SUSCON – What do you get when you couple free time from a pandemic with your favorite hobby? You give birth to a new business venture, Rock House Cookies LLC.
Like most people, Christina Kasa Russo, 42, had plenty of time on her hands during the shutdown of 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, so she turned to her favorite hobby – baking.
Russo works at her family business, Silverbrook Anthracite/Kasey-Kassa Coal Co., and during the shutdown, she was able to focus on her baking talent where she was able to create cookies and breads.
“Every time my mom (Betty) and myself and my sister (Angela) would make cookies, they would say, ‘You should sell them,’” Russo said, when asked how she started in the bakery business. “It was just the right opportunity.”
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Russo credits her mother and her Aunt Theresa for her baking skills.
“I’ve been baking forever, as long as my mother let us when I was younger,” Russo confessed. “Mom’s specialty was cinnamon buns. Everyone loves them.”
In early 2020, Russo filed for a Pennsylvania State license to operate as a bakery. She was officially licensed at the end of June 2020.
Since being licensed as Rock House Cookies LLC, Russo uses Facebook (https://ift.tt/3vSArEy) as her main source of advertising as well as word of mouth. She currently has over a thousand followers on social media.
“When I don’t have orders to do, I’ll just make stuff on my own and post them to Facebook,” Russo said. “I just let everyone know that I made something or if I have extras to sell.”
Rock House Cookies is based out of Russo’s home at 201 Dougherty Road, Pittston Twp., just two miles from Main Street, Dupont, off of Suscon Road. She resides with her husband Raffaele Sr. and 5-year-old son, Raffaele, Jr., better known as Lello.
“Some people come to the house to pick up baked goods and sometimes I deliver and other times I just might meet someone at Walmart,” Russo added.
When she decided to take the plunge to legitimize her bakery, she sectioned off her kitchen and purchased a double oven, cooking racks, a commercial mixer and other items separate from her personal kitchen.
“Everything has to be separate from my own home stuff like spatulas, mixing bowls, etc.” Russo said. “The state came in and inspected my kitchen to look at my refrigerator, made sure my hot water gets up to temperature, made sure I have no pets, and no kids in the kitchen while preparing and baking food.”
So far, Russo has been enjoying her business but would like to, one day, have a location with a separate kitchen that would include an industrial refrigerator.
“Right now I don’t bake products that need to be refrigerated,” Russo said. “So it would be nice to be able to do that.”
The name Rock House Cookies came out of her love for fossils, which are spread about her yard. Russo specializes in baking breads, all types of cookies and cakes.
As Russo states on her Facebook page, “Cookies are made to order for birthdays, weddings, holidays & every occasion that calls for something sweet & unique.”
“I like making bread,” Russo said. “I like making typical shower cookies like anise, chocolate pepper, peanut blossoms, chocolate chip, basically anything you can put on a tray.”
Russo also enjoys making all types of Italian cookies; after all, her husband Raffaele is a native of Italy.
If you take note of Russo’s cookie designs, you’ll see she’s a perfectionist for detail. She credits her background in drafting.
“I went to Marywood for interior design, so all those drafting classes made me a stickler for little teeny, tiny points,” Russo confessed.
Orders for Rock House Cookies baked items can be placed by calling 570-357-7755 on Tuesdays through Friday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Russo’s shop is closed on Mondays.
The Link LonkMay 09, 2021 at 10:33AM
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