The "Crazy Susan Creations" Story

Crazy Susan's at 1345 West Ave.

It was an ordinary day.  Elaine is weighing the two cookies that I just selected from the cabinet in front of me while Stephanie is nearby preparing cookies for the oven.  Today I'm standing in a store at 1345 West Ave. in Ocean City, NJ that is called "Crazy Susan's Cookies."  The smell is amazing with such odors such as peanut butter, oatmeal, mint and naturally chocolate.  The glass cabinets are filled with cookies named Cranberry White Chocolate, Heath Bar Crunch, Peanut Butter Fluff, Almond Joy, Crazy Turtle and Double Chocolate.  Standing in front of the oven near the rear of the store is

Elaine weighs my cookie selection.

Susan, the owner of the store who shares ownership with her sister Linda.  As she walks toward me with a tray of cookies, she notices the camera pointed at her and strikes a pose for me.  "You must be Susan," I say to her.  "And, you would be right," she replies.  She puts the tray of cookies on a large rack and comes forward to greet me.  Susan introduces herself and begins telling me about her store that was under three feet of water after Hurricane Sandy struck the Jersey coast in October of 2012.  

Susan with a tray of fresh-baked cookies.

"The only thing that still is the same is the floor, and we plan to replace that sometime in the future.  We opened this store in 2006.  It is our second store with one in Voorhees, NJ.  Everything you see in here is new to the store, although some of the tables  came from our other store after we closed it."  A few years ago "Crazy Susan's" was featured in a Food Network series titled "Tough Cookies" that was filmed on the Ocean City Boardwalk where Susan opened a kiosk at 980 Boardwalk.  Eight programs were filmed around a plot that featured the family planning an 88th birthday party for Susan's father.  

Food Network photo showing filming on the Boardwalk.

Susan and Linda were attempting to create a banana split cookie in his honor.  Susan told me that she decided to close the Boardwalk store due to the intense humidity and heat on the Boardwalk.  Wreaked havoc on all the chocolate cookies they make.  Susan wasn't always a confectionery cook.  

Cookies in the case.

Her first career was as an Executive Secretary at Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ., one of the premier trauma hospitals in the United States.  After 15 years at the hospital she was ready for a career change and chose the cookie chef route for her next career.  Susan had her first brush with television previously when she was on the Rachel Ray Show when Rachael featured Susan's Crazy Turtle Cookie as the snack of the day.  

My selection:  Snickerbar on the left and Crazy Turtle, my favorite.

The shop's name was chosen when a family member asked who created one of the cookies and cousin Pete said, "Crazy Susan."  Well, the cookies that just came out of the oven were Blueberry Pie cookies, a speciality concoction that Susan invented and one that filled the store with another great smell.  The timer on the oven started beeping so I bid farewell to Susan and the girls and thanked them for the information, photos and cookies that I was taking back to the rental to share with my wife.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.