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January 25, 2007 - Image 41

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2007-01-25

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

To Life!

Made With
Love

The woman behind Polly's Pastries blends
passion with entrepreneurial spirit.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

T

o Polly Carpenter, baking equals
love. That's what she remem-
bers from her days as a young
girl learning to bake with her great-aunt
Madie.
"I'd spend weekend with her just bak-
ing," said Carpenter of West Bloomfield.
"She had patience; and it was always
peaceful, even when there was chaos or I
was in a bad mood. It just felt like love to
me.
Now Carpenter bakes five to seven days
a week from morning until dusk produc-
ing Polly's Pastries — mandelbread in
various flavors, banana loaves, sour cream
coffeecake loaves and lemon bars, all sold
exclusively at Hiller's Markets.
For years she had been a makeup artist
who happened to love baking and cooking,
most often "good Jewish homemade stuff!"
"I started to invent my own recipes:'
she said. "I would play doctor and figure
out ways to make things denser, sweeter,
lighter, coarser. I don't measure evenly;
but I know exactly what I'm doing, and it
always turns out the same.
"Finally, I woke up one morning and

Carpenter makes

her pastries in

the bakery at

Hiller's Market

at Five Mile and

Haggerty roads.

said, 'This is what I really want to do!"
Six years ago, she went to the Hiller's
in West Bloomfield to see if her mandel-
bread would sell. Store manager Larry
Waller allowed her a shot, and she went
into the bakery department and passed
out samples. People told her it was "the
best mandelbread they had ever tasted:'
she said. Each batch sold quickly through
word of mouth.
With that encouragement, Carpenter
began to bake in restaurant kitchens
owned by friends, baking eight loaves at a
time. Her ingredients are all natural, with
no preservatives. And each, she says confi-
dently, is handmade with love.
"My baked goods are for the person
who doesn't have the time or the know-
how but wants something homemade she
said. "People will be putting this out, and I
want them to enjoy"

A Guardian Angel
"I had never met Jim Hiller [president of
Hiller's Markets]; but he came in one day
while I was doing a store demo, and he
saw my enthusiasm:' Carpenter said. "He
said, `I love your mandelbread. Now I want
a chocolate babka; and I want you in every
store, exclusive to Hiller's!"

After stocking shelves with her freshly baked pastries, Polly Carpenter passes out
samples and chats with shoppers.

With Hiller's largesse, Carpenter was
allowed to shift her baking onsite at the
West Bloomfield store. She also began to
work on a babka recipe with chef Rick
Halberg, the supermarket chain's director
of culinary services.
"We are going to produce the world's
best babka together;' Hiller said. "Polly is
the real thing; she has a passion for food.
She is genuine and authentic, and quality
is more important to her than being rich
and famous.
"It excites me to meet people with real
passion. Her baked goods are made with
care and love; it's not possible for a big
company to make a product like she does!"
Hiller was willing to get behind
Carpenter in a way she never dreamed.
She now bakes from his largest super-
market at Five Mile and Haggerty in
Plymouth, sharing the bakery's huge com-
mercial ovens with Hiller's bakers. She can
buy ingredients in bulk and store them on
site. And she has a new commercial mixer.
The move now allows her to bake up
to 32 loaves at a time. Since August, she
estimates she's made about 2,500 loaves.
Hiller's uses its in-store demonstrators to
pass out samples on weekends, and the

chain features her goods in its advertising
circulars.
"I've never done this before and I'll
probably never again, but Polly is a won-
derful person and it's exciting to be able
to get involved with a cottage industry:'
Hiller said.
"Jim Hiller is an angel watching over
me Carpenter said. "This kitchen is a
dream and they are doing everything they
can to accommodate me. I am able to do
what I do and follow my dream because of
him. What ,company would take an inde-
pendent person and help me so much to
get my business off the ground?"
Polly's Pastries is doing so well that
Carpenter has hired a helper three days
a week and may add another. She works
hard, often baking seven days a week. She
promises the babka will be coming soon.
"When my head is in that dough, it just
feeds something in me Carpenter said. "I
think it's my purpose and I kvell from it.
I can bake 300, and every one is from my
heart.
"I love what I do, and I feel strongly
about it. It's part of me from my child-
hood. I just couldn't give it up. Great-aunt
Madie would be proud." I I

jN

January 25 • 2007

41

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