From left to right, Emilia, Marisa, Tristan, and Elizabeth Anderson, stand outside their food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
Emilia Anderson, left, 11, watches as her mother Marisa Anderson, owner of Red Waffle Wagon, opens a cast iron waffle maker from Belgium while inside their food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
From top left to bottom right, Emilia, Marisa, Tristan, and Elizabeth Anderson, pose for a photo in front of their food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
Marisa Anderson, owner of Red Waffle Wagon, smiles as she puts a whipped cream dispenser on a shelf inside her food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
Tristan, 10, far left, Elizabeth, 8, center left, and Emilia, 11, center right, look on as Marisa Anderson, owner of Red Waffle Wagon, talks about her food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
Marisa Anderson, owner of Red Waffle Wagon, points and talks about menu items displayed inside her food truck Wednesday morning in Chehalis.
Three and a half years ago, Marisa Anderson watched a YouTube video of a woman baking gourmet cookies. She said to herself, “I can do that.”
“It kind of exploded from, ‘oh this is kind of fun,’” Anderson said.
She started out making a few Christmas cookies for friends and family, which grew into her original cookie business called “Little Red Wagon Sweets.” Now, Anderson runs the waffle (and soon-to-be cookie truck) Red Waffle Wagon.
“I just started making Christmas cookies that year,” Anderson said. “I made some cookies and people were like ‘oh, I want you to make such and such.’ It was just friends and family and then about a year later is when I started up Little Red Wagon Sweets.”
In March, Anderson, who lives in Chehalis, purchased an actual little red wagon — a red food truck that included all the equipment to make gourmet waffles and sported the name “Waffle Palooza” on the side. Although she never expected to add waffles to her menu, Anderson took the waffle truck to its first gig in late April.
“It wasn’t anything that I even thought of until we found the truck and I was like ‘oh, waffles’ — we could do that,” Anderson said.
Although the truck doesn’t have an oven for Anderson to make her cookies yet, she plans to install one in the next month or so. For now, she is making gourmet waffles at various events in Lewis County.
“We lived in Spain when I was really little and we had this type of waffle over there,” Anderson said of the Liege Belgian Waffles she makes. “I kind of remembered it, but I didn’t truly remember what we had. My mom was actually the one who reminded me that we had these already.”
Red Waffle Wagon offers nine different types of waffles, many with extravagant and surprising toppings. The “Over the Rainbow” waffle is topped with marshmallow fluff and Fruity Pebbles, while the “Cinnamon Roll” waffle is rolled in cinnamon sugar, topped with cream cheese frosting, and again, topped with cinnamon sugar.
“It’s a yeast waffle, so it’s not a batter,” Anderson said. “It takes a little bit longer (to make) because it has to rise. But then once it rises, and you’re about ready to cook it, you actually mix in pearl sugar — just big chunks of sugar that mix in throughout. It caramelizes when you cook it on the outside. So it kind of offers this little gooey crunch on the outside and then it’s softer on the inside.”
Anderson teaches first grade at Jefferson Lincoln Elementary School in Centralia and started her business in addition to her day job.
The official business name is “Little Red Wagon Sweets/Waffle Palooza,” but Anderson calls the business “Red Waffle Wagon.”
The cookie side of Anderson’s business allows customers to purchase cookies with whatever design they want.
For example, when Anderson’s children have birthdays, she sends cookies from her business to school with them. So far, she has made Maleficent, Star Wars and Harry Potter cookies for her kids. She even depicted her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, as a superhero on a cookie.
“This is different than teaching,” Anderson said. “It’s kind of a break from teaching ... that is my first passion and then this just gives me another way to provide a little bit more for my family and have fun while doing it.”
When Anderson wanted to expand her business, she began looking for a physical store with the intention of selling candy as well.
“We were looking for something to do cookies and candy, but we couldn’t find anything that was within our price range and reasonable that didn’t need a lot of work,” Anderson said.
The waffle truck’s large side window sold Anderson. Now, Anderson’s crew — her three elementary-aged children — sell waffles out of that same window while she cooks.
Emilia, 11, Tristan, 10, and Elizabeth, 8, take turns running the register.
“I love it,” Emilia said of helping with her mother’s business.
Tristan added that the job is only a little difficult because of all the steps.
“Once on Egg Day, (my sister) wanted a break so only me and mom were here,” he said. “So I was doing just the cash register and she was handing (the food) out and making it.”
Anderson said her husband, mother and father also assist with the truck.
“It truly is a family affair,” she said.
