Since I began filling this space with tales from the Cando Bakery, I have had opportunities to talk with and even meet some of Baking Buyer’s subscribers. Writing is a joy in itself, but to know that people are actually reading my stuff is the icing on the cake, you should pardon the pun. So this month’s scrawl is about some of those folks.
One afternoon about six months after “Small Town Baker” first appeared, a woman came in to the Bakery. I forget her name now, but she told me she had come to Cando to see her grandmother, a resident at Towner County Living Center. She said she recognized me from a photo in Baking Buyer. She was a baker from Casper Wyoming and could relate to some of the stories about the challenges of running a business in a small town.
Then there was Don Kemps who wrote from Hilbert Wisconsin. Don worked for a company that manufactures food service packaging materials. He said he and his co-workers read Baking Buyer. They were particularly intrigued by the column about butter tarts. Since he and a buddy were going to be in Grand Forks for a weekend tournament they planned on driving to Cando to taste some butter tarts. The guys arrived on the appointed day in time for the early bird coffee group. My father in law Erich kept the coffee and conversation flowing. Eventually, laden with boxes of tarts and other goodies, the fellows headed home to Hilbert. I hope the butter tarts were a hit.
Last year Linda Malo came home from Bountiful Utah to look after her mother, Maxine Hanson, who was recovering from surgery. Linda works the front counter at Parsons’ Bakery. We enjoyed comparing notes whenever she came to the Bakery to buy some sweets for her Mom. Recently Linda was back in Cando on vacation. She and Maxine joined the Bakery Ladies for coffee most days so we had ample time to chat about the baking biz. Linda was intrigued by the column I had written about strawberries and the formula for strawberry triticale muffins that Bruce had developed. She had not been able to get her hands on any triticale so we gave her enough to make a batch of muffins.
The story of Hot Cross Buns brought a query from Jane Ebert of Sparta North Carolina. This charming Southern lady called the Bakery one day with a request. Jane wanted Bruce to work out a homemaker-sized version of his hot cross bun formula so that she and the ladies of the Moravian Church could make them for fundraising bake sales. We began emailing and eventually exchanged recipes for hot cross buns and Moravian sugar cake, a delicious sweet bread.
The Cavanaugh family popped in one late afternoon in July. Kevin, Tina and their four young children, Madison, MaKenna, Mariah and Zane, were on their way home to Bismarck. Since Cando was not far off their route they decided to stop by to say hello. Kevin said they always read Baking Buyer from back to front as they identify with “Small Town Baker”. The Cavanaughs own PHAT Brothers Bakery, formerly the Donut Hole, in Bismarck. They bought the business two years ago and are working hard to establish a niche market. Their signature item is the square donut, which is something you don’t see in most donut shops. By the way PHAT is an acronym for “pretty hot and tasty”. Bruce and I really love Bismarck so now we have good reason to visit North Dakota’s capitol – to see the Cavanaugh family and to sample a PHAT Brothers square donut!
Audrey Collins of Minot does not own a bakery, but she has helped her daughter open one. Audrey, and Bea, her good friend, visited us in August. Audrey’s daughter Rochelle Van Ryn has always wanted to own a small business. After years as a background investigator she decided on a career change and prepared herself by taking a baking course at a Kansas college. With her husband‘s and Mom’s help Rochelle opened “The Sweet Life” in Wichita this past spring. Currently offering carry out desserts and pastries Rochelle plans to expand her product line and add a seating area. Audrey travels to Wichita frequently to lend a hand at “The Sweet Life”.
I’ve never been to Kansas, so one of these days Bruce and I must close the doors at the Cando Bakery for a few days, pack up the collies and head south down the “yellow brick road”.
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