With many public schools now contracting with food services such as Lunchtime Solutions to provide meals for students, made-from-scratch dishes that so many of us enjoyed at school in our youth have become a thing of the past. Except in Callaway.

Callaway Public Schools takes pride in providing a quality education and good home-cooked meals for their students. Recently two local women decided to help out with the latter, by donating their time to bake fresh pastries for lunch. Not only that, they resurrected some very familiar recipes in the process.

It all began when Sue Phelps was called upon to help fill in one day in the school kitchen. While there she was going through some old recipes and found the famous dinner roll recipe used for many years by longtime cook Mary Jane Brestel.

According to Candy Thomas, who worked in the school kitchen for more than 34 years and was an assistant to Mary Jane, the original dinner roll recipe used commodity items such as powdered eggs and dry milk. Mary Jane converted the recipe and it became a staple at the school.

“When we started serving two different times of breakfast, we no longer had time to make the rolls from scratch, and started using frozen dough,” Thomas explained. “But we always made as much as we could from scratch.”

Sue decided she wanted to make the rolls again, and knowing it would be a pretty big project she solicited help from a friend and fellow baking enthusiast, Janet Kalinowski.

“Janet understands dough and yeast better than I do,” Sue laughed. “And she was willing to partner with me.”

“Sue Phelps can talk me into anything,” Janet added, as the ladies giggled.

The ladies wanted to make the rolls at the school to be able to utilize the big mixer; however, they have been unable to locate the dough hook, so Janet brought her mixer from home. In January they went to work, and the students at staff of CPS were treated to the wonderful scent of homemade bread drifting down the hallways leading up to lunch time.

It was such a big hit that the ladies decided to do it again, and in February they made cinnamon rolls. In March, it was a sweet treat again.

“Makayla requested kolaches for the Easter season,” Janet explained.

Sue and Janet both said they love giving the students the special treat of homebaked goodies, and the kids have certainly seemed to enjoy it. “The first time we made the dinner rolls, one boy ate five of them,” Janet shared. “He went home and said to his mom, ‘I don’t know who made the dinner rolls, but I would pay them to make them for me!’

“I love the teachers’ response too,” Janet continued. “Mr. Birkel said ‘I had two cinnamon rolls and thought to myself that is enough. But I couldn’t resist and had to have a third.’ The smell going through the school gets everyone excited.”

“It’s just a little thing, but that smell is a really sweet memory,” Sue added.

Sue and Janet both said they would be willing to come in and bake a couple more times before the end of the school year, and the kitchen staff is more than happy to welcome them. Head cook Makayla Doggett and assistant cooks Megan Donegan, Taylar Doggett, and Cassie Anderson agree that washing dishes the bakers dirty, is a good trade for the homemade treats.

“These ladies do a LOT of cooking from scratch, and we just felt honored to couple with what they were already doing,” said Sue.

“We just feel that kids need nutritious homemade meals, and we strive to do that,” said Makayla.

“Local ranchers provide us with beef, so that is a great program that really helps. We prepare a big meal for every holiday, and do a lot of homemade casseroles. I think the kids appreciate it.”

The kitchen staff serves breakfast in two shifts, and begin serving lunch at 11 a.m.

When asked what the students’ favorite school meal is the cooks agreed it is probably breakfast for lunch. “Last week we made homemade waffles and six waffle irons going.

Spaghetti and homemade mac & cheese are also favorites,” said Makayla.

“We don’t have time to make the dinner rolls and stuff anymore, so I think it’s wonderful that these ladies are willing to come in and do it.”