What do you do when you’re a stay-at-home Mom and have a “Type A” personality? Well, if you’re Lisa Harrel, you bake cookies.
For those who may not know, some of the words that describe a Type A person include outgoing, ambitious, organized and proactive. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving “workaholics.”
This means Lisa didn’t just bake cookies. She baked awesome cookies painstakingly iced with detailed decorations.
She started our by seeking help from a friend who made cookies and then perfecting her craft.
Once she was satisfied with her cookie recipe, which is similar to a shortbread cookie flavored with almond extract, and her decorating technique, Lisa then decided to start selling her cookies. Thus, Big Sky Cookie Co. was born.
Lisa grew up in Oregon and her family moved to Sidney just 11 months ago due to her husband taking a position with his company here.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be working a regular job when we moved since I have two small children,” said Lisa. “I have to pick up my son every day at 11:15, so there’s no way I was going to be able to work. We do not have family here and we didn’t want to pay for daycare.”
Lisa started searching for something to do from home that would fulfill her need to be active and productive.
“I was obsessed with watching the cookie decorating videos on Instagram, so I decided I wanted to take a whack at this,” said Lisa. “I bought some baking stuff… very minimal, and I just started doing it.”
The baker said learning to make the cookies she now produces took a lot of practice and she learns something new all the time. “I’m still learning. Absolutely. It’s fun.”
During her beginning stages, Lisa had a friend, Candice, who baked cookies out of her home in Washington and became a mentor to her. “I would ask her about her technique, where she got her supplies, what she used. I owe her a lot of it,” said Lisa.
While Lisa does love baking and decorating cookies, she said the best part is all of the people she has had the chance to meet through the business. “I love to meet people and to talk to people. I can talk your darn ears off,” said said, laughing again.
For those who marvel at how detailed her cookies are and may wonder how she does it, Lisa revealed her secret — she uses a projector.
“I use a small projector to cast the image on to the cookie and I just take an icing bag and fill it in,” said Lisa. She admits she cannot draw very well but usually has no problem finding a design to fit a customer’s request on the internet.
Her largest order to date was for six dozen cookies for one customer. She also sold 1,400 cookies over two weekends as well.
For now, Lisa only uses one cookie recipe. “I kind of make my cookies the way I like them,” she said with a laugh. “It’s been successful. Everybody loves them.”
Well, not everyone, Lisa admits. “My husband and my kids don’t like the cookies.”
During her time off, Lisa does plan to expand her offerings to include other flavors, including chocolate.
Lisa is amazed at the success she has had to this point. “I had no idea it was going to be the way it is. I was just trying to do a side job… not even a job, honestly. Just kind of like a hobby,” she said.
While Lisa said she can be as busy as she wants baking cookies, she has had to temporarily stop taking orders for custom cookies. “We’re moving in a month. We’ve started the process of packing up the house and all of that, so I just can’t take the time to make cookies. A detailed cookie takes a while, you know.”
According to Lisa, a batch of custom cookies takes about a day and a half to complete.
The house the family is moving in to needs a lot of renovation, so they will be living in a small travel trailer until the renovations are complete. “I can’t bake cookies in a travel trailer. I can’t even bake biscuits in there,” she said.
The good news is, Lisa will definitely be making cookies once she gets settled into the new home, which during renovation will include a separate baking kitchen for her cookies. “I hope to be making cookies by July,” said Lisa.
She also has plans for a cookie trailer. She has purchased a small horse trailer which will be transformed into a mobile cookie trailer.
April 24, 2021 at 01:15AM
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Stay-at-home mom finds fulfillment in cookies - Sidney Herald Leader
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