by ASHLEY MILLER

for the Sequim Gazette

Crumb Grabbers Bakery is one of Sequim’s well-kept secrets.

Not for long, though. As word spreads about Linda Engeseth’s delicious melt-in-your-mouth pastries, the home-based business gets busier and busier.

Engeseth, who lives on the east side of Sequim near Carrie Blake Park, opened Crumb Grabbers Bakery in September 2010. She applied to the City of Sequim to build an industrial kitchen off the side of her Willow Street home: It was approved less than one month later.

Opening a bakery was quite a career change for Engeseth, who spent 26 years as an executive assistant in Los Angeles, Calif. With the downturn of the economy, Engeseth was laid off.

“After a couple of years of looking for a good job, I decided to make one,” she said. “I wore a suit for 26 years. Now, I’m in jeans and a T-shirt cranking up the music and singing to the neighbors. I love it!”

Engeseth taught herself to bake as a young girl. She describes her baked goods as simple food that “looks and tastes like down-home stuff Mom would make.”

She bakes scones, cakes, muffins, cookies, pies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, blondies, cupcakes and more. Her favorite treats to prepare are scones, into which she puts a secret ingredient.

Everything is made without using artificial flavorings, preservatives, partially hydrogenated oils or powdered egg substitutes. All the products include quality butter, real vanilla, real eggs, real fruit and natural ingredients, Engeseth said.

Crumb Grabbers Bakery is a licensed wholesale and retail business, meaning Engeseth can serve families with small orders of a dozen or larger vendors with bigger requests. Her food is served all over town at Reddog Coffee Co., Curbside Bistro, banks and other businesses.

An organic line of products is available exclusively at Nash’s Farm Store and lavender cookies at Purple Haze.

“It’s fun to me — a hobby really,” Engeseth said. “It’s really great to get paid for what I love to do.”

Engeseth decides her own hours. Some days, she spends only a couple hours in the kitchen. Others, she works 18 hours straight.

It’s said that the aroma of freshly baked treats lingers in the neighborhood.

“People walk down the street sometimes and peek through the door, trying to see what’s cooking,” Engeseth said.

Orders can be placed via telephone and on the Internet. Because the bakery is operated in a residential area, city ordinances require customers to make appointments to pick up orders. Every effort

is made to accommodate client needs, including Saturday and Sunday appointments.

Saturday mornings, Engeseth can be found selling products at the Sequim Open Aire Market.

For more information, visit www.crumbgrabbersbakery.com or call 360-402-6585.