A Six Month Window For Owners Of Swede-A-Licious

Nancy Swanson and Patti Reslow can use the state-certified kitchen to produce baked goods at First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Division Street for six months. Then they'll have to figure out their next step.

The clock started ticking at the beginning of September, after the pair spent a big chunk of their spring and summer putting together all the components necessary for Swede-a-Licious, their new business.

As it turns out, the slow start may have been beneficial as the six-month trial window includes the year’s big holidays. They’re already urging customers to get orders in early.

The Swede-a-Licious idea began with the closing of a bakery. When Nancy and her husband were in charge of Sunday morning coffee at the church they usually picked up a Swedish Coffee Braid from a bake shop in Rumford. When it closed Nancy decided she had to see if she could make them. After a number of experiments, her family said her braids were even better than those of the bake shop and she could probably sell them. When Patti approached her about working together she thought that was a great idea.

The pair has produced a flyer listing the eight Swedish sweet breads and cookies they offer and put up a web site www.swede-a-licious.webs.com.  For now they are baking-to-order two days a week.

Coincidentally, they bake in the section of town once known as Swede Hill, as they test the market for those with a taste for Swedish baked goods.

So far their business has been pretty much word of mouth, but they say orders are coming in nicely.