82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 26,1985
Bread baking business allows LuAnn Sheeder to
make money while staying home with preschoolers
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
MANHEIM - Like many
mothers LuAnn Sheeder wanted to
combine earning an income with
caring for her three young children
at home. She found that op
portunity by baking and selling
delicious homemade bread.
LuAnn says, “It was an answer
to my prayers. I had been praying
to find a way to earn money at
home.” She had tried to write and
sell children’s books, and had even
sold some greeting card verses,
but income from that source is far
from certain.
It was her husband, Barry, who
suggested the idea, and when she
resisted, he kept after her.
She says, “My husband kind of
pushed me. I just couldn’t visualize
doing it. I didn’t know that much
about it and I didn’t bake for my
family. It didn't seem like a good
idea to me, but the more I fought it,
the more it seemed to be the right
thing.”
Barry actually got out the
equipment and got her started, and
LuAnn says, “Once he got me
doing it, I started experimenting.”
Shoo-fly pie is the most popular pie Judy Lentz makes to
sell, although she is also making pumpkin and apple now that
fall has arrived.
m~*o
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Judy Lentz, left, andLuAnn Sheeder set up the table from
which they sell freshly-made bread and pies. The two are
collaborating on a business which allows them to be home
with their small children while earning an income.
The experiments paid off,
because now she makes eight
batches of bread every Friday,
which is about 50 loaves of varying
sizes. Sometimes there is none left
for the family, and occasionally
LuAnn finds herself getting up
Saturday morning and baking
bread-but in smaller quantities.
She and her husband have three
children: Joanna, five; Jeremiah,
four; and Jonathan, two.
The business began with her
husband taking orders from co
workers. Then she started selling
off the front porch of their home,
conveniently located along busy
Route 72 north of Manheim.
Totally supportive, her husband
made her a sign, and she says in a
surprised tone, "People just
started stopping.”
She began her business in May,
and over the summer offered
bread on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Since school has started and
tourists are no longer so plentiful,
she has dropped the Wednesday
baking and limits it to Friday.
Fridays are proving to be good,
because traffic increases with the
Manheim Auto Auction.
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LuAnn says, “Bread is a good
item, because people like it and
they don’t take the time to make it.
I couldn’t stop doing it. It seems to
be God’s answer for now.” She
added that she decided she would
charge what was necessary, and so
far, says, “People don’t seem to
mind paying.”
Now she says, “I have to admit
that I do like it.” She has worked
out her own recipe by ex
perimenting, and now doesn't need
to consult it when mixing the
batter. She also doesn’t time the
rising process, depending instead
upon her experience and the look
and feel of the dough. She notes,
I’d go crazy if I had to time it.”
LuAnn makes three sizes of
bread, admitting, "It would be
easier to make one size, but people
who live alone really like the small
loaf.”
To make each size uniform,
LuAnn weighs each portion of
dough. It wouldn’t be fair to guess
about the size,” she says matter
of-factly.
She offers white, cinnamon
raisin and whole wheat bread, but
adds that she will make bread for
special diets upon request. She
currently njakes a bread that is
salt and sugar free for someone
who must have that diet. She has
had a few requests for rye bread,
and has tried some recipes. But so
far she has not been pleased with
the results and doesn’t offer it. She
said she tries new breads if she
finds recipes that are appealing,
but prefers to stick to the three she
is currently making.
LuAnn uses a recipe which is a
mixture of high gluten and un
bleached flours. High gluten flour,
which is used primarily for pizza
dough, makes a crisper crust than
bread purchased in a store. One
caution, however, is that if you use
to much high gluten flour, the crust
becomes impossible to cut. LuAnn
purchases all her supplies in bulk
for economy.
She is hoping to write a booklet
on bread baking tips to pass along
some of the things she has learned
as she bakes. She credits Tom
Flory of Flory’s Mill with giving
her needed advice as she started
her business.
She did not have a big in
vestment in equipment, needing
just a few larger stainless steel
bowls, and extra bread pans in
addition to the ingredients.
LuAnn mixes all her ingredients
by hand and has considered pur
chasing a large commercial
mixer, but thinks she can’t afford
the investment until the business is
a little more established, She says,
“1 still feel it is on a trial basis.”
To make bread in the quantities
she does, LuAnn gets up as early as
2 a.m. She mixes up the first four
batches, then begins working with
them as they rise. One by one she
punches down the dough and forms
it into loaves, allowing them to rise
once again before baking. She uses
dry yeast, mixing it directly with
the flour. In the summer, the high
humidity helps with rising times,
but even as cooler weather ap
proaches LuAnn says she has no
problems with the dough rising.
She points out that it is important
not to have the dough rise too fast,
or the finished product will be full
of air bubbles
LuAnn rolls the individual
portions out on her counter, then
rolls them to form a loaf, carefully
pinching the loaf to keep it from
having air spaces when it is
finished She greases the top of
each loaf and then covers it with
plastic wrap, which she prefers<to
a cloth because the dough never
sticks to it When it has risen
properly, it is baked in her regular
oven
LuAnn punches down this batch of bread dough before
doing the final kneading.
Since she has large quantities of
bread cooling at once, her husband
designed a way for her to use a
drying rack by laying oven racks
over wooden rods. This allows free
circulation of air. As the loaves
cool completely, LuAnn bags them
m clear plastic, adding her name
to each bag so people know where
to find her if they want to order
more bread.
Her kitchen and dining room are
turned into a work space, and
nothing much goes on there except
bread baking. The two pre
schoolers check on progress from
time to time.
Several months after she began
selling bread, LuAnn got a request
for shoo fly pie. Although she could
not make the pies, a neighbor, Judy
LuAnn works in her kitchen rolling out one of the more than
50 loaves of homemade bread she makes each Friday.
ti/offis
Lentz felt she could, and shoo fly
pies quickly were added to the
business. Now that fall is here,
apple and pumpkin pies have been
added.
Judy says, I like making pies. It
works out really well. I can have a
small business without leaving
home.” She and her husband,
John, have four children
Julianne, seven: Jennifer, six;
John, four; and Jim, two.
Judy admits that her part of the
business is easier than LuAnn’s
because she can do hers the night
before. She said she would rather
stay up late at night then get up
early as would be necessary to
have pies there in the morning.
Judy’s husband tells her she's
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