Still have some last minute eating and shopping to do? Zingerman’s Community of Businesses will be open for (most of) the Holidays! We’ll be here for all your festive party and gift needs, but be sure to check this schedule as some hours have changed since last year. Zingerman’s wishes you a joyous and peaceful Holiday Season!

Zingerman’s Deli
Christmas Eve: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
New Year’s Day: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Zingerman’s Roadhouse
Christmas Eve: 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
Day After Christmas: 7 a.m. – 10pm
New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
New Year’s Day: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
(brunch menu served until 2:00 pm)

Zingerman’s Bakehouse
Christmas Eve: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Zingerman’s Coffee Company
Christmas Eve: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
New Year’s Day: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Zingerman’s Creamery
The Creamery is currently closed for construction, but you can still purchase our delicious cheeses at the Bakehouse and perfect-dessert-topping gelato at the Coffee Company.

Zingerman’s Mail Order
Open 24 hours a day through Midnight Dec 23rd
Christmas Eve: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
December 26 – December 30: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
New Year’s Day: CLOSED
January 2, 2016: Regular hours resume (9 a.m. – 10 p.m.)

ZingTrain
December 23rd, 5 p.m. through January 3rd: CLOSED
Reopen January 4th, 2016: 9 a.m.

Cornman Farms
Christmas Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Day: CLOSED

Miss Kim
Christmas Eve: 5 p.m.– 8 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
Christmas Eve: 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Eve: 5 p.m.– 10 p.m.
January 1-5: CLOSED

Hand-painted promotional signs are pretty rare these days, but here at Zingerman’s we’ve worked to preserve this true artisan craft in the same way that we work to preserve artisanal food production. We have a whole team of in-house artists who create the one-of-a-kind posters we hang in the Deli, using acrylic paint and tyvek paper. When were done with them, we offer this art to you.

From November 25-December 31, you’ll get $25 off any poster (just use GIFTofZING at checkout). This year, we’ve put our entire archive online—we’re taking decades worth of unique, colorful posters: over 1,100 to choose from! You can sort by colors, size and categories, like cheese, olive oil, sandwiches and more.

Shipping is free in the continental U.S., and the posters a great gift for the foodie or Zingerman’s fan in your life. Please be sure to place your order by Monday, December 19 to ensure arrival by December 25.

Click here to visit our Art for Sale online shop.

Don’t know what to get a certain someone on your holiday gift list? We do. One word: chocolate! It always works, it’s always welcome. Here are some top chocolate-giving picks from Emily C. our Deli Chocolate Specialist—some are even available online at Zingerman’s Mail Order.

Veruca Chocolate, Grown Up Gelt for Chanukah
Enjoy the tradition of Chanukah gelt a bit more deliciously! Gold and silver dusted disks from Veruca Chocolates in Chicago, are formed to look like Judean coins circa 40 B.C. Available in three sophisticated flavors:  milk chocolate, dark chocolate with crunchy nibs, dark chocolate with crystals of sea salt. A great gift for every day of Chanukah. Available on Zingermans.com.

Rabitos Royale White Chocolate Dipped Figs
Rabitos come to us from “The Fig Capital of the World” a.k.a. Almoharín – a teeny municipality southwest of Madrid. The two-generation old, family-run company seeks out the tenderest of figs and fills them up with white chocolate strawberry truffle cream ganache before dipping them in white chocolate. Available at Mail Order. Available on Zingermans.com.

Askinosie Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Shawn Askinosie layers dark single-origin chocolate with buttery single-origin white chocolate and tops it all with all-natural crushed peppermint from Denver’s Hammond’s Candies. Shawn describes his special treat as “bean to bark”, due to the single-origin chocolate and white chocolate incorporated in the recipe. He uses his complex 72% Mababu,Tanzania chocolate, which is a result of a special educational project, Chocolate University. In addition Askinosie produces their very own single-origin white chocolate, which he presses right in his shop. Makes a cheerful gift or an indulgent confection to keep all for yourself.

Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
Zingerman’s freshly roasted Espresso Blend #1 coffee beans are coated with layers of rich chocolate. Left unpolished and rustic-looking, they are nutty and aromatic with just the right amount of sweetness.  Sure to give your holiday a zing!

