By Staff
HOMEMADE PIE Debbie Baker sprinkles almonds on a lemon almond pie she prepared for a customer. In addition to daily lunch specials, Baker's business, The Baker's Rack, also caters weddings and special events and prepares casseroles for pick up. Photo by Penny Randall / The Meridian Star
By Penny Randall / staff writer
Aug. 20, 2003
Debbie Baker doesn't own fancy kitchen gadgets that chop, mix or puree foods she relies on the tried-and-true method of hand-chopping everything.
The Baker's Rack opened in October in its current location, 4535 35th Ave. in the Old North Hills Shopping Center.
Before that, Baker and her sister, Martha Ann Harris, owned a catering business for several years, and Baker previously worked as cafeteria manager at Lamar School for 14 years.
Prepared dinners
Baker's cooking skills are limitless.
She prepares elaborate, 3-foot-tall fruit cascades for weddings. She also prepares an original sweet treat, the Mississippi Buckeye peanut butter the size of a nickel dipped in chocolate.
But it's the simple homemade dishes that bring her the most joy.
If you've worked all day and don't feel like cooking supper, Baker has the answer. Call ahead and she'll prepare a homemade casserole to take home and heat up.
Her entrees include $20 for seafood gumbo, $17 for beef burgundy, $14 for lasagna and $12 for chicken and dumplings.
Lunch specials
But Baker really shines with her daily lunch specials.
Tuesday through Friday she prepares lunches everything from chicken salad with fruit and homemade lemon almond pie to red beans and rice with sausage and cheese biscuits.
Baker said she doesn't serve the same dish during the month except for her secret recipe chicken salad. That dish has become a hit with her customers and is now the Thursday special.
Other lunch specials include beef tips over rice with butter beans and angel biscuits; lasagna with Caesar salad and Texas toast; and seafood gumbo over rice served with cucumber tomato salad and cornbread.
All lunches come with tea, and orders of seven or more can be delivered.
Desire to cook
Baker said she remembers as a young child watching the family's cook prepare meals. She wanted to help with the work.
Another influence in Baker's life was her Grandmother Cobb.
Baker said she has a cooking philosophy.