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Big batches of sweets are the feature at That Little Bakery on Grand

 
Miles Worssell, age 4.  Jess Glass, 35, owns That Little Bakery On Grand, an 810 square foot bakery on Grand Blvd. in New Port Richey.
Miles Worssell, age 4. Jess Glass, 35, owns That Little Bakery On Grand, an 810 square foot bakery on Grand Blvd. in New Port Richey.
Published Sept. 16, 2015

NEW PORT RICHEY — Her bakery is small. But behind the counter, Jess Glass bakes big batches of sweet treats.

At That Little Bakery on Grand, there are lemon bars. And triple-layer cakes. And cinnamon rolls so big that Glass, 35, calls them cinnamonsters.

But better than what she bakes is with whom she gets to bake it: her family — a result of her decision to chase a dream.

Glass has baked as a hobby all her life but kept her hope of opening a bakery on the back burner until she parked outside someone else's bakery back in April.

She had driven past the 810-square-foot shop at Oriole Avenue and Grand Boulevard numerous of times. But the day she finally stopped, she made a discovery: "It was closed," she said.

Glass spoke to the owners, who were there to host a yard sale. They had decided to shut the bakery permanently to be available to help an ailing relative.

"You could tell they were heartbroken," Glass said. "They hated the thought of leaving their customers."

Glass, who at the time worked as a baker at Panera Bread, recalled her goal to someday open her own bakery. She shared it with the little bakery's owners. A week later, she signed a lease.

The decision to replace the previous bakery with her own was a quick one, but "there was already a community here that wanted this," Glass said. "It made our decision a little bit easier."

She quit her job at Panera, where she had worked overnight shifts.

"That was a scary moment, full of uncertainty and excitement," she said.

She took a month with her husband, Michael Worssell, 37, and her sons, Miles Worssell, 4, and Carter Maydwell, 13, to prepare the bakery, which opened May 16.

Glass works alongside her dad, John Glass, 68, who bakes quiches each morning, and her husband, who helps shop for supplies and serves as her support system.

So far, the shop's sizable cinnamon rolls are its top seller.

"Quiche is a close second," Glass said. "They're really neck and neck."

There's no room to dine in, but customers can carry out the bakery's staples, which also include the bread pudding Glass creates out of leftover cinnamon rolls, plus custom orders of all kinds: a quiche with the meats and cheeses of your choice, birthday cakes and biscuits.

She can create gluten-friendly versions of customers' favorite baked goods and sweets with no sugar added.

She also is now able to spend more time with her sons, who spent their summer beside her at the bakery.

"When I was having to work overnights (at Panera), I didn't have quite as much time to spend being a mom," Glass said.

Freedom, she said, is an added bonus to owning a bakery.

"If I feel like doing a huge batch of cupcakes, then that's what I'll do," she said. "And that just makes me happy."

That Little Bakery on Grand is at 5032 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. For information, call (727) 534-5054 or visit thatlittlebakerynpr.com.