In May, when Angela Ray first talked to the Sentinel, she wasn’t sure how long her catering business would be down. A state Stay at Home Order banning congregations of 10 or more people meant nobody was ordering her popular Kansas City-style barbecue.

Not knowing that one month of a deadly pandemic would turn into three and then five and eventually 10 and beyond, Ray knew she couldn’t wait for normal to return. She had bills to pay.   

Angela Ray poses for a portrait in her kitchen, holding two of the many pies she is offering in her pie kits.
Portrait by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado

So, Ray played to her strength and leaned into the pandemic. Everybody seemed to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Baking aisles in grocery stores across the country were bare. Flour and the little bit of joy a fresh loaf of sourdough brings were in high demand. 

Instead of barbecue — and rarely meeting relief aid requirements for one reason or another — Ray started making pie kits: dough, filling, a set of directions to guide the customer through the process. Ray sells both sweet and savory. 

The recipe for the crust is a family heirloom, passed down from her great-grandmother. After some brainstorming with her family, she named her new business venture Taste the Love.

“The pivot itself was very interesting. It was very interesting and new and challenging, but yet still exciting. There was so much that was going on and so many emotions. Honestly, I think for us, we just feel like we didn’t have a choice. This is how we make our living, this is what we do to survive,” Ray said on a recent Monday evening, sitting in her car leaving the facility she said she makes the kits. “It’s a scary situation, and I truly just try to take it day by day. I try to just focus on my glasses, you know, half full versus half empty. And keep it moving. Keep it moving.”

There have been a lot of sleepless nights since March. A lot of tears. But the pie kits have been a hit.

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Throughout the summer Ray would average selling about 40 pie kits per week. That more than doubled the week before Thanksgiving. Her backup plan is working, though it nets about 60% less than catering, she said. During a normal summer she would hire up to 10 people part-time to attend different events or festivals. She’d like to get back to that point.

Despite watching the pandemic unfold and the business she loves become mute overnight, Ray is optimistic, jovial even. 

“Some clients will be like, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t give you a tip.’ And I’m like, I am fine without a tip. I got business. I try to look at the smallest things,” she said. 

Early on in the pandemic Ray was having trouble finding any kind of relief money to stay afloat. She doesn’t have a brick and mortar location for her catering business, a requirement from most local grants. Almost 10 months later, not having a building has turned out to be somewhat of a relief. That’s not an extra cost she’s worried about like most restaurants, which now cannot offer indoor dining due to state health orders because of how rampant the virus has become in the last month.

Still, Ray watches her expenses. If she needs supplies, she’s more likely to go pick them up than pay a delivery charge. She delivers most of the kits herself.

“When I do drop off a kit, or, you know, or I see somebody, I hug myself and say, ‘This is me, hugging you. Hopefully you can feel it!’ Because truly we need that interaction,” she said. “Now some of those repeat customers do it back to me now.”

Ray is hoping for an equally busy Christmas. But she’s already feeling a wave of uncertainty about the new year. 

“I’m thinking about January, February, what will we do? Everyone is thinking about their New Year’s resolutions and losing weight. Pie is not normally on that list,” she said. 

But the ideas are already starting to take hold. Ray is thinking about the hand pies her mom would make when she was a little girl, and when she’s finally able to return to catering, she’ll find a way to do barbecue and pie. 

“If I’ve learned anything throughout this, it’s that multiple avenues of income is not a bad thing,” she said.

Whatever you’re going through, crisis counselors and professionally trained peer specialists are available to help. Call Colorado Crisis Service’s hotline at 1-844-493-TALK(8255). There is no wrong reason to reach out.

Kara Mason can be reached at qsnowdon@SentinelColorado.com.