The Little Tart is Haliburton's tart store! We're a tiny pastry shop in the town of Donald, 8km south of main street Haliburton, Ontario. (That's a short drive along Gelert Road!) We offer good old fashioned home baked goodness from our very own "Ooey Gooey Butter Tarts" to our popular Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. All of our baking is created by hand, from scratch, on site. All of our recipes are tried and retried until they are our absolute best because only our very best will do.
Hello there!
Our summer season has concluded and we are slowing down and switching to autumn hours. Unfortunately, blogger and our computer don't see eye-to-eye right now and so no pretty pictures to go with this post.
Our Hours through Thanksgiving weekend are:
Saturday 10am -4pm*
Sunday 10am -4pm*
*or sold out
We hope you'll drop by❣️
Hello friends!
First, I'll state the obvious...
... it was a long, long, oh so very very very long winter. We still have a small pile of snow - just as a reminder - in the back yard but Spring is starting to push through and just in time because we are getting ready for our 18th season to begin!
Bill and I are in scrubba-dub-dub mode getting the store and kitchen all squeaky shiny. We are both looking forward to seeing you all again and we sure do hope we will be seeing you again because we have missed your smiling faces.
Prep begins in two weeks and once again we will give our all because you deserve nothing less then our very best. (Wow, that sounded like a tag line. I can do better than that.)
Ahem...
Prep begins in two weeks. Bill and I are in The Little Tart mode and that means we will do our very best to make your The Little Tart experience happy and tasty and memorable because without you, there's no The Little Tart and so you deserve our very best... and nothing less. ( I couldn't help it. It flows. But it comes from the heart.)
And so, without further ado... drum roll please!
Drum roll?
Hello?
Oh for pete's sake... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - deep breath - rrrrrrrrrrrr
We are so very happy to announce The Little Tart will open on Friday May 15 (Victoria day weekend). We can't wait to see you again!
Until then stay healthy, stay safe and please come visit! ❤️
We are sold out and closed for the season.
What Bill and I love most about owning and operating The Little Tart is that we get to do what makes our hearts happy. Every decision is ours and every interaction is personal. What really makes our hearts happy is seeing you happy. If it's only for the short time you're with us, making you smile or laugh is everything because The Little Tart - in our humble opinion - is about more than just the baking; you make us smile and laugh and that makes the stresses of owning and operating this tiny business so much more tolerable, so much more enjoyable and more than that... it makes our hearts overflow with love and adoration and gratitude.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your overwhelming support, kindness and generosity. You made our trepidatious 17th season an overwhelming success!
Thank you so much for making The Little Tart a part of your spring, summer and autumn. It has been our pleasure and our privilege to bake for you this year.
We have been asked about a winter opening. The past few winters we did our stock run, prepped, (three winters ago we had the store stocked) and then Winter put the kibosh on our plans. And so we have decided we will not have a winter opening, however, nothing is written in stone.
So, let's do this... if we decide otherwise we'll let you know in advance right here. Otherwise, we will see you again in spring of 2026 when we begin our 18th season!
We hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, an amazing autumn and a wonderful winter! Please, please, please be be healthy, be happy and be safe so you can come back and see us again because until you do, we'll miss you. ❤️
We are now fully booked for pumkin pies for Thanksgiving weekend.
Thank you to everyone who placed their order.
Just a reminder that we will be stocking the store Thanksgiving weekend.
We hope you're having a wonderful weekend! ❤️
We are now booked for pumpkin pie orders for the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. We still have some room on Friday and Sunday.
Also, just a reminder, we will be stocking the store that weekend.
We hope you're having a wonderful week❣️
Here we are at the end of another summer season but on the bright side...
... WE HAD A SUMMER SEASON!!!
Thank you, thank you and thank you so very much. Every single day this summer we reminded each other how fortunate we are.
Is this a tough gig? Yes.
Is it a stressful gig! Oh yea.
Is it worth every painstaking moment? You can bet your ooey gooey butter tarts (with or without raisins) it is!
We weren't sure what to expect. We thought we would most likely get through July but from there? Behind the scenes we've been very fortunate with our suppliers. One saved us a few times this summer. Times are tough and for a small business it's overwhelming. For a teeny tiny business like ours with a very small window of opportunity to make our year and know we'll be able to open the doors again next year it can bring you to tears.
And it has.
So what do we do? Well, we do what we do and we hope with everything we have that you'll come through the door. And oh boy, you did!
Once again we are humbled and grateful and can never thank you enough for helping us keep this little shop going. The energy you brought this summer was phenominal and inspiring and so so so motivating. I wish I could reach out and give every one of you a big hug.