Enric Rovira Spanish Drinking Chocolate
Thrill the chocolate lover on your list with this drinking chocolate. So thick you can stick a spoon up in it, and so intoxicating you might want to drink this sitting down! This rich chocolate traveled all the way from the workshop of Barcelona’s visionary chocolatier Enric Rovira. Your choice of  Sweet & Smooth Traditional made with 55% Dark Chocolate, and bittersweet & decadent dark chocolate Amargo made with 70% Dark Chocolate. Available on Zingermans.com.

Antica Dolceria Bonajuto Stone Ground Chocolate and Spicy Red Pepper Truffles 65% Dark Chocolate
Enclosed in the most unassuming box are twenty chocolates each handmade in Sicily, using traditional methods adopted from the early Aztecs. Stone-ground and coarse in texture, the peperoncini peppers pack spicy heat, which is tempered by crunchy, mouthwatering sugar crystals. Available on Zingermans.com.

Venchi Chocolatier Italian Chocolatier Since 1878 Chocolate Balsamic Cordial Bonbon
Often incorporating original recipes dating back over 130 years, this innovative Italian shop has been producing handmade confections in small batches for over a century. These bonbons consist of velvety 75% dark chocolate filled to brimming with a sweet and complex syrup made from barrel aged balsamic vinegar produced in Modena, Italy.

Grocer’s Daughter Orange Bark
This seasonal treat comes to us from the cheerful chocolate shop tucked away in Empire, MI. Buttery white chocolate, brightened with orange oil and a hint of vanilla gives this bark an ice-creamy flavor reminiscent of orange sherbert.

Custom Box of Chocolates
Spread holiday cheer with a custom box of handmade confections. The Next Door’s truffle case is brimming with a tantalizing assortment of hand-crafted bonbons, confections and treasures.  Come peruse the selection of truffles and caramels or let one of our staff gather together the perfect assortment of flavors.

The above list is only a small selection of the items on Emily’s wish list this year. Visit Zingerman’s Next Door to choose from our worldly assortment of goodies. As always, if you’re still hunting for that perfect something and need a little assistance, we are enthusiastic about showing you our favorites and helping you find special gifts for everyone on your list.

Zingerman’s co-owner and founding partner Ari Weinzweig sent this note to the staff in response to the recent election. It meant a lot to many of our community, so we decided to share it with you.

Although I’ve worked at it over the years, I’m still not all that great at processing strong emotions quickly.  Usually I kind of shut down for a few days, probably I suppose as self protection, and then slowly start to sift through what’s happening and what I can effectively do about it.  That sort of summed up my week.  Regardless of who you voted for (or if you chose not to vote) I will imagine that it’s been a challenging week. To be clear, I’m not sharing any of this to change anyone’s minds about politics or who or which causes you choose to support.  Each of you will do what you believe best and most aligned with your values.  But more than a few ZCoB’ers have asked me to say something…so…I am.

I, of course, can only speak for myself.  For me, the week has been hard.  Very hard.  The last few times I felt this way . . . were also pretty rough.  One was after 9/11.  Another, though less intense because it happened more slowly, over a period of months, was when the economy crashed in 2009 as announcement after announcement shook our reality over and over again. In both cases, I remember talking to Paul and to others of you . . . . and, after talking together, arriving at the same conclusion that I’m arriving at now.

When the economy crashed Paul and I had a conversation on the phone that started with, “What are we gonna do?” and ended surprisingly quickly, within about ten minutes, with the quick realization that a) we have our vision and that’s where we’re headed regardless of what may be going on around us and, b) we have our guiding principles in writing and when times are tough or challenging, that’s the time to double down on those guiding principles by living them even more mindfully than we would in calmer times.  To be more generous, more inclusive, kinder, more caring, more engaged in helping those who have less than us, more intent on creating a energizing and uplifting work experience for everyone in the ZCoB, more focused on great food, great service and great finance.  That although the world may seem to be turning upside down and going in directions that don’t feel very good in the moment, because our values and vision and mission have been chosen, by us, from the heart, none of them change.  In fact, I realize, it makes the work we’re doing on our ZCoB Statement of Beliefs even more timely and more important.  We may feel like we’re swimming against the current in difficult times, but we’re going to the same place in the same caring way regardless.   In the context of my focus over the last few years, it’s all the more important—despite social pressure and the news to the contrary—to focus myself on positive beliefs, on building hope and on living the spirit of generosity gently and effectively every single day.

This is, as I think about it, been our work from day one.  It will remain our work, I believe, as long as we’re here. If times seem unstable and negativity seems to take over the social stage, then it’s all the more reason for us to push forward with the same positive, difference making, inclusive program that we’ve been working on, ever imperfectly for the last thirty five years.

