Coulson Village Updates
by Anne Walker
The Oro Home Kitchen
The residents of Coulson value the rural lifestyle we have chosen. However, the peaceful country life means that some services are not at our fingertips. Folks hurrying home at the end of a long busy week may find it difficult to grab something convenient and delicious for dinner. Enter Melina Sue and The Oro Home Kitchen!
Melina and her family moved to the Sugarbush development at Coulson in 2020. After a period of settling in, she began to look for employment. Her job search was complicated by the pandemic and family obligations which meant her schedule was not flexible. So, a little over three years ago she decided to follow her passion for cooking and launch Oro Home Kitchen.
After two months of renovation to bring her kitchen up to code and pass health inspection, she began offering Chinese dumplings and dim sum. She received an enthusiastic response from the community and the business took off. Since then, the business has been evolving and growing.
She offers weekly Friday Meals to a steady list of regular customers. The menu for the week is posted on her website orohomekitchen.ca and Facebook page each Monday. She takes orders by email, Messenger or text until Thursday morning and sends out a confirmation email Thursday night. Customers may pick up their fresh, hot meal on Friday between 4 and 6 p.m. They shoot her a text a half hour before pick up and she starts cooking. Another text upon arriving in her driveway and she delivers the meal right to the car. So easy and so delicious!
In addition to the weekly take-out option, Melina does small events catering, featuring beautiful platters of charcuterie, veggies and sweets.
Melina loves to cook but baking is her true passion. She offers custom cakes, cupcakes, floral cupcake bouquets and specialty baked goods. She provides wedding favours for Horseshoe Resort and yummy delights for retreats at Vicki Tree Yoga and Wellness.
More recently, she has taken her offerings to local farmer’s markets and Christmas markets. Wanting to offer something different and exciting, she constantly mixes it up with unique and tempting goodies. This season…onsite stuffed sugar donuts. Everything from Oro Home Kitchen is made from scratch with quality ingredients. (Mmm, Belgian chocolate!)
Her latest partnership is with Bear Pen Flower Farm on Line 11 North in Oro-Medonte. She has provided holiday cupcakes for their events. More recently she’s offering a take-away lunch at the farm (soup, chili, salads and dessert.) Bear Pen also has her convenient frozen soups available. Vacuum flat-packed in bags so you can fit lots in your freezer.
Back home at Coulson, Melina has five freezers and four fridges loaded up with ingredients and product, ready for her next job. And if she wasn’t busy enough, she volunteers weekly in the kitchen at The Lighthouse in Orillia.
When she gets a free moment in her hectic schedule, what does Melina dream about? She imagines about a brick and mortar storefront that is a workshop space. It features five stations, each equipped like a regular home kitchen with fridge, stove, countertop and dishwasher. Here she would run workshops for adults or kids and teens. She’d have home cooks and chefs come in to give lessons. There would be “meal prep” workshops that would allow participants to fill their own freezers with the week’s nourishment. And in the middle of it all, a long harvest table where folks could gather, eat, share and enjoy. What a wonderful dream!
Whatever the future holds for Melina Sue, we know that the Oro Home Kitchen will keep providing delightful meals and treats for the people of Coulson and beyond.