Jaime Schmunk operates her bakery in a convenient spot on the way to Schweitzer.
Most business owners celebrating a third anniversary can look back on upwards of a thousand days of serving customers. Jaime Schmunk opened Red Barn Bakery on April 3, 2023, but her recollections in that regard encompass only a few hundred days.
There are two reasons for that: The bakery opens just three days a week, and several of those days, Schmunk’s serious, ongoing health issues have kept it closed.
Red Barn Bakery is located on what Sandpoint residents call “the back road to Schweitzer” Mountain. Approaching the bakery, one sees a mix of cabins, small ranches and tiny houses. Cows, horses and free-range chickens are in abundance. If the bakery, painted bright red as its name would suggest, were a food truck, it would be a small one. It’s barely the size of the Inland Northwest’s ubiquitous drive-through coffee huts.
With parking available only for the car owned by Jaime and her husband, Scott, Red Barn Bakery is a drive-thru. That makes it unusual, if not unique, among bakeries, which generally depend on display cases filled with enticing sweet treats to promote impulse purchases. But most people who drive to Red Barn Bakery know what they’re intending to buy, Schmunk suggests.
“We have a small sign by the road and a menu board by the window, but I’m not sure how many people look that closely at them,” she says. “Regulars know that we always have scones, so they might ask, ‘What kind do you have today?’”
Scone options ($3) include orange-cranberry, blueberry-lemon, elderberry, chocolate-cherry, raspberry and smoked cheddar. Iced cinnamon rolls ($5) can be topped with various berries. Both the scones and cinnamon rolls are also available in gluten-free versions. Lemon bars ($3) and brownies ($3) are other favorites among devotees.
Schmunk says she became one with the kitchen as a child, baking and cooking alongside her grandmother in Northern California, near the Oregon border. That would be Grandma Myrna, on her mother’s side, who had a garden that covered several acres.
“I would help her pick squash and various fruits and vegetables, and then we’d go inside and work with them,” Schmunk recalls. “Sometimes there were recipes, and sometimes we just sort of experimented.”
After Jaime and Scott got married, Scott’s career path took them to Alaska. When they later settled in Sandpoint, she says she thought she’d follow her schooling and return to teaching, but ultimately decided that the kitchen was where her heart was.
However, turning her passion into a full-time endeavor was not in the cards. The Schmunks have two grown children with serious health issues, and Jaime’s own health has forced her to make some difficult decisions.
“At one point, doctors told me they could pretty much guarantee me 10 years with a certain surgery, but I would lose my ability to taste things.”
A baker and chef without a palate? Schmunk passed on that option. There have been surgeries, however, which has limited her ability to take on a typical 40-hour workweek.
Red Barn’s cranberry-orange scone is one of many sweet treats on the menu.
One would never guess as much, though, watching her work in the cramped kitchen inside the “barn.” Backed against one wall is a rack filled with trays of scones and other baked goods. At the foot of the rack, a heating unit keeps homemade country gravy piping hot and ready to ladle onto homemade biscuits ($9). Next to the rack, Schmunk loads frying pans atop burners with eggs, bacon, sausage and potatoes, then mixes in cheese to create a loaded breakfast burrito ($9) with salsa, sour cream and jalapeños on the side.
Scott calls out orders from the window as cars pull up, and Jaime usually sticks her head out when an order is ready to say a quick hello. Of her husband of 21 years she says, “I couldn’t do this without him. He’s a good worker — and a good guy.”
On the three days each week that Red Barn Bakery opens its window, Schmunk says she gets up at 1 or 2 in the morning and makes the short “commute” from the rear of their property, which the bakery fronts. She originally operated under Idaho’s cottage food law, selling baked goods to a few coffee shops and local groups, and bought the building (a former hamburger and sandwich drive-through called The Hog Trough) when it went on the market three years later.
“Everything is made from scratch, and I use organic ingredients whenever I can,” she says. “We have blueberry bushes and lots of herbs in our garden, which is my second-favorite place to be.”
And while it’s not part of the Red Barn Bakery’s official name, one symbol and one word stand out on its menu board: “& More.”
In addition to baked goods, Schmunk also prepares entire meals ($17), which typically include a salad, main course, side and dessert. One week, the main might be lasagna made with fresh pasta. Another week, she may opt for orange chicken with egg rolls and sticky rice. She says she always tries to make enough for everyone who’s interested but often sells out.
Another dinner favorite is her 11-inch “take-n-bake” chicken pot pie ($25), also available in a gluten-free version ($27).
When she’s up for it physically, Schmunk makes herself available for catering and special orders, including pies and cakes.
Although she ultimately decided not to return to the classroom after COVID, Schmunk says she still loves children and enjoys telling the story of one of Red Barn Bakery’s most enthusiastic customers, an 8-year-old girl.
“One day when she was 7, she came up to me all excited and said, ‘Miss Jaime! Miss Jaime!’ I got down to her level, gave her a smile, and she said, ‘I know what your secret ingredient is.’ I said, ‘You do? What is it?’ And she said, ‘It’s love.’ Then she gave me a big hug.”
Schmunk pauses, letting the memory of that day embrace her.
“Baking really is therapy for me,” she says.
Red Barn Bakery • 454 Woodland Drive, Sandpoint • Open Mon 7 am-6 pm, Fri-Sat 7 am-5 pm • 208-304-4334
