Keen Natural Dehydrated Whole Food for Dogs at Beacon Barkery

The latest food marvel at Beacon Barkery is this Keen, which I spotted with my little eye while picking up my dog her usual Lamb wet dog food from Merrick. Dehydrated food in a box? Just add water and you have a wholesome meal in 5 minutes? Curious.

Everything I've bought at Beacon Barkery has been spot on, so this may be worth a try. Even though my dog is happy with her current food setup (Call of the Wild dry + Merrick Lamb formula wet + joint supplement + pain meds for arthritis). It was Libby, Beacon Barkery's owner, who I give huge credit to for helping my dog into a new phase of comfort. For years, Gerdy has dealt with "seasonal allergies" but they didn't go away these last few years. Gerdy ate a lot of chicken, and after getting her tested for mange and whatever else, Libby suggested eliminating chicken. Which for Gerdy kind of stunk because she likes to lick my plate of eggs in the morning.

But we took the plunge and went cold turkey with the chicken. Within weeks, a noticeable difference. But, Gerdy was still licking her paws. So I took her to Roosevelt Vet On the Hudson, and right away, based on an earlier incident with Gerdy becoming immobile after a road trip, they suspected arthritis, and that Gerdy was licking joints that hurt :(.....

So with the new food regiment and the meds, I think Gerdy is a happier camper. I could always ask the animal communicator whose flyers I see at Beacon Barkery every time I go.

So many choices at our local pet boutique! Seriously - if you have a need or problem, Libby always seems to have the answer...

Vote for A Little Beacon Blog for Best Local Blog!

Okay everyone, this blog is officially running for the "Best Local Blog" for Hudson Valley Magazine. Trouble is - the category doesn't exist yet!! LOL. Even thought there are plenty of local blogging voices. I walk around our town and I love seeing everyone's "Best Of" award magazine cover year after year in storefront windows, and it is such an honor. But blogging is a business too!

So if you like this blog, please vote for it at Hudson Valley Magazine! Here's how it works since there is no official category for it yet: You'll click here, fill in your name, and then scroll down to the bottom of the voting page, and then you'll see a section called "Choose Your Own Category." Type into that box:

Best Local Blog, A Little Beacon Blog www.alittlebeaconblog.com

THANK YOU!!

It's Time: Planting the Garden with Help from Ruth Stout

It's here! My hyacinths started coming up before the 3 feet snow plop in March (after the one in February), that snowed us all in for...um, all winter. Layers of snow ice sat on top of the eager bulbs for weeks, but it didn't matter. The snow has finally melted and the tulips are pushing through.

In the stores, like at Lowe's and Home Depot and our neighborhood greenhouse Sunny Garden Greenhouse on Rt 9D, the vegi seeds are stocked! This is the year where I pay attention to my mulch, and finish the book one of my neighbors lent to me, Ruth Stout's The No Work Garden. Before reading the book, I'd noticed that the soil under the rotted leaves in the very back of my yard was luxurious. It was so rich. So last Fall, I spread all of our leaves on our garden plot before the snow came.

Last year's garden became too much to weed. But Ruth Stout's method really did put an end to my weeding last year when I finally got a bushel of hay and lay it down. Not only that, but when my friend nestled his compost and hay around my forever-wilting basil, I never watered it again. And it grew 3x in size.

So, I'm excited. Are you? What are you doing different this year?

Behind the Scenes with All You Knead Bakery, Artisan Bakers

I'm somewhat of a small business junkie. I love stepping into the stores on Main Street and hearing the latest news of how business is going, and what latest tools they are using (like Square or Swipely?). When I lived in Manhattan, I'd do this with the taxi drivers, and boy did I get an earful when taxis were forced to accept credit cards. Hence my fascination with the Uber/Gett high class taxi drama that I wrote an article for: "An 'Open Interview' for Josh Mohrer, GM of Uber Regarding Gett Competition Tactics".

