Alden’s Hometown Snacks and Sweets to celebrate two years

Published 9:10 am Thursday, January 22, 2009

Kim Guanella, owner of Hometown Snacks & Sweets, uses her baking skills to connect with her community and reflect Alden’s old-fashioned style.

“This is, I would say, an old-fashioned community, small town and that’s kind of the feeling I want in my cooking,” Guanella said. “It’s what grandma would make type cooking. And that’s kind of the way I feel in town.”

Hometown Snacks & Sweets will celebrate its two-year anniversary on Feb. 13 and 14 by having free samples. Before she opened the bakery, Guanella said she honed her baking skills by cooking for friends and for showrooms when she worked as a sales representative.

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“I used to do bars there for my customers,” Guanella said. “I always felt if you could keep them in your room eating, then maybe they’ll buy some things.”

She mostly bakes cookies, bars and rolls, but does take special orders, Guanella said.

Guanella’s husband, Joe Guanella, is the superintendent of Alden-Conger School District, and Guanella said she tried her recipes on teachers for feedback.

“It’s more something to do, I love to cook and you can only eat so much,” Guanella said.

The business is also a way for Guanella to be a part of the community, because Guanella said she talks to her customers about what’s going on in Alden.

Guanella said a bakery in a small community is run on a smaller scale than one in a large town. Not only does she know most her customers personally, Guanella said she knows what her customers want: usually traditional treats like chocolate-chip cookies, peanut blossoms and Special K bars.

“I have certain guys that come in and always want chocolate-chip cookies,” Guanella said. “Someone else will come in and I know they’re coming in for their daily rolls. You know your customers more.”

Another part of a small town is people asking her to bake a certain food, she also said some people bring her recipes as well, and some customers even make suggestions because they know her and know she won’t be insulted.

“I go a lot on what people tell me,” Guanella said. “Sometimes someone will come in and say, ’You know I bought this, but you know what would be really good? If you did this.’”

One of the most surprising things, Guanella said is that many people stick to the foods they prefer and don’t experiment with new foods. She can make gift baskets of assorted foods, but she said most people aren’t aware they can do that.

Guanella uses 20 to 25 daily recipes but has many more she works with, she said. Most are family recipes, but Guanella said she will use recipes from a cookbook, but she’ll adjust the recipe after the first time she makes it.

“Most of the time it’s a matter of a little more flour here or a little more butter there. With experience you see what you want to do and change,” Guanella said.

The amount of food Guanella bakes in a week varies based on how many orders there are, she said. Christmas is the busiest time of year, and May and June is her second busiest time because of graduation open houses, she said.

“That’s the hard part about the business, is knowing exactly what tomorrow’s going to bring,” Guanella said.

Each morning, Guanella said she looks over the food she has to judge what she’ll make that day, and she’ll spend about four hours baking each day. Bars and cookies can stay on the shelf as long as three days and rolls only two, but Guanella said she tells her customers if food is not fresh. Food that’s not bought is either donated or given to good customers, she said.

But assembling a kitchen to cook in was no easy task, because of certification requirements by the Department of Agriculture, Guanella said.

To be certified, Guanella said she needed stainless steel appliances; wall, ceiling and floor coverings; and three separate sinks — one to wash dishes, one to wash food and one to wash hands. It took Guanella three months to become certified, and she said she owned the building a year before the business opened.

After the work to be certified and the work baking, Guanella said her favorite part of the business is her customer’s reactions.

“I love when someone comes in and says, ‘I loved those from last time. I’ve got to get some more’,” Guanella said.