This is also the week that Leonard Cohen passed away.  Here’s something he said which, when reading it, reinforced this approach for me: “I always had a sense of being in this for keeps, if your health lasts you. And you’re fortunate enough to have the days at your disposal so you can keep on doing this. I never had the sense that there was an end. That there was a retirement or that there was a jackpot.”

As Leonard laid out, our work continues, and will continue, for a long time to come.  Every little action, every hug, every dime we donate, every espresso shot and loaf of bread, every sandwich, every box, every extra mile, make a difference.  Acts of compassion, caring and generosity energize both the recipient and the giver.  The more of them we all do, the better our community will be.

Thank you all for all you do for the community, for people in need here and around the world, to bring kindness, care and inclusiveness into the world every day.  I’m honored to work with all of you every day.  Thank you for being you and for doing what you do.

I’ll close with some words that have long inspired me, from Ashanti Alston, who said, “You all can do this. You have the vision. You have the creativity. Do not allow anyone to lock that down.”

Take good care.

It’s not every day you have a pastry named after you. And it is definitely not everyday you have TWO pastries named after you. Unless you work at Zingerman’s Bakehouse.

ong time baker, Patti Weaks, is one such baker, leaving her stamp on our line up. It makes sense. She has been working here for nearly two decades after all.

Patti has been instrumental in our team’s baking success, developing some new recipes and making sure we’re doing things right. It seemed fitting to honor her and use her namesake, like we have done with many others.

Back in September of 1997, Patti’s best friend was working at the Bakehouse, leading her to apply. According to Patti, “Best decision I ever made.” Definitely a great thing for us, as well.  Now, 19 years later, both Patti and her son Jeremy work here at the Bakehouse. Patti will be the first to admit, “Baking does run in the family.”

Okay, let’s get to the goods!!!! (you’re probably shouting at your computer screen right now). Raspberry Patti Pockets and Patti’s Gimme S’more Tart. Both delightfully unique.

The Patti Pocket, before it was called a Patti Pocket, was a recipe we taught at BAKE!, our hands-on baking school. One of our classes included making homemade toaster pastries. We loved them so much that in 2014, Patti and other bakers worked on perfecting the recipe on a larger scale so we could sell them around Ann Arbor. That testing included sampling a number of different filling flavors (tough job we know). Raspberry was the clear favorite. That’s how it works around here. We practice and we taste until we know we have something really special.

After working closely with Amy Emerling, Bakehouse co-owner, to ultimately perfect this recipe in our eyes, there still was one big surprise in store for Patti. We named this scrumptious hand-pie after her. “Amy is the one who came up with the name. I didn’t even know about it.” It needed a stand out name. We just thought it sounded cute and more fun.

So, what exactly is a Patti Pocket? It truly is the ideal breakfast pastry, lunch dessert, mid-day snack, tea time partner… You get the idea. We start with a flaky butter pie dough, fill it with seedless raspberry preserves, bake it until it is a beautiful golden color and then drizzle a little raspberry glaze on top. The texture of the crust is delicate and tender, but the whole thing packs a wallop of flavor too. It’s a little messy, but that’s part of what makes it so good. Besides, that’s what napkins are for (right?)

The other pastry naming was a little less of a surprise. Patti’s Gimme S’more Tart actually started off as one of her own homemade desserts to pass at a staff holiday party. “One year I made them for a company Christmas party. I wanted to bring something different that we all didn’t bake everyday. The idea just popped into my head.”

This creative and original and absolutely scrumptious idea quickly turned into a Bakehouse reality. It all starts with a graham cracker shell. But no store bought graham cracker crumbs here- we’re using Bakehouse sweet spicy graham cracker dough. After it’s baked until mahogany brown, it is filled with a soft dark chocolate ganache. Then it’s crowned with toasted peaks of Italian meringue. Try it served slightly warm for the ultimate experience. Words to describe it: insanely good with intense flavor.

Have a hankering for these treats? We understand why. Well, you’re in luck! The Patti Pockets are available each and every morning, at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Roadshow or Delicatessen.

While they last, of course.As for the Patti’s Gimme S’more Tarts… Well, those are a rare treat these days that we bring back for a weekend from time to time! Keep a lookout for the next time they will be making an appearance on our special bakes web page or sign up for our enews!

And, you can learn how to make Patti Pockets in our Pies version 3.14 class, too! Check out when we will be offering it next on our BAKE! calendar.

