Have a very Delaware holiday with a Fusco's water ice ornament, yule logs, latkes and more

Patricia Talorico, Delaware News Journal
·7 min read

The upcoming holidays bring seasonal foods to area shops and businesses that are sure to feed a need for tradition and nostalgia.

These treats come around just once a year, so it's worth taking a moment to pay notice.

Here are seven places, including some hosting upcoming events, where you can indulge in Delaware favorites:

Fusco's Italian Water Ice

610 N. Union St., Wilmington 

Fusco's Italian ice is selling Christmas ornaments that resemble the iconic water ice that's been operating on and off in Wilmington since 1957. The cost is $40.
Fusco's Italian ice is selling Christmas ornaments that resemble the iconic water ice that's been operating on and off in Wilmington since 1957. The cost is $40.

The iconic Wilmington stand in Little Italy that has been offering lemon-flavored shaved ice on and off since 1957 is generally closed during cold weather months.

In December, owner Joseph Staffieri will open the stand temporarily for a few days to offer a couple of Christmas season specialty items that are perfect for fans of this very Delaware water ice.

Sorry, it's not water ice itself, but it is something that won't melt.

More:'Same family, same recipe': Wilmington water ice stand reopens after a 7-year absence

Staffieri is selling Christmas ornaments that depict the landmark red, white and green Fusco's stand for $40. Customers also can purchase gold tumblers printed with the Fusco name for $35.

The iconic Fusco's Water Ice stand on Wilmington's Union Street reopened in 2022 after being closed for seven years. The Fusco family opened the business in Wilmington in 1957.
The iconic Fusco's Water Ice stand on Wilmington's Union Street reopened in 2022 after being closed for seven years. The Fusco family opened the business in Wilmington in 1957.

The glass-blown, hand-painted, made-in-Poland ornaments, as well as the special edition Fusco’s gold tumblers, are available by ordering through an online holiday store. Visit fuscoswaterice.square.site/

Items can be picked up at the Fusco's water ice stand on several different dates throughout December. The first will be this Friday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. until noon.

Staffieri said the stand will be open for walk-up orders from 11 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Dec. 3 and Sunday, Dec. 4.

Check the Fusco's Italian Water Ice Facebook page for more information.

Miracle at Above the Dunes

101 S. Boardwalk, Rehoboth Beach

Grandma Got Run Over by a T-Rex is a seasonal cocktail served at Miracle, a Christmas pop-up bar that's opened through Dec. 31 at Above the Dunes in Rehoboth Beach.
Grandma Got Run Over by a T-Rex is a seasonal cocktail served at Miracle, a Christmas pop-up bar that's opened through Dec. 31 at Above the Dunes in Rehoboth Beach.

Holiday pop-up bars with kitschy decor aren't new in Delaware − Blitzen in Wilmington and Sleigh Bar at Klondike Kate's in Newark have been operating for a few years now.

But now Sussex County is in on the fun. Rehoboth Beach has just added Miracle at Above the Dunes restaurant (formerly the Greene Turtle).

More:Delaware has six new Christmas pop-up bars. And two are only 100 feet apart.

Since Nov. 21, the restaurant has been decorated with over-the-top Christmas decorations and is selling themed cocktails such as Christmapolitan, Christmas Carol Barrel, Snowball Old-Fashioned, Jingle Balls Nog, Nice Shot, and Grandma Got Run Over By A T-Rex.

The holiday decorations are up through Dec. 31.

Le Cavalier at the Hotel du Pont

42 W. 11th St., Wilmington

The Hotel du Pont has bought back its famed afternoon tea program for the holidays.

Le Cav, the downtown Wilmington restaurant at the Hotel, now offers a modern twist on the time-honored tradition with a mix of pastries, hors d’oeuvres and custom tea blends.

Menu highlights include cucumber and tzatziki tea sandwiches, cornets with foie gras mousse and squash marmalade, olive oil cake with Meyer lemon agrumato, and, of course, the hotel’s famous macaroons.

Guests can add a splash of sparkle to their experience with champagne, natural wine or craft cocktails.

The prix-fixe meal will take place on Friday afternoons through Friday, Dec. 16.

Reservations can be made on Resy The cost is $65 per person and free for children under 10.

Church Cookie Walks

Area churches hold cookie walks where someone else does the baking and decorating.
Area churches hold cookie walks where someone else does the baking and decorating.

A cookie walk is a fundraiser where visitors pay a set price for an empty box. They're then handed gloves and walk around various tables in church halls, filling boxes with cookies usually made by parishioners.

Some churches charge by the weight of the cookies, while others have set fees for different sizes of boxes.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at 200 Marrows Road in Newark will host its 33rd annual Cookie Walk and lunch on Dec. 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Homemade cookies are $6 for a small container and $15 for a large container. Visitors can select their own cookies or pick up prepackaged boxes. Quarts of vegetable and chicken corn soup will be available for $8. And a lunch, eat-in or take-out, for $12 will be available that day that includes soup, a sandwich, chips and a drink.

