Nov. 19--Growing up above the Gladstone Park Bakery in Jefferson Park, Heidi Hedeker looked forward to the first Sunday of December every year, when she was put to work on what was known as "Cookie Sunday."
"Neighborhood kids and women with their patent leather purses would pour in for free cookies and live harp music," Hedeker remembers. "On Cookie Sunday, cookies were the only product that was baked -- and sold -- that whole day."
Working her first official shift at age 4, Hedeker was the youngest of the child laborers, who were the sons and daughters of all the bakers on staff. Coronated Cookie Princess, Hedeker was charged with arranging the cookies and memorizing their ingredients, so she could explain them to customers.
"At the end of the day, we kids were given envelopes with dollar bills inside -- the amount varied with our age," Hedeker said. "There was a thank-you note from the boss, who would write compliments about our work or thoughtful observations."
No surprise, Hedeker grew up to become a certified master baker and pastry chef instructor at Kendall College. There, on Dec. 6, she will be helping the next generation make memories -- and messes -- during Just Kidding's Cookie Decorating Day.
Times and tastes have changed since Gladstone Park Bakery closed. No nut horns, cinnamon dollars or fruit clusters at the decorating tables this time. But plenty of large-scale sugar cookies -- a tabula rasa for the kids' creativity -- plus frosting and edible accessories.
That said, if an attendee challenges Hedeker to recall the ingredients of batches past, she is likely to retain her figurative crown.
"I still have production lists of that day, which my father kept every year," she says. "Cookie Sundays were a very special memory for all of the families, in the front and back of the house, whose lives were woven through that bakery."
Just Kidding's Cookie Decorating Day
What: A two-hour, hands-on cookie decorating workshop with Hedeker and other chef instructors from Kendall College. Decorating stations will be fully stocked with cookies, frosting and decorations. This fun-filled, messy morning is designed for children 4-12 years old
Where: Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch St., Chicago
When: 10 a.m.-noon. Dec. 6
Cost: $20 per child in advance; $22 at door. Adults free; at least one adult per four children must remain at the venue. An adult lounge will be provided.
Tickets: http://bit.ly/1wCexAM