Such was the case when I was buying my weekly bread from Simone at All You Knead Bakery, the artisan bakers who left their digs in the old high school to claim a storefront location on Main Street several years ago. Simone was telling me about how she survived when her business partner and head baker suddenly put in his two weeks notice to quickly retire. Simone didn't know how to bake.

I interviewed Simone for Tin Shingle, my small business community based website and resource for small businesses that I run with my partner, Sabina Ptacin-Hitchen. I got the behind the scenes story of how All You Knead survived, and is thriving on Main Street, local farmers markets and nearby market grocery stores like Adams Fairacre Farms: "Rolling in Dough: When All You Knead Bakery Needed to Learn How to Bake" Talk about a Little Engine that Could! As is the nature of running and building a small business.

Click here for the full interview >

Beacon Pantry: Cutest Little Grocery Store

UPDATE [7/8/15]: Beacon Pantry has moved! To 382 Main Street and now has outdoor seating and more seating inside.
 
Food is getting so GOOD on Main Street Beacon! Pretty soon we will have no excuses for not knowing what to make for dinner.  

Beacon's newest foodie destination is the Beacon Pantry, located just past the middle part of Main Street at 382 Main Street, Beacon Pantry sells artisanal and farmstead cheeses, charcuterie and fine foods, with an emphasis on domestic, small-scale products. Tasting of the cheese is encouraged in the shop. Do start including Beacon Pantry on your Second Saturday walks for specialty tastings! Beacon Pantry also plans on offering cheese classes.

Beacon Pantry's cute, cream shelves adorn dark wood floors and are stocked with the finest pastas and sauces. Their freezer is a full meal, dessert included, with vegi burgers from Little Green Food's Handcrafted Burger line. You'll also find in the freezer what seems to be some of the best ice creme on the planet, Brooklyn-based Phin & Phebes. The first flavor these ice creme creators made was based on Ritz crackers, chocolate, peanut butter and a few other crave-worthy ingredients. A must-have in your freezer? Yes. 

Can we discuss this little but mighty sign? Carrot cake, lemon cake, and chocolate truffle tart. Something tells me that this small sign will change at whim. The dessert rack is on top of the fine cheeses and meats. Italian sausages, blue cheese, and many other choices tempt you as you go to pay for your goodies.

Immediately you get a supportive vibe while in Beacon Pantry, and the proof is on the shelves. More Good syrups are available here in at least four flavors including the ginger ale and root beer, which is extra awesome because More Good has opened up their new store down a few blocks.

Bakeries in Beacon, NY: So Many Yummy Bakery Choices!

Main Street in our small town of Beacon, NY is quickly becoming one of the best destinations for bakery-hopping. The actual street of Main Street is quite long, and in fact, used to connect two towns. Our small town is big enough to house a bakery for everyone's craving. There used to be one bakery in town. Now, they need to be organized by category! Take your pick!

BAKERIES
ELLA'S BELLAS
Specialty: Gluten Free Bakery Treats
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Woopie Pie
Treats You'll Love: Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies, Specialty Cakes, Brownies, Apple Pie, Soups, Tas Cafe Coffee


ALL YOU KNEAD ARTISAN BAKERS
Specialty: Bread
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Samosas, Chicken Pot Pies
Treats You'll Love: Chocolate Croissants, Blueberry and Different Flavored Muffins, White and Oat Bread, More Bread



GET FROSTED
Specialty: Cupcakes
Treats You'll Love: Butter Frosting, Coffee Garnishes, Pink Sprinkles, Cupcake Art



CAFE BAKERY TREATS
HOMESPUN
Specialty: Lunches and Deep Dish French Toast
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Chocolate Mouse
Treats You'll Love: Any Flavor Quiche, Middle Eastern Plate (hummus, baba ghanoush, feta), Carrot Cake, Tiramisu, Teas, Coffee, Orangina, Cheeses, Little Toasts, Eating Outside on the Back Patio