Don't want to bake your own Christmas cookies? Head to a cookie walk at a Delaware church.
Don't want to bake your own Christmas cookies? Head to a cookie walk at a Delaware church.

Some other churches are also hosting cookie walks. They include:

Aldergates United Methodist Church at 2313 Concord Pike in Brandywine Hundred. Its annual cookie walk on Dec. 10 begins at 9 a.m. and goes "until the cookies are gone." Fill a box of Christmas cookies for $14.

More:9 Delaware New Year's Eve bashes to ring in 2023 include EDM concert with Firefly alum

Epworth United Methodist Church at 19285 Holland Glade Road, near Rehoboth Beach, holds its cookie walk at 9 a.m. on Dec. 10 and will continue while supplies last. The price for cookies is $10 per pound.

The cookie walk at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes will be in the parish hall at the intersection of Second and Mulberry streets. The doors for the Dec. 17 cookie walk open at 8:30 a.m. and run until 11 a.m. or until the cookies run out. Masks are encouraged and gloves will be provided. A limited number of people will be permitted in the Parish Hall to promote social distancing. Small containers are $10 and large containers are $15

Yule logs at Bing’s Bakery

253 E. Main St., Newark

A chocolate yule log made at Bing's Bakery, Delaware's longest running bakery. The seasonal confection serves 10 to 12 people, but we doubt there will be any leftovers.
A chocolate yule log made at Bing's Bakery, Delaware's longest running bakery. The seasonal confection serves 10 to 12 people, but we doubt there will be any leftovers.

Bing's, an old-school bakery founded in 1946, is a short hike from the University of Delaware's main campus. The downtown Newark landmark is the state's longest-running bakery. Russell and Selena Bing began running it in 1946. The Guzzi family took over the business from Selina Bing in 2005.

Bing's has a wide variety of holiday confections ranging from Danish wreaths and Christmas trees to delicate petit fours to cakes topped with snowmen.

A longtime favorite seasonal confection is the Yule Log ($29.95). You can get a chocolate cake filled with mocha buttercream or a sponge cake rolled around vanilla buttercream.

It serves 10 to 12 people, but there are never any leftovers.

Seasonal sausage, panettone and more at Papa’s Food Market

1910 W. Sixth St., Wilmington

Papa's Food Market on West Sixth Street, sandwiched between Union and Lincoln streets in Wilmington has been serving Italian foods since 1927.
Papa's Food Market on West Sixth Street, sandwiched between Union and Lincoln streets in Wilmington has been serving Italian foods since 1927.

Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood has been home to Papa's Food Market since 1927.

Papa's Food Market was founded by Pietro Papa, who was known by his affectionate nickname "Peter Pop." Members of the Papa family are no longer behind the counter, but the store traditions continue on thanks to manager Luis Pelaez, whose stepfather Umberto Gomez bought the property and business in May 2019.

The store still carries traditional holiday Italian staples like anise oil for pizzelle cookies, panettone, sweet loaves of bread, and confections such as panforte.

Luis Pelaez is the store manager at Papa's Food Market in Wilmington's Little Italy.
Luis Pelaez is the store manager at Papa's Food Market in Wilmington's Little Italy.

Pelaez has an Italian culinary background. For eight years, he worked with the Martuscelli Restaurant Group at its La Casa Pasta restaurant in Glasgow and at the Chesapeake Inn Restaurant in Chesapeake City, Maryland. He was a prep cook and did catering for the restaurants.

If you're looking for old-school Papa products, like its liver sausage, don't worry, it's still produced in-house.

Production of the seasonal sausage usually begins after Halloween and it tends to be available through the end of January.

Kiszka and more at Delaware Provision Co.

 318 Eighth Ave., Wilmington

Standing in line at Delaware Provision Company Inc. in Wilmington’s Browntown neighborhood is a longtime Delaware tradition.

The business opened in 1976 as a wholesale supplier by Kathleen and Sam Lavery and in 2000, their nephew William Hayes acquired the company. Hayes kept the old-school products but now also offers new dishes and full-service catering.

Customers, especially those of Polish heritage, travel here for their holiday food must-haves: Homemade fresh and smoked kielbasa, stuffed cabbage known as golabki, sauerkraut, a blood sausage known as holiday kiszka and puffy loaves of babka and chrusciki, the Polish cookies sometimes called "Angel's wings."

This is not a business that hides in plain sight. You really have to know where you’re going. Finding the tucked-away warehouse at 318 Eighth Ave. can be like going on a treasure hunt. Customers have to navigate winding one-way streets to get to the good stuff.

Latkes and doughnuts for Hanukkah

Chabad of Southern Delaware is hosting its annual menorah lighting at 5 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Baywalk in Dewey Beach off Del. Route 1 (It's behind the Hyatt.) Admission is free to the event which includes hot latkes, doughnuts, festive music, and even a fire juggling performance.

Latkes served with sour cream and apple sauce, braided challah, and other foods traditionally served during Hanukkah also are always available at the three Rosenfeld's Deli locations in Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach and Ocean City, Maryland.

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Here's where to find latkes, yule logs, Cookie Walks & other favorites