Heaven in a bakery box

Soon after moving to Syracuse, James was told about a bakery that sells the most wonderful bread, pastries and baklava. After only one visit, he was also extolling their virtues and once I tasted their wares during our October visit, I knew that he was not exaggerating.

I am madly in love with Geddes Bakery. Where to begin? They bake the most marvelous, crusty, chewy Italian bread that you can imagine. Their baklava is everything baklava should be: dense, moist and totally decadent. The almond horns are to die for and the canoli is fabulous. They make many other items but I have not tried them all. Yet.

This morning the cutest little old lady waited on me, patiently answered my questions, called me "hon", politely ignored my drooling, and wrapped everything up in a bakery box tied with string. What's not to love?

My only complaint about Geddes Bakery is that it is located in North Syracuse and not in my village. Then again, if Geddes were an easy walk instead of a 20 minute drive, I might go there too often...

Cathedral of trees

Yesterday we visited another Onondaga County park - Highland Forest, which is located in the southwestern portion of the county, near the town of Fabius. While not as warm or sunny as Saturday, it was still a nice day to be outside.

We spent most of the time hiking through the forest:



We entered one area of towering trees outlined in snow. It was stunningly beautiful and all I could think was that we were in a cathedral of trees. Here is my poor attempts at capturing the beauty:



We took a spin around the park in what was marketed as a "sleigh" ride, but was really a cart on skis. The two gorgeous Belgians who pulled the cart are named Fred and Blondie, but I can't tell you which was which:


The ride would have been much better had the other people in the cart not talked so much (and so loud) about their work - shut up and enjoy the ride, people - but it was still another fun day outside in central New York.