Anyone who walks into Meema’s Country Desserts in Montclair instantly feels like they’re walking into their grandmother’s kitchen; it’s enough to make a visitor feel at home. The warm welcome of Meema and her three daughters and the delicious smell of sweet desserts will instantly make you feel nostalgic. Meema tells a story of a customer who brought tears to her eyes. This particular woman had said that “the minute she walked in to the store, the smell brought back to her fond memories of her youth and of her own mother, who had been a great baker.” I can just picture Meema hugging this woman and made her feel like part of the family, because when you enter the bakery, you are treated like family.

Meema (who has sworn us to secrecy on her real name) has been baking as far back as she can remember. When she was young, her mother would always give her the job of baking whenever company was coming over. “I was never afraid to get in the kitchen and just start baking; it was just always in me,“ she says. Meema is also an old-school throwback who isn’t held hostage by the tablespoon; she almost never measures and knows exactly how much of each ingredient is needed.

 So how did the bakery start? In 2005, Meema and her daughters began baking and selling at different fairs for fun. They were so successful they could hardly keep up with demand. So, with her life’s savings, a little confidence, and an extra push from her daughters—especially her eldest, Kerry—she opened Meema’s Country Desserts in January 2006 on Pine Street. While it’s not on Bloomfield Avenue, it is a hidden treasure that many people in town like to think of as their own little secret. We’ve even heard that women around town who throw lots of dinner parties try to pass off Meema’s desserts as their own. But now the secret is out.

A little more than a year after the store opened, the family’s dream has become a family business. Although Meema and her three daughters, Kerry, Jill, and Tara, run the daily business, her whole family pitches in. Her husband, John, their oldest son, John, and his wife Julie, their son Paul, and son-in- law Johnny, all play an important role. Even her two granddaughters—possible future bakers, eleven-year-old Jenna and nine-year-old Elisa—have become the official apple peelers.

All four women bring individuality and ideas to the business, continuing to create new and delicious recipes. Although each baker has her specialties, everyone shares in the responsibilities. Kerry and Jill also wanted it to be known that Tara is the one who “sells us out of cookies with the amount she eats each day.” And who can blame her? One bite and you’re hooked. As Meema says, “They are not bakery fancy, they are homemade.” There is no assembly line and when they sell an apple pie, another one goes right in the oven to replace it. They always take custom orders and will try just about anything. If a customer asks them to recreate a grandmother’s famous pie or cake, they are up for the job—and who knows, it might even become a best seller.

Meema says she’s extremely grateful to God for the success of her business, and the family prays together every morning before baking. Daughter Kerry always says, ”Atta boy, God” every night before closing. Everything they do is with love, and you can taste it in their addictive confections. These four, who call themselves “best friends,” admit to having their rough moments, but says they wouldn’t trade it for the world. The sibling rivalry is comical to witness, but never gets nasty. Sure, they compete over whose cookies sell the best—and, of course, who is Mom’s favorite. The girls literally fight—good-naturedly—to hug, kiss, and pick up Mom.

Meema and her girls are living a dream come true. “Being able to put a smile on someone’s face when they taste something is my dream,” Meema says. “I didn’t want a bakery, I wanted a place where people felt like they were coming into Grandma’s kitchen.”

Sounds like they’ve found the true recipe for success.