January is an odd month.  There’s the shutdown for cleaning, maintenance and upgrades, decompression after holiday production, the January Slowdown, and then the ‘oh my, St. Valentine’s Day is in 3 weeks!’ panic amongst those of us who work with chocolate (well, not really panic, but some holidays just suddenly loom after lurking quietly on the calendar). Occasionally, there’s a snowstorm (and awesome coverage by the West Seattle Blog). 

It’s also a good month- King Cake has made it’s return, injecting some sweet, colorful goodness into those early Seattle mornings.  This heralds the imminent return of Paçzki, those tasty cream or jam filled fried bread, and the closest to a doughnut you’ll find here (they aren’t back yet- they’ll only be around for the two weeks before Mardi Gras). 

Overall though, it’s pretty quiet.  That means it ends up a little quiet on the blogging front as well.  There are a few bits of news and some thoughts to put out there though.  First of all- *ahem* We need artists for Art Walk!  We have a couple of artists lined up in the year, but that leaves 9 months or so that need to be filled.  Paintings, photos, and mixed media work well in our space- we don’t really have display space for sculpture/3-d work, etc.  Food, landscapes, still life and city life are some of the areas of interest have for display purposes (no political based art please- while we enjoy discussions and encourage everyone to be informed, we also want our space to be a nice relaxing break from the news at large).  Please also note that our display space is a bit higher up on the wall, so smaller pieces might not show well.  We have a gallery-style hanging system (adjustable cables and clips).  So- if you are an artist or you know someone who is, drop us a line (info (at) bakerynouveau (dot) com). 

Regarding snow-days- on the off-chance that we have another round of real winter down in the lowlands here, so long as there is power to the building, we’ll be able to open the doors.  We have several staff that live very locally, and bread and pastry aren’t really concerned with the weather, so it has to be baked off.  The first serious snow in the area after we opened pretty much proved the resiliency of West Seattleites- it’s the first time I’ve seen people on cross-country skis on city streets.  So, if you live in or around the Junction (or can ski to it), we’ll be here.  Someday, I hope to have a photo of a bunch of skis racked against our front window and wall. 

We’re also looking at a few small upates here and there on the website.  Nothing major, but some slimming down of some text and some re-arranging of a few things perhaps (basically a refreshing).

And one last small thing- questions- does anyone have any?  We write about things that we find interesting, but what do you find interesting or wonder about? 

Have a great Tuesday everyone!