As the whole world is adapting and inventing new ways to do business during the coronavirus pandemic, so are moms. We are finally logging into those apps from school, downloading all the instructional content we can find, and trying to find safe ways to be outside. And when we’re not working our regular jobs (if we’re fortunate enough to still have them), we’re in the kitchen cooking and “distractibaking” — a Twitter hashtag made official by The New York Times.
Restaurants also, as we know, are adapting and inventing — meal kits with a bottle of wine and a roll of toilet paper are now sold for pickup. Who would’ve imagined? Bakeries, too, are improvising ways to make up for business from canceled weddings and events with decorate-at-home treat kits.
A Rice Krispies Treat package is one of Dallas-based Sift + Pour’s “Social Distancing Survival Kits” that are shipping nationwide. Owner Elizabeth Ging says she created them as a way to send joy to people who are depressed at this time over anything from a canceled wedding to a lost job. The kits’ popularity has allowed her to keep all of her employees up to this point, and she plans to add two other packages soon: a wine pairing cookie kit and treats for dogs.
Other local bakers like Amy Kerber of Amy Kerber Cookies & Cakes and Chrysta Miller of Cookies by Chrysta are following suit with sugar cookie kits that come with icing and sprinkles. Both saw the idea from other bakeries on social media and are preparing to sell their second round of the item. For Miller, her home business is her full-time job, and she says she knew she needed to do the same thing as others to bring in income.
The kits are an ingenious example of a new way to sell something that will always be in demand — desserts — and they’re perfect for busy moms who want to give their kids the joy of decorating cookies without the mess of flour and powdered sugar. It’s distractibaking for the whole family.
Details
Amy Kerber Cookies & Cakes is selling a package of six sugar cookies with four small piping bags of icing and sprinkles for $20. Kerber wears gloves to prepare the cookies in a sanitized kitchen. Payment is with Venmo, and customers communicate for porch pickup in Preston Hollow, so there’s no personal contact. See her Facebook page for ordering information. facebook.com/AmyKerberCookies/.
Cookies by Chrysta’s package includes six vanilla almond cookies with four bags of icing and sprinkles for $15. She also has large Easter themed paint-your-own-cookies that come with brushes and instructions. All orders are prepared in a sterilized kitchen, paid for online and available for curbside pickup in Mesquite. Email cookiesbychrysta@gmail.com to order, or look for instructions on Facebook: faceabook.com/cookiesbychrysta/.
Sift + Pour’s survival kit is gluten-free-friendly with four Rice Krispies Treats, chocolate and white chocolate frosting, and sprinkles for $25. Orders are available to be shipped locally or nationwide. Pickup is also available at Sift + Pour’s Victory Park location or at One Lagree fitness studio in Oak Lawn. Customers are asked not to enter the store at Victory Park, and Venmo is one touchless payment option. Order at siftandpour.com.
