It was an ordinary day. Driving north on Rt. 272 toward the town of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. My quest today is to buy a few decorated cookies to place in the stockings of my grandchildren for Christmas. Not just any cookies, but cookies made by the award winning "Cookie Lady" known as Laura Merkel. This all came about when Carol and I were talking about something different to put in our granddaughter's stockings and I suggested I make a visit to "Laura the Cookie Lady" who has a store at 30 E. Main Street in Ephrata.
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| Laura's store at 30 East Main Street |
Turned right off 272N onto State Street. Not long before I had to stop at the light where State intersects Main. Turned right and began looking for Laura's store. Pulled into a parking space and walked about 50 feet and then I saw it. The sign read "Sold Out". Seems the store opened at 11:00 a.m. that morning and 20 minutes later Laura had emptied her display cases of every cookie she and her helpers had baked for the day. Laura has gained quite a bit of notoriety in this "neck of the woods" since she was on television's Food Network "Christmas Cookie Challenge". Not only was she on the show, but she won the $10,000 that goes with being known as the best cookie maker in the United States. Found out that the show was actually filmed last February in Los Angeles, but didn't air until the end of November.
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Laura can be seen in the center of the photo with fellow bakers Megan
Savely to the left and Maisha Cottman on the right. She won $10,000. |
For 10 months Laura had to keep her win a secret from the town of Ephrata as well as the world. She went up against four other cookie bakers from around the United States. She baked an espresso-chocolate cookie that got high marks for taste and texture from the judges in the first round. In the second and final round, she baked an oatmeal-kiwi-white chocolate Christmas tree cookie tart with cream cheese buttercream icing.
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| Laura holding one of her boxes she fills with cookies. |
Carol and I enjoyed the show and were pulling for her the entire time. When I left to head to Ephrata, Carol told me to get a couple of those cookies for Christmas gifts. Well, the sign told me I wasn't going to get the treats today, but it didn't stop me from pounding on the door to arouse whomever might have been inside the bakery. A fellow opened the front door and I asked if I could talk with Laura for a story I wanted to write for my blog. He told me to follow him and in about 30 seconds I saw Laura behind the counter in her cookie store. The place was bare of cookies, but not bare of smiles from Laura when I introduced myself and explained why I was there.
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| Laura's award winning entry. |
She apologized about the lack of cookies, but told me the line when she opened was about a block long. Everything was gone in about 20 minutes! She told me to get in line tomorrow early if I want any. She also told me that since her big win on the TV show she can't keep cookies in her cases very long. Laura is a Long Island native who now lives in the small town known as Ephrata. The neat little town is an agricultural community with the historical site Ephrata Cloisters and the nearby Green Dragon Farmer's Market. Many Old Order Amish and Mennonites live in the surrounding villages. The town now is the home to the best cookie baker in the country. Congratulations to Laura and I only hope that sometime soon I will get a chance to try one of her award-winning cookies. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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| Laura's empty counters. |
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| Wish I could have gotten a few of these cookies. |
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| Or...maybe one of these. |
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| Another creative design. |
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| Laura's logo for her business. |
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