Eight-year-old has ‘Scones To Go’

Micah Estelle leaves no scone unturned.

At only 8 years old, he’s an aspiring chef, a keen businessman and a big dreamer.

Instead of playing soccer or video games, Micah often spends his weekends making dough for his cream scones, which he then refrigerates until Monday morning.

Monday is delivery day, so Micah wakes early to bake the scones fresh for his customers. Then he wraps and packages them in his race-car themed boxes stamped with his business name, Scones To Go … by Micah.

“Not many 8-year-olds have their own business. I think that’s pretty cool,” he says.

Not many 8-year-olds have his passion for food, either.

His all-time favorite food: paella.

His favorite thing to do in the kitchen: sauté.

His favorite television network: Food Network.

In fact, Micah wants to make a video of himself cooking up a Northwest feast (he’s pretty sure it’ll include barbecued salmon and barley pilaf, for starters) and send it to Emeril Lagasse. Micah thinks Emeril should invite him to be on his show.

And why not? Micah will pull a chair up to any stove or counter, decked out in the personalized chef’s coat his grandmother sent him. He did just that in February at The Spokesman-Review Cooking Expo, where he quickly made friends with Chef Gene Fritz from the Washington State University School of Hospitality.

“I just love this kid,” Fritz said several times during his final cooking demonstration in which he had Micah on stage with him.

Impressed with his interest in cooking, Fritz has invited Micah to Pullman to help out with the annual Salmon Feed in the fall, according to Michelle Estelle, Micah’s mom.

“He’s collecting chefs’ cards,” she added. Whenever the family goes out to eat, Micah asks if he can meet the chef.

“I want to be a chef,” Micah said.

He also wants to open Micah’s Cafe in downtown Spokane. And he’s got some definite ideas about how the place will be laid out. A wall will divide the cafe. On one side there will be fancy dining with gourmet food. The other side will be pizza and hamburgers and games for kids to play.

Until then, where does Micah like to dine – besides his own kitchen?

“Well, I like The Steam Plant Grill, but the place out by the airport – Prospector’s – that barely beats it,” he said.

That’s hardly an endorsement either place should pass up, coming from a kid who is known to order calamari in restaurants.

OK, to be fair, Micah also likes Frank’s Diner, Edo and D’Lish. Oh, and the take-and-bake pizza you can get from the deli at Fred Meyer stores is “not bad for a nonpizza place pizza,” he said.

At home, Micah likes to make panini sandwiches (he likes them real flat) and baked apples. For his birthday, he and his mom staged an Iron Chef-style cook-off, with his friends chanting, “Go Micah!”

He’s been working on his knife skills since he was 6 and would love to take formal cooking lessons, his mom said. For now, though, he learns mostly from cooking with his mom.

Recently when she was called away while preparing a chicken dish for dinner, she left Micah in charge. “It’s so nice to have a little sous chef,” she said.

“He knows more about the kitchen than I,” said his brother Joel, 11.

It’s his sister, however, who gets the credit for inspiring Micah. Twelve-year-old Danielle ran a cookie business until recently, selling up to 30 dozen cookies a week. When Micah saw that, he knew he had to get a piece of the action.

First, he tried making homemade flour tortillas. But that proved to be too labor intensive. He was thinking about a muffin business when his grandmother suggested scones. The blank slate of her basic cream scone recipe (no, Micah isn’t willing to share his recipe) is perfect for him to get creative. He’s been developing his scone business since last summer.

His latest variety, cinnamon scones, came about by accident.

“One morning I was just sitting down with my mom talking about starting to get breakfast ready. I said, ‘Why don’t we make cinnamon scones?’ But I meant to say cinnamon toast.” But the challenge was already there.

Still, chocolate chip scones are the best, according to his sister and brother. Other varieties include plain, Craisin, currant and a special holiday gingerbread scone. He’s now working on a cheese scone recipe.

“You can just make them all at one time and then bake them whenever,” he said.

Micah’s customers mostly come from school and church. According to his records, he has 14 customers, but that doesn’t count Grandma. He puts a postcard-size flier in each box of scones, explaining his business and his goal to get on Emeril’s show. “My personal favorites are the chocolate chip scones,” the flier states. “Try some and serve them to your friends. Guaranteed to make them smile!”

He sells them four-to-a-box for $3. Despite his mom’s offer to buy the ingredients for a small cut of his profits, Micah’s decided to handle purchasing himself.

What’s he doing with his profits?

“My mom and dad are making me save for college,” he said. But he hopes he can spend a little of his earnings on a guitar.

Micah’s just starting his own recipe collection and shared this simple recipe he made.

Sautéed Vegetables

From Micah Estelle

1 1/2 cups broccoli stems

1 1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 1/2 cup onions, chopped

Half a pepper

2 tablespoons Yoshida’s (bottled sauce)

Poot (sic) broccoli stems, celery, onions in first then add the other ingredients.