Hello Cookie Fans!
It’s always exciting to begin a new journey, I think. You have an idea what to expect but don’t always know how the journey will unfold. This is how I feel as we settle into our new space -- our new home is called -- home. We are here learning the new flow and tweaking where needed.
This is what spring is all about, a new beginning, a different journey. Our chickadees have returned to their house at the top of our stairs for the 7th year! They will soon begin flying back and forth with small bugs to feed their new hatchlings. I also see, and hear, robins, wrens, towhees, cardinals and a woodpecker on a daily basis to name only a few.
So that's the birds, now for the bees. Or, more precisely, the birds and the bees of the plant world. Yes, I'm going to talk to you about plant sex. We are going to get down with the dirty--side of spring.
It starts with the courting, you know the dressing up, putting your best petal on, applying just the right fragrance. It's like going to the bar on a Friday night, wanting to connect with that dandy daffodil in the next flower bed. The flowers put on a beautiful show until the pollen lands on the stigma and the “birds and the bees” of plant life begins. Before you know it you are committed to raising another seed. Lucky for us the plants are not shy and put their display on for all to see and smell and cough and sneeze and have headaches and COVER EVERYTHING IN YELLOW!
Dang, pine pollen is messy. Around here it means everything turns a pale shade of yellow, I mean everything. We get yellow footprints in the house! It feels, a bit, like preparing for a hurricane. Instead of securing things and bringing them up off the floor it means bringing things in that can’t be easily cleaned by spraying with a hose. Or, keeping the house closed up on a beautiful day, not because you boarded the windows but just so the inside does not become yellow. You look out the window and realized the “smoke” is only a cloud of pine pollen blowing from the trees. I always enjoy the rains that come and wash away the yellow monochrome.
Here in the Sweater Box kitchen I feel like the chickadee family, we are busy preparing our “nest” and getting ready for the busy feeding season of summer. We are excited to announce a new wholesale family member, Island Perk [ https://www.facebook.com/IslandPerkCoffeeOBX/ ]! They are a new coffee shop in downtown Manteo. Our cookies, biscotti and muffins pair nicely with their coffee. Stop in and say hello.
The Manteo Market will be back before you can say April showers bring May flowers. Until then, stay tuned to this bat channel or Facebook or Instagram and we will let you know about special events. If you will be on the Outer Banks for your spring break we are taking orders for Chocolate Chess or Key Lime pies; email us at chris@sweaterboxconfections.com
Where to find us…
April 15th we will be partnering up with The Tea & Spice Exchange [ http://www.spiceandtea.com/duck/ ] in Duck, 1:00 PM. We will be pairing our cookies and their teas and discussing ways to use one cookie recipe many ways.
May 13th the Manteo Farm & Craft Market [ https://www.facebook.com/Manteo-Farmers-Market-354947188237/ ] begins. Each Saturday, through September, you can find us at the George Washington Creef Park from 8-12. It’s a beautiful venue and a great way to purchase locally made/grown products. Plan on enjoying the other shops and attractions Manteo has to offer.
May 20th*, for our fifth year, we will be at the Dare County Master Gardeners [ https://www.facebook.com/DareCountyMasterGardeners/ ] festival. It takes place at the Baum Center at 300 Mustain St. in Kill Devil Hills from 9:30-2:30. This is a great opportunity to purchase plants and tour the arboretum the Master Gardeners keep so beautiful.
*Yes, we will also be at the Manteo Market. Divide and conquer is our May motto!
Cookie Me! (or someone you love.) [http://sweaterboxconfections.com/collections/individual-products]
