With
Thanksgiving just a few days away, our bakers are pressing out pie shells, mixing pumpkin, and cutting out cookies too! Though most would agree Thanksgiving calls for Turkey and Pumpkin Pie, more and more people look for our "traditional" holiday items to be in our store at Thanksgiving. For some families, raised in the neighborhood but now grown, Thanksgiving is a return to the "family table" and a return to the "neighborhood" as well. It's a return to traditions steeped in memories and childhood roots. It's a gathering of family that seems to include far more than just the generation presently seated at the table. Whether it's grandmom's dishes you're eating from or the plastic ware your mom switched to when your family grew to a size not suitable for dish washing, it's memories. It's the reason customers still order 5 loaves of our vienna bread in order to make the stuffing recipe that their family has always used. If you're the generation now holding the recipe and the responsibility, it's really not a burden it's more like a baton and an honor. We understand that at Haegele's as all our recipes have been handed down through many generations. As Glen stands at his maple bench to roll out the dough for those pie shells, he stands in the same place his father still stands at 84 and where his grandfather and great-grandfather once stood. The workload ahead for Thanksgiving is staggering but it's not a burden, it's a baton and were grateful to be a part of it all, especially a part of your tradition. They'll be customers that take pictures when they come to pick up their pies and Holiday specialties this week. We love that, because for many picking up the desserts is not just another errand to get done, it's their part in the relay of tradition. New faces are coming as the generation before them can no longer do the running and they usually are smiling and wearing the "responsibility" with pride...."Well, I've got the job now". Course that's the best job of all really because you get to experience the smell of our bakeshop, the visual smorgasbord on our shelves, and the excitement of the season. Though you come with pumpkin pie on your mind....the gingerbread men, the Springerle, the Holiday cookies like Sliced Almond pictured above, will all catch your eye. I can say with all certainty that when that happens this week, I will hear words like: "gingerbread men I ate them as a kid", "twists... I grew up on them!", or "I remember
those cookies, my grandmom always brought them". When I hear those words, I too will smile with pride knowing I have a part in the tradition of coming "HOME for the Holidays" far bigger than my own table. Whatever your part is for Thanksgiving, even if it's just eating the turkey and pumkin pie, may it be...
deliciously rewarding!
With Thanks posted 11/19/16