Have you ever eaten a lavender cookie? Laura Kindseth, the owner of Lavender Mountain Bakery, a new business working out of the kitchen, makes them. The flavor of her lavender shortbread blooms into a savory perfume from the buttery shortbread when you take a bite. She also offers a lavender scone and has a lavender mocha muffin in development.
She generously brought me a whole bag of scones to try at our interview! The scones had a lot of flavor, thanks to her restraint with the sugar. I could taste little bursts of sweetness from the sugar topping and the bold fillings clearly came through the delicate dough. I tried the chocolate, blueberry, cinnamon and cranberry scones. Yum!
Lavender Mountain Bakery isn’t the first bakery Laura has owned. She ran Gourmet Granny Bakery in Mineral Point, WI, the oldest town in Wisconsin, some years ago. After working for an architecture nonprofit in Baltimore and Las Cruces in the past few years, she had planned to move to the Springs and retire. I asked her why she had decided to start another bakery.
She told me it was because the Gotta Love It! kitchen made it easy. Rather than having to find a commercial kitchen she could use full time, Gotta Love It! made it possible to start a part time bakery.
Besides, the whole family loves to cook and experiment with food. Recently, her young granddaughter, Hannah, declared that Laura and the child’s mother, Elizabeth, would have a contest. The girl would pick out two secret ingredients and the women would prepare an appetizer, main course and dessert using those ingredients. After dinner, the young judge would declare a winner.
What were the ingredients? Carrots and gouda cheese.
Elizabeth won the appetizer competition with a ginger carrot soup, but Laura was disqualified because she used scallops, which Hannah doesn’t like. Laura won the main course competition with a salad with fried cheese balls. Dessert ended up in the refrigerator because they were all so full after two appetizers and two main courses!
Lavender Mountain Bakery products are available at the Market and at Jives Coffee Lounge. Stop in for a bag of two small scones (one for you and one to give to a friend) for $2.50 or for a muffin. She also makes focaccia breads with a variety of toppings.
Who knows? You may even be able to get one with carrots and gouda cheese.
Written by Bonnie Simon of Community Writing Services, LLC
She generously brought me a whole bag of scones to try at our interview! The scones had a lot of flavor, thanks to her restraint with the sugar. I could taste little bursts of sweetness from the sugar topping and the bold fillings clearly came through the delicate dough. I tried the chocolate, blueberry, cinnamon and cranberry scones. Yum!
Lavender Mountain Bakery isn’t the first bakery Laura has owned. She ran Gourmet Granny Bakery in Mineral Point, WI, the oldest town in Wisconsin, some years ago. After working for an architecture nonprofit in Baltimore and Las Cruces in the past few years, she had planned to move to the Springs and retire. I asked her why she had decided to start another bakery.
She told me it was because the Gotta Love It! kitchen made it easy. Rather than having to find a commercial kitchen she could use full time, Gotta Love It! made it possible to start a part time bakery.
Besides, the whole family loves to cook and experiment with food. Recently, her young granddaughter, Hannah, declared that Laura and the child’s mother, Elizabeth, would have a contest. The girl would pick out two secret ingredients and the women would prepare an appetizer, main course and dessert using those ingredients. After dinner, the young judge would declare a winner.
What were the ingredients? Carrots and gouda cheese.
Elizabeth won the appetizer competition with a ginger carrot soup, but Laura was disqualified because she used scallops, which Hannah doesn’t like. Laura won the main course competition with a salad with fried cheese balls. Dessert ended up in the refrigerator because they were all so full after two appetizers and two main courses!
Lavender Mountain Bakery products are available at the Market and at Jives Coffee Lounge. Stop in for a bag of two small scones (one for you and one to give to a friend) for $2.50 or for a muffin. She also makes focaccia breads with a variety of toppings.
Who knows? You may even be able to get one with carrots and gouda cheese.
Written by Bonnie Simon of Community Writing Services, LLC
