Northern Arizona University has a new, unofficial, “campus mom.” Deborah Mcglothlin makes and hand-delivers home-baked goods to hungry students, who are away from home for the first time. It’s her new business, Pinecone Pastries -- a new kind of bakery that specializes in college student care packages. In this latest installment of Eats and Beats, Mcglothlin takes us inside her home kitchen, where she bakes her so-called “home baked hugs.”
Deborah Mcglothlin: “Alright, so today, right now, my baking session today is four batches of the holiday special, which is red and green M&M cookies.
“Hi, I’m Debbie Mcglothlin, I’m the owner of Pinecone Pastries based in Flagstaff, Arizona. So, we’re in my kitchen, my home kitchen that I do all my baking in.
“Alright, so now the cookie dough is ready for me to mix with the M&Ms that I’ve just measured out. I’m pouring those in, and just mix these in real good.
“I thought of this whole business idea based on my own experience. So, when my kids left home, you know, having them be gone was hard. So, what I’m trying to provide is just a little taste of home to those kids from their parents, who just want to reach out in some small way and just let the kids know that they’re thinking of them and supporting them.
“I’m just going to throw these in the oven. And, exactly 10 minutes 30 seconds.
“Right now, an important step in the process of me fulfilling the orders is to get in touch with the recipients. So, I have a delivery to Micayla this afternoon. She’s getting Rice Krispies Treats and brownies. So, I ask if her I can meet her at her dorm. So, I’m going to hit the send button and we’ll see what she says.
“Just making the deliveries are really fun. The students, so far, that I’ve delivered to have usually been surprised and happy to get a little treat. So just making that little friendly connection with the kids as I deliver has been really fun.
“Okay, we are on our way to NAU campus for the next couple of hours of deliveries.
“So, we’re at Gabaldon Hall, and I have not delivered to this dorm before. So, I wasn’t sure where to pull in. So, Anastasia and Micayla both live here. And, I’m going to just text them both and see if they can meet us right here.
“Hi, are you Micayala?”
Micayla: “I am.”
Mcglothlin: “Yay, these are your treats.”
Micayla: “This is so cute.”
Mcglothlin: “I think they’re from your mom.”
Micayla: “They are. This is going to literally make me survive.”
Mcglothlin: “Good, I think that’s what she wanted.”
Micayla: “Yeah, she was just like, ‘I ordered you some pastries. I hope you don’t mind.’ I’m like, ‘Mom, I’m in college. I’m starving all the time and I love sweets. So, like, obviously I’m going to be super excited about this.”
Mcglothlin: “Oh, it’s just so fun. You know, because the parents, they’re just excited to give something to their kids and their kids are so excited to get something. So, I like making that connection between parents and their kids. So, it’s fun. And my phone is ringing. So, yeah, off to the next delivery up to Reilly Hall. To Haley.
