Hey friends this may be a long winded post but here goes…….as y’all know Mamma put up a video yesterday explaining what’s going on for the future of Mamma Mish’s place and all 4 businesses! Wow writing that right now seems so surreal……..I can’t believe what God has done down there at 12600 Harford Road starting in 2016 with a thought sitting on the couch with hubby coming up with a way to get me outta corporate Food management and production!! God gave us a plan! We both looked at each other and said lets do this!!………then began the search for a piece of property to begin the build!!!! Little did we know one little spot in Hydes MD, which we agreed that the name should be Mamma Mish’s Homemade Dishes would take off years later and become all that it is today!!
God led from the beginning of stepping foot in an abandoned space filled with dust, dirt, critters, crazeeee wall colors, old equipment and a mess and showed us all the beauty that would rise from the ashes!!!
At that moment……..the imagination began to flow…….hubby is a carpenter so we both began to draw and see this here and that there and paint this, build this and move this and before we knew it our open commercial kitchen and cafe came to life!!! Well almost!! No chairs no wall hangings no pizzazzz yet!!!!! Lots of wood and all the essentials to get cooking, baking and creating emerged from our place!! Then came tables and chairs, wall hangings, refrigerators and more rustic glamor was coming alive in our little ole cafe on Harford Road!! Then we started social media a tad which grew today to almost 11,000 followers!!! Wow GOD!!! I mean seriously He did it!!!
So we flowed with folks trying our goodies, giving samples, finding a coffee company, then catering took off and we needed more space and supplies and the place got full real quick!!! Like real quick!! Then more staffing came for catering then some folks ended up working in the cafe and life got crazy busy and we were just so grateful yet again!! God all God’s doings! Listening and obeying!
Then we began working hard to save money to help folks in the community with free meals and needs they had! Then we hosted parties and events in our cafe and people loved what was happening right there in little ole Hydes MD!
Sooo many said nothing ever makes it in this spot!! But with God yes With Him all things are possible!! All!! Don’t give up I kept hearing in my Spirit! Oh and did I mention in my quiet time with God He whispered and showed me yes the entire building passed the cafe will be overtaken by Mammas!!! I said what!???? Seriously 😳 well then ok Lord we’re ready!!! Show us when!! Then one day in 2018 going into 2019 Lord showed me go get the space next door key from Gary and send to the landlord and say it’s time we took this space too!!! Soooo I sent a picture of the key to hubby and he said uh oh 😮 what’s happening! I told him Lord showed me we are to open a Store and vendors will come! So we did and yes they did come and it was super cool!!! It was many small businesses coming together to sell their handmade and homemade arts and crafts and it was amazing! This flourished with some ups and downs at times but all businesses have that going on! So we prayed and kept trusting God!!
It was fun and we met so many incredible folks!!!! Soon after at the end of 2019 God put in on my heart yet again to get the key to the big space on the end! I said woah Lord you better talk to George about that first! I felt assured He did lol!!! Went and got the key, took a pic again and sent to my precious hubby and he said well ok babe let’s do it!
So the rebuild, redesign and rustic decor began! Tearing out fridges and freezers from the ole Highs that used to be there and boom there you have it!! But we couldn’t come up with a name????? So we walked and talked one evening around our court at home and kept saying names then finally we came up with together Grace Table! An event space!!! A gathering place!! Then we started thinking of all kinds of things to create in there for folks to come together! First up Breakfast with Santa in 2019!!! Then collecting Christmas gifts to bless 30 families!!! Wow all in a very short period of time! Then we marketed and started selling the event space and booking and getting busy in Grace Table…….then 2020 parties, events, cooking classes ohhh so many things happening in all three spaces it was a God blessed in all of Mammas!! Until the dang Covid came rolling into town and causing all kinds of havoc and sadness and devastation for all of us…….families, small businesses well everyone!! When the announcement was made we were shutting down ughhhhh!!! We prayed and asked God what can we do to help folks!!! How can we be there for people during this most challenging time! How can we help!!!! Show us Lord what to do!
So I called the Governor’s office and the Health dept and said are we essential and they both said can you provide food for folks and we said yes we sure can! Hung up with them told staff and most of them said i gotta go! They had families, young kids, elderly parents and we understood!! So much uncertainty and so much fear!
