Southern Breeze 2008 Spring Issue

story by KATHIE FARNELL photography by COURTLAND RICHARDS Paul Pacey and his daughter Kim Clay (right) carry on the family tradition of the Punta Clara Kitchen from the same Victorian house (above), making everything from delightful Easter confections (opposite) to pralines for everyday enjoyment (bottom). Welcome to the Doll House Serving from a Victorian treasure, the Punta Clara Kitchen makes life sweet. P oint Clear, Alabama, on the shores of Mobile Bay, has long been famous as an elegant resort area. Over the past 50 or so years, however, it has also become known as the home of Punta Clara Kitchen, a family-run business which turns out pralines and other nostalgic confections from a century-old Victorian house. Dorothy Brodbeck Pacey began Punta Clara Kitchen in 1952 as a backyard candy-making operation at Miss Colleen’s House, the rambling Victorian built in 1897 as the Brodbeck family home. The action has moved indoors, but the recipes are the same and the ambiance still invites the visitor to step back in time. Today Miss Colleen’s House is a part of Point Clear’s historic district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Three generations of the Brodbeck/Pacey family—with a fourth waiting in the wings—continue to operate the Kitchen. Old-fashioned flowers and shrubs surround the house’s wraparound porches. Inside, many of the home’s original furnishings and ornaments, preserved by Miss Colleen, are on display. From the Attic Antiques, another family-run business on the premises, sells antiques and collectibles. Most visitors, however, head straight for the display room and kitchen off the front hall. Pralines, fudge, divinity, English toffee, and other candies are all homemade using the Pacey family’s recipes. The Kitchen also turns out preserves and relishes, everything from the classic fig preserves and blackberry jam to the totally unexpected onion jelly. Old-fashioned cakes can be ordered in advance but shoppers are encouraged to graze from trays of samples. The Kitchen continues to be a multi-generational business. Dorothy Pacey, who first began making pralines in a backyard kettle, is now 87 years old and prevented by health concerns from working in the store, but she keeps up with the latest products. Her son Paul Pacey, his sister Susan, and his daughter Kim Clay take charge of the daily operations, working alongside other family members. Griffin Pacey, Colleen Clay, and Emma Pacey, still in school, spend part of their summer working in the shop. Kim, who also began working here in high school, became a full-fledged Kitchen operative nine years ago, bringing baby Colleen to work with her. She is now the owner/manager and says that many of the shop’s most popular recipes have started with customers’ special requests. “We had several requests for mayhaw jelly. So we started looking around and found we had a mayhaw supplier right in this area. We’re always looking for something different.” The shop’s best seller continues to be the pralines. Though customers enjoy visiting the store in person, usually in connection with a trip to the Gulf or the nearby resort town of Fairhope, the Kitchen has kept pace with the times so that fans with a sweet tooth in far-flung corners of the world can now order online… How sweet it is! Spring 2008 71

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Southern Breeze 2008 Spring Issue

Editor's Letter Contributor Gumbo Seen & Heard Coastal Calendar Storefronts - Keepin' it Reel Sweet Dreams - Grand Hotel Art of Living - Marking Time Fixtures - A Fitting End Our Backyard - Reasonable Drought Make Yourself at Home - Light up Your Life The Southern Breeze Hot List Unexpected Destin-ation Visual Zydeco We're an American Band The Good Life From Halter Tops to Maternity Tops Reader Services Cheers - Lazy Libations Dish - Mississippi Yearning Chef's Table - Welcome to The Doll House Let's Eat - Sunrise Sensations Last Bite

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