Note: This post was originally published in September, 2009. Almost a decade later, it is still relevant and accurate. And the Fly By Night Cookie Co. is still magical.
Fair Haven, about 45 miles northwest of Syracuse, considers itself the best-kept secret on Lake Ontario. The peaceful village overlooking Little Sodus Bay has much to recommend: camping, boating, fishing, a sprawling state park and a Main Street that's the picture of small-town Americana, with flags flapping in the breeze.
Walk a couple blocks down Fancher Avenue, off Main Street, in the summertime and you'll notice the smell of fresh-cut grass -- and the aroma of baking cookies.
Follow your nose to a charming house with intricate carved pillars and twinkling lights on the porch. The place is home to Bonnie Bridson and her Fly By Night Cookie Company.
On the porch, you'll find self-serve coffee and tea and tables at which to sit and nibble your selections.
Through the front door, you'll find more than 60 varieties of cookies in hand-labeled jars -- chocolate chip, macaroons, molasses, peanut butter, gingersnaps and more. There are plain cookies, frosted cookies, rolled cookies, bar cookies, cut-out cookies and exotics, such as elderberry filled cookies.
There's even a cookie designed to cure PMS, with a double dose of chocolate, chocolate chips and mint extract, plus chocolate mint icing. At the least, it will cure your cravings for sugar and chocolate.
If the bakers are too busy in the kitchen to assist with your purchase, a sign explains Bridson's honor system: Put on a plastic glove, make your selection(s), read the posted prices and leave your money (90 cents per cookie) in a jar. Summer 2019 update: Cookies are $1.25 each.
No one steals from the cookie jars or the cash jar.
"I don't seem to have the theft karma going on,'' Bridson told WRVO-FM reporter Jasmyn Belcher in an interview that aired last month.
If the cars with Pennsylvania and Florida license plates out front are any indication, Bridson seems to have the word-of-mouth karma going on. If dozens and hundreds of cookies aren't enough, she also makes and sells pies, cakes, pastries and breads.
The charm of the place extends to the miniatures that share space with jars full of cookies and to Bridson's leafy back yard, where a small shed holds a book nook.
Leave a dollar or two, and take home a new title or two. Or, bring some of your well-worn volumes and make a trade and donation.
Funds raised benefit the preservation of the West Barrier Bar, one of the last remaining stretches of undeveloped beach on the south side of Lake Ontario.
After visiting Fly By Night, I find myself daydreaming about moving to Fair Haven. Maybe Bonnie Bridson would adopt a former food editor who loves to bake!
The Fly By Night Cookie Company is at 14508 Fancher Ave. in Fair Haven. Hours vary according to season. For information, call 315-947-5588.
Love it, love it, LOVE it!!
Posted by: Martha McC | 09/04/2009 at 09:22 AM