Story Published:
Mar 20, 2011 at 4:16 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Mar 20, 2011 at 5:16 PM CDT
Locally "famous" for their cupcakes, Sweet Sallie's entrepreneur Stephanie Clark hoped to expand that reputation through a 2nd anniversary celebration for the shop near the Depot in Cookeville.
Stephanie, who became the new owner on January 24, wanted to point out that Sweet Sallies is also now offering home-made, made-from-scratch soup and quiche along with three kinds of chicken salad: cajun, regular chicken salad mix, and curry chicken salad, along with fresh, hot breads baked daily. She also observed that she has sugar free/low fat items soon to be added to the menu.
“We have several strong followers who come daily, but we want to let everyone know that we do offer more than just cupcakes,” says Stephanie Clark.
Music by the “Ballinger Family Band” enthralled the Sweet Sallie’s patrons with their unique mix of bluegrass, jazz, and their own esoteric, inimitable sound made famous as the “Cluster Pluckers." The band featured instrumentalists and vocalists including Jack Sallee picking the banjo, Mike Whitehead from Maryville, Tennessee on fiddle, Dale Ballinger on bass, and Chris Ballinger on the guitar.
Stephanie Clark described her background. With a degree from Tennessee Tech in nutrition and dietetics, she comes by her cooking honestly as she grew up watching and helping her aunts and grandmother as they were “workin it up in the kitchen.”
She personally started baking when she was 14, and her first creation was a cheesecake.
With the desire to “give back,” Stephanie described their efforts to support epilepsy research. “We’re part of an initiative to raise money for the Anita Kaufman foundation, a center for epilepsy research and treatment, so we’re doing a purple cupcakes for the ‘Great Purple Cupcake Day,’ which will be next Saturday, March 26.”
When asked if she had one to photograph, she said, “Not yet, that’s still in the R & D Dept.”
“Is that you?”
“Yes, that’s myself and Sarah Thomas, our head baker.”
Also, they are the only coffee shop that offers “Red Espresso,” a hybrid tea and coffee, a very popular drink favored by coffee aficionados that’s not offered very many places in the state (if any place else).
Sweet Sallies hours 7 to 5:30 M-F and Sat 9-3 and they’re located at 11 N Oak Ave., Cookeville. Call ahead to place an order at 931-526-6556
And be keeping an eye out for those purple cupcakes.
