Sugar and Spice

Your best gingerbread creations could win $500 from Central Market

Is your gingerbread house the stuff of family legend? Do coworkers clamor for your expertly decorated gingerbread cookies? Have you watched The Great British Baking Show and thought, "my piping is so much tidier"?

This is your chance to prove it, and possibly win a $500 gift card from Central Market.

From now until December 27, upload photos of your gingerbread masterpieces here.

And don't think you have to confine your creations to houses or people — let your imagine run wild and decorate to impress.

Two winners will be chosen for each Central Market location. All entrants must be 18 years or older, and winners will be contacted directly.

Read the official rules here, and good luck!

Photo courtesy of Central Market

Ready to win?

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A New Way of Bean

Friendly Oregon-based coffee chain opening new San Antonio drive-thru

Human Bean/Facebook

The Human Bean has a wide menu of specialty drinks.

An Oregon-based coffee chain is opening a new drive-thru shop in San Antonio in early 2025. The Human Bean will be located at 8403 Culebra Rd.

This chain is known for friendly service and a bonus treat with each order: one chocolate-covered espresso bean. Of course, the friendliness depends on the local staff, but CEO Dan Hawkins says it's important that teams across the board treat everyone “like a kind human bean," according to a press release. Online reviewers generally agree that this customer service approach is working.

Coffee is the main offering, but there are lots of specialty drinks on the menu, including whole-leaf teas, smoothies, dessert blends, and energy drinks with caffeine sourced from green coffee beans. There are also some hot breakfast items that vary by location.

This is the third Human Bean location in San Antonio, and the second owned by locals Jake Miller and Jacob Moore. There are now more than 260 locations across 22 states.

The release lists several charitable initiatives for the brand including quarterly donations and brand-wide single-day fundraisers for breast cancer month and St. Jude. All drive-thrus also participate annually in cancer prevention and treatment fundraisers, and the San Antonio drive-thru will get to choose which local organization the funds it raises go to.

There does not appear to be a firm opening date yet. The new location is at the same intersection as Village Parkway Baptist Church and Marco's Pizza, near Virginia A. Myers Elementary School.

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