Hawthorne resident and business owner Kelly Williams is up at 3:30 a.m. – way before the sun rises- to start breakfast. Two weeks ago, she had the idea to use her waffle maker and fryers to bring hearty, wholesome meals to the residents of Mineral County through Hawthorne High Desert Arts.
variety of breakfast options five days a week.
Therefore, over at 165 E Street in Hawthorne, Williams is now offering breakfast from 4-11 a.m. five days a week, giving people a homemade choice for sustenance in their commutes to and from work. “I have a cottage [food operations] license that gives me the ability to cook in a home kitchen. I provide a nice offering of muffins, hot cocoa, fresh baked breads,” says Williams.
When Williams and her husband moved to Hawthorne, she began offering art lessons and selling tie-dyed apparel. Her and her husband were also musicians and they started giving performances on their property. Although they only had six people/neighbors come to their first “show” last Memorial Day weekend, word quickly spread and more people as her neighbors told their friends. One lady came and sold her baked goods during their shows, which is how Williams got the idea of obtaining a cottage license.
“We had shows every other week over the summer and more people came. But then it got cold. You could come bring your chair, cooler, and tie-dye and other artists were there selling their stuff,” she adds.
When asked what kind of music Williams and her husband play, she laughs, “We play music that makes you go ‘damn, I love that song!’ We play classics, new pop hits, whatever people want to hear.” Kelly sings and plays guitar while her husband has a digital saxophone that can mimic pretty much any sound.
“Tons of people tell us we’re a power duo,” Williams says.
“Our neighbors heard us and came; we had six people at our first show. The biggest show we had was 30 people. But then I fell ill and there was a decline in the music. But the beauty of this town is people were checking on me, knocking on my door to see if I was okay. We moved up from Hawaii [last year] and this town has a whole bunch of aloha,” she smiles.
After she got better [and around the start of this year], Williams started advertising in front of her house/Hawthorne High Desert Arts about her new edible offerings and she quickly got some interest.
“I had a sign out front offering banana bread for eight dollars and people showed up. Now I’m doing potato sticks, cinnamon rolls, breads, and more,” she says. With her cottage license, Williams can only make certain items, but she hopes that in the future she’ll be able to get a food truck and make more things (like breakfast burritos).
When asked why she originally released her breakfast hours so early, Williams replies, “I wake up at 3:30 a.m. and am moving around. I started thinking that the drives to the mines are not short, so I wanted to give people the chance to call in their order and come pick it up on their way to work.
“I want to be awake with the waffle maker on and be able to fill those orders.”
Even though she only started breakfast on January 6 and only had one taker (a person who called their order in the night before and showed up at 4:15 a.m. the next morning), Williams wants to make it clear that she’s awake and making breakfast items before the sun comes up.
“I can maybe make something more interesting than the gas station, and I take credit cards as well as cash. It is disheartening to make all these things with love and have no one show up. But then I take them to the senior center and other organizations that need them,” she says.
Williams is located at 165 E. Street and serves breakfast from 4-11 a.m. but people can call her at 3:30 to place their order.
“I want to create a place where you can come and have a nice meal. I have incredible potato sticks, breads, French toast muffins. There’s not a lot in Hawthorne besides pizza and burgers, or El Capitan for Prime Rib Fridays,” she smiles.
Hawthorne High Desert Arts breakfast menu includes waffles ($4), muffins ($3), fruit muffins ($2), cinnamon rolls ($3), and potato sticks ($1 apiece). A dozen muffins or pan of seven cinnamon rolls is $18, fresh baked bread is $6, and banana bread (slab- $2, loaf- $8). To call-ahead a custom order or request curbside pickup, call 775-471-6410.
Williams adds, “I just have four words for you: Banana bread French toast.”
