Mandy Keddington has been baking for the Kamas community for six years and is now opening her first storefront. She’s come a long way from her first bakery, which her dad and grandpa converted from an old camping trailer.
“We're excited! I grew up here. My dad grew up here. We're from here. And I'm just really excited to be able to have a storefront to serve the people that I love so much,” she said.
Mandy will be running the 200-square-foot space with her husband Joe. If all goes well, he says they’ll be able to open around Thanksgiving.
They’re right next to the Kamas Theater, which is aiming to reopen that weekend too.
Mandy-Joe’s Brownies & Bars will do custom orders Monday through Friday, and they’ll be open on Saturdays for locals to pick-up pre-made offerings.
The pastries will be laid out on Mandy’s old kitchen table. She says it’s one of many ways the business will help folks feel at home.
“I try to keep my prices at a reasonable price so that anybody could come in and get something. Because baked goods, it's home. You want to feel comfortable. You want to feel loved,” she said. “I just want everybody to be able to experience that.”
Her business specializes in brownies and “blondies”—those chocolate chip cookie bars — and because it’s a custom-order shop, she’ll try anything short of extremely large custom cakes.
“If you have a recipe that your grandma used to make and say, ‘Do you make this?’ I will give it an attempt,” she said. “I will try anything.”
Joe recommends their shortbread cakes, too.
Mandy-Joe’s Brownies and Bars is documenting the road to its grand opening on social media.
