Scones, lemon bars, coconut macaroons…feeling hungry? Flour Child is happy to share her home-made baked goods with you!
Arlene Stein-Lambert, founder of Flour Child, L. L. C.: Home-made Baked Goods, says being a person who grew up during the “Hippie Era,” she decided to name her business Flour Child as a play on words. Continuing a life-long love of baking, starting this business after her retirement and move from Brooklyn to Hardwick was an easy decision.
I was the person who always brought cake when I was invited anywhere, it’s just my way of showing love to people,” Stein-Lambert explained.
And baking isn’t just her way of showing love to people—before her retirement, Stein-Lambert worked as a bookkeeper in food establishment and also worked as a baker for about 50 years. She also owned a bakery for three years before selling it.
Nowadays, she bakes in her home two days a week to supply her goods to Race Farmstand—her biggest customer—and bakes three days a week from June through October so that she can also sell her goods at the Blairstown Farmer’s Market.
She especially enjoys selling at the farmer’s market, so even though baking for three days a week seems like a lot, she doesn’t mind it.
“I really enjoy this. I can interact with people because when I’m baking, I’m home alone or with somebody maybe helping me sometimes. And then when I deliver to the Race Farmstand, I deliver in boxes and leave. But here (at the Blairstown Farmers’ Market), it’s nice to talk to people, it’s also nice to hear feedback like ‘I had this, I loved it.’ It makes me feel good.”
Stein-Lambert switches up what she bakes and brings to the farmer’s market, though she always has the fan favorites: scones of various flavors, lemon bars, coconut macaroons and her strawberry jam. She always has two gluten-free items and two vegan items, so that everyone can enjoy her baked goods.
Stein-Lambert explained that her children are vegan, so baking vegan goods is nothing new to her. She is somewhat new to gluten-free baking—but she never sells a new item without doing a test run and making sure it tastes good first.
She also takes special orders, which she delivers to her customers. Being a perfectionist comes in handy too—she always makes sure her measurements are perfect and never adds preservatives or additives to ensure that her customers will love her home-made products.
Stein-Lambert has her cottage license, meaning her home has been tested to ensure it is safe for her to sell the goods she bakes in her kitchen.
Getting a cottage license is a lengthy process and included having her water tested, having to take various tests herself, filling out a lot of paperwork and paying for the license itself, but all of that has been worth it to do something she loves while also making others happy.
As she puts it, “I have a love of baking and I take a lot of care and pride in everything that I make, in the hope that the person will love it and be happy.”
While she does most of the baking on her own, occasionally she is aided by her family members.
“I enjoy it, it keeps me busy and I don’t see myself moving on to anything else at this point in my life. It’s something I love,” Stein-Lambert explained. “I don’t find it difficult; you know? I just pull out a recipe and follow it and to me, it’s very simple, you don’t need a lot of brain power to do it, you just follow the instructions. To me, it’s very simple…I can just get up and start to bake.”
Through the months of June to October, Flour Child is present at the Blairstown Farmers’ Market, located at 5 Stillwater Road, selling her products at reasonable prices. She also sells her baked goods to Race Farm Stand at 224 Route 94 in Blairstown year-round.
Stein-Lambert can be reached at (718) 744-8533 or by e-mail: theflourchildllc@gmail.com for inquiries about her baked goods. She also has an Instagram (@flourchild_llc) for anyone to check out.
Annalyse Svendsen, Contributing Writer
Annalyse recently graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with her B.A. in Humanities. She also minored in Creative Writing and studied French and American Sign Language in an effort to learn how to communicate with more people. Annalyse only recently moved to Hardwick but grew up in Stillwater and attended Stillwater Elementary School and Kittatinny Regional High School. While in high school, she was an active member of both the Book Club—where she served as president—and the Marching Band—where she served as the band’s librarian. At FDU, she served as the secretary of the Ping Pong Club, as well as the vice president of Rose & Thorn. Annalyse has always been passionate about learning. She has a passion for writing and plans to pursue a master’s degree in either Library Sciences or Creative Writing.
