.

PLACE YOUR SPECIAL ORDER BY 5PM WEDNESDAY

call (941) 746-6647 or email bonnibakes@gmail.com

that's my dog Twinkie (almost hidden behind the gate) waiting to welcome you

YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR ORDER AT MY HOME IN The Village of the Arts 

FRIDAY OR SATURDAY  1-4 (OR BY APPT)

OR SUNDAY AT PALMA SOLA FARMER'S MARKET 11-3

 PAY BY CASH OR LOCAL CHECK MADE OUT TO "BONNI BROWN"

Hugs from my kitchen,

Bonni