Named after her children, Garrison and Emelia, local cookie baker/decorator and business owner Elysha Mallcheck has opened the GEM Cookie Co. in Escalon.

“I do the baking and decorating,” Mallcheck said, noting that friend and co-worker Aladina Stratos serves as her “stress management assistant.”

Mallcheck has had the business since this past December and has gone through all the permitting processes and paperwork filings for the cottage food industry. The Escalon Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for GEM Cookie Company at a recent Sunday in the Park event and Mallcheck and Stratos had a variety of cookies available for sampling.

“I was looking for a way to work from home,” Mallcheck said of wanting to stay at home with her young children but still earn a paycheck.

Garrison is three, Emelia is 18 months old.

“I do custom orders, we do birthdays and weddings, baby shows and retirements,” she said.

Mallcheck and Stratos also did some ‘pop up shops’ for the holidays last year as they were just getting the business off the ground. Mallcheck had a booth at the Park Fete in Escalon in July as well.

“I make everything fresh,” she added, noting that she can typically turn an order around in a few days. Cookies are decorated according to the event theme and there are several flavor varieties as well.

“I started with a basic vanilla,” explained Mallcheck. “We also have a spiced sugar, because we’re Dutch, the kids call them the windmill cookies.”

Flavors available are double chocolate, sugar and a cookies ‘n cream flavor.

There’s also not much of a limit when it comes to design.

“I own over 500 cookie cutters,” Mallcheck said. “I can do any design, pretty much anything.”

Price is depending on the design and color; typically the fancy cookies run between $20 and $35 per dozen.

For more information, contact Mallcheck at 209-568-9021 or email her at elysha.mallcheck@gmail.com.