OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Subscriber Services Home Delivery Gift Subscription Stop-Start Delivery Missing Paper Back Issues Newsstand Locations Shopper Locations

Advertising Services Manage Your Account Place a Classified Ad Place a Display Ad Advertise Online Business Finder Directory

Other Services Submit News Laminated Items Photos & Keepsakes Article Archives Contact Us History of the Herald Our Policies

Suggest a poll topic

2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Friday, October 09, 2009 12:00 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Pam Maguire, left, Gardner, and her daughter Tara Ortega, Merriam, work together Thursday at their shop to shape wedding mints for a wedding. The two have been making cakes together for six years, Maguire said. “Then my kitchen got too small,” she said. The mother-daughter duo teamed up at Cakes by My Mom and Me, 608 Main St., Wellsville, a year and a half ago.

Duo keeps wellsville shop in the family

By RACHEL HAWKINS, Herald Staff Writer

WELLSVILLE — Pam Maguire says she likes working with her daughter.

That works out well for her daughter, Tara Ortega, who says she likes working with her mom.

Maguire and Ortega have been baking and decorating cakes together for about six years.

“It all started out with family and friends,” Maguire said. “Tara just started decorating and I started baking.”

Ortega has been decorating cakes professionally for almost 12 years, but the mother-daughter team began their business — Cakes by My Mom and Me — a year and a half ago.

“My husband told me it was time to get out of our kitchen,” Maguire said.

Maguire’s husband built the mom and daughter team a state-approved kitchen at 608 Main St. in Wellsville. They rent out the front of the building to another business and use the back as the kitchen and meeting place for potential clients. The kitchen also is baby proof so that Ortega’s young son can come and be in the kitchen.

The name of the business, Cakes by My Mom and Me, comes from what Maguire says is a sheer lack of originality.

“We just knew we wanted the word cake to be in the front part of the name,” she said. “So it just stuck.”

Although there are some things Maguire doesn’t like about the cake decorating business, like book work and paying all the taxes, she said the best part is being able to work with her daughter.

“I know you have to pay the sales tax and the income tax,” she said. “And when I do the baking, I usually do it alone. But I’m usually always there when Tara is there decorating. It’s just so much fun being able to work with her.”

Ortega will admit the duo has made a lot of mistakes, but that they’ve learned a lot along the way.

“We always deliver on time and the way it should be,” she said.

In order to keep their cakes fresh, Maguire does the baking the day before, and Ortega ices and decorates the day of the event.

“We just try to keep the cakes as fresh as possible,” Maguire said.

She also enjoys working with brides and consulting with them on what they want their special cake to look like.

“I love working with the brides,” she said. “That’s where all the fun is.”

Ortega, who attended Baker University in Baldwin City on an art scholarship, said the thing she likes most about the business is being able to spend time with her mom.

“I’ve always been really close to my family,” she said. “And being in this business with her has made our relationship more about our daily life. That probably wouldn’t happen if I didn’t see her this much.”

Throughout their time working together, the pair has worked on some interesting and memorable cakes.

“The best cake was probably one that has a block top on it that looks like a top hat. That was very fun to do,” Maguire said. “The most memorable cake we worked on was probably all yellow with red roses all over it. It was kind of like a ‘until death do us part,’ kind of thing.”

Although there isn’t one cake in particular that sticks out for Ortega, one of her favorite things about the business is getting the photos back from their events.

“It’s just neat to spend a lot of time on a cake, and you don’t realize how neat it is until you get the pictures back,” she said. “I really like that part.”

Co-owner of Hillhouse Catering, Ann Hill, has worked with Maguire and Ortega for a number of years and said the most memorable cake she’s seen the duo work on was in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

“Tara is so good at what she does,” Hill said. “We’re full-time caterers and we always recommend Tara and her mom to our brides.”

While the summer wedding season might be over, Cakes by My Mom and Me is still as busy as ever. Between bridal fairs, cake testing for brides and actual weddings, Maguire is trying to find time to get everything done.

“I even forgot to eat breakfast this morning,” Maguire said. “It’s just been so busy lately.”

Maguire and Ortega also are meeting with brides who will get married in 2010.

“We had one girl last week who will get married next September,” Maguire said. “Last week we had five brides come in. It’s just been so busy.”

Join the Wellsville area social network.