BEACON BREAD COMPANY
Specialty: Bread + Eat-In Cafe
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: a honey bread something that I need to double check the name of.
Treats You'll Love: Grilled Cheese + Soup, Beer Bread



GROCERY STORE BAKERIES
BEACON PANTRY
Specialty: European Grocery Items, Cheeses
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: The whole store is filled with different treats. Every day could be different!
Treats You'll Love: More Good Sryup, Phin + Phebe Ice Creme, Dry Pasta, Frozen Vegi Burgers, Tarts


BEACON BAGEL
Specialty: Bagels
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: he's always inventing a special sandwich...
Treats You'll Love: Lattes, Order the "Double Egg + Cheese Bagel Sandwhich"

The Coffee Pantry in Cold Spring: Slow Down and Pull Over!

At the base of mountains around Cold Spring, nestled along Route 9, attached to the vegetable and flower market Vera's, is the unassuming yet very amazing Cold Spring Coffee Pantry, which I've never seen before in all the times that I've driven by on my way to visit friends in Sleepy Hollow or White Plains. The Coffee Pantry is quite perfectly, one of the best looking coffee shops I've ever been into. Not only that, but its ambitious drink and bakery menu is unstoppable. This coming week, starting Tuesday March 18th 2014, they are pouring for the first time wine and craft beers, by the bottle or by the glass for those lounging in the Coffee Pantry (drinks must be consumed on premises and not taken away).

Let's start with the coffee. Our friends told us about this spot one play date when we were discussing coffee and my current obsession with my Aero Press from Bank Square here in Beacon. Our friends loved Bank Square and our local coffee shops of course, but they also shared their favorite weekend spot, the Cold Spring Coffee Pantry as their "splurge" coffee, which it may be at $2.50 a cup. Each cup is manually brewed in a flat bottom drip, French press, or espresso style. But for the right brew of a bean, this is quite worth it. So let's talk about the coffee brands for a minute.The Coffee Pantry carries a wide variety of brands, including Irving Farm Rosters, Handsome Coffee Roasters (my fave name of a blend: "Handmade & Damn Handsome...just makes me giggle!), Counter Culture, and many others! 

Then there is the juice bar, with a selection of extremely healthy juice drinks on the menu, the produce of which comes from Vera's next door, which isn't sprayed with anything and some is organic. Talk about local farm to your cup! 

And now let's delight in Ella's Bella's Bakery, having their own walk of deliciousness along the side wall and across from what looked like the craft beer kegs. Gluten free and vegan for those of you who need it, and plenty if butter based pastries for those if us who butter is a staple in our diets. Croissant sandwiches, chocolate, quiche, blackberry chia oat bars, whoopie pies...?

I can't even type this anymore because I'm getting so hungry and need to get in the car to start my Route 9 errands, hitting the Coffee Pantry first, even though it's in the opposite direction of where I need to go, as I'm headed to Poughkeepsie to fix a sewing machine, hit up a party store, and grocery shop at Hannafords.

Yum!

Warm Lunch at Home Idea: Pockets from All You Knead Bread, Artisan Bakers

Stopping in to All You Knead Bakery, the bread store in the middle of Main Street, to get my breakfast bread and bagels, I saw a larger variety of the warm pockets that you can take home and warm up in your oven for an easy and nutritious lunch! I melt provolone or mozzarella cheese on mine and warm a side of tomato sauce and pretend its a calzone.

And OMG, the proprietress gave me one of her vegetable Samosas that just came out of the oven, and OMG, it is so good! Fresh peas, ginger, other things, and a great dough wrapped around. Thank you All You Knead Bakery! I've been really missing my Samosas that used to be in walking distance when I lived in Manhattan, and now I can walk to you!