Pam and I were the only ones left! We said lets make a plan and stick to it! We can do this!
We cooked, baked and fed a gazillion people every day! We blessed graduates, senior citizens, hospitals, families……..whoever needed help with with food, gas, oil, groceries, meals, tires, car repairs literally whatever God put on out hearts to do!! We prayed and carried it out! Plus churches, businesses and individuals came along side and helped us too!! What blessed moments, days we had!! Once again God brought folks together alot duringa pandemic!!! Wow God!!
Then things started to open up eventually. Folks were still unsure of the regulations as they changed often. We just did our best to flow with everything. Eventually, Staff started returning, and we had to make some decisions on what to do with Grace Tablet and what to do in the store. We then decided to begin Grace Table a six course meal with live music and that became quite a blessing. Slowly bringing people back together in the Grace Table room. We also decided to turn the store into Mish’s Boutique, and that began to thrive and we had so much fun. We also built a prayer room for folks to come in and be blessed!! There are so many prayers in that room! Soooo many answered! Again people coming together other businesses joining us and folks coming out to enjoy everything once again.
We also did notice that we had to do a whole lot more on social media as folks got used to getting all their information on social media. There was so much to do all the time with all four of our businesses and trying to keep alive and flowing. We also noticed sometimes folks just did not have grace like they used to and we're definitely not happy at times with what we were doing or would be very verbal and get upset with us. We did our best to fix any and all mistakes and things that we did not do right. It was hard to go through these times! So much good happened through Covid. I guess we slacked a little bit with some things too. We were completely exhausted from the whole Covid and trying to get back to being open to the public again! There was no break in between. We were tired. You had to keep being creative and innovative.
Grace table was becoming less and less of a place that was working for events also. We made a decision in 2022 that we may close it. We prayed and prayed and the Lord showed us Grace table tea room. We started to make the renovations and get the room ready for a tea room. We literally did it in 30 days. Three days before the grand opening, I fell and broke my tibia bone. It was crazy we asked God again for help and so many women came together and helped us get that tea room ready, and get all the food ready and other small businesses joined forces with us to provide desserts, Macarons, and all kinds of preserves and sweets to help us get rolling. It's been open almost a year now and doing quite well. We took some hits on Google reviews and some folks just didn't like how we were doing it and we took all that and made it into something positive and redid the structure of the tea room and since last year holiday season it's been going well.
Yes, everything is just flowing. Everything always ebbs and flows ups and downs. Some days are great and some days are very challenging financially. Things have gotten so expensive. Staffing has been very difficult and we have done so much to keep all of Mammas rolling along. Which brings us to the present, and I can tell you that, as I look at some things happening in our country and in the world, my heart has been burdened for several months. Crimes on our own backyard, unhappy folks, so much uncertainty again right now. Been praying alot for us all! Looking into next year with so much going on then too!
I felt the tug from God that there would be a big change coming the end of this year. I kept seeking Him for what He wanted to do with all of these businesses, and He made it very clear to me that we are to close on December 24, 2023 at 5 PM.
Oh yes it's bitter sweet because I know how sad I feel in my heart that we will be closing our doors. I say bittersweet because there is something new God is birthing for us to do in 2024.
No I do not have all the pieces of what He is doing but when He closes one door, He always opens another. Oh yes we will continue to trust Him with this business because, it is in all honesty, His business that He has given us to run.
So many beautiful memories, events wonderful people we have met through all these years we will miss greatly, but we know we will see you all soon.
YES Business will be as usual with a whole lot of fun things coming up until the end of the year.
We will be doing a special closing party on December 16 from 4 to 8 and more details will be coming and all are invited. We are hoping to share memories and laugh and have some food and drinks and enjoy each other's company in this wonderful place that God built.
YES we hope and pray that you will continue to come in and support us while we end this mission and begin another one next year. We will still have all of our goodies and the tea room and the boutique flowing like normal. Also be doing blessings for y’all quite often!
We are also going to be putting a cookbook together for y'all to purchase. So please continue to come and support and we cannot wait to see your beautiful faces, and for you to share some stories with us of how Mamma Mishs impacted your life. We will always encourage, lift up and inspire you with the word of God, and all the wonderful things that He has done in our lives.
See yall soon!! Praying always for y’all!
Mamma Mish ♥️🙏♥️