Jun 6, 2009

Cooks’ favorite appleBy Christine PrattWenatcheeWorld.com

Chelan, WA — It’s not a Granny or a Honeycrisp or a Gala, but it’s an apple well known to area cooks.

It’s Mary and David Weldy’s Culinary Apple — a kitchen store that’s easy to walk into, but very hard to leave.

Kitchen gadgets of every notion hang from hooks, inviting close scrutiny.

A careful shopper will notice amazing things, like “Apples ‘n Spice Vacuum Cleaner Fragrance” or barbecue branding irons that burn the husky or coug insignia onto something as un-rivalry-provoking as a ground-beef patty.

What’s that by the checkout counter? Are those golf putters — real, usable putters? — made of apple, pear and cherry woods? Yep.

If golf’s not your game, you can learn to cook, or cook better, and buy local wines and gourmet foods.

And you’d be hard pressed to head for the door without someone offering a sample of fudge — “Papa’s Gourmet Lake Fudge,” made by Papa Dave, himself.

“It’s always changing. I’m always moving things around, confusing everyone!” said Mary, 59, of the store’s apple-themed gifts and gourmet cooking supplies that draw customers from around the region and beyond. “It takes a lot of energy and mental stimulation — the challenge to be successful and the challenge in today’s climate of what to spend your money on.”

Her experience as a former sales representative for a high-end gift company has given her a keen eye for products that will sell, and how to display them.

“The success of the store is Mary’s wholesale gift background and merchandising. She has an eye for that,” said Dave, 60.

But these two high school sweethearts, now married 41 years, admittedly complement each other.

After years working sales jobs in Seattle — she in the specialty wholesale gifts and he in the trucking industry — they both wanted out of the rat race.

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