Photo by Michael Woodward
FRESHLY BAKED: Sarah Spencer removes a tray of finished pasties, a stuffed pastry with meat and potatoes, from the oven at Sarah's Creamery in Anderson.
Photo by Michael Woodward
Already known for its ice cream, Sarah's Creamery in Anderson may develop a new reputation for its pasties, which are large pastries filled with meat, potatoes, onions and spices.
Correctly pronounced "PAS-teez," shop owner Sarah Spencer, 39, started serving them last week after considering a variety of food options at the Balls Ferry Road ice cream shop. She didn't want to serve soup and sandwiches; she wanted to serve something unique, Spencer explained on Aug. 31.
Spencer credits her friend, Don Hambly of Cottonwood, but formerly of Minnesota, with the idea for serving them. Common in Minnesota, the pasties were once made for workers who traveled over a mile deep into mine shafts, Spencer said.
Designed by the miners' wives, the pasties keep warm inside for hours and can be eaten in hand, she said. The inside of the pastie always holds meat, but the wives often added an internal dough barrier, creating an additional compartment to fill with fruit so the miners had a sweet dessert after eating the meat, Spencer said.
When miners started to die from ingesting arsenic that was on their hands, the wives added large dough handles to the pastie.
"They were really ornate and were shaped like fish tails," Spencer said, adding that the miners collected the ends in a bucket as a spiritual offering.
She serves the pasties in two sizes, both take their names from her friends: Big Don and Little Laura, which is named after Hambly's wife.
Served with sides of malt vinegar and ketchup, the pastries are large. "We're not (price) gouging," Spencer said. "We also serve a huge scoop of ice cream."
Spencer uses Prather Ranch beef in the pasties, and she has ideas that are sure to irk the pastie purists. Ham and cheese, broccoli and cheddar and a breakfast pastie are possibilities she hopes to explore.
Located next to Kragen Auto Parts, Sarah's Creamery can also be reached at 365-5952.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 1
easygoing writes:
These delicious meat pasties have a fresh homemade flavor and they are baked to perfection. A savory hand held meat pie that is easy to hold (with both hands).
This quaint little creamery also serves the best ice cream along with awesome sundaes and banana splits.
Sarah's Creamery is definitely on our family's list of favorite places, especially because of their delicious meat/potato pasties.
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