Egg and Spinach on a Brioche Bun Breakfast Sandwich at Beacon Bread Company

On Saturday morning, I met with the girls who run Hudson Valley Compass, the new website that helps you find things to do in the Hudson Valley. Beyond meeting two great people, I was really looking forward to trying a breakfast sandwich at Beacon Bread Company. I'm very particular about my breakfast sandwich, and on the weekend, I can pull out all stops for a large meal to carry me through to a great Saturday night dinner.

I ordered the egg sandwich on a Brioche bun. My breakfast partners ordered an omelet with spinach, which we learned was a garlic infused sautéed spinach. I piggybacked that side and added it to my order, and also ordered Gouda cheese in my scrambled egg sandwich. The eggs can come in any style you want. And they were gracious enough to let us be picky with our orders.

I like a cheesy egg sandwich, where cheese is oozing out the sides, and this cheese was scrambled in, so no ooze, but still delicious and hit the spot. Plus, I felt so healthy with the topping of spinach! To add to the excitement was my freshly squeezed orange juice, the squeezer machine of which you can see behind the counter. It's like a Farris wheel of oranges.

The Brioche bun filled me right up and I didn't need hash browns, although could have handled them. Just in the nick of time, the chef had finished cooking a bread pudding with raisins and maybe cinnamon, a sample of which was delivered to our table. OMG. Danger. You could easily have that bread pudding instead of French toast! Was so good.

For a great overview of Beacon Bread Company and how they started, check out this interview done by Wigwam. As for their bread, what owner and boulanger d’pain Ralph Clemente says in that interview is true: “Bread is just something I do. I know bread.” Yes he does. I've been buying loaves from Beacon Bread and All You Kneed for all of my bread needs since they opened.

Kids Writing Pad Tools, Water Wow Pad at Vogel Pharmacy Drugstore

If you wish it, Main Street in Beacon has it. My daughter Ruby has expressed interest in learning her letters, but she's getting really frustrated at not being able to write letters on demand, so throws the pen and paper across the room.

 

Not a great solution. But what IS a great solution is tracing letters to learn and get satisfaction from making those shapes! Now that my brain was piqued to find this solution, Ruby and I headed to Vogel Pharmacy drugstore to shop their kids section for a birthday present. While there, I told Ruby to look for letter making things. A little birdie from behind the counter heard me, and showed me these Melissa and Doug water pads, the Water Wow, where you fill up this pen brush with water, and trace these letters! Then wipe it away and write it again! They had all kinds of pads, like trucks and numbers. Solution solved!

 

And the other thing Vogal had was a pack of card games including Go Fish! Which I was also wishing for to A. give us a family game, and B. to help the kids strengthen their visual memory matching! 

Thanks Vogel Pharmecy and Melissa and Doug!

Deviled Eggs on the Menu at Dogwood and BJ's Soul Food

Even though the thought of beer and Deviled Eggs alone makes me wonder if it's a good idea for a combo, I love seeing it on the menu of Dogwood. Actually, eggs with an order of chicken wings followed by an order of Dogwood's famous macaroni and cheese would be perfect. But we came to try their burger, so I held off on the eggs, but the burger was spot on for a Friday night. The kids liked ours so much , we had to order the kids their own (after they ate their mac and cheese and grilled cheeses).

If you want a little competition for your Deviled Egg, you could go to BJ's on Main Street for a real picnic type meal. Deviled Eggs, fried chicken, mac and cheese that rivals Stouffers, killer butter soaked cornbread, and a generous slice of 3-layer cake.

Zoinks!

If you've had Deviled Eggs in the area, please do tell in the Comments!

Weekend Drive: Woody's Farm to Table in Cornwall, NY

Deep in the hundred acre woods of Cornwall, NY, is Woody's Farm to Table restaurant. Don't let this sign fool you: "Woody's All Natural Burger and Fries". They have an expansive menu inside of chicken sandwiches, grilled cheeses, soups, a lobster roll??

