The changing weather may scare a few people. And this weekend there will probably be plenty of frightening sights around town.
But come Monday, Fire Island Bakeshop will end any need to be afraid of what's for dinner.
The local bakers at the corner of 14th Avenue and G Street will be serving three varieties of pizza on Halloween. The bakeshop is usually closed on Mondays, but it will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. on the holiday for its annual Halloween Party.
"We are opening just for Halloween evening because our bakers, in costume, love seeing the amazing parade of young children dressed as furry animals with a few pirates thrown in," says owner Janis Fleischman. "We will have staff outside the store, in costume of course, with free coffee for adults and trick or treats for kids. Essentials for a great evening of trick-or-treating is a wonderful neighborhood and a place to warm up and use the restrooms."
The pizzas available include Alaska reindeer sausage ($12), roasted vegetable ($12) and four cheese ($10). Special orders can be placed this week for pickup from 4 to 5 p.m. on Monday. At 5, all the pizzas will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis as they come out of the oven. The bakeshop will also have desserts available. Fire Island can be reached at 569-0001 for pre-orders.
"We had a ton of fun last year watching families enjoy Halloween," Fleischman says. "Hopefully we will have another beautiful mild evening for this year's baby animals, ghosts, spacemen and princesses."
From the sea
Dannon Southall at 10th & M Seafoods says customers shouldn't fear the chilly weather.
"This is a great week for fresh seafood even though the snow is slowing creeping down the mountains," he says.
Halibut season is closing shortly, but the flatfish are still available this week with fillets going for $19.95 per pound. "These wonderful fresh white fish fillets will not be around much longer so now is the time to grace your barbecue tops with them," Southall says.
Other options at the seafood counter include fresh cod fillets for $5.50 per pound, live oysters for $9.95 per dozen and live clams for $6.95 per pound.
Warm-water fish include sushi- and grill-grade tuna, blue marlin and mahi mahi.
Plenty of produce
The farmers have moved inside to sell their crops, but the weather is still mostly pleasant for outdoor activities.
"With this warm weather we could still be farming outside," says Mark Rempel who will be at today's Center Market with a long list of produce including carrots; four varieties of beets; daikon radishes; parsnips, which he describes as huge; collard greens; kale; tomatoes; sugar pumpkins; several varieties of squash, including stripetti and red kuri; and eight varieties of potatoes.
Also at today's market inside the Mall at Sears from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be Vern Stockwell with potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, kohlrabi, leeks, spinach and a few remaining strawberries for a last taste of summer. He also will have Alaska barley fed beef and pork products.
Alex Davis of A.D. Farm will have many of his usual items including carrots in four colorful varieties, beets, potatoes, Brussels sprouts and pork products including chops, steaks, sausage, liver and fat. Duane Clark will be at the market with Alaska grass-fed beef, local chicken, Alaska seafood and honey. He also is taking orders for quarter, half and whole beef.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
By STEVE EDWARDS
Daily News correspondent