Sunday Dinner Cupcakes

How We Started

 

Welcome to our website, my name is Joyce Lanier.  My husband Laval and I are the owners of ERS Catering.  We are a made to order home-based bakery (in Mebane, NC), providing gourmet baked goods to satisfied customers for over 30 years. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services has inspected and approved our home-based bakery. We provide a slice of nostalgia with our Sunday Dinner Cakes Collection including: German Chocolate Cakes, Red Velvet Cakes, Coconut Cakes, our signature Pineapple-Banana Cakes and many more.

 

I remember the very first cake that I ever baked (not including my easy baked oven creations).  I had to be ~15 years old.  First of all, I had not purchased a single ingredient (a quick shout out to my Aunt Vergie’s pantry).  The cake was “lop-sided” and was malnourished of frosting.  It certainly wasn’t much to look at. To be honest with you, I was a little ashamed to say that I had made it.

 

My brother Carl holds the  distinct honor of being the first to taste my very first cake.  I remember him saying that it did not look good, but that it tasted good.  (He won’t remember making that statement.  You see, he has selective memory loss when it comes to acknowledging that he was (and still is) a softy at heart, always considering everyone else’ feelings.) His comments motivated me to not look at my fisrt cake as a failure, but as a starting place.  I was hired to make my first wedding cake at the age of 19 and ERS Catering was born.

 

One of the questions that I get asked the most is what does ERS stand for.  When I was growing up I had a cousin (who was really more like an uncle) named Charles.  He was full of life and was also full of excitement.  In other words, you knew when Cousin Charles was around and you knew when he left.  He was a great family man. He exuded confidence and was very proud of his heritage.  I, on the other hand, was a shy adolescent and Cousin Charles knew it.  Therefore, every time that he saw me he would encourage me to be proud of who I was.  He would say” Do you know who you are?  You are an ERS.  (Our surname was McCullers and ERS was the last three letters of our last name.) He would say “because you are an ERS, you will always be taken care of.”  Well, after many years of hearing him deposit self confidence into my self-esteem bank account, I started to believe it.  Therefore, when it was time to think of a name for my home-based business, ERS Catering is what I chose, because being an ERS is who I am.

(RIP Cousin Charles)

 

However, since the previous explanation would not fit appropriately on business card, Edible Recipe Secrets became the life of the acronym ERS. When I married my husband, I became a Lanier.  We are "The Laniers" and I am still an "ERS".  I even baked our own wedding cake and my husband has been my biggest supporter ever since.

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GOD has blessed us with 2 children (see images below!).  They are 17.5 years apart, (pray for us!) They have been my personal taste testers and focus group throughout the years. They were (and still are) my motivation to desire to have a home business.  My sister Paula has always been my biggest cheerleader.  She always flatters me with her exaggerated excitement about eating one of my Raspberry Chocolate Cakes.  My brother Howard echos the same excitement when he eats one of my Red Velvet Cakes.

 

Lastly, I am who I am only by the grace of GOD.  I acknowledge HIM as the Giver of wisdom to develop a recipe. The Giver of health and strength to allow me to sustain physical needs and demands.  The Giver of humility to respect my customers and recognize that they are not obligated to utilize my services.  The Giver of eternal life through my LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

 

Thank you for visiting our website.  We truly hope that we are given the opportunity to serve you.​​​

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