After three years of planning, checking and remodeling, Kelly and Timothy Maris are ready to open their sweet shop business, 14th Street Sweets in Windber.
The couple, along with their daughter, Ivy, said they are more than excited about the new business.
“Up until now, it has been more word of mouth," Kelly said. “People have contacted me ahead of time about what they want. We discuss their event.
"I have a planned menu, but I tell people if there is something they want and it is not on the menu, then just tell me and I will be glad to see if I can make it.”
The business is strictly sweets, featuring luscious mint chocolate fudge, peppermint meltaway cookies and vanilla peanut butter pies, just to name a few.
Timothy said that his wife’s creme brulee is better than the best. Kelly did two “boot camps” at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, with top-notch pastry chiefs.
“She actually studied with the chef who is said to have brought the recipe for creme brulee to the United States,” he said.
The idea for opening a bakery came from Timothy, a mail carrier, who had asked his wife to make cookies for the union picnic. He had hired a local caterer to make the food, but was told they do not make deserts.
“I asked Kelly to make some cookies," he said, "and everyone went crazy over the cookies.”
Kelly remembered making peanut blossoms, sugar cookies and oatmeal cookies, along with a few others for the picnic.
“I didn’t do anything but cookies. Tim said everyone was asking if they could order more," she said.
"One gentlemen who attended gave me a huge cookie order that year. The next year I received so many orders and we didn’t have the baking setup as we do now so we went crazy making cookies. I actually had to turn people away.”
Kelly said she does not have a certain pastry or sweet as her favorite. Her favorite to make, however, might be cupcakes.
“I have fun putting them together. I enjoy putting flavors together, like adding caramel to the apple cupcakes. I get a basic recipe, say a cake recipe, then I think what kind of filling do I want to put in them,” she said.
The couple, moved to this area from the Maine after learning about the area at a family reunion in Kittanning. They had talked about leaving Maine because of the high cost of living and Kelly wanting to stay home with their new baby, Ivy.
At the reunion, they expressed their plans. Kelly’s uncle suggested that they check out the Johnstown area.
“We loved Maine but it was so very expensive to live there," Kelly said. ‘We had Ivy and didn’t want to put her in day care, but could not live on one income in Maine.”
They checked out Johnstown and liked the area. They then talked to a realtor, a friend of her uncle, who found them a home in Richland Township. This was after Timothy learned that he would be able to transfer his time working for the postal service to Johnstown. They said they were able to sell their house in Maine in less than five days.
The house they purchased in Richland Township was nice, they said, but the kitchen was small. According to Kelly, it had a” little galley kitchen”, which made it nearly impossible to have an in-home baking business.
“The whole move to Windber was kind of necessitated by the need for more space and wanting to have a home business,” she said.
When they found the house on 14th Street they saw a home with tons of possibilities. They made the purchase and enrolled Ivy in Windber Area School District.
“We have been very happy here,” Kelly said. “I think we made a really good choice of where to raise our daughter.”
Kelly added that all the neighbors have been welcoming.
"It really is a nice community,” she said.
The home they bought looks like a brick ranch home from the outside, but really has three levels inside. The space on the bottom floor of their home accommodates the professional kitchen for the bakery.
Kelly said the room was a laundry/TV room. The couple had the rug removed. Timothy and his father installed a new ceramic tile floor.
Stainless-steel appliances were purchased and fans installed. Timothy did all the research on purchasing the needed equipment, said Kelly, who currently works in the business office of LifePoint at the Tech Park in Johnstown. She gives credit to her husband for all that he did to make their dream come true.
“He really is my rock,” she said.
Kelly added that she has all the equipment she needs, along with the state certification for an in-home business. Business cards are printed and they officially taking orders for their delectable sweets.
The family plans on having a new menu printed soon listing all the items they sell.
“We will be taking orders for cookie trays for the holidays,” Kelly said. “I do not make things far in advance.
"If you want a cake I will more than likely make it the night before. I think that freshness is very important for all baked goods.”
The 14th Street Sweets bakery is only a carry-out only business. If you would like to learn more, contact them by calling 814-691-1425.
https://www.dailyamerican.com/bakery-opens-along-th-street/article_2667a7bf-bbb1-5eb2-9495-79ab0f81ac57.html