Judy Mundell has always had a taste for finer things.  

Even as a 6-year-old, biting into a confection cooked in her Easy-Bake Oven, Mundell recalled feeling a sense of bitter disappointment. The toy oven was a thoughtful gift for a girl obsessed with watching her mother cook, and Mundell tore into a package of cake mix right away, eager to try out her new appliance. But the finished product failed to impress the budding baker. 

“This doesn’t taste like real cake,” Mundell told her mother after a single bite. “Can we make a real cake?” 

More than 50 years later, Mundell has upgraded from the lightbulb-powered oven to a full-grade commercial kitchen and bakery. Located in Evergreen off U.S. 2, the newly opened Somers Sweet and Savory showcases Mundell's penchant for home cooking through a rotating selection of baked goods and pre-made meals. Cheese, yogurt and ice cream will also be on the menu once the venue receives its state dairy license. 

“Most of the things I’ve been making here, I’ve been making for 30 years,” said Mundell. “These are tried and true recipes.” 

Despite her early love for baking, Mundell’s route to business ownership was circuitous. From her childhood home in Alberta, Mundell moved to a small coastal town in Texas to work for a seismic surveying company. There, she fell in love with her husband, John Williams, after the two were sequestered in the same block of hotel rooms during a hurricane. The two continued to work together at a variety of construction companies and government departments as they pursued degrees in engineering.  

On weekends, Mundell applied her analytical mind to problems of the culinary persuasion. Sometimes she experimented with new recipes and baking techniques. (Mundell recalled once spending three months teaching herself how to make macarons by watching a French YouTube channel. She doesn’t speak French, and the videos did not have subtitles.) 

Other times, she recruited her son and Williams to taste-test endless iterations of old recipes as she painstakingly worked them toward perfection. 

“Recipes are art and science,” Mundell said of her process. “They’re not just science because you have to be able to tweak things.” 

Dinner guests rewarded Mundell’s ministrations with lavish compliments, and several friends made not-so-subtle suggestions that Mundell should change careers and pursue cooking full-time. While Mundell had long harbored a desire to open her own bakery, she was also hesitant to stray from a successful engineering career. 

“You get a little afraid to try new things,” she said. “I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do because it’s a big investment and a lot of work.” 

Finally, at the end of last year, Mundell decided she was ready to mix things up. With a small business loan, she purchased the first floor of a building and spent the next five months remodeling the interior to serve as a commercial kitchen. Mundell knew she wanted a space where she could delve into a variety of culinary pursuits, so she added a pasteurizer and cheese-making equipment as well as ovens and fridges.  

“It gives me the freedom to say, what do I feel like making today,” she said. 

With 57 different varieties of baked goods, 14 types of artisan ice cream, six varieties of soup and four types of cheese on the menu, customers will also have plenty of freedom to choose what appeals to them. While a selection of baked goods is always guaranteed, Mundell plans to regularly rotate her offerings to take advantage of seasonal flavors and her own cooking whims. 

As far as her own favorites, Mundell suggested the carrot cake, explaining that the recipe is one of the few in her repertoire to remain unchanged since she first baked it for her and Williams’ wedding. Williams, on the other hand, said he couldn’t advise a favorite. 

“It’s all good stuff and people will learn that,” he said of his wife’s cooking. “She’s always fed me really well.” 

Reporter Hailey Smalley may be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].