Yes. A lobster roll from the fresh catches of the icy waters of Maine. In fact, most of their fresh meat is from Maine. Which is fascinating about a little restaurant in the Hudson Valley because who would have thought they'd know the secrets of Maine's locally produced food? I know I do because I'm a wanna-be Mainer in the summer when we drive up for vacation.

Speaking of driving, we took a family drive to Woody's to sample their burger, fries and a milkshake. The first hint that it would be good was the vintage looking soda fountain in the front, offering cream sodas of many flavors from Boylan Bottling.

And the burger? So good. So good that I forgot to take a picture of it before gobbling it down. Served on a brioche bun (which I normally fear in a burger because I don't like my burgers too "bunny"), the bun was soft and buttery. The lettus and sliced tomato were crisp, yet complimented the cooked burger. So happy was I, that I couldn't share it with my daughter, which was fine because she was too distracted by the chocolate fudge swirl milkshake.

The grilled cheese was...ok...nothing memorable but certainly worth eating the leftovers on. Why were there leftovers? Because my kids also devoured the fries, which might have been hand cut, and cooked perfectly. Sometimes an order of fries at a burger joint is bountiful and you can split them. At Woody's you'll want to order your own side of fries.

Overall: Worth the drive, and even better in snowy weather on a full belly!

Reserve Advertising Placement in the "Where Is This?" Contest

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• Logo placed on the mystery photo contest page.
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• DURATION: Your logo remains with the photo contest you sponsored forever. People will see your logo again and again as they hunt through past contests.
• PRICE: $250/contest

EXAMPLES OF WHERE YOU'LL SEE YOUR LOGO:

And we include your business name in social shares on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Mystery Photo shared at Facebook.

The "Reveal" Photo.

Picture with the winner! If they aren't camera-shy.

Message From Our Sponsor of the "Where Is This?" Contest

StudioPixelated is directed by Katie Hellmuth Martin, a long time guide and leader in the small business community. StudioPixelated consults with businesses to teach the ways of SEO, social networking and online branding to grow your business. Based in Beacon, NY, Katie has helped hundreds of businesses develop a strategy that works for their brand and their bandwidth. Katie is also the founder and publisher of A Little Beacon Blog, and a co-founder of Tin Shingle.

Services include the following, and can be tailored to your need. 

Please visit www.studiopixelated.com to get started.

Do you want to be the Sponsor of the Month for the "Where Is This?" Contest?

Click here for details and to book it >

Thank You for Snow Plowing!

At the time of this blog post writing, there is probably 3ft of snow in everyone's yard in Beacon. It took a while for our winter to get fierce, but that time is this week. After many snow days announced, this week produced snow blizzards that made everyone plan around future snow days and snow plows. Last week, a blizzard passed through, dumping close to 1.5ft of snow. Schools weren't closed that day because they'd had so many closed days already (so is the opinion of this blog). Snow plowing had actually been slow. What I hadn't realized was, a second blizzard was due in just a day or two later. So maybe everyone was saving up their snow days, salt and plowing.

Today has been one of the heaviest blizzards I've been through, and I've been through a few, including the one two Halloweens ago that devastated power lines, and one in 2009 that dropped 31" and cut power for three days. Plus, I grew up in the snow belt of Cleveland, so getting buried in snow is normal, and schools don't close as often ;)

Today's blizzard dumped 1.5-2ft of snow on top of the already 1.5feet that hadn't melted yet, was very blowy, and then paused for an hour. Right on schedule at 9pm, the sleet came, locking in the mounds of snow on sidewalks. And thunder and lightening! Fortunately, the City had the foresight to remove the plowed snow from sidewalks just one day before this storm, so that new mounds could be piled up on our sidewalks.

Today, snow plow trucks have been whizzing up and down our street continuously. There is even a new 2 foot hole on our street somehow! This blog post is one of gratitude to Beacon and the mayor for planning these plows so well. Hopefully it's like this all over this great wide town. From here, everyone is doing a great job. Fingers crossed the power stays on.

Thanks!