Times Have Changed,
Our Commitment to Quality Hasn’t

The secret to Blake's has to do with the particular way we approach food and with what's inside a certain little blue box.

It is a Blake family heirloom: a scuffed and faded blue plastic recipe box with a hinged lid. Inside, on faded newsprint, on old 3x5 cards filled with the precise script of Clara Blake and Clara’s daughter-in-law, Virginia, are treasures handed down: simple, wholesome recipes for cookies and puddings, sauces and casseroles, turkey pot pie, shepherd’s pie, macaroni and cheese, and so many more. Those recipes have served generations of Blakes. They have also served as the foundation of the Blake’s meals you enjoy today.

Originally, first for the family dinner table and then in the early days of the pot-pie business, the cooking was done in the farmhouse kitchen. At some point after starting to make chicken pies along with the turkey, the Blakes cleaned out the addition off the back of the house and expanded into it. The family hired a local woman named Beverly Robertson and she worked seasonally dressing turkeys for the holidays and running the kitchen full time. Charlie’s wife, Sally, did the books for the business and helped with the cooking; her sisters pitched in during busy times. As the business kept growing, the old hatchery on the other side of the driveway was converted into a full-fledged commercial kitchen, with plenty of room for freezing and storage. Eventually, though, the business needed even more cooking space, and the farmhouse was converted to offices and a new facility was designed that could handle the growing business and expanding product line. And from there, the company has continued to grow and evolve. But over the years, the Blake family history and approach to food stay at the heart of everything we do.

It's what’s on the inside, and to us, it matters.