Holly's Hearth Offers Patrons a Flashback to Their Childhood

Holly Wheeler has been baking her whole life.

But as many homemade creations as she has concocted, it wasn't until recently that the Westland resident saw her culinary skills as an open door to a small business venture.

"I have been wanting to do this since I got out of high school," said Wheeler, who jokes about having adult attention deficit disorder, which led to many of her recipes.

"I just never took the time to do it."

That's when the idea of Holly's Hearth came to her.

Wheeler, who graduated from Schoolcraft College's Culinary Arts program in 2009, is a bit of a visionary when it comes to her baked goods offerings.

Sure, she has the standards - the apple pies and cookies and even an occassional wedding cake. Her apple cake comes from a family recipe that's been passed down throughout the years. Her lemon squares are also a hand-me-down, one of several traditional favorites she offers.

But she often uses creativity in her cakes and pies that go beyond the ordinary.

There are her chocolate peanut butter oatmeal fudge bars and her cherry nutbars that come out of flavor-blending brainstorms that have led her to bring her passion for baking to the Plymouth Farmer's Market each week.

She does so with one goal in mind.

"I try to make things that make people think of their childhood," Wheeler says.

The Plymouth Farmers Market runs from May-October and operates on Saturdays from 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at The Gathering in downtown Plymouth.