No New Year's Opening

 We hope everyone has been enjoying their holiday celebrations in spite of the weather woes.

Bill and I were supposed to spend the day with family in Toronto yesterday. Unfortunately, like many, the weather and uncertainy about the road conditions put the kibosh on our holiday plans. 

We stayed put.

We checked the weather this morning and, yet again, (or should I say still) there is a winter weather travel advisory in effect. Our boxing day plans include a shovel and snow blower.

Looking ahead... we wish we hadn't because there's rain coming. Rain on top of all this snow with temperatures rising above zero - not much above zero - but enough to create a whole new kind of mess.

And so... this has been my long winded way of getting to the point of this post. We have made another tough decision and we apologize to anyone who is disappointed by this but we will not be opening New Year's eve this year.

We should be prepping today. Instead we'll be moving  snow away from the house before the snow melts, the rain comes and both find their way into this old house. The weather is just too uncertain this year. We're so sorry to dissapoint.

Thank you so much to you folks who made your way here Christmas eve. It was so nice to see you before the long winter break.

If you're travelling over the holidays please be safe so we can see you again in the spring. ❤️

(About the picture... our very supportive neighbour June Krisco is a talented photographer. June came by Christmas eve and gifted us one of her beautiful 2023 calendars. The black and white images are beautiful - December is my favourite - and we want to give her a shout-out and wish her all the best in her art career.) 

Christmas Eve Opening

We are open today!

If you are venturing out, please be safe.

 

Special Weather Satement for This Weekend

 'kayso... it seems Winter is about to have a major temper tantrum - possibly a complete meltdown before giving us the cold shoulder. This could put a kink in our weekend plans. We are keeping an eye on the weather as we continue to prep.

If this storm hits and it's as bad as they're saying it could jeopardize our Christmas eve opening. We don't want anyone risking their safety by venturing out and we can't bake all these treats and have no one come. 

We're hoping it's either much much much milder than predicted or it blows past us.

If we haven't made a firm decision by Friday evening please please please check Saturday morning before making the trek out here. We will post it early early.

Here's hoping we'll be seeing you soon! Stay safe. ❤️

Winter Holiday Opening!

It's beginning to look a lot like... April???

It has been less than uneventful here this past while. Unless you care to hear about the garage clean-up, autumn closet purge and the trailor renovation happening out back? 

Didn't think so.

Maybe you'd like to hear about what happens when an out of shape baker takes on a "low impact" (low impact my sore fanny) high cardio workout? If I'm standing I don't want to try to sit down and if I'm sitting down I don't want to try to stand up. For the past three days anything I have dropped on the floor is still on the floor. Seriously, it feels like I tried to crack a bowling ball between my thighs. Ya, it's hilarious. Laugh it up chuckles.

But let's get to the good stuff! It's the first Saturday of December and we're counting down the days to our winter holiday opening! Last year we tried something a little different by opening Christmas eve and New Year's eve and it was wonderfully successful so we're going to do that again this year.

It's a fun tradition we've created because it gives us a chance to reconnect with you fine folks before the long winter break. 

So don't let the weather get you down. The way we see it, we don't have to shovel rain which I'm fine and dandy with right now and for at least the next few days. But of course we'd like to see a little snow for the holiday season and more than that we we hope we'll be seeing you. So... if you happen to be in, around or nearby the Haliburton Highlands over the holidays we hope you'll pop by even if it's just to say hello. 

We'd love to see you. 

Until then, be well and be happy and avoid anything that says "low impact". Seriously... it's a big fat lie! 

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

It's hard to believe it's already three weeks into our off season.

We've been getting winter ready; wood splitting, lugging, stacking, yard cleaning (after splitting, lugging, stacking), etc., etc., etc..

We've been fortunate to have good weather. Summer finally arrived! It's raining today. Not so good for the kiddies tonight. I do recall, all those many, many, many (wait a minute - take away one many) years ago groaning about having to wear a coat or rain jacket over my costume. But, to quote Rush who quoted somebody else (I'm not Googling that)  "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." (Okay, I Googled it - 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr). But let's face it, Rush said it best!

At the end of every year we have some leftover perishables that need to be used up so just when I think I'm out of the kitchen, I get pulled back in. (Hey, that's a great line! Someone should use that in a movie.) This year we had some apples left from our tree and some cream cheese. Now, we could have just eaten the apples and put the cream cheese on bagels but where's the fun in that?

The buns are home made as well from my own recipe. People often ask if we make bread. There's nothing like fresh baked bread and buns but they are so time consuming, unfortunately, it's not possible for the store.

So apple pie made sense and those are carrot cakes. Yep! That's where the cream cheese is going. Nothing but good old fashioned healthy baking here! Anyone know of a good cardiologist? (Just kidding - not really.)

Anyhoo, I just wanted to pop in, say hi, see how y'all are doing. We hope you're well and that you have a fabulous Halloween!

Until next time, be careful out there (Wow! Another great line! Someoene should use that in a television show! I am on a roll.) ❤️

A Long-Winded 2022 Wind-Up

I haven 't been very vocal lately. This year I have been keeping the baking making moving and shaking in the kitchen while Bill works out front and so I haven't had the chance to connect with you the way I have in previous years. Today I'm feeling nostalgic for a long-winded season round-up. Get comfy!

To Bill and I The Little Tart has always been more than a business. We operate out of our home and so when you visit we want you to feel welcome - like you're dropping in on friends. Many of you have been with us from day one (some before that!). We have had the pleasure of getting to know so many of you and you have taken your time to get to know us. You have become a part of our The Little Tart family. We're so happy to see you come through the door and always look forward to your next visit. When we don't see you for stretches of time we wonder if you're okay. 

(That means you too, David - would it kill you to check in when you're going to be away for so long!)

When covid struck in 2020 we were topsy-turvied and suddenly that personal attachment we had become accustomed to disappeared behind mask mandates and social distancing. We were introduced to a cold reality; we are a business and the fate of The Little Tart was in jeopardy.

We became hyper focused and did what we had to do, what we thought was necessary and whatever it took to keep you coming back. We know not everyone agreed with our choices and we understand. But everything we have done since 2020 has been - as it has always been - with the best of intentions for our visitors and for the longevity of The Little Tart.

Here we are, it's the end of our fall season, we're thinking ahead to our winter holiday opening and what's more, we're already planning for 2023.  Bill and I want to get back to that "welcome home" feel we have always strived for. So many of our new visitors haven't had the full The Little Tart experience. Smiles have been hidden behind masks and conversations are curt and pertain mostly to ordering. That's fine if you're a business only concerned with the bottom line. 

That's not us.

And so, we hope you'll join us in making that happen. In the meantime, I'm going to make more of an effort to be more present here online. You've been warned!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Two small words that can never, ever fully express our deepest, heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for making The Little Tart a part of your spring, summer and fall celebrations. For helping us to keep this tiny business alive. It has been our pleasure and our priviledge to bake for you this year. We hope you'll join us when we repeat our two day winter opening and if you can't join us then, we hope you'll visit us next year.

Please take care, please be safe, and please come back to see us again! 

We love you! ❤️

Thanksgiving Weekend

It certainly does not feel like autumn today but Nature is doing her best artwork. The landscape is stunning. 

We never grow tired of watching her work. 

We hope you're having a tripindicular Tuesday and the rest of the week is - like - fer sher totally rad.