Like millions of Americans, Jessica Owenby was recently furloughed from her job as an office manager due to the COVID-19 crisis. For most people, hers would be one more story of hardship and loss during difficult times. Jessica, however, looked beyond the adversity and saw opportunity.

As the old saying goes, “When life hands you lemons, make cinnamon rolls.” Well, something like that.

Jessica is the founder and owner of Our Recipe Roots - a fledgling business operating out of the temporarily shuttered Flat Rock Cinema. Her small bakeshop offers a variety of homemade pies and cinnamon rolls made with heirloom recipes handed down through the generations of her and her husband’s families. In fact, the inspiration for Jessica’s business was the discovery of a grandmother’s old recipe box.

The recipe box sparked something in the young mother of two and she set out to try the recipes one at a time and share her experiences with family and friends through a private blog. Her first blog entry is dated September 3, 2016, and reads:

Tucked away in a dresser drawer lived this sweet little recipe box. Strategically stuffed with index cards, newspaper cutouts and scrap paper it seemed to angelically glow the moment we laid eyes on it.

This blog idea came to mind as I carefully unwrapped each recipe. Some were fragile and others had cake batter still on them and I had this intense desire to recreate (as best I could) each one to associate a memory that only our taste buds could trigger.

Walk with me down memory lane as I make each recipe. As bittersweet as the flashbacks will be, let’s cherish them anyways and soak them in.

Through the blog, Jessica shared her experiences of recreating the recipes discovered in that unassuming recipe box assembled through the years by her husband’s grandmother. The first recipe she attempted was a 7-Up Pound Cake and it was an instant hit with her family. Although Jessica Owenby didn’t realize it at the time, a business venture had been born.

Jessica Owenby with her daughter, Libby.

With time, Jessica acquired more followers through her blog and social media posts. Her repertoire of recipes also grew as she added more recipes from both sides of her family. Eventually, people who followed her on social media started asking if she could bake something for them. A special occasion. A particular memory. A good old fashioned hankerin’ for something sweet and tasty.

Initially unsure of what would become of the blog idea, Jessica did not share her experiences with many people. “It was a secret really,” she explains. “Then last year in the fall, more people started asking me if I'd make them a pie for Labor Day or Thanksgiving and my husband said you’ve got to stop hiding this.” Jessica agreed and started taking orders in earnest, and her business took off.

Jessica’s grandmother making Christmas cookies with her children.

Her Instagram account describes the business as Heirloom recipes soaked in memories of the past.... providing Pies and Cinnamon Rolls every day! Treasuring our heritage one bite at a time. And although money changes hands, the motivation for Jessica goes much deeper than a simple source of income. From her blog:

There is something about an old recipe box, weathered and well worn, that provides a glimpse of past memories and traditions. One taste from an inherited recipe brings back a flood of memories that can’t be triggered any other way. Sometimes it’s the best way to remember someone close to our heart.

As 2020 began, Jessica took more and more special orders and spent her evenings and weekends baking for a growing list of clients. She would deliver the pies, cakes, and rolls on her way to and from work. Her parents own The Flat Rock Cinema, and Jessica also started baking mini-pies to serve at the theater. They were a hit at the theater, and the small business continued to grow. Our Recipe Roots was growing, but still decidedly a side hustle.

Then … the pandemic.

No longer able to do her job as an office manager, Jessica saw an opportunity to take her business to the next level. Her husband Brooks had encouraged her to do more with the business and with her new-found free time, she started accepting more orders. “Easter is when I said, all right, we're going a hundred percent. I finally had the time to fully invest in the business. And it's been amazing to see what happened,” says Jessica.

With Flat Rock Cinema closed temporarily, Jessica has put their idle kitchen equipment to good use. In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, she worked several late nights to prepare orders for 90 pies and baked 50 pans of cinnamon rolls for special orders and walk-in traffic.

Jessica believes that Our Recipe Roots has a mind of its own and she describes herself as “just the baker.” Her sparkling eyes and easy smile, however, belie the fact that she has discovered a special calling. “To be able to hand something to somebody that makes them really happy is a huge reward and I don't find that anywhere else. There's just something about it. I feel connected to my past when I do this and that fulfills something in me.”

Jessica tells one story, in particular, that perfectly encapsulates the power of memories resurrected by food.

My grandmother had given me her mother's recipe for a pineapple cake, and the first time I made it we drove to her house at 8:30 at night to let her taste the cake right out of the oven. And to see her face! It was like she flashed back to her childhood. Like her mom had just made that cake. That’s when I realized exactly why I love doing this. I was able to create a memory that you cannot get anywhere else.

What’s next for Our Recipe Roots? Jessica and her parents and working out the logistics of sharing the Cinema space once the theater is free to open again. Her clientele grows by the week and someday perhaps, she would consider a retail location of her very own. Anyone who has tasted something from Jessica’s kitchen would not be inclined to bet against her.

All this was born out of the love and memories stored in a grandmother’s recipe box. One bite at a time.

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Our Recipe Roots

Distributing special orders Monday through Thursday from the Flat Rock Cinema. On Fridays, a limited supply of extra cinnamon rolls and pies are available for walk-in pickup.

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