{Our Story}

Sweet Agnes was a mix of everything a grandmother should be - a lover of bear hugs & a patient listener to stories about imaginary preschool pals. She was a ‘sit by me’ companion on the JOY bus headed to summer VBS, as well as an acclaimed artist of silly bunnies in my birthday cards.  She taught the fine points of cane pole fishing, as well as the finer points of canning wild grape jelly from the muscadines in the trees across the sandy street from her tiny concrete house. 

Sweet Agnes was also a mix of everything that perhaps a grandmother shouldn’t be. Sleepovers included Czech songs with bad words and giggles. She possessed a shower that could bathe a sandy grandchild as well as a pet pig. Or chicken. Or turtle for that matter. A single mom of eight, she preferred her hair jet-black and her lipstick crimson. And before my cousins & I ever knew her, Sweet Agnes held a long history of husbands & gunfights.

Her story is one of survival, perseverance, creativity, and ultimately, family choosing love despite the past. I still have so much to learn from Sweet Agnes, especially on those days that I find  “pin-stagram” & “filter” culture threatening my very own authenticity. Baking each traditional recipe reinforces that I am a direct result of God’s care for my grandma & her children, as He transformed her messy, mixed up life into a meaningful legacy.

And that, my friends, is the real mission of Sweet Agnes Kolache Company: a commitment to preserve heritage family recipes while sharing the story of abundant grace & the eternal promise given to us. All those scrumptious goodies we bake at Sweet Agnes simply remind us to taste & see that the LORD is GOOD.