If there is one thing I have learned here in the ZCoB (Zingerman’s Community of Businesses), it is not to judge a food by its cover (or, in this case, a bread by its crust). Raise your hand if you’re with me on this, but I am typically drawn to something that is familiar to me in some way, especially when it comes to selecting a bread.

Maybe it’s the shape, maybe it’s the color. Maybe I just recognize the name. Sometimes it is even a distant memory of my mother buying that loaf when I was grocery shopping with her as a little girl. Regardless, I am definitely guilty of judging bread by its cover.

But over the past year working in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, I have made it my goal to try at least one new thing a week. Whether it is a slice of bread or a new coffee, I have been inspired to try one thing that, initially, makes me think, “Oh no, not trying that.”

Now, if you are anything like me, there are probably one or two loaves of bread you buy each and every time you walk into the Bakeshop. Am I right? But, I am here to ask you to join me on my mission of trying new things! And to start, we have a super tasty loaf of bread that we have been baking here at the Bakehouse in late 1993.

What is Paesano and why do we work so hard to fill it with holes?
It is round(ish), light in color with little speckles of organic cornmeal on top. It is definitely an eye-catcher, but not in the way you may be thinking. The loaf is quite large and very unique in its amorphous shape. First we make a starter called a poolish which ferments for 5-6 hours and then the dough is mixed and our bakers leave it to proof for about 5 hours. Next the dough is scaled and shaped… by hand! The dough is a bit unruly because of the higher water content, so our bread bakers shape each loaf by hand. After shaping, the loaves are in the oven within the hour. This makes Paesano special, too, because most doughs are left to proof even longer after being shaped.

The crumb (the inside bit of the loaf) is very light in color and filled with large air pockets. And we work hard to make those air pockets! The Paesano dough we use has so much more water than your average dough, so when it is proofing, you can even see air pockets forming and bubbling to the surface. These “air pockets” are really pockets of trapped CO2. So, during the 14 ½ hours of fermentation, these large pockets of ‘bread aroma’ are produced and become the wonderful diaphanous cells that distinguish the open crumb of the Paesano. And those air pockets allow the bread to fully absorb the flavor of whatever you are serving it with. So, definitely 100% intentional!

With such a wet dough, how does the crust keep its crunch? Most doughs are steamed while in the oven, which gives the crust its shine. Because the Paesano dough is mixed with so much water, it doesn’t require much steam when we bake it. And we roll the dough in organic cornmeal, so we desire the loaf to have the crisp crust that develops in steam-free baking chambers.

What makes it so special then?
The Paesano actually originates from the Puglia region of Italy. The name itself translates to “villager” or “countryman.” Paesan is a term used in that region. Here in the US, the equivalent of the word is something along the lines of “friend” or “homeboy.” The recipe itself came from bread baker Michael London when he first visited us here at the Bakehouse to help refine our recipes and baking techniques. And that recipe hasn’t actually changed much over the years. So the loaf you’re tasting today probably tasted fairly similar when we first started baking it back in ‘93.

It is one of our foundation breads, one of the originals we have been baking since we first opened our doors. It has been around for quite some time, giving us the opportunity to perfect the recipe, our baking method and even give us a little time to figure out how we like to eat it best!

Paesano is one of the top loaves of bread sold online by our partners at Zingerman’s Mail Order. In fact, last year they shipped 10,000 of them. For their catalog full of estate olive oils, aged vinegars and special sauces Paesano is their go to loaf. The quintessential dinner bread they say.

Our Recommendations
Slice it up, brush it with olive oil and garlic, throw it on the grill for a new summertime take on garlic bread.

Perfect crust (and crumb) for a muffaletta sandwich. Take a page out of Zingerman’s Roadshow’s book. Cut the loaf into quarters, pull out a little bit of the inside (to promptly eat, of course), stuff with meat and cheese and a little red wine vinaigrette. Place on a panini press until the cheese has melted to your satisfaction. Add a little lettuce and tomato if you dare!

My favorite way to eat it? Cut a few slices and bake in the oven until they are a bit crisper. Add diced tomatoes, onion, garlic and basil. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then top it off with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. A bruschetta that can even hold its ground next to my mother’s cooking!

There is nothing you can’t do with this bread. Extra pasta sauce? No problem! Dipping bread for soup? It doesn’t get any more perfect than the Paesano. I hate to say all-purpose, but Paesano can really be used for just about anything.

Give it a try! You’ll find it at the Bakehouse and the Deli. It may just become your new favorite bread.