Baking Dreams

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Jada wiped the sweat from her brow as she pulled the final tray of her famous sweet potato biscuits from the oven. The aroma of warm butter and brown sugar filled her tiny apartment kitchen. For a brief moment the stresses of being a single mom working double shifts melted away. These biscuits were her escape - her happy place.

Ever since she was a little girl learning at her grandmother's apron strings Jada had found peace in the kitchen. Measuring ingredients sifting flour kneading dough - the rhythmic practiced motions were meditative. But it was more than that. Cooking channeled her God-given gift for transforming humble ingredients into something magical. Grandma's sweet potato biscuits were a prime example - billowy soft pillows of carby delight somehow both decadent and wholesome at once.

After Grandma passed her biscuit legacy lived on in Jada. She'd baked them for friends landing her first food service job. Coworkers Teachers at her kids' school. Whoever sampled the biscuits couldn't get enough. They motivated Jada on her hardest days by reminding her of the joy she could create. Just not enough joy to pay the bills.

Lately money was tighter than ever. Her serving job stripped her soul while the bills stacked up. An eviction notice sparked her wake-up call. Jada needed a new plan and fast. But what other options were there for a high school dropout with two little mouths to feed? She refused to add to her grandma's disappointments after dropping out to have Jayla. Crying into yet another unpaid bill stack Jada wrung her hands - when suddenly the aroma of warm biscuits wafted in from the kitchen.

That's it! I'll sell the biscuits! Jada thought at first of just baking out of her home but quickly realized permits and codes made operating a food business from her apartment impossible. But she could supply a restaurant or two - fewer hoops and they'd make the perfect addition to a breakfast or lunch menu! Jada spent weeks sampling biscuits at every greasy spoon and upscale brunch spot in town. After many polite rejections she finally landed two wholesale accounts and just like that Sweet Peach Biscuit Company was born!

In the months that followed Jada baked with a passion she'd never known. Before the roosters crowed she'd arrive at the rented kitchen to mix dough in huge batches. By mid-morning she'd shuttle her wares still warm from the oven to the cafe accounts. Driving back home she'd bask in the sweet scent of success. On many evenings she worked the late baker shift before doing homework with Jayla and her son Jameson. Sleep was scarce but the hustle was worth it as her bank balance slowly grew for the first time in her adult life.

Jada's talent spoke for itself soon earning her more and more accounts. Yet she refused to water down her magic biscuit recipe to cut costs or compromise quality for quantity. Customers raved developing a near cult-like following for the fresh daily batches delivered with swoon-worthy brevity for optimal enjoyment. Perhaps she did have what it took to see this through after all.

When a former customer - now the owner of a trendy new downtown restaurant - came calling about adding Sweet Peach to her menu Jada leapt at the opportunity. This classy joint was the perfect springboard to market Sweet Peach products in local grocers and outlets.

As her success snowballed Jada hired helping hands carefully showing them the sweet potato biscuit ropes. Space constraints necessitated finding a larger production kitchen space. Keeping operations lean she pumped all profits into expanding distribution and growing Sweet Peach's footprint throughout the city. Five years after nearly being evicted Jada was signing papers to purchase the huge bakery operation of her dreams.

Hours before the grand opening Jada sat in her new kitchen inhaling the buttery sweet aroma of fresh biscuits baking. She smiled and closed her eyes as memories flooded back of baking with Grandma as a girl giggling as the elderly woman's biscuit dough sprinkled the floor much to her mom's chagrin. She'd inherited more than just a life passion and recipes from her grandmother. That kindly woman with a giving spirit believed in Jada when she struggled most. Even on her darkest days her grandmother's unwavering faith in her ability to create something special from humble ingredients kept Jada going.

As the aroma of baking biscuits enveloped her Jada felt her grandmother's presence offering a warm embrace. She opened her eyes fighting back tears of gratitude for the legacy that enabled her to build this dream. The first batches would be coming out of the oven any minute signaling the grand opening of Sweet Peach Biscuit Company's very own bakery. Jada couldn't wait to continue sharing her grandmother's magic along with the story behind each delicious biscuit for many years to come. This was merely the first batch of an endless stream of sweet success.