English bakery a hit in Linden

LINDEN, Texas — There’s a little bit of England in Linden just now at the site that used to serve as the town’s domino parlor.

You can hear it in the soft English accents inside the newly decorated store on West Houston Street.

You will notice it in the use of the word “savory” as a noun meaning something good to eat, such as, “I’ve got some savories for you.”

You can experience it if you get to go to one of the promised “high teas” in the afternoons.

The store is a bakery shop opened by the Englishwoman Leesa Carter.

The Gingerbread House is an small, homey, English bake shop. The baking ovens are a kitchen just a few feet away in a second room.

Out front, two tables have settings for four — plates, bowls, cups and teapot in English china — all in place.

You see, the English bake shop means something more than a sweet shop. More substantial. One tasteful bit Carter was passing around was a combination of cake, pineapple and jalapeño.

One can sit down and order quiche, pastiche, chicken with mushroom sauce, sausage, rolls, and other meats and cheeses.

“More savories,” they say. The Gingerbread House can also take special orders such as for cakes.

Carter said she has been preparing her venture since participating in a Linden Economic Development Corp. and Linden Main Street pop-up program in which new business ideas were given a chance to open without cost in the downtown area over a period of several nights.

Carter is from Yorkshire, England, and has been in Texas five years. She tries to bring a bakery with “European flavor and maybe a little bit of Texas and Louisiana added.”

“We use butter and other special ingredients a lot,” she said.

Of the community’s excitement over the opening, Carter said, “All our customers are coming in waves,” which shows the entrepreneur still believes England rules the waters.

above ■ Leesa Carter is all smiles talking with Christopher Trahan, executor director of the Linden Economic Development Corp., at The Gingerbread House bakery in Linden, Texas.

■ Rowan Carter, son of owner Leesa Carter of The Gingerbread House in Linden, has just removed some items from the oven. He’s a junior in Linden-Kildare High School.

■ Linden City Administrator Bob Swisher says he’s already a regular customer of Leesa Carter’s new Gingerbread House bakery.

Staff photo by Neil Abeles left ■ Here are the some of the “savories” being made by the bakery in Linden.

■ Already in place for customers coming to the new Gingerbread House in Linden, Texas, is a table for an English-style supper or light lunch.

■ The smiles are already beginning for Jackie Bradshaw, left, and Kathy Watson as they enter the new Gingerbread House bakery on West Houston Street in Linden, Texas.