Animals

It’ll Be a Grrrreat Time: Jamaica Plain’s Annual Canine Costume Parade on Saturday

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Ruth Barker Ginsberg, dogs dressed as bumblebees, Harry Potter, and so many more awesome dog costumes have strutted the red carpet at the annual JP Canine Costume Parade through the years. Who knows what the dogs will be wearing this Saturday! Dogs and their owners are invited to wear costumes starting at the First Baptist Church and down Centre Street parade route to the Loring-Greenough House. Then the dogs (and their people) will walk the red carpet as judges decide the top three participants who receive prizes. The event is helmed and emceed by Blue Frog Bakery owner Brad Brown.

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Holidays

Check Out These Valentine’s Deals in Jamaica Plain

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Special meals, special beers, cookies, pies, locally made chocolates, and flowers -- just a few ways to celebrate Valentine's Day. Here are several deals to celebrate Valentine's Day in Jamaica Plain! Monumental Market is selling four special dessert selections: heart-shaped cookies, chocolate mousse cups, conversation cakes, or a dozen heart-shaped sugar cookies. Order online or in-store for a pickup Thursday through Sunday. The conversation cakes are 4-inch cakes with your choice of vanilla, chocolate, or red velvet with a customer messages (or baker's choice).

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History

Trivia Challenge! Can You Defeat the Whiz of JP Facts?

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How good are you at Jamaica Plain trivia? Good enough to beat the assumed JP trivia champ? Sign up for the virtual Jamaica Plain Trivia Battle Royale on Nov. 12, and you'll see how much trivia you know. The evening will be full of facts, celebrity clues, historical info, and commercials from JP's local businesses.

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Holidays

Celebrate Galentine’s Day with Wine & Chocolate Tour in JP

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Wine and chocolate. It's hard to go wrong on Galentine's Day with those two aphrodisiacs. Yes, Galentine's Day. Galentine's Day was created by Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation to celebrate female friendship on the day before Valentine's Day. JP Centre/South Main Streets is helping you celebrate Galentine's Day with a wine and chocolate tour, and other special local treats on a Feb.

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Restaurants

Let’s Eat Cake! Blue Frog Bakery Celebrating 15th Anniversary on Saturday

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The Blue Frog Bakery will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with a party this Saturday, and will be offering special pastries and desserts, chocolates, coffee, and cocktails. Owner Brad Brown will kick off the party at 9 am with a special cake-cutting ceremony, and the party will ensue until 1 pm at Blue Frog Bakery (3 Green St.). "Our baking methods have not changed in the last 15 years. Croissants are cut and rolled by hand almost every day," said Brown. "When I started, we weren't making our own bread, but I've learned that it's better when we make everything in house from scratch including fillings and doughs.

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Restaurants

Photos: Food Glorious Food at Taste of Jamaica Plain

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Ethiopian cuisine, delicious baked desserts, corny bread, locally brewed beer and stilt walkers were all part of the 23rd Annual Taste of Jamaica Plain on Thursday night. Held at Annunciation Hall on the VFW Parkway for the first time, the annual event serves as fundraiser for JP nonprofit Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC),  and particularly its senior home programs and youth opportunity collaborative. Along with more than 20 restaurants, personal chefs, food businesses, there was a cash bar with beer and wine, raffle tickets being sold, a silent auction and live music.

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Holidays

On Centre and Blue Frog Bakery Win Business Holiday Decorations Contest

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Blue Frog Bakery and its "GingerBrad" named after bakery owner Brad Brown tied for first place with On Centre in the annual Jamaica Plain Business & Professional Association Business District Holiday Decorations Contest. "We're very excited to have won! I made the 'GingerBrad' couple myself," said Ginger Brown, owner of Blue Frog Bakery and executive director of JP Centre/South Main Streets. "Brad and I know that holiday decorations are vital for business during the holidays, and contribute to a sense of community for the neighborhood. We're also proud to share first place with On Centre!" Four judges looked at the 102 businesses in the Centre and South streets district that had decorations and were awarded points in three categories: most artistic, most festive, and most inviting to customers.

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From the Community

Ten Jamaica Plain Businesses Awarded ‘Best of Boston’ by Boston Magazine

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Boston Magazine’s annual “Best of Boston” issue has hit stands, and 2015 marks the 42nd anniversary of the awards! For the past 12 months, Boston magazine’s team of expert judges ate, drank, and shopped their way across the city, the ‘burbs, and the Cape and the Islands to find the very best the area has to offer. This year, 10 Jamaica Plain businesses won "Best of Boston" awards in the “Arts & Entertainment,” “Dining,” and “Neighborhood Best” categories. Here is a complete list of the winners:

Arts & Entertainment, Record Store: Deep Thoughts JP
Dining, Brunch: Tres Gatos
Dining, Ethiopian: The Blue Nile
Dining, Bread: Blue Frog Bakery
Dining, Pastry: Canto 6 Bakery
Dining, Romantic: Centre Street Café
Neighborhood Best, Eat: Thursdays on the Lawn, Loring-Greenough House
Neighborhood Best, Drink: Canary Square
Neighborhood Best, Shop: Kitchenwitch
Neighborhood Best, Discover: Boating on Jamaica Pond

For a complete list of all “Best of Boston” winners, head over to BostonMagazine.com.

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Business

Did Winter Hurt Your JP Business? Snow Loan Program Could Help

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If you own a business in JP and have losses because of the punishing series of storms we endured, there's help. A state program is offering loans of $5,000 to $10,000 to help local businesses "regain financial stability and recover from lost storm revenue." Brad Brown of Blue Frog Bakery touted the program at Wednesday's meeting of the JP Business & Professional Association. He said his Green Street business lost $12,000 in February from weather-related closings. The program, which could make as much as $1 million in loans available, would run through May, according to a press release.

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Photo of the Day

‘Scuse Me, While I Kiss This Fly

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Blue Frog Bakery mascot, Jamaica Plain. Credit: Coleman Johnson

JP's Coleman Johnson captured this view of the mascot of Blue Frog Bakery on Green Street. Thanks for sharing this shot! Johnson and I met in a photography class at JP's Eliot School. I've taken two photo courses at the historic school and recommend them highly.

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