Stillwater Oklahoma June 2023 | Page 37

STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 37

In the kitchen , Shonna Richardson prepares a lemon curd for an order .

Shonna Richardson stirs a lemon curd on the stove .

She mixes egg yolks , powdered sugar , lemon juice and lemon zest into a bowl . She pours in butter and melts it over the stove . She stirs and stirs .

Fields of clover are the bees ’ favorite food .

She never slows down . Her hands move in one seamless rhythm here in the kitchen at the Persimmon Hill Farm & Bakery that she owns with her husband , Bill . As she works , she talks about the changes in culture , how people used to make things from scratch . “ People have lost that ,” she says . “ You just didn ’ t run to the store and buy it .” The curd thickens and she takes it off the stove , stirs some more .

“ I remember when we didn ’ t eat ice cream in the winter , we didn ’ t eat soup in the winter ,” Shonna said . “ And now because food is so readily accessible , people have it all the time and it ’ s not special anymore . We like to do the ‘ special .’”
Shonna has been making special orders since 2003 in this kitchen . Tomato pies . Macarons . Pastries . Pain au chocolat . Gluten-free cakes . It ’ s all created right here .
“ When the pomegranates come in season , we make a pomegranate cheesecake ,” Shonna said .
“ When the blood oranges come into season . We make a blood orange cheesecake .” Now , most people have become single focused . “ A long time ago , you had to be good at everything ,” Shonna said . Slowly , people are going back to niches and learning again . Shonna added lemon zest to the mixture , so after it ’ s thickened , she strains the lemon zest out .
Some of the extra lemon curd will be sold as topping for cheesecake , some will go into the lemon macarons and the rest will go into jars to be sold .
“ That ’ s how we do stuff , it ’ s a natural progression ,” Shonna said . “ We ’ ll use it all .”
She offers me a lick from her concoction . I can ’ t resist .
Shonna said her ingredients don ’ t cost more than
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