Little local bakery meets big challenge

Xochitl “Nina” Sanchez always tells people the folks who work in her small bakery love a challenge.

But she must have wondered last week whether her folks had bitten off more than they could chew.

Sanchez and her brother, Victorio Chavarria, are partners in Bake Me A Dream, 1619 Sixth St., in Texas City.

The two are used to baking cookies. The hand-decorated cookies in the shop are ornate, labor intensive and creative. They usually sell individually: $3.50 each.

But BP was having a town-hall meeting with employees. When the big company put in an order for cookies, it wanted 7,500 — 5,000 assorted and 2,500 hand-decorated.

The bakery had a week to fill the order.

Sanchez and Chavarria have four employees. They spread the word they needed help. Seven students showed up.

The crew did the hand-decorated cookies first.

For a while, the bakery was covered in dough. Then the shop was full of flat pans, each holding 24 cookies. The students helped decorate each one.

Late Saturday night, Sanchez took inventory and discovered she had 850 more to go. She and two employees worked from 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning to about 9:30 that night.

On Monday morning, the bakers started in on the 5,000 assorted cookies — mainly chocolate chip and peanut butter.

Although he’s a partner in Bake Me A Dream, Chavarria has “a real job,” his sister said. He’s an engineer when he’s home in Oregon.

“This is the second time he’s taken a leave of absence to come be with us,” Sanchez said.

Chavarria was in early Monday to start baking. About 1 a.m. Tuesday, the crew finally stopped.

The cookies — 650 pounds — went into 34 big boxes. It took two vehicles to get them to BP.

The project gave new meaning to the phrase “challenge.”

It also gave new meaning to the phrase “shop local.”

The big order was a challenge. But it was a good payday for a small business. It also put some extra money into the pockets of seven high school students.

Sanchez said help came from all over. Kevin Yackly of Grand Prize Barbecue helped by introducing the little bakery to BP. A supplier remembered the bakery would need big boxes for the delivery. When word got out, the students showed up.

“We needed help,” Sanchez said. “And the help just kind of came to us.”

Heber Taylor is editor of The Daily News.