Tales from a magical
cookie place.
I recently had the
pleasure of visiting a
magical place–a place
where imagination was
the main ingredient
and cookies were the
canvases. Patti Paige’s
bakery is other-worldly.
After a few cookies and
a moment to catch my
breath, we sat down and I
asked her a few questions.
How did you come to start baking? My grandmother baked
cookies with one of those cookie guns with all the attachments
for making different shapes, and she brought them to us every
time she visited. They were very special to us (Nana cookies,
we called them). After college, where I studied painting and
sculpture, I moved to New York City and started making cookies
for friends and found that people loved them. I got the idea to try
to sell them to stores in Soho to supplement my income as an art
teacher and painter, and they took off!
Did you always want to bake? I never thought about baking
until it happened. It was a combination of craft and art that
seemed like a natural fit for me, and I figured it out as I went
along. There was nobody (I knew of) who made these kinds of
cookies–which was great, because I think I benefitted from not
knowing any rules. Now there is so much info and product out
there to make it easy. I am glad I started before that happened.
What inspires you? I am inspired by art and design, nature,
everyday objects, store windows, patterns, wall paper. I love
