Kathy Bullard can't remember a time she didn't cook. "My mother was a great cook; my father was a great cook," she says, "I watched my grandmother and my aunt," - all great cooks. Through the years there were "lots of family dinners" as she raised four children, Paige, Shelli, Lance, and Hayley - in the area of Ardis Heights, east of Greenville. When her husband Don and his two daughters, Dawn and Terrie, joined the family, there were even more. Now with the addition of eleven grandchildren, Kathy and Don's cooking pots fairly boileth over. No one complained, least of all Kathy, who simply loved to cook, and the more, the merrier. Yet all through these years Kathy harbored a modest dream, of starting a catering business. "Ever since I was a little girl," she says, she wanted to share her love of cooking with others. But life, and putting the same food on the table, sometimes gets in the way of dreams.

When at last Don and Kathy reached retirement age, he said to her, "I'll tell you what I'll do..." and set about creating a commercial kitchen in a small house on their property -- a task that even now, three years later, Don shakes his head about. "The first big thing we catered was the city Christmas party," ventures Kathy and Don finishes, "They were asking would we be ready; they hadn't even issued our license yet." All said, the party went off without a hitch.

The first real test of the newly named 'Cup and Saucer' catering team came at the best of Lisa Hill, Marketing Director for Hunt Regional Healthcare's Development and Communications Department, who handed the business a silver platter when the hospital opened its new West Wing. Hill offered the fledging catering company the opportunity to provide repast for two open house events and a dedication luncheon for 450 people. The meal was served under an enormous white tent erected in the hospital's parking lot. "We served over 2500 people in three days," says Kathy, remembering the big debut.

Admittedly not a chef, but practicing a style based on "Home-cooking and natural instinct," says Kathy, "I had a moment where I thought -- 'what if I'm just fooling myself and nobody likes this food'." For three days the Cup and Saucer's ovens ran continuously. At the first open house event, refreshments were served on each of the wing's three floors, all with different food themes -- American and Mexican on the first floor, Italian on the second, and desserts and coffee on the third. By the evening's end, it wasn't just the facilities that were getting rave reviews. A star was born in the kitchen.

Kathy credits her family for The Cup and Saucer's rising star. About her husband Don she quips, "He caters to my whims," then smiles mischievously and brags, "He's a darn good cook himself." Don handles all the smoked-meat chores, among other specialties. "And the kids are absolutely loving it," she says, "It's a family business." Indeed, daughter Hayley works full time, while other family members pitch in to help when need arises. "My brother Rick and his wife Debby McDaniel just stepped in and took over," says Kathy gracefully, when a family accident claimed her and Don's focus for a while. The kids even named the business, inspired by a decorative sign found at the Hobby Lobby. "You can't know," says Kathy, "how excited they are for us."

Maybe I can. Kathy tells the story of her son Lance and his favorite bedtime prayer, "He'd say 'Thank God for momma, she's a good cooker'." Having experienced the Cup and Saucer magic personally on several occasions, I have to say to Lance and Kathy -- "sweet dreams." Kathy's cup, always in her opinion, half full no matter what, now brims beyond the rim and fills the saucer too. Lucky us.

Article and photos courtesy 903 Magazine