LA GRANDE — Lulu’s Sweet & Salty bakery, 2001 Second St., La Grande, made its soft opening July 8, and owner, Penny Butler, of Meacham, hopes to host an official Chamber ribbon cutting and grand opening in the fall.

Butler, who moved to Union County two years ago from the Black Hills of South Dakota, founded Lulu’s Sweet & Salty this year. The business name has a sentimental origin.

“It’s called Lulu’s because my dad used to call me Pen-Lulu, a short form for my name Penny Louise, and it was also my mom’s name,” she said.

The bakery has indoor seating for 15, but in the future Butler hopes to develop an outdoor dining area.

Butler purchased the building for her bakery, and with the help of Travis Badoux, who she calls her sidekick MacGyver, they remodeled and repainted it. Butler equipped her bakery with two new commercial confectionary ovens and multiple mixers and baking accessories.

“I started baking with my mom years ago, and she taught me a lot,” Butler said. “Then my sister-in-law and I did a lot of catering together as I got older. It is just something I really love to do.” 

Butler loves to cook and bake from scratch using family recipes handed down over the generations. Her best sellers are her donuts. She makes them with mashed potatoes, a recipe that she and her friend, Charmaine Busler, created together. 

“Every day I make 210 donuts with different glazes,” she said. “I make a variety like my Nutella banana donuts, the smores donuts and the peanut butter and jelly donuts. My donuts always sellout fast.”

Butler also bakes as many as 30 omelet muffins each day, and they are made with ham, bacon, sausage cheese, eggs and chives, like a quiche. In addition, she makes 30 regular types of muffins, such as banana or blueberry muffins, and 15 pop tarts filled with fresh fruit.

“I make many crumble cakes. To make that I bake a cake, then crumble it up and put it in a blender, add berries and bake it again. I put it in cups and put on homemade whip cream frosting,” she said. 

Her salty offerings include her biscuits and a white sausage gravy that has a little spicy flavor. She hopes to enlarge her salty menu options as part of her plans to offer lunches this fall. Of course, she offers Coke and Pepsi products, plus regular coffee.

Butler’s plans for the bakery include organizing social events, such as a kid baking and decorating party for different age groups or an event for date nights and friends’ gatherings called “baking with a twist” where people can come in and decorate cakes. She also plans to make things interesting with theme cakes that people can have fun decorating.

“I love the community of La Grande. I have friends and family here, and I just love the atmosphere,” she said. “I want people to know they can come here, get comfortable and get something homemade like from grandma’s kitchen. Lulu’s is a make-you-feel-good kind of place.”

People can place large bakery orders on the Lulu’s Sweet & Salty website, but owner Penny Butler requires 36-hour advance notice. The website order form is on the business website at lulussweetandsalty.squarespace.com or leave a message on Facebook Messenger, and Butler will reply, confirm order details, and take payment at that time.

“We do offer discounts to seniors, members of the military and veterans,” she said.

Butler also caters and to arrange that, customers should use the website’s “contact us” feature to discuss questions and party requirements.