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To place an order by phone or for more information: 1.800.silk pie (745.5743) OK, It's Official, Summer is here and our thoughts turn to desserts that are a bit lighter in flavor. That is why we are featuring our (by now) Famous Key Lime Silk through the month of July at a 25% discount. This dessert has been featured in Neiman Marcus for the past 19 years and was one of our very first mail order desserts thanks to a devoted customer, Mr. Frank Rea Jr. of New Jersey.
More than 23 years ago Mr. Rea and his lovely wife took a trip North to Alaska, and while on the Princess Luxury Rail Tour to Mt. McKinley, as it was called then (now Denali), when they experienced their first taste of Alaska Silk Pie. At that time we were selling the Princess Rail Division our Pecan Silk Grand Marnier. Mr. Rea called me in Anchorage once he had returned to New Jersey and asked if I would mail him one of our Pecan Silk Grand Marnier' desserts. Well, at that time I actually thought he had lost his mind, send one of our fragile desserts through the mail? I couldn't even imagine it, but after much research and several packaging companies later we were able to send Mr. Rea his dessert. I suppose you are asking what that has to do with our Key Lime. Well, two years later Mr. Rea returned once again to Alaska and brought me a bottle of Nellie's Key Lime Juice. He said he loved the key lime pie that one could prepare using the recipe on the Nellie's bottle, but he was sure that if we created one using our white chocolate Alaska Silk it would be so much better. I started working on that dessert and it made its way into the Neiman Marcus Holiday Catalog 19 years ago and is still a favorite with Neiman's customers as well as Alaska Silk Pie Customers, and of course the WONDERFUL Mr. Frank Rea Jr. Frank is still a one of my favorite mail order customers, and every season we ship desserts to Frank for all of his friends. Mr. Rea told me that he gathers them around the computer to select the dessert of their choice (not his computer, mind you, because he's never owned one), and they pick out their favorite holiday delight. For the past 22 years I have been shipping Frank his desserts. Thanks so much Frank for supporting Alaska Silk Pie Company and making me ship that very first dessert! Nelson Miyazaki is our Food Photographer.
Thank you Nelson for your incredible artistry!
206.779.5668
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To view the story and slide show of Phyllis' Grandson Oscar
Click on the link below
www.oscarsheart.com |
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Twenty-two years ago after a failed partnership of Anchorage, Alaska's first ever wine bar, Phyllis Buzzini started Alaska Silk Pie Co. with a $500 unemployment check. Her daughters Erin and Angie were in junior high and her oldest daughter was a sophomore in high school. She rented time in her friend's restaurant from 6 PM until 6 AM Monday through Saturday every week for over a year. The three sisters recall coming home after school and having to roll out pie crusts as soon as their homework had been finished and on occasion, before the homework was started because there were orders that needed filling and delivering. The girls also remember having to fill baskets with desserts and sell them at ball games and different outdoor functions like the taste of Anchorage. After an early dinner with the girls, and sometimes before any dinner at all, Phyllis would leave for the night to make Alaska Silk Pies until 6 AM in the morning. She would return home, wake the girls for school, take a quick nap, and be back at it by 11:30 at the deli to sell her desserts to the lunch crowd. She would sell the desserts she had made the night before and work like this every day, 6 days a week. Sunday's were always family day because that was the way Phyllis had grown up. The girls could invite any of their friends over for dinner but they were never allowed to leave on Sundays. The girls remember their Mom cooking up a huge pot of marinara sauce and pasta, Caesar salad, garlic cheese bread and of course, the newest flavor of "Alaska Silk Pie" for dessert. Everyone at the table had to try it and critic it before it became part of the Alaska Silk Pie line up. Phyllis has always respected the girl's opinions, as a matter of fact, to this day she says that they are her best critics. Phyllis would drive, as she liked to call them, disposable cars, because she could never afford to spend more than $150 at any one given time on a car. When they died, she simply disposed of them and bought another. By working nights in her friend's closed restaurant she started what we today know as the "Alaska Silk Pie Company". Selling her desserts at their deli counter each day at lunch made enough money to support the family and to buy inventory for that evening's work and the next day's orders. It allowed her to start her business without the traditional financing she was unable to obtain because of her failed winebar. To date she has never obtained financing in the traditional way of a bank loan. Any financing has been from friends and all of her equipment has been purchased with cash. Today, she has a wide variety of "Alaska Silk Pie" flavors and makes desserts for an array of customers such as Neiman Marcus, Horchow, Bergdorfs, Norm Thompson, Princess Tours, Delightful Deliveries, and several hotels and restaurants. She also sends her desserts to "YOU" her VERY SPECIAL VALUED CUSTOMERS, anywhere in the nation via Fed Ex-2nd day service, Standard Overnight or Priority, whatever is your preference. She has said many times, "If you don't have money, then you had better be smart and surround yourself with people who do what you do NOT know how to do, and you had better also have a TENACIOUS WILL! She is also a firm believer in the following statement; "when you don't have knowledge as a barrier and you have an incredible will to succeed, there is nothing you can not achieve if that is what you truly want"! She has proven that during the past 21 years. Phyllis has also instilled that in her 3 daughters; they all own their own business. Erin has had a small vacation rental cleaning service for several years on Kauai. Just recently Erin became a certified Arborist and she and her husband a certified Arborists and are planning on starting their own business this summer in Kauai, Hi. Phyllis is quite proud of all three girls. On July 1st, Alaska Silk Pie Company will be celebrating twenty-two years of epicurean delight. It has taken us into the homes of chocolate desesrt connoisseurs throughout the country. From Alaska's dancing Aurora nights and the land of the midnight sun to the dazzinling lights of Seattle's Emerald City, we present to you only the finest, decadent, chocolate desserts. Our creative pastry chefs continue to create incredible and unique signature desserts for guests and patrons the world around. Neiman Marcus, Horchow, Bergdorf's, Norm Thompson, Princess Tours, Holland Americ, China Air, Areoflot Airlines and the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation are some of our valued partners. NOW....it's your turn to savour the flavor of Alaska Silk......are you ready for a tour and a taste?
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