by Rachel Logan
For Cheryl Harrington, there’s no meal like a home-cooked meal. That’s why she made 100 of them on Nov. 11, and another 50 the next day, for those who had not had a hearty lunch in a long time.
“I usually make meatloaf, mashed potatoes and a mixed veggie, because everyone likes meatloaf. I think everyone in America has had a good meatloaf once in their lives,” Harrington said.
Harrington runs Shortcake Bakery in Hyattsville, and her bubblegum pink mask is the exact color of the shop’s awning, accents and walls. While she has mostly kept to pastries, pies and specialty desserts since she opened her doors in 2011, she reached into savory food and meal offerings during the pandemic.
Harrington said her meals usually go to St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and other Greater Riverdale Cares meal distribution locations.
Greater Riverdale Cares is funded through the Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community Development Corporation. The meal distribution program is as much for supporting restaurants as for feeding people in need, said Bronte Nevins, the CKAR Development Specialist
Nevins said the 10 participating restaurants are paid $10 per meal for batches of up to 150 meals a few times a month, as long as there is funding for the project. Funds generally come from several city council grants in the area, as well as the Greater Riverdale Cares GoFundMe page, which has garnered over $64k.
“The restaurants that we support are small and locally owned, and we particularly strive to support restaurants that are owned by women, people of color and immigrants,” Nevins said. “By purchasing from restaurants, we are able to help support small businesses by giving them reliable work.”
In October, the organizer at St. Jerome’s food distribution sent Harrington a text about her meals:
“Today, a long-unseen guest who lives in the woods showed up, took a lunch and left. Ten minutes later, she returned and asked if she could please get another because, ‘I can’t remember the last time I had meatloaf!’”
Harrington said she prepares meals because she “love[s] to feed people” she said. She wants to see her community thrive.
“I try as much as possible to work with other local businesses, because that’s what community is all about,” she said.
One morning, a farmer from Forested Farm in Bowie walked into her bakery for breakfast. They got to talking, and when he left, he gave her a dozen duck eggs from his truck. She cooked them up for a few customers, and when the eggs were a big hit, she got back in touch with the farmer. He’s now a regular supplier.
Her ice cream for a la mode pie and brownies comes from Simple Pleasures Ice Café, a vendor she met at the Riverdale Park Farmers Market. She makes several trips throughout the fall months to Peter’s Orchards in Gardiner, Pennsylvania, loyally purchasing apples there for fresh pies and homemade apple cider.
Even Sunday brunches, which she scheduled during the pandemic to keep people fed, includes drinks from the next-door brewery, Maryland Meadworks. Still, she’s looking for more opportunities to form local partnerships and support other small businesses.
Harrington, a new grandmother, said her faith in God helps her give generously. “He will supply for all of my needs, so I don’t have to hold onto what I get,” she said.
“The bakery has really taken a lot of my time,” Harrington said. She added that owning and operating Shortcake Bakery has helped show her that “we’re not perfect — we’re being perfected.” She said the opportunities at Shortcake Bakery have helped her learn to be more generous, and working with employees and customers has gotten much easier over the nine years the bakery has been open.
She was worried, like many, that the pandemic would force her to lay off employees. But instead, she was able to hire an intern –– Tamara Cherry.
Cherry is a junior at Stratford University school of Culinary Arts most days, but on Wednesdays and Thursdays she heads over to Shortcake Bakery to help prepare desserts like scones and cake pops.
“It’s not like a boss-employee kind of relationship there, it’s more of a friendship. So we can strike up a conversation and just talk and talk and talk,” Cherry said.
Cherry said that she enjoys the science behind baking, including finding different work-arounds for omitting common ingredients that may be allergens — and Harrington, she said, lets her experiment.
“We were preparing pie crusts for Thanksgiving using butter. So I asked her if I could experiment with Crisco shortening … the Crisco, I realized, made the pie softer. But with the crust, we could probably make a heavier filling, like apples or pecans, and not have to worry about blind-baking the crust beforehand.”
Cherry said that working with Harrington has shown her that running a bakery is no small feat — ingredients should never be wasted, and bakers don’t always have access to specialized tools.
Having an intern, though, is only the beginning for Harrington. “How do I get to the point where I can train others, so baking doesn’t become a lost skill?” she said. She said she hopes to continue to hire interns and continue to show others that “baking is magic—you start with the same three ingredients, and you can make anything.”
Harrington’s favorite pie is a Nantucket cranberry pie, which she said is akin to a pineapple upside-down cake in construction, with crunchy topping and bursts of flavor. But to Harrington, “pies show love.”
Harrington said she hopes she can brighten her customer’s days with her baked goods.
“We all have places in our heart that we’re hurt or healing. If we reach out and—” she pantomimes a hug, “then we’ll heal just a little but faster.”
Featured photo: Cheryl Harrington shows off her business, Shortcake Bakery in Hyattsville, on Nov. 17. Photo by Rachel Logan.