If it's 4:30 in the morning, you might see a
light on in the kitchen of Selkirk Sweets Bakery
and Catering, a new business located at the
south side of Bonners Ferry inside the Dodge
Peak Lodge. Four-thirty is when Selkirk Sweets
owner Sharon Hintze starts her day, which is
going to be a day busy with cupcakes,
croissants, tarts, cookies, various flavors of
icing, cinnamon rolls, turnovers, and of course,
much more.
Selkirk Sweets Bakery and Catering was opened
for business about four months ago, just this
past November. Sharon Hintze, owner and operator
of the business, grew up in Michigan, and before
coming here had been living in Minnesota. "I
grew up working in my parent's grocery store. I
worked in a number of restaurants." She went off
to college in the Northwoods area of northern
Wisconsin, and earned a degree in Hospitality
Management.
After working in baking and decorating cakes for
over 20 years, she was eventually offered an
opportunity to become a partner in the bakery
where she had been working in St. Paul,
Minnesota. She took that opportunity, and thus
became co-owner of a busy St. Paul bakery.
So how did she go from operating a busy bakery
in metropolitan St. Paul, to starting up her own
bakery and catering service in the mountains of
North Idaho? She had family living in Bonners
Ferry, and once in a while she would break away
from baking to visit her Idaho relatives. "I
fell in love with the area."
She decided to move to Bonners Ferry, but
finding a job here did not go as smoothly as she
had hoped. Then one day she heard about a place
in town that had an empty commercial kitchen
that was not in use. With her background,
skills, and experience, she knew she could put
that location to good use, and Selkirk Sweets
was born. That's how those 4:30 a.m. mornings
get going.
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And beginning at 6:00 a.m. most days, you can
stop by and try out her variety of pastries,
cookies, and other baked goods. On the day we
visited Selkirk Sweets, the brightly lit display
case contained croissants filled with either
cream cheese or jalapeño peppers. There were
apple turnovers and apricot turnovers with
craisins. Also on sale that day were your choice
of cinnamon rolls with either German cinnamon
honey butter, or maple espresso icing and bacon.
"We change our items daily," said Sharon. "We
bake in small batches so we can rotate our
offerings, so you will not find the same
products everyday. We love to make so many
items, rotating gives us the chance to do
numerous items. We do encourage our customers
that if there is something you would like for a
specific day, please give us a call and place a
special order."
 She
has also started offering fresh hot breakfast in
the morning. On the day of our visit, the
breakfast menu offered biscuits and sausage
gravy, and baked apple French toast topped with
cranberry sauce and finished off with whipped
cream and walnuts. "There is no set menu for
breakfast," she said. We change items daily,
rotating foods in and out. We also do a variety
of egg bakes for breakfast."
But it all doesn't end there. Selkirk Sweets
does children's birthday parties, and she plans
to start having pasty days once a month. (Pasty:
from the French pasté, a kind of meat pie). "You
will be able to preorder your pasty to pick up
and take home for dinner or freeze for a later
evening."
People have been asking about donuts. She says
she doesn't have those yet, they will be
appearing in the near future. But she does
welcome ideas and suggestions for what people
would like to see available in the shop. "We
welcome the community's thoughts. If you like or
don't like something, let us know. If there is
something you would like to see, let us know. We
are planning on offering some gluten-free items
in the near future. We have had some of our
guests give us recipes they would like us to
try."
She enjoys living in Bonners Ferry and owning a
business here. "I am really loving it. I grew up
in a small town in Upper Michigan and really
like getting to know so many people."
Selkirk Sweets Bakery and Catering is located
inside Dodge Peak Lodge at 5952 Main Street in
Bonners Ferry, telephone (208) 886-0809. Days
and hours are: Tuesday through Saturday 6:00
a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. |
