Secret is in the coffee cake
Staff writer
Chloe Mais of rural Peabody considers herself to be an average teen-ager.
Then again, how many 13-year-old girls enjoy spending their summers in a hot kitchen baking or outdoors tending a vegetable garden?
For the past two years, Chloe has spent much of her summer preparing baked items and growing garden produce to sell during the weekly farmers' market in downtown Peabody.
"I had some stuff I wanted to sell," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.
Although she has many interests, cooking is one of Chloe's loves — especially baking up one of her delicious desserts.
"Mostly I like to make desserts," Chloe said. "One of the things I've been making for the farmers' market is a mulberry coffee cake."
Those who have tried the coffee cake — including this writer — give it two thumbs up.
"It's just an average recipe. It's from an old Betty Crocker cookbook," Chloe said, holding a well-worn book used by several generations.
"It belonged to my mom and to her mom," Chloe confided.
Sweet mulberries are the secret ingredient which makes this particular cookbook recipe so good.
"I go out to the woods and pick the mulberries on the day I do the baking," Chloe explained.
Although Chloe's family has a mulberry tree in their backyard, she prefers to gather fruit from a tree in the woods.
"This mulberry tree isn't as sweet," she explained, walking by a tree in her yard.
Chloe said she likes to experiment with "baked stuff," including tea breads, wheat breads, and pies. Her Rice Krispie treats have often sold out during the Saturday morning market.
"I might do pies for the farmers' market, but I haven't found a good, homemade pie crust recipe," she said.
While some might begin their baking careers making cakes or the like, Chloe said the first dessert she ever made was a blueberry pie.
"I started experimenting and added a blueberry lollipop," she said. "I just pound one up and add it to the mixture. It gives the pie a good texture."
Although desserts are her passion, Chloe enjoys making some main dishes. A favorite is a roast chicken dish using herbs and olive oil.
"I like to try new things when I find a recipe that interests me," she said. "You can usually get exotic recipes off the Internet."
When she's not cooking dinner or baking desserts, Chloe has even found time to can fruit.
"One of my favorite things is making jams and jellies, although I haven't done it for awhile," she said.
As for growing produce for the farmers' market, both Chloe and her mother have their own separate garden spots. Chloe grows peas, carrots, beets, and had some radishes. However, her mother's garden provides much of the produce for the Saturday market.
Gardening is one of many simple pleasures the family enjoys at their rural Peabody home. Chloe and her parents, Susan Mayo and Nasir Islam, moved there eight years ago. Former Wichita and Valley Center residents, the little family decided to "get out of the city," explained Chloe's mom, Susan.
Although they make their home outside Peabody, the family still spends much of their time on the road. Her mother, Susan, is a part-time adjunct cello instructor at Bethel College in Newton and is a cellist with the Wichita Symphony. She also gives private cello lessons to high school age and younger children. Her father, Nasir, works as an engineer in the aerospace industry.
Even Chloe finds herself keeping busy in the "big city." She has been involved with Music Theatre of Wichita since the age of seven.
"My first role was as one of the children in 'The King and I'," Chloe said. "I had a three-word line."
Most recently, Chloe was a member of the teen choir in the company's production of "Joseph," which ended June 13. She will be playing the role of Nellie in "Annie Get Your Gun," which runs June 23-27.
"We go to Wichita just about every day," she said.
Theatre is not just a summertime passion for Chloe. She participates in performances with the Wichita theater company year-round.
"I'm home-schooled so it's easier for me to work things around so I can participate," she explained.
Chloe said she will "probably" consider a career in theater when she's older, but for now she has plenty of other activities on the burner, including reading, spending time with friends, and even taking cooking lessons from a professional.
"Chloe will be taking cooking lessons from Tanya Tandock from Tanya's Soup Kitchen in Wichita," Susan said. "Tanya will give Chloe cooking lessons and I'm going to give Tanya's son cello lessons."
As for cooking, Chloe said she enjoys everything about it.
"But the best part is eating it."
