Annie May’s Bakery
Unlike a regular Sunday at the Cloverdale Flea Market in Surrey, it’s a slower day, most likely because of the holiday weekend. The weather isn’t that great: It’s drizzling, which is a staple occurrence for the Lower Main Land and probably contributing to the slow turn out.
Inside one of the buildings is Annie May’s Bakery. Edie Torrance is at their table, chatting with a friend and selling a variety of different flavoured cookies, such as butterscotch, peanut butter and banana cream pie, as she has been for most Sundays over the last six years. Annie May’s Bakery is a mother-and-daughter business that sells homemade cookies every Sunday at the Cloverdale Flea Market.
Edie and Stacey Torrance started with $70 and a big hope that they would sell cookies at the Cloverdale Flea Market. They sold out before 10 a.m. on their first day as vendors at the flea market. The toughest part of starting their business, according to Edie Torrance, was coming up with the name. Originally the name was going to be,Stacey Bakes. However, after much conversation, they decided to put their middle names together and came up with the name Annie May’s Bakery.
Edie chuckles as she says people often say, “Thank you, Annie May” when buying cookies from her. Edie giggles and says she just says you’re welcome.
Annie May’s Bakery has a steady stream of customers that keep them up all Saturday night baking. As well as selling at the flea market, they want people to know they can do home deliveries for the cookies they bake, taking orders via their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Stacey Torrance says baking is a family tradition. She was raised on baking and she teaches her son that baking is much better than going to the grocery store where the cookies have preservatives. The cookies Annie May’s Bakery bakes and sell are based on a family recipe that has been passed down to Stacey Torrance from her grandmother. Stacey says the recipes are simple, and there is nothing in them that you can’t pronounce.
Annie May’s Bakery has been invited to the 2017 Surrey Central Christmas Tree Lighting this year as vendor.
Joseph Spring, a regular customer of Annie May’s Bakery, says he likes the cookies because, they “feel like home-town cookies, like buying from real people. [The] cookies are soft, delicious and cost efficient.” A bag of six cookies costs $5. “She’s a good women and nice to talk with,” Spring says, referring to Edie, who chats with customers while they purchase cookies. He recalls, “She (Edie) offered me an insulted bag to take cookies to a friend in the summer when it was hot out. They also have a nice display.”
You can follow Annie May’s Bakery on Instagram where they post pleasing photos of their baked goods. You can also like and follow them on Facebook, where they keep their customers up to date on the latest happenings with their company and what to expect every Sunday.
