The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Fresh treats, warm memories
Pink Bandana Bakery has become neighborhood fixture, is set to host event with pumpkin carving and seed roasting
Kathy Robinson gets the most satisfaction from her long days baking goodies for her Pink Bandana Bakery because of the memories her creations help to make.
Her own food memories of her aunts’ epic baking sprees fueled her desire to leave a prosperous longtime career and go back to school for a degree in pastry arts.
And an pumpkin carving spree for children Oct. 27 will help make memories this weekend at the bakery, 8630 Mentor Ave. in Mentor.
She’s invited customers and handed out flyers in the neighborhood, but anyone who wants to come is invited.
“People need to RSVP on our website (pinkbandanabakery.com) so we know how many pumpkins to bring,” she said. Pumpkins will be provided at a discount to those who purchase something from the bakery.
“We’ll also provide the tools to carve and instruction,” she said. “We’ll do it outside at our picnic tables, so kids need to come dressed for the weather.”
The carving starts at noon. A Halloween party with treats will follow at 5 p.m., when a kid-friendly movie will be shown outside and the carved pumpkins will be lit for display.
Although she’s been in business less than a year, Robinson knows most of the folks who come through the door to her Pink Bandana Bakery.
The name comes from the pink bandana she wears to keep her hair back. In May 2017, when she was competing on a Food Network show for bakers, the judges commented on the bandana. The name stuck and now adorns her bakery. She also wears pink framed glasses and has painted the
picnic tables and parking spaces in front pink.
“We make memories here every day,” she said.
“There’s nothing more rewarding than the face of child who has come with her mom to pick up her birthday cake,” Robinson said. “They scream with excitement.”
A surprising number of neighboring businesses along this stretch of Mentor Avenue east of Center Street are owned or run by women. For instance, there’s Erika Zakrajsek, who, like Robinson, begins work at 4 a.m., Zakrajsek at her Cle Juice Box across the street.
“She’s been a lot of support for me,” said Robinson. “Other (nearby businesses run by women) include the Secret Garden greenhouse next door, Tommy’s Jerky and Awaken Yoga in the shopping center on my other side and, of course, Sisters Tea Room across the street. It’s a tremendous neighborhood of empowered women.”
Robinson has adopted a version of Rosie the Riveter for her business. Rosie became a World War II icon for the many women who stepped into jobs vacated by men who left for war. They ran much of the U.S. during the 1941-to-1945 war years and became a symbol of empowered women.
Robinson was 50 when she left a lucrative and highpowered career in nonprofit fundraising to attend the International Culinary Arts & Sciences institute in Chester Township for degree in pastry arts. She followed a dream that began when she was a girl in the kitchens of family bakers. One aunt made birthday cakes for every one of Robinson’s 30 cousins, while another made thousands of Christmas cookies every holiday season.
“Those were my earliest and fondest food memories,” she said.
After graduating from the intensive two-year ICASI program, she bought the Mentor building that formerly housed a ribs eatery. She and her husband, Wendell, remodeled it into the bakery, which opened in November.
Their daughter Paige is a Mentor High School sophomore with aspirations of becoming a film director.
“I’ve had wonderful support from my entire family,” she said. “My mother, who’s 80, even comes in to do the dishes each evening.”
The business was a hit from the beginning as word of mouth built a buzz for Pink Bandana’s sugar cookies and other treats, as well as its cakes. In the year the business has been open, she’s made and sold 875 specialty
cakes and 20 wedding cakes.
Her Brookies, a marriage of a brownie and a cookie that’s covered in ganache (a rich icing made from whipped cream and chocolate) have become a hit, as have the Tiers of Joy, a reconstructed cake layered in a to-go cup.
She believes it’s important to be there for her customers, so even though the bakery is closed on Sundays, she opens Sunday mornings so people can pick up the cakes and other items they’ve order for that day.
“When you’re having a baptism party, it’s a pain to have to pick up and store the cake at home the day before,” she said.
The pumpkin-carving spree is another outreach for her customers.
“It’s a messy operation, but it’s a fun mess. We’re doing it here to save folks the mess at home,” she said.
The carved pumpkins will go home with their carvers or can remain at the bakery for display.
In the meantime, Robinson and her crew will roast the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins with a variety of flavorings and return them to the families who stop in
next week.
She’ll roast them plain, with Cajun seasoning and flavored with brown sugar.
“They’re great, healthy treats when roasted,” she said. “Some people like to crack off the outer shells with their teeth and just eat the little seed (pepita) inside. But you can eat the whole seed, and they are really tasty.”
Robinson doesn’t like to wash the seeds, she said, because then they absorb water and don’t roast well.
Here’s how to do it at home:
• Clean off the pumpkin goo by wiping the seeds clean.
• Preheat oven to 385 degrees.
• Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Add Cajun seasonings for Cajun-flavored seeds or sprinkle with brown sugar and honey for sweet pumpkin seeds.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until toasty-looking.
• Once they’ve completely cooled, store in an enclosed container or a zip-lock bag.
• Eat within two or three days.