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This is our way of saying you are important to us, and we truly value your business. Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends and neighbors. ENJOY!
THE NOURISH LETTER
Meet the Team Behind Your Meals DECEMBER 2020
OctoberKitchen.com | 860-533-0588 | 309 Green Rd., Manchester, CT 06042
Why We Should All Shop Local This Holiday Season THE CASE OF THE MISSING EARRING
The earrings had been a gift from her mother. They were diamond-studded small hoops, and my wife adored and wore them all the time. We backtracked through every single store we’d been to, but nobody had it.
I’ll be the first to admit that I shop on Amazon like crazy because you can use it for anything. But this holiday season, I’ve made a vow to ditch Amazon, Walmart and all of the other big retailers. Shopping locally has always been important to me, but it’s even more important this year
Ultimately, we never found the missing earring. I figured that’d be a possibility, so I didn’t wait long to act. Without telling my wife, I went to our local jewelry store, Baribault Jewelers. I told Victoria, one of the daughters who runs the store, about our situation. On the fly, without telling Alison, Victoria was happy to create a cloned earring, so we’d
since local stores have had to close many times throughout the pandemic. Also, we can’t underestimate the importance of our friends and neighbors’ small businesses, because they look after us when we need it most — like Baribault’s did for us last year.
“There’s no better feeling than helping your friends and neighbors, so for Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Black Friday), let’s do our
have a matching set again.
Last December, I took my wife, Alison, out shopping. Her birthday is shortly after Christmas, and we passed our 20th anniversary in October, so there were plenty of reasons to celebrate the year in big ways. We hit up stores like we were tourists. “This Is It” is one of my wife’s favorite local boutiques and we spent plenty of time there checking out and trying on sweaters (with pre-pandemic bliss). After that, we had dinner at Cafe Aura (which used to be Cavie’s, where we’d met), then went home. However, we realized that one of my wife’s earrings was missing.
Baribault’s went above and beyond to provide us with a beautiful cloned earring, but then the match wasn’t 100% perfect, so they created another two earrings that matched in a very similar fashion. Altogether, they gave us three earrings when I’d only expected one. They cared about how important these earrings were to my wife and made sure that we’d be happy with the results. That’s the power of buying local and connecting with the businesses in your community. In the most unexpected ways,
Christmas shopping locally.”
My wife was devastated.
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ne year ago, the ever-friendly retired landscaper Philip Clark found October Kitchen after attending a support group put on by the Visiting Nurses & Health Services in Vernon. Some staff brought in a sample of food from October Kitchen and spoke a little about it, so Philip gave it a try. MEET PHILIP!
How October Kitchen Has Made His Retirement Easier
Really, the rest is history. He’s been with us ever since!
He’s a real joy to talk to. We learned that he’s lived in Ellington for the past 30 years and was in the landscaping and sprinkler business for over 35 years before retiring — also a year ago. Since then, Philip has enjoyed visiting our location regularly. “It worked out good for me,” he told us. “It gets me out of the apartment. I visit somebody, say hello to people, [which is especially good] in the last six months.” As someone that doesn’t enjoy wasting food, Philip also finds October Kitchen’s portion sizes perfect. “It probably saves me in the long run with my food bill,” he says. That way, he can enjoy his using resources elsewhere, as a retired professional should! Since he started ordering from October Kitchen, Philip has been most surprised by the wide variety of meals. In fact, there are plenty of meals that Philip might’ve never thought to try before October Kitchen. It’s pretty
challenging for him to pick out his favorites! All of the meals have been a delicious experience for him while staying low in calories, salt and fat. However, he loves our good old-fashion classics, like tuna casserole and American goulash. Philip also told us that visiting our shop in-person always has a special bonus: meeting our staff. He gave a special shoutout to our counter staff and how warmly he’s greeted every visit. Thank you , Philip, for taking the time to visit us every week! We have a lot of fun seeing you. And from Philip and the whole staff, we hope you all have a wonderful, merry December!
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they can turn the most grievous accidents or problems into the highlights of your year.
Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Black Friday), let’s do our Christmas shopping locally. I know I’ll struggle getting through my holiday shopping list without the immense temptation of using Amazon, but spending a little money on gifts, or gift certificates, can go a long way for our local businesses. You never know when you just might make someone’s Christmas a little better and brighter in your very own neighborhood.
The same jewelry store crafted our wedding rings, in fact. We’d seen rings created with a Japanese folded metal technique called mokume gane and Baribault’s jewelers designed us rings that used the same technique. Sure enough, they used a blend of white, yellow and pink gold to create gorgeous wedding rings for us. It’s no surprise that, 20 years later, Baribault Jewelers is still going strong. However, there’s no doubt that the pandemic has hit them just as much as the next local business. There’s no better feeling than helping your friends and neighbors, so for
Merry Christmas, everyone, and I look forward to seeing you in 2021!
