To Retail or Not to Retail

I once had a shop on Elm Street in Montpelier. It was lovely and filled with my pastries. We've since moved on and away, to a place where I bake professionally, write about baking but all tucked from the madding and public crowds.

However, life is a little constrained when you limit yourself to internet sales, especially when locals and visitors just want to sample the wares. If you're right in the neighborhood, why spend money on shipping? And when shipping around the rural corner costs more than shipping to American Samoa, we need to reassess our culinary priorities.

So we come full circle to Elm Street. This time, 16 Elm Street in Woodstock, Vermont.

But instead of buying your macaroons and Starry Starry Nights at a Gesine Confectionary, you can can buy them at the historic F.H. Gillingham and Sons, one of Vermont's oldest general stores. And one of my all time favorite shops. Where else can you get your fishing tackle, red wine, a kid-size accordion and French macaroons under one roof? And Woodstock is one of my favorite towns; it's the place that convinced me that Vermont was home. And they still wassail during the holidays. What's not to love?

So if you're in the neighborhood, what we call the Upper Valley, this is where to get your fix.