Bakery’s aroma entices holiday customers

The aroma of fresh bread and pastries has been wafting at Lattin Farms since early November when a new bakery to the valley opened.

Leanza’s Bakery had its official ribbon cutting on Saturday, and according to husband-and-wife owners Bob Lehman and Carole Leanza, Christmas has come early with orders for their breads, pastry and cookies.

“We’re a full service bakery,” Leanza said. “We also make wedding cakes, candy, photo cakes, Danish, croissants.”

For special orders, Leanza said she can fulfill their request in 24-48 hours.

While Leanza is baking breads and pastries, Lehman, a native of Fallon who retired from the U.S. Air Force in the 1990s, makes doughnuts.

“Bob is the doughnut man, the candy man,” she said. “He learned a lot from his mom and from her recipes.”

Lehman, who served in logistics for the Air Force, said baking is something he loves to do.

“There’s a lot of temptation,” Bob said with a laugh. “I do a lot of taste testing.”

Having a sweet eye for baking has been in Leanza’s family for generations since she was a young girl growing up in Ohio just east of Cleveland.

“I started baking ever since I can remember,” Leanza said, noting that many of her recipes have been handed down from generation to generation

After Lehman retired from the military, they returned to Ohio where they opened a bakery, but in 2012 they moved to Fallon and focused on starting their own bakery. The opportunity, though, arose for them to start their own bakery at Lattin Farms, and business flourished.

“We have had a very good response,” Leanza said. “We have had a lot of orders already, and we’ve been working on many special orders. The response is fabulous.”

Leanza also figures the days leading up to Christmas will be busy as customers prepare for parties or holiday dinners.

Rick Lattin said he wanted to concentrate his business to a retail growers market, but he always wanted to have a bakery at his farm.

“Carole will do all the baking for the Farmers Market and will have some fresh, fruit breads,” he said.

Because of the close ties with Lattin, the bakery features many Lattin Farms products — particularly jams and jellies.

Leanza’s Bakery is open Monday-Saturday from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. They accept major credit cards and ship anywhere in the United States or overseas to an APO address.

The bakery also gives a 10 percent military discount.