I am, Vinny Penoro, owner and creator of Sweet Lady Lulu’s I started to become interested in cooking and baking at a very young age. I was surrounded by a large Italian family that loved to cook and eat and watched carefully how everything was prepared . I also saw the joy in everyone’s faces when they tasted the wonderful foods that were being prepared. Boy was I lucky to have two Grandmothers that cooked and baked the most amazing foods.

However, there was one person in the family that wasn’t Italian. That person was my Aunt Nay. She is German and was always baking special treats for the family such as Marble Cake, Cheesecakes and Cookies. At Christmastime, she always made the same cookies; Chocolate Chip, Rugelach, Tassies, Oatmeal and decorated Cutouts are the ones I remember. They were all stored carefully in the dining room, tucked away in their own Tupperware containers. These delicacies called my name everytime I was at their home. Of course, I spent a lot of time at their home since they lived so close by and I had six cousins living there along with my paternal Grandmother and Grandfather. Whenever I was there and Aunt Nay was baking, I watched how she mixed the batters and rolled the cookies. In the back of my mind, I wished I could bake like she could. Back at home, we had a family that lived behind us. They had a daughter named Debbie. Debbie had an Easy Bake oven and she used to make me little cakes with it in her back porch. I always begged her to bake in that Easy Bake oven. Could it be any more obvious where I was being led?

At around twelve years of age, my Aunt and Uncle from Brooklyn used to come and spend weekends at our home. I used to make breakfast for them. I loved to make pancakes for my Uncle Louie. My maternal grandmother used to visit on Sundays and would always bring something special that she made. Manicotti, lasagna and cream puffs were some of the few things I remember.

As I went on to high school and my family decided to move, I had to ride my bicycle back and forth. How convenient was it that my Grandparents lived on the way home from school. I would stop on the way home and my Grandmother would always have a delicious meal for me. When I had a cold, she would prepare hot tea and spike it with Whiskey! I watched how she prepared the meals and took notes on how she made her specialties. Now that all of my Grandparents have passed on, I am glad that I made it my business to learn their specialties.

After Graduating high school, my parents would spend months in Florida. I would have my friends over for gourmet meals. I still didn’t get that I should be going to cooking school instead of X-Ray school. I still continued to cook and bake as my career in Radiography moved forward.

After spending 25 years in the field of Radiography and always feeling a pull towards the Culinary field, I decided to take a 13 week Baking course at the Culinary Academy of Long Island. I spent 13 Saturdays baking away. Graduating with a 99 average, I knew this was something I needed to pursue. I started baking for co-workers. I made cookie favors for family parties. One thing I kept hearing over and over was, “this is the best I ever had”. My job on holidays was to make the desserts. Everyone looked forward to the dessert. I continually saw smiles, satisfaction and joy when people tasted my baked goods.

Currently, I am moving forward with my dream to have my own baking business. Everything is slowly falling into place and I believe that my calling in this life is to bake.

Sweet Lady Lulu’s came about after my maternal Grandmother passed away. She always asked me to bake her cookies and cakes. A nickname given to her by my Grandfather was Lulu. Her real name was Louise. He used to sing the song, Don’t Bring Lulu, to her. My Grandmother used to love to sing and one of her favorites was, Let me Call you Sweetheart. Everyone said my Grandmother was such a sweet lady. So, from the Sweet in sweetheart, the sweet lady she was and her nickname Lulu, Sweet Lady Lulu’s was born.

I have a passion for baking and only use the finest ingredients available. You will taste the European butter, top of the line chocolate and gourmet vanilla. Specialty flours and embellishments are used. Brand name cream cheese and imported mascarpone cheese is used in some of my cheesecakes. You won’t find any old ricotta in my Cannoli cream and Italian Cheesecake. I use a specialty ricotta only available to the trade. These are some of the reasons why you will take one taste and will know why my products are “Better Than Homemade” Find out for yourself and see the reaction when your friends and families taste my baked goods. No preservatives are used as almost all other bakeries use in order to keep everything fresh, so, you may want to refrigerate the items. Take them out at least an hour before serving for the best taste.

All of my items are made in small batches, so consistency and taste are not sacrificed. Try some of my Signature Chocolate Strata Cookies. I developed this recipe and you will taste nothing else like it. Keep your eye out for my signature embellishment, the cherry. In the works are gluten free items, so keep checking to see when they become available.

Thank you for visiting Sweet Lady Lulu’s and I hope you enjoy my products and much as we do!