(pronounced Weh-leh ahh Weh-lahss)
This is a home based business. Cookies must be pre-ordered online before pickup. The address for our convenient East Sacramento curbside cookie pickups will be shared in your email receipt once the order has been placed.
If you have any questions, text Lori at 916-520-4316.
Before you take that inhale and begin to push out a big “hhhwaylay Ay WEEla??” attempt at this, let me try to make this a little bit easier for you.
Pronounce it like so: Weh-leh ahh Weh-lahss.
Wela is a brief (slang) form of Grandma in Spanish. And Huele a means “smells like.” Anything I do in my kitchen – the end goal is to recreate the smells and warmth and love I felt in my Wela’s kitchen. Hence the name “smells like gramma’s.” Now that we’ve had our Spanish lesson for the day, let me tell you a little bit about her & I.
Growing up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn, the place that ALWAYS brought me security, comfort, and love was in my gramma’s kitchen. There you could typically find her stirring something in a large pot, surrounded by amazing smells and/or dancing around to Salsa music playing in the background.
When we were together in the kitchen, she was usually feeding my belly AND my soul. Stories about growing up “en la isla” (on the island) and lessons about appreciating our culture and ancestry. She’d give me little tidbits about what was in a particular dish and a then maybe lesson in how to perfect white rice (there should only be enough water for the spoon to stand upright and on its own!) before heaping piles of Puerto Rican cookin’ onto my plate. After a quick “bendición” – it was time to dig into whatever delight she had cooked while we talked. She was smart, feisty, funny, devoutly Catholic & she was my anchor.
I’ve named my little bake shop “Huele a Wela’s” in honor of my Wela Milagros who lost her battle with Alzheimer’s & dementia in November of 2019. I miss her every single day.
I hope to bring you some of the love and joy she taught me to put into my cooking and baking with every single bite.
Black/Brown owned.