Life is sweet at Ginger’s Bakery

Morgan City has been holding out on us.

In a world of big-time grocery store, chemically-enhanced pastries, St. Mary locals have neglected to tell anyone they harbor a real baker.

A baker with her own secret recipes n no box mixes here n and only the best ingredients delight her customers.

As a child, Morgan City native Ginger Rodriguez’s father moved the family overseas as part of his career in the oilfield. Two of the family’s stops were in England and Norway.

Once there, Ginger developed a love for the food n especially pastries.

“I began cooking at a young age n goulashes and pepper steaks n so I’ve always loved cooking. I would go to the stores to look at the cans of cream in England. Other kids were looking at toys and I’m looking at the different foods,” Ginger laughed.

She collected cookbooks and taught herself how to bake. Decorating ideas came from the Wilton books. To Ginger, it all came naturally.

“Having a passion for cooking is important but I think one of the most important things is having the palate. A lot of people don’t realize just how important it is to know when something has an off taste,” Ginger explained.

A few years later, the family returned to Morgan City. Berwick native David Rodriguez caught Ginger’s eye and she settled into married life.

“When we were first married we kept trying different things but every business we got into was always bad luck. We used to fish oysters and they closed down the oyster beds. We used to sell oranges and the freeze hit. David got into the trucking business and the engine blew up,” Ginger said.

The baker had a little shop in front of her home and knew deep down that she wanted a bakery n a scary proposition for everybody but Ginger.

Friends and family told her, “You don’t want to do that n you can’t do that. I don’t even think the person we bought this building from thought we were going to make it,” Ginger said.

That was 1992 n the year of Hurricane Andrew.

Remarkably the bakery suffered little damage and the plan to open pushed ahead.

The couple worked on a shoestring budget fixing up the building and buying the equipment at auctions.

“I always knew I was working towards this. I had a plan and just always knew this is what I wanted to do. My husband didn’t know. He had to kind of learn as he went. David thought he was going to put me in here and go fishing. That’s what he tells all the guys,” Ginger laughed.

One of the first things on the to-do list was supersizing Ginger’s tried-and-true recipes for the bakery. She makes it sound easy.

“I just figured out the quantities and doubled it. Books and baking industry publications gave me a lot of information,” she explained.

Those secret recipes are at the heart of Ginger’s Bakery. Biscuits, breakfast pastries, jumbo cinnamon rolls, turnovers, donuts and birthday cakes are just the tip of the iceberg.

“A lot of things are seasonal. Come the holidays I do petit fours and rum cakes. King Cakes for Mardi Gras,” Ginger said.

David is the muscle behind the recipes. He arrives at the bakery at 3 a.m. n during King Cake season punch-in time is midnight.

“He gets very few hours of sleep. I come in later and put the cakes together and take care of the bookkeeping. We have our little routine,” Ginger said.

The couple finishes the baking before lunch and spends the rest of the day visiting with customers.

“The best part of the business is the customers. I really love talking with them. They’re more like friends and family because we see them every day,” the baker said. “I get those who look at their watch and say ‘Oh no! I’ve got to get to work!’ all the time.”

Ship captains pass the word about Ginger’s Bakery on their radios. The bakery has had visitors from as far away as Holland and France.

“We kind of act as tour guides telling them where to go like down to Chauvin for Kenny Hill’s Sculpture Garden and where the good places to eat are. You learn a lot from people. I always wish the politicians would stand in a bakery for a while n they’d learn a lot,” Ginger said.

The hours are early, long and hard at Ginger’s Bakery and hiring some help would take a load off Ginger and David’s backs n but the bakery owners are hesitant.

“It’s easy to say, ‘hire somebody,’ but you can’t have people coming in and out. They could take your recipes and go somewhere else and then next week their uncle’s opening up a place with your recipes. When you work to get your recipes just right you don’t want someone taking them,” Ginger said.

The shop owner is content with her bakery and doesn’t feel the need to push and expand.

“When I was younger I always wanted to do something new and different and now it’s nice just to make a living. Most times it’s the old recipes the customers want. Give them a good turnover and you can’t beat it. Just a good donut n you don’t need a fancy pastry,” Ginger said.

“I’m not meaning to set the world on fire. As long as I’m moving forward.”

Ginger Rodriguez mans the counter at Ginger’s Bakery in Morgan City. The at-home atmosphere at Ginger’s is just one ingredient in this mom-and-pop bakery’s success. JENNIE CHILDS