Family, heritage in every crumb
Many golfers at the Mad River Golf Club know Michelle Larcher for her tireless efforts as the food and beverage manager. Some have discovered the extra perk of tucking her amazing granola bars and chocolate coconut balls into their golf bags for the uphill back 9.
Larcher’s passion for great food and service however has a deep rooted core, baking Czech sweet delights at her mother’s side.
She keeps this tradition alive every Christmas and Valentine’s Day with a unique and old-world selection of traditional cookies in memory of her mom.
“I was a child of immigrant parents,” said Larcher. “Growing up, everybody seemed to rave about my mom’s cookies. She just genuinely loved baking and the love showed through. And this is what I still aim to do today with my baking.”
Her parents immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s.
Instead of playing outside with the other kids, the young Larcher would stand at the kitchen table with her mother, Jitka, and help her bake, absorbing all the details and care she would lovingly pour into every batch.
When Larcher moved out west, she took these recipes with her and started to bake on her own, sharing her traditional baked goods with friends, particularly those who were going through some tough times.
“We can all buy stuff but something homemade comes from the heart,” she said. “It takes time and it’s a reflection of me. It says, ‘I am thinking about you and want to give you something sweet.’”
Larcher moved back to Toronto in 2015 after her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Throughout her fight, through chemo, exhaustion and sickness, her mom continued to bake.
“All her energy went into baking and her family,” said Larcher.
Today, her cookies are made in memory of her mother and her Czech family heritage.
The purple packaging is in support of pancreatic cancer research and the dragonfly is a symbol of their mother- daughter relationship.
Following her mother’s death, Larcher moved north. A new friend (and cookie fan!) offered her his commercial kitchen to “really bake and bake a lot.”
Excited, she baked for friends, neighbours and strangers and with every tray, she felt closer to her mom and to her roots. She took a leap of faith when the government offered small business owners an opportunity to create a free website during Covid. Her brother jumped in and offered to help with deliveries. When Valentine’s Day 2021 drew near, she started taking orders. Jitka’s Treats officially opened.
Larcher’s cookies are all homemade, locally- sourced where possible, and with no preservatives. Her Slepené Sušenky (jam cookies) are her most popular but many of her customers, especially those with northern European roots, absolutely love her Ořechové Sušenky – vanilla hand-ground walnut cookies, shaped traditionally as crescents but also as snowflakes and snowmen.
She often hears her buyers nostalgically connect her baking to their childhood, reminding them of eating cookies with their grandparents.
While November to February is Larcher’s time off from the busy golf season, she says, “baking revitalizes me. It’s a time I dedicate to my mom and to giving that joy to others in her memory”.
For more information or to place an order, visit www.jitkastreats.com.
