SWEET TREATS

TALE OF TWO BAKERIES

Meet the woman following a recipe for success

Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by LIESBETH POWERS

Owner Audrey Dixon used the name of her aunt’s Fort Worth bakery, J. Rae’s, when she opened her Preston Hollow business.

ASK AUDREY DIXON’S FRIENDS what she wanted to be when she grew up, and they’ll say a bakery owner.

And that’s what she did. For Dixon, who was born and raised in Arlington, baking chocolate chip cookies with her mom, Sandi, was a weekly occurrence. That, and an addiction to the Food Network, pushed her toward a career in baking.

Perhaps the most direct link between Dixon’s past and her current role as owner of J. Rae’s bakery on Lovers Lane is her aunt, Jana Howell, who opened the first J. Rae’s in Fort Worth in 2008.

Howell suggested Dixon open a J. Rae’s during dinner. “I already have the concept,” she told Dixon. “Why don’t you just open that?”

Dixon was certain she wanted the bakery to be somewhere in Dallas. A couple of months after opening in Preston Hollow, our neighborhood has treated her well.

“They’re just so welcoming,” Dixon says, “and everybody genuinely wants you to do well around here.”

Dixon has stayed true to many of her aunt’s ideas, but she’s put her own spin on things. Many of the recipes, such as those for the sugar cookies,

Black-and-white stripes are on the wall of Dixon’s bakery, an idea she copied from her aunt’s shop.

are her aunt’s, but the two women have worked together to tweak some recipes. The lemon bars and Funfetti cupcakes are Dixon’s own creations.

Similarly, Dixon kept the iconic black-and-white stripes on one of the interior walls, but she selected a light pink subway tile to give the store a modern look and used that as the starting point for the store’s design.

Although Dixon has been baking since she was a kid, often asked to make chocolate chip cookies when company came over, she’s still learning and improving her skills. After burning and messing up her fair share of treats, she realized the importance of consistency and following recipes. And as a chronic stress baker, Dixon has found that lesson to be therapeutic.

She still shows up at the bakery between 7 and 7:30 a.m. every day, and she still bakes. She’s working on getting better at decorating, icing and piping, something the store employees have to do regularly to meet the demand of the best-selling sugar cookies, which come in a variety of shapes and are topped with brightly colored decorations.

After the sugar cookies, customers love the topshelf chocolate chip cookies and the white chocolate cheesecake. In bakeries, top-shelf cookies are named for their placement on the upper racks of display cases. But J. Rae’s places top-shelf cookies below the more popular sugar cookies.

The hardest part of opening during a pandemic was getting a permit from the City of Dallas. After 17 weeks of waiting, J. Rae’s finally received the approval needed to start building.

Attracting customers, on the other hand, wasn’t a challenge. Dixon says they’ve been busy, and she still has five or more people each day coming in and saying they used to love visiting her aunt’s Fort Worth bakery.

“I think it’s a huge testament to my aunt,” Dixon says. “I thought some people would know about it, but I didn’t realize everyone would know about it.”

J. Rae’s, 5600 W. Lovers Lane Ste. 143, 214.654.0833

The journey of faith and life

Creation reflects the promise, hope, and essence of God

We’ve been friends for over a year now. We may have failed you. Religious leaders, I mean.

Last week, I had the privilege to speak to a high school student at Bishop Lynch; he is the son of a close friend. The conversation was an assignment from his theology teacher; speak with a faith leader, record the conversation, and report back. When he reached out, I assumed (wrongly) this would be another standard “assignment” to answer questions like: What is your favorite Bible verse? Why are you a pastor? What character in the Bible do you most identify with?

Not only was I wrong, but I don’t believe either of us anticipated the conversation that would follow.

When we finally connected and got through the pleasantries required to settle into a Zoom call, I threw out the first question. Yes, I know, he was supposed to interview me, but I couldn’t help myself. I asked, “So, how we doing with the whole God thing?”

To his great credit, he was honest. He’s a fantastic kid. He said, “Well, I’m not sure I’m down with the whole God thing. I mean, I love science, and how do I reconcile what I can prove with what we can’t see?” As I said, he’s a fantastic kid. I smiled and replied, “But, what if science reflects what we know of God? What if science is another place where we come to know the diversity, fullness, depth, and breadth of God/the Divine?” He paused, “Wait, what do you mean?”

I said, “Turn around and look at the tree behind you. Did you know that each leaf on that tree is as unique as your fingerprints and my fingerprints? No two leaves on that giant oak tree in your front yard are the same!” He replied, “Wait, what?”

“Yep, that’s science,” I said.

I went on, “Science now reveals that with increasing weather variability, trees time their annual shedding or budding by the length of light found in each day. So as the days get ‘shorter’ in the fall and the sun sets earlier, it signals to the tree it’s time to shed leaves. As the days get longer, and there is more light, the tree knows it’s time to bud.”

But you may be wondering, “What does any of this have to do with God?”

Well, to me, all of creation reflects the promise, hope, and essence of God. Each beginning is the end of waiting. Out of death is new life. Light is found in the deepest dark. Love wins. Hope is found in the depths of despair. What if science reveals that this truth is found in all matter, in all of creation, and all places? What if science is another avenue by which we come to recognize the complexity, diversity, and breadth of God?

“Wait, I’ve never thought about faith like this before. Why have I never heard of this before?” he asked. I said, “I don’t know, but if the church didn’t help teach you this, then I feel like we failed you.”

He said, “I want to know more.”

So do I. That’s the journey of faith and life.

REV. MATTHEW RUFFNER is the Senior Pastor at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church.He is a husband to Sarah Ruffner and a father of two. You can follow Matthew on Instagram at @thisismatthewruffner and visit PHPC.Or go to watch the church’s live stream and listen to sermon sand churches listed here. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

WORSHIP

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PARK CITIES BAPTIST CHURCH / 3933 Northwest Pky / pcbc.org Bible Study 9:15 / Worship Services 10:45 Traditional, Contemporary, Spanish Speaking / 214.860.1500

ROYAL LANE BAPTIST CHURCH / 6707 Royal Lane / 214.361.2809 Christian Education 9:45 a.m. / Worship Service 10:55 a.m. Pastor - Rev. Dr. Michael L. Gregg / www.royallane.org

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