Greetings from Willowbrook!
I am excited to announce the debut of The Willowbrook Word, my bi-monthly newsletter to let you know the happenings at Willowbrook Manor. I appreciate you signing up as a subscriber and hope you will want share this with your friends.
I wish a Happy Fathers Day to all fathers and father figures, and I thought I would share a bit of how my own father's influence is felt here at Willowbrook.
The story has to do with pies, and diamonds, and the quiet constant effort of a man to help make a bakery work.
It began when I was 16 and had my first job waiting tables at Hennesy's Restaurant in small-town Ferndale, WA. The pie-maker was retiring and the manager was in a quandary at how to replace her. Much like the kid in school raising her hand to say, "my mom can make the cookies," I said that my mom could make the pies, and sure enough that is what happened. My mother and grandmother shifted their catering business to focus on pie-making and for years delivered exceptional pies and delicious carrot cakes and cinnamon rolls to restaurants in both Whatcom and Skagit counties.
To facilitate it all, my dad built a separate bakery building adjacent to the family farmhouse. Over time he scouted auctions and restaurant sales and turned a small shed into a fully-equipped bakery complete with a walk-in refrigerator. He found a 30-quart Hobart mixer at a school auction and I think only paid $100 for it. It was built like a tank, and he figured it was older than he was. Getting it home and into the bakery was no small feat, and he had to shore up the floor to accommodate it.
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My mom's pies were famous for their melt-in-your-mouth crusts, and the Hobart cranked out thousands of them. One day my mom looked down at her wedding ring and noticed that where the diamond should be, there was a ball of pie dough. My folks looked and looked for the diamond but never found it. They wondered if a customer found it in a pie.
Years later, when mom left baking for writing, I decided the Hobart needed to live at my house. So I offered a loose diamond I had as trade for the mixer. Dad had the diamond set in my mom's original wedding ring set, and they call it the 'Hobart Diamond'.
When we built the Manor, we made space for our own little production kitchen and licensed it so that the rolls and cookies I baked for weddings, funerals and the community soup kitchen, (and eventually the concession stand the kids ran) would be from a licensed bakery.
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Whenever I use the Hobart I think of my dad and how grateful I am to have this machine that makes my work so much easier. I marvel at it being older than he is and still cranking out wonderful baked goods for people to enjoy.
When you come to Willowbrook Manor, remember there is a piece of history in the kitchen. Today I say thank you to my dad for his work years ago that actually makes my work today so much easier. Love you Dad. -t
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Tea and Tour is here!
The month of June is when Tea and Tour begins here at Willowbrook Manor and couples, families and friends are already enjoying the summer scenic and historic bike tours we host. Tea and sweet cream scones are a delicious beginning to a wonderful country experience.
In July we will debut the guided historical tour of Northern State Hospital. It is a must-do this for the summer.
I hope you will join us!
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