🍪 Your guide to Boston’s BEST holiday treats

Happy Friday, Boston!

😂 If you want a laugh … or to see a little drama, we made a video about some of the quirky things Bostonians do and, yes, we upset some Boston dudes in the comments section along the way! Check it all out here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• This year’s snowcast

• Boston’s guinea pig ban

• A cheap Snowport gift guide

Up first...

12 DAYS OF B-SIDE

Breads, doughnuts, and buns, oh my!

Holiday treat preferences are like snowflakes — no two are exactly alike. For some, it’s a decadent hot cocoa, for others, it’s simply a warm loaf of bread. Trying to narrow it down to just a few is impossible, so … we delegated!

In this edition of small business telephone tag, we asked five holiday treat hubs whose treats they’re eating when they’re not enjoying their own.

Here’s what they told us:

🕎 Maccabee Bar in Harvard Square loves Lehrhaus in Somerville. When Maccabee Bar’s owner and CEO Naomi Levy is looking for a holiday treat, she wants something that “feels cozy…like home.” And to her, that’s Lehrhaus’ special Hanukkah Sufganiyot (a traditional Israeli doughnut) which, she says, is a “little bit savory” and filled with dulce de leche. “I could literally eat them all day,” she said. 

🎁 Lehrhaus loves Yafa Bakery & Café in Somerville. Noah Clickstein, a chef at Lehrhaus, loves the hospitality as much as the pastries at Yafa Bakery — he tries something new every single time he goes. “They make some really amazing Palestinian treats that I think are just so delicious,” said Clickstien, including traditional sweets like baklava and ma’amoul. 

🍪 Yafa Bakery & Café loves Daniel’s Bakery in Brighton. When he has the time to spare during the holidays, Abdulla Awad, the owner of Yafa, gets Portuguese bread from Daniel’s. “Nothing is better than having fresh baked bread from the oven … and enjoying it with a cup of tea and mint,” he said. When he’s not in the mood for bread, he’s also fond of their cinnamon apple cake. 

🥖 Daniel’s Bakery loves Clear Flour Bread & Bakery in Brookline. Wanderleia Ribeiro, the owner of Daniel’s Bakery, loves any and all holiday treats: “I’m a very good eater,” she said. And as a baker and treat-maker herself, she’s picky about what she gets. The “only place” she goes to when she’s not at Daniel’s is Clear Flour Bread & Bakery, and her faves are their olive bread and sunflower bread. 

🥮 Clear Flour Bread and Bakery loves Breadboard Bakery in Arlington. “A holiday treat is something that makes you feel good after you eat it … it’s indulgent,” according to Nicole Walsh, co-owner of Clear Flour. And as for her favorite holiday indulgence, only one thing comes to mind: Cinnamon buns from Breadboard. “I’ll get four with the intention of sharing them, and eat two of them myself 100%, they’re so good,” she said.

QUICK QUESTION!

🎂 In your opinion, what's the ultimate holiday treat?

TOGETHER WITH MBTA COMMUTER RAIL

Don’t let snow (or rain or sleet) ruin your commute

❄️ 🚆 In the hustle and bustle of Boston’s winters, every minute counts. Make sure you’re in the loop on commuter rail service updates, delays, and closures in real-time with the new @MBTA_CR_Alerts account on X (or Twitter, because old habits die hard). From icy mornings to inclement evenings, these travel alerts will keep you informed and help make your commute to and from Boston as smooth as possible. Look for live updates at peak commuting times: Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

❄️ This year’s snowcast is looking like a snoozefest. While snowfall throughout an entire season is always a tough thing to predict, Globe meteorologist Dave Epstien has a few ideas. TLDR: Last year was very light on snow here in Boston, so it’s safe to say we’ll have more this year. But between El Niño and the general warming of the Earth, he predicts we probably won't have a blockbuster snow season. Speaking of weather, it looks like there’s a storm brewing this Sunday evening into Monday, so keep your eyes peeled!

🏘️ If you want to buy a house in Boston … start looking in Worcester. The city, along with Springfield, just made Realtor.com’s “Top Housing Markets for 2024” list, based on their expected sale and price growth rates. Springfield has particularly affordable housing, according to the report, plus it has a low unemployment rate and access to high quality education, while Worcester’s location and hub of activity is looking more and more attractive to Boston buyers who are being priced out. Read more about it here.

🐹 The City Council banned the sale of … guinea pigs? Well, kinda. Boston’s City Council officially passed its proposed ban of guinea pig sales in city pet stores in an effort to limit the amount of guinea pigs that are abandoned or surrendered to shelters (which has become an increasing issue in recent years). And Mayor Wu plans to sign it. However, guinea pigs will still be allowed to be adopted through MSPCA shelters. The council already placed a similar ban on the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in 2016.

🏈 The college football “Super Bowl” is coming to Gillette. We’re talking about the Army-Navy game, of course! The game is a big deal — it’s an entire weekend affair, and all 65,000+ seats in Gillette are sold out. But you can still get in on the action: Here’s a list of all of the events happening this weekend, or you can check out a local watch party, like this one at Kings Dining and Entertainment in Back Bay or this one hosted by the USO and USS Constitution Museum in Charlestown.

THINGS TO DO

Weekend plans

🍩 Bring your sweet tooth to Arsenal Yards. Spend the whole weekend at AY and never get hungry. Friday is cookie shop Chip City’s grand opening, and Saturday is the grand opening of  Blackbird Doughnuts’ seventh location.  

🎁 Hop on the Speedway to holiday spirit. What better place to fast-track your holiday shopping than the Speedway? All weekend long, Garage B will be a festive marketplace of wares and activities.

💚 Get Elf’ed up. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is joining the crowd and drinking beer (or something like that). Join Night Shift for their Buddy-themed “Elf-ing Good Holiday Party” on Saturday.

🎄 Attend your first “grunch.” Or “brinch.” In any case, the Grinch Brunch will be taking place on Saturday at City Tap. You’ll decorate sugar cookies, write a letter to Santa, and even, perhaps, meet the Grinch himself.  

🍪 Mix up a few batches of your best cookies. It’ll be a white Christmas in your kitchen after you bake two-to-three dozen cookies! Bring them to Flour in Seaport for their annual holiday cookie swap.

— Written by Claire Nicholas

🎉 Want more things to do recommendations? Refer five friends to unlock three bonus items. For those who already have, enjoy below.

ONE LAST THING

The Snowport under $30

If you’ve ever felt intimidated by how expensive things are in the Snowport … same. 

So we put together a gift guide of our favorite Snowport items under $30 that your friends and fam will actually like (a.k.a. no statement mugs!). 

Included in the guide: a candle that doubles as body lotion when it melts from Dr. Silkman’s, an adorable print from Ashley Eisenman Art that says “I live in Boston!” without being too in-your-face, a bonsai starter kit from Rooting For You LLC, and more! 

If you want to check out our full guide, you can see it here. Happy shopping!

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🛍️ Thanks for reading! If you want more Snowport content, we have a complete guide to this year’s snowport here.

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, MBTA Commuter Rail, for supporting local journalism and making transportation in and around Boston more accessible. 

❓The results are in: No results today, but if you have any holiday family drama, please write into our poll from yesterday! We would really appreciate it. <3

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].