Baby cakes

(L-R) Jalin, Saturena and Mike Gail with platters of goodies from Krazzii for Kookies-and More!

            Having children can inspire a person to do a lot of different things. Saturena Gail of Brunswick, Georgia, can credit her five children for opening the doors to her career as a baker-for-hire through her growing business, Krazzii for Kookies–and More! We hasten to add- it wasn’t her nice children that introduced the krazzii part, but the kookies- or cookies as you may know them.

            Over the years in her first career of full-time mom, Saturena’s love and skill for baking were discovered- by her children’s teachers, neighbors, and pretty much anybody else lucky enough to sample her cookies, pies and cakes. One can only imagine how excited her children’s teachers were to discover one of the Gail kids in the class at the beginning of the school year. Talk about some impressive party refreshments! Word spread, of course, and people began to ask Saturena to bake for special occasions. Before she knew it, she had a thriving dessert catering business.

            Saturena loves a challenge, and pushes herself to create new shapes and cookie flavor varieties.  Cookies for the Autism Walk were shaped like dolphins, the mascot of the event. Special items for the Glynn County 4-H Clubs featured the clover shape in the organization’s logo. She finds a lot of opportunity within the pastry form that allows her to bake up both unexpectedly bold and surprisingly subtle goodies to delight her customers.

            “The variety aspect is appealing to me,” she explained. “If you really like a particular kind of dessert, I’ll find a way to transform it into a cookie. There really is no limit to what you can accomplish.”   

            Saturena makes plenty of the old standby favorites for customers, like chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies. But by far, her customers’ favorites are Babycakes, a soft strawberry cream cheese cookie with a delicate cheesecake-like flavor. Runner-up is the fantastic red velvet cookie. Two new favorites are a pineapple-upside-down variety and mint-filled chocolate cool-burst cookies.

            Presentation is part of the Krazzii for Kookies experience. Last year, Saturena’s stylish pink-and-black table design attracted a lot of oooohhhhs and aaaaahhhhs at A Taste of Glynn.  This year? Still a top-secret, but look for signs of spring along with sweet treats that are as beautiful as they are delicious.

                        If Saturena ever had a minute to slow down and have someone else cook for her (which may be unrealistic, given the fact that she has five children and a growing business) she would order an authentic deep-south dinner of expertly prepared fried chicken with classic potato salad and collard greens and of course, fresh home-made cornbread. And for dessert? Her own Babycakes! But she would have to move fast, because those little pink delicacies have a habit of disappearing as soon as they are done. She’s even had calls from hopeful customers overseas, asking her to ship their favorite cookies to them.

            Stop by her table at A Taste of Glynn on March 25, from 5 to 8 pm. at the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort. Leave room for lots of kookies. You’d be krazzii not to! Tickets are available at the King and Prince, and SunTrust Bank locations on Demere Road and Sea Island Road, Palmer’s Village Café and Doug’s Bar & Grill on St. Simons. In Brunswick, purchase tickets at LaiLai’s, Hattie’s Books, color me happy, Zachry’s Seafood and Steak, Baby Mack’s and Moore Stephens Tiller LLC. Or call the Glynn Community Crisis Center at 264-1348.

           

Photo by Lindy Thompson, Golden Isles Photography