Experts say the average person changes careers three to seven times during their lifetime. So how many of us did a career pivot due to the pandemic? I know I did, along with millions of others this past year.
North Bend resident Orsi Homorodi, pre-Covid-19, worked as an esthetician for the past seven years at the Salish Lodge and Spa. Unfortunately, the pandemic made it impossible for her to work for a while, and she had much time on her hands.
Originally from Hungary, Orsi and her husband, Zoltan, moved to the states via Finland in 2003. After Zoltan secured a job in Bellevue, they first settled with their two children, 17 and 20, in Issaquah, then moved east to Snoqualmie about ten years ago and eventually to North Bend. The Valley was appealing to the family for its proximity to larger cities and closeness to nature.
While out of work, Orsi had a lot of time on her hands and a lifetime of love of anything sweet. One day she was hanging out at home, spending yet another day procrastinating doing her daily cleaning and felt like making cookies. When they were done, she decided to make them more appealing, made some royal icing and decorated them with a simple design.
Once she started, she realized she found something therapeutic for her time at home. She proceeded to binge-watch YouTube videos on cookie decorating, immersing herself in different techniques. Her friends and neighbors all acted as helpful taste testers, she practiced and Sweet Taste of Europe was born.
Orsi is 100% self-taught but recalls being in Hungary as a child where her village had a tradition when someone got married, the whole town gifted baking supplies to the to-be married couple. Then at a designated home, the village women would get together and bake for the wedding. She loved helping when it was at her home. She practiced all the baking process steps and ate the cookie, or two, that didn’t pass the quality check.
Sweet Taste of Europe now does custom decorated sugar cookies using different piping techniques, airbrushing and painting. She tries to accommodate any design that is at her skill level. She also has a cookie printer named Eddie, of course, a machine that transfers any image to a cookie that she has baked and iced with edible ink. She uses this to her advantage by printing logo cookies for companies.
Eventually, Orsi would like to offer other European treats besides sugar cookies, but for now, hand piped custom cookies start at $60 per dozen depending on complexity. The printed cookies have an introductory $48 per dozen price. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram at Sweet Taste of Europe.
She recently went back to work at the Salish Lodge & Spa, so you’d better plan ahead and get your order in soon. She’s busy! But you’ll have to get in line behind me. I had some at Christmas time and will be ordering again soon!
