New Lake Highlands biz: Mrs. Gridiron’s mom-inspired meals for busy families
Businesses based on homestyle meal delivery, or prepped ingredients for delicious dinners, are booming. A favorite of the genre among Lake Highlanders — Mrs. Gridiron — soon will be more accessible and visible to us, thanks to a new Skillman-Abrams storefront.
Busy parents, for varying levels of effort and money, can put dinner like Mom (make that the 1950s TV wives in some cases) used to make on the table, even as they take emergency calls from work, drive to and fro practices, help with homework, hit the gym, coach a little league team … all sans the guilt of filling your children’s precious bodies with greasy, mass produced drive-thru fare. (Don’t worry, Jake’s, I will continue to line my own belly with those fried bottle caps).
Mrs. Gridiron — officially Caroline Hattemer, wife of Lake Highlands High School football coach Nathan Hattemer — produces made-from-scratch meals for delivery to Lake Highlands, East Dallas and Preston Hollow.
Think lasagna, casseroles, tetrazzini, pot pies and even breakfast dishes such as baked oatmeal cups with strawberry yogurt. Several menu items can come gluten free upon request.
We previously published a story about Hattemer, who told us that “food, entertaining and cooking have been an enormous part of my life from the very beginning. My mom was truly an amazing cook and my parents entertained often,” she said. “My dad was head of public relations for Neiman Marcus for years while I was growing up. This brought many things to our family, two of which were a need to entertain and an introduction to Helen Corbitt, the head chef of the Zodiac Room. My mom and Helen formed a fast friendship and Helen invited my mom to be her sous chef at Helen’s cooking classes for ladies.”
All of this bred in Hattemer not only a love of and knack for cooking, but also a unique attention to detail, a genuine love of making people feel special and comfortable, and a fondness for creating what she calls “fellowship” — that’s an homage to her late mother, who “knew just how to bring everything together to create a moment where time stood still and guests were present.”
At the time she was running the business strictly online, using social media and email — which will still be vital to her model — but, now, a year later, the sign is up and the Mrs. Gridiron shop is about to open at the soon-to-be redeveloped Creekside shopping center, home of the future Alamo Drafthouse. So, nice location, Mrs. Gridiron — well played. Here she will continue to expand services and share her passion for the four Fs that are so important to her: “Food, Family, Fellowship and Football,” as she notes on her blog.
A few new services will be available at the store, open hopefully in May or early June, Hattemer says.
“In addition to the fresh-cooked, from-scratch meals that will still be available for pickup and delivery from our rotating monthly menu, we will also have ready-to-go items that you can drop in and pick up any time,” she says. “These will include dinners, lunch such as soups and salads, snacks, breakfast such as muffins, sausage balls and cinnamon rolls, desserts, breakfast and dinner casseroles and homemade ice cream. The menu of ready-to-go items will also rotate, although not as often as the delivered meals menu. We will also be doing cooking classes for kids and adults and are very much looking forward to our monthly community dinners where customers will join in a foodie night of fellowship. We will have guest chefs from time to time. Lastly, we will expand our catering menu options and look forward to launching more products in early 2018. As for the blog we will be introducing some new sections including all things tailgate and how to fuel your athlete both in and out of season.”
The website already features a useful recipe/cooking/baking blog, sales of packaged sauces, herbs and gift certificates and gift packages as well as detailed instructions about how to place your order and delivery areas.
Too tired to cook? Mrs. Gridiron to the rescue!
Mrs. Gridiron offers all natural, made from scratch – and delicious – meals delivered right to your doorstep, and options include main dish, salad, bread, dessert, breakfast and snacks. A glance at her menu will snap you back to days helping Grandma in the kitchen, with offerings like Turkey Tetrazzini, Shrimp Creole, and Sour Cream Noodle Bake for dinner, Breakfast Casserole and Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast, and Mississippi Mud Cake, Apple Crisp (gluten free) and Texas Sheet Cake for dessert.
Mrs. Gridiron, though, is anything but old school.
You can connect with Caroline through Facebook and Instagram to see menus for the week and pics of the dishes. You’ll also see her with her hubby coach and the son they call Lil Hatt, who help in the kitchen from time to time.
“Food, entertaining and cooking have been an enormous part of my life from the very beginning,” says Caroline.” My mom was truly an amazing cook and my parents entertained often. My dad was head of PR for Neiman Marcus for years while I was growing up. This brought many things to our family, two of which were a need to entertain and an introduction to Helen Corbitt, the head chef of the Zodiac Room. My mom and Helen formed a fast friendship and Helen invited my mom to be her sous chef at Helen’s cooking classes for the ladies.
“When my mom was the hostess, it was a special event. She was old school and knew just how to bring everything together to create a moment where time stood still and guests were present in their fellowship. My mom always made a point to know her guest’s likes and dislikes and as a result there were little personal touches throughout the entire evening. I’m sure many went unnoticed, but they were there to help in creating a very special evening. This type of entertaining is a lost art in my opinion, and I’d like to show how it can be done with a modern twist to it. This whole venture is an homage to my mom, who passed away many years ago. It is a connection to my past and a reconnection to her. I am honored to share my kitchen, my recipes, my family, my memories, and my mom with the community.”
Caroline, who graduated from Louisiana State University, says she was never formally trained in the kitchen, but learned a different style of food and entertaining while spending time in Baton Rouge. I asked about her favorites.
“I don’t really have a favorite thing to cook because for me, as it was for my mom, my favorite part of cooking and entertaining is the smiling faces. My husband’s favorite meal is my Bolognese pizza, slow cooked Bolognese meat sauce spooned into a toasted French bread loaf topped with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and broiled to perfection. It is hard to say what is my son’s favorite, but if you asked him, I’m sure he would say the pumpkin muffins I make him for breakfast every morning in the fall.
“Mrs. Gridiron was created after many years of my friends and family encouraging me to share my voice and my food. The hardest part of bringing this to life was getting over my fears of rejection. I am sharing the most personal side of me and I was certainly nervous to put it out there. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and this little venture we thought we’d ‘try and see’ has literally exploded overnight. By week 3 we are nearing delivery capacity and are now looking to hire some help and add in a second delivery day (likely Tuesday). This is beyond our expectations and I am humbled by the support and love we have been shown. The food speaks for itself, and I knew it would, but I appreciate everyone who has been willing to take a chance on us in these first few weeks. There have been so many blessings that have come since we launched, rediscovering family recipes and memories, the moms who have thanked me as I am delivering for saving their day, the memories in the kitchen that we are sharing with Lil Hatt and most of all, that we are creating this as a family.
“My blog will be up and running soon and I am so excited to showcase even more and have a forum for everyone to follow my journey as I launch the business and share stories, tips and tricks about balancing my crazy life as a coach’s wife, working mom, foodie and hostess.”
Shoot her an email at MrsGridiron@gmail.com to get on her list. You’ll receive an email from her on Friday mornings about the weekly offerings and specials, and orders are due back by noon on Sundays. Delivery is made on Thursday of each week. If you live outside her delivery area, which includes most of Lake Highlands, she asks that you pick up your meals at her home on Ferndale.
Prices are reasonable – Carolina-style Pulled Pork with beans and coleslaw for 6-8 is $45, and a quart of homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream is $15. You can see a full menu here.
She’s working on a blog to follow her philosophy of the four ‘F’s: food, family, fellowship and football. It will be up and ready soon. And, when you see her in the stands at the annual Red White Game on Saturday, May 14th, be sure to say hello.