Let Me Plant One On Ya!

Happy Holidays!

The month of December has always been a festive time filled with family traditions. In my family, all the women get together for a day of shopping, chatting over coffee and a big lunch. We lock arms and stroll, take the little ones to see Santa and wonder who will cry on the Big Guy’s lap this year. We pack a lot of love and togetherness into one day, preparing for our large family gathering on Christmas.

This year many families got a taste of how our gatherings needed to change during Thanksgiving. My large family did Zoom meetings like many others I’ve talked to. It looks like however we choose to celebrate this season whether it be Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, or Christmas, it might be different for many of our families. Instead of flying to see loved ones, people may be staying home and having smaller gatherings or sadly no gatherings at all.

Honestly I had a heavy heart at the end of November but then the more I thought about the holiday’s the more I wanted to express the Joy I knew still existed inside me. My son and I pulled out all the decorations and went to work making our home a Christmas explosion inside and out. We watched holiday movies as our big tree took shape, filling the room with the lights and magic I remembered from childhood. We sat back with hot chocolate, watching the tree and mantle twinkling.

I started telling my son celebration stories from childhood about my larger than life Grandmother on the farm making her traditional desserts and yelling at anyone that got underfoot trying to sneak a taste. Beautiful Swedish cookies, luscious poppyseed cake, and her wonderful hand pies. In the evening my uncle would sneak outside and ring the sleigh bells, the adults all saying “I think I heard something.” My cousins and I would all run to the windows to see if we could get a glimpse of the infamous sleigh in the sky and the unmistakable red light of Rudolph’s nose leading the way.

These are the wonderful memories that need to be shared and cherished. We all have them. I started thinking of how we could spread some joy at Urban Beets this season. The staff got busy like elves decorating with paper snowflakes and yards of decorative paper chains to hang in our cafe windows. We decorated snow people to represent our personalities and hung them to share. These fun things we did as children seemed to lift us up. (We had to google how to make snowflakes because it had been years for all of us!)

I started thinking of the beautiful cookie display we always had on the farm. I thought, Why not here? All the staff chimed in on their favorite holiday cookies. Most of us had the same answers. The delicious traditional cookies we enjoyed as children. So this year that is exactly what we are going to offer. Plant-based renditions of our favorite treats. Russian Tea Cookies, Peppermint Bark, Shortbread dipped in chocolate and crushed hazelnuts, gingerbread, chocolate peppermint, thumbprints with jam….and more!

We will be offering small bags and larger boxes with an assortment of our creations for gift giving or eating yourself! Along with cookies and peppermint bark, we will also have a selection of small dessert bread loaves and slices like chocolate orange, cranberry white chocolate, and ginger. Urban Beets is also doing pre-orders for our Christmas Meal Dinners now until the 20th.

We are feeling the spirit of the holidays this December, looking forward to a prosperous New Year and positive changes for all! We hope you are too and no matter how you celebrate, we wish you health and cheer this season.

With much warmth,

Rebecca - General Manager