Hello weekend and goodbye Hurricane Season 2012! December is officially here and there’s so much to see and do in Kelly’s Kitchen, so let’s kick it off with Five Fun Things for December…

1. It’s the first Sunday of the month and that means the Hyde Park Fresh Market will be open from 10 am to 3 pm and it’s a whole new Market. They thankfully have closed the road going through the shopping area, just about tripled the vendors and there’s something for everyone, which leads me to…
2. …the other fun thing at the Market. Watching the kids get strapped into what looks like a bouncy bungee cord kind of thing. They have no fear. Or I’m getting too old. But watching them do flips and fly up and down is just a blast. Great place to relax with your lunch, or brunch.
3. The Fresh Markets are doing something special this weekend; This weekend the Fresh Market at Wiregrass (Saturday) and the Fresh Market at Hyde Park Village (Sunday) will be hosting a fundraiser and supply drive for those who are suffering from the recent trauma of Hurricane Sandy. Heading this operation is our special vendor, America's Disaster Relief - also known as the Red Trailer or Tamale Truck.  This weekend they will be collecting supplies and money for donation at both markets!  Please join us in helping them to supply those in need! 
4. It’s been Sweet Treat Week in Kelly’s Kitchen and we’ve been thrilled by the number of entries we received for the Homemade Holidays with Dixie Crystals Cookie Contest. Keep an eye out here for a special video from our Florida Center Credit Union Performance Theater with the recipes and our grand prize winner.
5. I thought I had a major sweet tooth, but someone in Austria wins hands down. Here’s the story from Fox News; Thieves with a huge sweet-tooth have driven off with 18 tons of chocolate in Austria. State broadcaster ORF says on its website that the driver of a Slovak tractor trailer loaded the 33 pallets of milk chocolate onto his vehicle from the producer in the western town of Bludenz earlier this week — supposedly to deliver an order from a company in the Czech Republic. But, police in the westernmost province of Vorarlberg say that the license plates and papers of the Slovak truck and driver were apparently counterfeit. The trip should have taken less than a day, but as of Friday — four days after the truck was loaded — the delivery was still outstanding. There is no comment from Kelly’s Kitchen!

 WORDS OF WISDOM FROM KELLY’S KITCHEN

 Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.  ~Ernestine Ulmer