And so, our summer season is over and our fall season begins... today actually because we're heading right back into the kitchen to start prepping for next weekend.
We hope you are having a wonderful long weekend and that you have a stupendously superific Sunday afternoon and evening. ❤️
We are only a few days away from the first long weekend of the season and prep has begun!!!
'kayso, here's the scoop...
This year will not be without it's challenges. Once we were through the pandemic Bill and I thought the toughest challenge ahead would be aging. Goes to show what we know. But here we are and - come on - who doesn't love a challenge?
As always we will do our absolute best to give you the absolute best experience possible when you visit. Unfortunately we cannot promise there won't be issues when it comes to some of your favourite tarts and by that I mean limited supply or there may be times your favourite will not be available. We are going to do our best to not let that happen but we apologize in advance. Some things are beyond our control. In all honesty there has already been some "sticker shock" and supply problems and where it goes from here - well - we don't know any more than you do. That uncertainty is where the challenges will come in.
Here's what we can promise you. Bill and I are going to bake our hearts out for you. We promise never to compromise the quality of our baking. You deserve the very best we can offer and that will never change.
And so onto brighter, happier things, we are busy getting ready for a new season and can't wait to welcome you back. We hope we'll be seeing you soon! ❤️
Happy Saturday afternoon and welcome to Spring!
Bill and I are busy getting ready and looking forward to our 17th season.
It has been a long, long, long, oh so long winter and we're ready to spring into a new season of baking just for you!
(See what I did there? "Spring into... I still got it. I thought I lost it but... nailed it!😉)
Anyhoo, we hope you have had a wonderful winter, that you are safe and healthy and that we will be seeing you again very soon. We've missed you.
I'll be back with more info and hours closer to. Take care and have a spectacular Saturday afternoon and evening and an even better every day after.❤️
So how how your winter been going so far?
'kayso... Winter has been stomping around the Haliburton Highlands like a tempermental toddler in need of a time out and (as the Carpenter's song goes) "we've only just begun". (I know the reference is all wrong for the context but the quote works and hey, I could have just said it without the quotes and no reference to a very beautiful song but what can I say? Music feeds my soul.)
Anyhoo. I'll rip this off like a bandage.
We have decided not to have a winter opening. We are so sorry to disappoint but the past two winters we opened and the weather did not cooperate. Some people made the trek but we would never encourage anyone to travel when we wouldn't. We stocked the store and there was more than half left over. That's a big loss that, quite frankly, this tiny business can't afford.
After two weeks of snow, today there is an ice rain warning and right now as I write this, we're getting ice rain. We have cancelled our own plans to meet up with family, visit a friend and a shopping trip and we aren't sure we'll be able to get together with our family over the holidays this year. It's weather. The one thing we have no control over.
This was a very difficult decision. Our winter opening has become a cherished tradition for Bill and I and we'll miss your visits but common sense has to prevail. Winter weather has proven too unpredictable these past few years.
We are so so sorry.
If you are travelling over the next few weeks, please be very careful. Stay safe. ❤️
We are closed for the season.
When Bill and I talk about The Little Tart (quite frequently, even in the off-season) and I don't mean discussing what the menu will be or the cost of operating or everything that goes with running a small business like ours. I mean when we talk about the heart of The Little Tart; how with all the trials and tribulations, setbacks, and just plain bullsh-dung we're still here sixteen years later and looking forward to our seventeenth.
We are so fortunate to be a part of this amazing - what's the word? - business? - no. A business is an exchange of goods and services for financial gain. Yes, The Little Tart is a business and by operating this business we pay our bills, buy food, put gas in the car. But to Bill and I The Little Tart is and has always been so much more than that.
On our wall we have a sticker that says "Welcome, enter as guests, leave as friends." I remember when we were redecorating the store and came across that sticker. We both said, "That's exactly the sentiment we want!" But words are just words unless you give them meaning and so we hope you always feel welcome when you arrive and that your experience is a happy one because no matter what may be tripping us up that day, when you arrive, you are our first priority because when we talk about the heart of The Little Tart it's you.
Thank you so much for another absolutley fabulous year. It has been a priviledge to bake for you, your friends and family again this year and we sure hope you'll be back next year.
We've been asked about a Christmas opening this year. It's early days yet. The past two previous years we had some nasty weather that impacted our opening and so we're going to keep an eye on that and we'll let you know as soon as we do!
We wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving, an awesome autumn and a wonderful winter. Please, please, please be safe and healthy and we hope you'll come back to visit because we'll miss you. ❤️
Good morning!
We hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
I just popped in to say we are now fully booked for pumpkin pies on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
We still have room on Friday and Sunday.
Thank you and have a great day!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled scrolling. 😊
This has been a remarkable summer season. We are both at a loss for words to express our deep appreciation. Deciding to drop Thursdays was an immense stresser. We knew we needed to slow the pace to keep going but we also know how busy Thursdays could be.
Thank you so much, especially you Thursday people who accomodated the change.
The work load didn't change; we shifted Thursday's baking, adding it to the other three days but this summer had that extra day to prep. We were even able to sit outside to have a morning coffeewithout a timer going off which is much more amazing than you can imagine after the 15 previous years of go go go from the time we crawled out of bed. Having time to cook a dinner rather than open a package or can to heat something up is priceless.
And now here we are at the end of another summer season. As always we are grateful for you, your kindness, your generosity and your support. We can't thank you enough for making The Little Tart a part of your summer season, for sharing us with your friends and family and for sending others our way. We absolutely love and adore each and every one of you.
Okay, enough of the mushy stuff or I'll get all weepy. Besides, this isn't good-bye. As a matter-of-fact we'll be in the kitchen this afternoon prepping for next weekend before we take a little break. Our summer season may be over but we still have the fall and that season begins next Saturday!
I don't normally post this here but I had a little fun with the writing today and so I wanted to share it here in case anyone actually reads this blog because... I thought it was funny. So did Bill. We might just be really really tired. Anyhoo...
We are sold out and closed for the rest of today.
We will open again at 10am tomorrow!
'kayso if you're wondering what's going on outside today then grrrl, I gotchew!
Summer's being all, like, "Look at me, I'm all shiny and warm and pretty and everybody's loving me." You know, all smiling and sh... stuff. Then autumn shows up all huffy, sucking her teeth being like, "Excu-use me? You're causing all that sunburn and bugs n' stuff and, like, I make everything pretty. You've seen my work. October?" She gives a finger snap wave. "That's what I'm all about.
So then summer's like, "Shu' up! I saw what you started doing to the trees already and, like, it isn't even your turn yet so you better check yourself you blustering bi-."
But autumn wasn't having any of that so she got all mad 'n stuff and was like, "Look how I'm making the sky all dark and pouring rain everywhere."
And summer was like, "Oh yea, look at me swallowing up your clouds and making the sunshine."
And then autumn was all like, "Oh no you didn't!" Like totes p o'd.
And they've been throwing it down all day y'all. Weather eh?
Have a super spectacular Saturday afternoon and evening! ❤️
'kayso... Bill and I have always tried to be very open about what's happening with The Little Tart. For those of you who have been with us during these 16 years, you know every decision we make about the business is and has always been for its longevity which means altering how we do things every now and again.
So much has changed over these past four years and let's just say not in a way that makes it easier to run a small business (never mind a mom-and-pop shop) but we're tenacious (or completely out of our minds) and refuse to give in or give up. Over these past sixteen years we have learned to adapt to whatever is thrown at us. So far, so good.
Last weekend we began working seven days a week. We do this every year through July and August. What you see when you enter The Little Tart during the summer is the result of seven days of prep that carries on even when the store is closed.
Now, there are only twenty-four hours in a day and when we're puting 14-16 hours a day into the business, five or six for sleep, that doesn't leave much time for everything else including everyday life stuff. We know it's only two months and if you tilt your head, squint and say it quickly, it sounds like no biggy-wiggy boo-boo. But time can be cruel and it sneaks up on you. We don't like to admit we're getting older.
We're getting older and that reality ran into us like a brick wall last year. (Yes, the wall was moving. The analogy works if you just suspend your disbelief and go with it. Seriously, is that where you want to hang your hat right now? I'm pouring my heart out here.)
Anyway, it's sad but true and we can't carry on that way anymore.
And so we have had to make a hard decision and when I say it was a hard decision, I mean, we agonized over it all all winter and spring. We are slowing down and will open three days a week instead of four this summer. We will still be working seven days a week but hopefully at a more manageable pace. This is just a new way for us to keep The Little Tart running and to keep its bakers, cleaners, dish washers, maintenance workers, marketing team, landscapers, etc., etc., healthy. (And again, if you're new here, all of those people are Bill and I. We don't have a staff.)
We're so sorry if this comes as a dissapointment. We hate to disappoint anyone.
What will not change is our commitment to offering you our very best because you deserve nothing less. Thank you so much for your understanding and support.
Now let's have a fantabulously funtastic summer season!!! ❤️
