Rising to the challenge

Brothers and Sisters of Charity cook up bakery as latest ministry

Carolyn and Mark Shepler, members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Berryville, are part of the team that makes baked goods for the Little Portion Bakery.
Carolyn and Mark Shepler, members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Berryville, are part of the team that makes baked goods for the Little Portion Bakery.

These days in addition to hours filled with prayer and contemplation, members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Berryville also spend time mixing, baking and packing baked goods to ship around the country.

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Little Portion Bakery

Breakfast cookies are one of the items sold by the Little Portion Bakery.

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Little Portion Bakery

Sister Mary Catherine and Claude Pelican work in the Little Portion Bakery kitchen.

Formally known as the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage and Monastery, the Catholic community includes celibate monks and nuns, singles and families. Their newest ministry is the Little Portion Bakery, offering baked goods such as Viola's Granola, St. Anthony's Hermit Bars and St. Clare's Breakfast Cookies.

Viola's Granola is named after Viola Talbot, wife of community founder John Michael Talbot and the developer of the recipes for the bakery items. The granola, made with maple syrup, includes rolled oats, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, vanilla extract, salt, brown sugar, canola oil, cinnamon, raisins, coconut and dried cranberries.

St. Anthony's Hermit Bars are made with blackstrap molasses, raisins and pecans and St. Clare's Breakfast Cookies are flavored with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, coconut, raisins, mango, papaya and banana chips.

Gluten-free versions of the products are also available.

Talbot said his wife has always been a baker.

"She has been an experimenter with all kinds of cool and groovy foods that are healthy for years and years," he said.

His wife's love of baking prompted the idea for a bakery, Talbot said, adding that it seemed to be a good way to raise money for the ministry while also providing work for community members as they get older.

They started slowly, working on recipes and getting a business license and then began selling the baked goods at ministry events. Talbot is a well-known Catholic musician and author, as well as host of the television show All Things Are Possible on The Church Channel. He's invited to speak and sing at churches around the country -- events that offered the Talbots the chance to introduce their products to others.

"People just went wild," he said. "They sold like hotcakes and we thought, maybe we're onto something. We started producing more and now we are ramping up and selling it retail and through the monastery store website and we are just now beginning to play with wholesale."

The gluten-free products have been especially popular and St. Anthony's Hermit Bars seems to be the favorite. Viola Talbot suspects that's because they are the hardest to make.

"It's all to die for. It's just wonderful," John Michael Talbot said. "I'm biased, of course, but I really do mean it."

Viola Talbot said the bakery sold gift boxes for Christmas that were quite popular.

"We didn't use any fancy paper, but you opened the box and the product was in there with a prayer," she said.

They've also expanded to offer care boxes and are selling gift specials for Valentine's Day, featuring St. Francis Celebration Granola with dark chocolate and cherries, as well as healing boxes filled with candles, herbs and tea. They are also offering a gift box at Arkansas Children's Hospital that includes a book by their friend, pastor and best-selling author Max Lucado, and 20 percent of sales from those items will go to the hospital, John Michael Talbot said.

"It's got to be a win-win for everybody. Otherwise it's not going to be blessed," Viola Talbot said.

She said the bakery venture even pushed her into the age of the smartphone.

"At 74, I got my first iPhone for this and my first business license," she said. "So anyone can do this."

For now, she's looking for more healthful and tasty recipes to add to the list of bakery products.

"That's the key," she said. "It tastes good."

More information about the bakery is available online at littleportionbakery.org or by calling (877) 504-9865.

Religion on 01/31/2015

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