Perfect Pairings to Make Your Holidays Sweeter

Three area bakeries, with husband-and-wife teams, are serving up baked perfection for the holidays – Visit their websites for your seasonal orders

When Pie Meets Bread, Redding – Nathan and Adrienne Maupin

There is no stopping Adrienne Maupin when she puts her mind to something. Call it a stubborn streak, but Adrienne calls it faith. A lot of faith is what was needed when Adrienne and her husband, Nathan, set out to open their bakery, now known as When Pie Meets Bread, at 1768 Churn Creek Road in Redding. On paper the task was impossible. Adrienne says, “Nathan believed in the project zero percent while I believed 100 percent. That still equals 100 percent faith, so we went for it.”

Adrienne was the pie and Nathan was the bread when they met in 2013 at the Burney Farmer’s Market. Adrienne couldn’t believe that Nathan was only taking his artisan sourdough bread to one market. “That bread needs to be in all the area markets,” she said—and then she made it happen. From then on, Adrienne’s pies were selling out as Nathan’s bread sold out in the booth right next to hers. It was the perfect match.

Adrienne had learned how to make pies when taking over the huge fundraising efforts of Mrs. Campbell at Bella Vista School. Adrienne said, “It took two years for me to master Mrs. Campbell’s recipes but baking suited me.” Soon she was selling hundreds of pies and paying her daughter, Kirsten Crisosto, a third grader at the time, $1 per pie crust. The family endeavor turned into two pie shops in Redding, “For the Love of Pie,” and Kirsten became the master baker.

Little did Adrienne know that just up the road from Bella Vista, in Fall River, Nathan was perfecting his sourdough bread recipes and filling up his parents’ house with bread dough. He had always enjoyed cooking and baking but had become especially enamored with sourdough bread.

Nathan is at the bakery seven days a week at 3 in the morning because he “feels at home there.” With plenty of comfortable space for visiting or work, the couple also know their customers feel at home in the bakery. Adrienne says, “It took 25 miracles at least to get to where we are today. Nathan had the dream, and even the name for our bakery. He just thought it would never happen. He knows me a little better now and that if he has a dream, I will make sure it happens…even if it’s the last thing I do.”
To see Nathan’s bread, Adrienne’s pies and Kirsten’s eye-catching desserts visit whenpiemeetsbreadbakery.com

Reiter’s Bakery, Red Bluff – Rich and Kassie Reiter

Making Christmas candy with their moms was a fond childhood memory that both Rich and Kassie brought into their relationship. Years of sweet camaraderie in the kitchen, with strict attention to detail, became foundational in the recipe of their marriage and business.

When Kassie first met Rich, she was taking culinary classes at Shasta College, working and spending her free time at Mitchell’s Fitness. Her boss at Copy Cats would allow her to bring in baked goods to sell. But sharing baked goods at the gym was an entirely different scenario, and Kassie thought it odd that sweets were showing up at a place where people were trying to shed pounds. That oddity, however, is precisely how Rich first caught Kassie’s eye. Rich loved baking and sharing. Soon they were swapping phone numbers and recipes and Kassie convinced Rich to enroll in culinary classes.

Fast forward to 2019 and both Rich and Kassie were graduates of The Culinary Institute of America. Part of their culinary training included internships at five-star Nantucket resorts and pastry shops. “It really wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds,” Kassie says. Their perseverance, combined training and fortified friendship, however, was going to come in handy for the big ventures ahead.

Rich and Kassie married after graduation and a month later opened the doors of Reiter’s Bakery at 830 Main Street in Red Bluff. They got right to work as certified pastry chefs and cleanup crew. Three years later they are still together 24-7 and easily spend 19 hours a day to bring pastry perfection to their customers. Kassie says, “We are still best friends.” Rich adds with a smile, “She even goes fishing with me. Want to see a picture?”

Kassie’s great focus on detail paired with Rich’s critiquing eye sounds like a recipe for a difficult marriage, but they can obsess over a different type of pastry without nitpicking one another. Rich prefers making chocolates while Kassie enjoys the art of lamination with croissants and other flakey delights. They make everything by hand with quality ingredients and classic European style and technique. One customer from Europe was blown away to finally find that quality at Reiter’s.

Rich and Kassie’s favorite holiday tradition is hosting an annual Gingerbread House Competition and craft day. This year it will be held on December 10 from noon-2pm. Visit reitersbakery.com for more details.

Upper Crust Bakery and Cafe, Chico – Jeff and Shelby Plummer

Jeff Plummer met his wife, Shelby, in 2008 while working at Freeport Bakery in Sacramento. What could be sweeter than the head baker meeting the cake decorator, a wedding to follow and then the couple relocating back to her hometown? It actually did get better when they started working together at and eventually owning, a well-loved Chico bakery, The Upper Crust Bakery and Cafe.

Shelby grew up in Chico where her dad was the Chico State head football coach. She says it is a dream to be down the street from Chico State, at 130 Main Street, serving world class food to students, faculty and all who love their college town. Shelby is self-taught in the art of cake decorating. A scroll through the photos of her custom cakes on uppercrustchico.com will leave you with dreams of her creations and the flavors there—such as Chocolate Truffle, Toasted Caramel and Main Street Lemon.

Jeff graduated from the Kitchen Academy (now Le Cordon Bleu) in Sacramento and this has come in handy with Upper Crust’s large breakfast and lunch menu. Jeff starts his day at 3 a.m.—rotating between four different cook stations, getting to know their 40 employees and fine tuning their operations. Jeff said, “Today we baked close to 75 loaves of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Tea Bread.” He adds, “I am very thankful that Shelby does the baking at home.”

A favorite holiday tradition uses a recipe from Shelby’s grandmother, Margie, and is aptly named Grandma Houser’s Tea Rings.  Jeff says, “Margie made them for all of her family until she passed away in 2022. For the past five years we have made and sold 10-20 every day through the holidays. Margie would tell all her friends at her retirement home how happy she was we were making them.”

Community and family connections are Jeff and Shelby’s priority and food can often be the connector. Jeff says, “Shelby and I have three girls—Charlotte, 12; Lyla, 9; and Eloise, 8. They love to help make and eat our sugar cookies.”

To enjoy the Plummer family vibes, try the first Saturday of the month when they invite local musicians to perform at their bakery.