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CONNECTICUT IS WARMING UP TO THE BRING YOUR OWN BLANKET CAMPAIGN F or restaurants, outdoor dining used to be an optional part of the dining experience. Now, it’s a necessity. Some people aren’t comfortable with dining indoors yet. Though Barker is president and CEO of a marketing and promotional product company, the campaign isn’t associated with it. Kauffman says Barker brought up the idea as a friend, telling CT Insider, “It was just a very unique, cute idea
Others may live too far away to enjoy takeout food from their favorite restaurant. Despite this, not many people want to sit in the cold either (understandably!). Marketing expert Gerry Barker had been thinking about this problem since the start of the pandemic. Then, one day, he called his friend Rob
— to do anything to help the restaurants throughout the Northeast, anywhere where it’s getting cold.” Now, Bring Your Own Blanket’s popularity is surging across Connecticut. It was adopted by the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce, which covers a 14-town area. The chamber then sent “BYOB” signs to its members and other restaurants in the area. The Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, covering a 10-town area, quickly did the same! The head of the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce says they’re now pursuing the idea as well. As of this writing, the Greater Bridgeport Regional Business Council, which runs the chambers of commerce for Bridgeport, Stratford and Trumbull, is also looking into it. Although it might be a little cooler these upcoming months, we can still support our local restaurants by eating outdoors. Save your local restaurants and join the campaign by bringing a blanket next time you go to eat at a restaurant!
_____________________________ Write your name here and fax the completed puzzle to 860-533-0585, send it via empty delivery box or bring it to the shop and receive 10% off your next order . Limit one per customer. Expires Dec. 31, 2020. WORD SEARCH ALISON It was actually Barker’s son that came up with the idea and Barker immediately started to seriously consider turning it into a campaign that’d later be named Bring Your Own Blanket. “In Europe, you’re in Belgium or Latvia or Paris [and] people are sitting outside (even when it’s cold) because the restaurants are so small,” Barker told the CT Insider. Kauffman, co-owner of restaurant The Strand, and pitched an idea that blew Kauffman’s mind and could encourage people to change how they think of outdoor dining. It’s common to bring your own blanket to a football game or any other open-air event. Why not do the same for restaurants?
October Kitchen is closed for Holiday Break Dec. 24–Jan. 3. The kitchen will reopen Monday, Jan. 4 with regular delivery scheduled for Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. HappyHolidays!
CHEER COCOA FAMILY GIFT HOLIDAY PAUL PEACE SHOVEL SLEDDING SNOW STEPHANIE
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INSIDE The Case of the Missing Earring
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Meet Philip!
How a Marketing Expert Is Promoting Outdoor Dining
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Word Search
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Holiday Schedule Update
Hate Shoveling Snow? Try These Hacks
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Snow Shoveling Hacks HOW TO SPEND LESS TIME CLEARING YOUR DRIVEWAY EVERY WINTER
Be preemptive with some tarps.
Everyone loves the snow — at least until it settles on the driveway, a barrier between your car and the open road. Shoveling snow off your driveway and walkway can be so tedious that you might be tempted to just hope and pray that the sun melts it all before you have to shovel it — which, of course, almost never happens. However, there are a few tools and methods you can use to clear the snow away that are faster than shoveling for hours on end. Check them out below. Create a nonstick shovel. Wet, partially melted snow might work well for packing snowballs, but it’s a pain to shovel. It has a tendency to stick to the scoop and not let go — unless you spray it with some common household cooking spray. This will make it a lot easier for the snow to slide off your shovel. Just remember to wipe your shovel down afterward!
Did you see on the weather forecast that your area is about to get some major snowfall? Throw down some tarps on your walkways and driveway. Then, after the snow stops falling, lift the snow off to the side, and your walkways will be as clear as if it hadn’t snowed at all. Blow the snow away. If you’re lucky enough to be clearing your driveway while the snow is still powdery, rev up your leaf blower instead of breaking out your shovel. You’ll be able to clear your driveway in a fraction of the time it would take to shovel and dump it off to the sides of your driveway. With one (or a few) of these methods, you can clear your driveway and enjoy the fun side of snowfall in no time!
Make your own salt alternative. Sometimes you start shoveling, only to find that the snow concealed a layer of ice that you can’t scoop up with your shovel. However, if you combine 1 teaspoon of dish soap, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and 1/2 gallon of water in a bucket, you can spread the mixture over the ice and melt it away, much like the salt you see on major roadways.
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