by Sara Caron | photography by Brewster Burns

The two had always had a love for cooking together, sharing books, and creating new recipes. Langley retired, and Watson was ready for a change from business administration in the finance technology field. Once the timing was right, they took the opportunity to make their dream come true, and opened Two Mums Kitchen in April of 2023.

Mums homecooking

One of the things that makes Two Mums Kitchen different is their in-house made, take-home dinners, complete with sauces, dressings, sides, breads, soups, and desserts. Customers say that it makes weekly meal planning so much easier than other take-out businesses. They offer many gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, as well as meat based meal options.

“We enjoy working with customers with special dietary requests,” Watson says. “We can also provide food for large groups, as well as specialty cakes, and other desserts.”

Two Mums Kitchen also puts a new spin on some more traditional food ideas. They make the standard Shepherd’s Pie, as well as vegan and sweet potato Shepherd’s Pie and Indian Pudding.

Day by day

Among their daily offerings are single-serve features in their hot case, soup and sandwiches, as well as take-and-bake family casseroles and soups that are kept in their double-door refrigerator and freezer. Their regular menu includes an assortment of special salads, bread puddings, lemon squares, and other sweet treats – as well as sourdough breads and cinnamon buns. Everything is made from scratch, and happy to accommodate dietary requests.

“Customers are loving the pulled pork mac and cheese, and butternut squash lasagna,” Langley says.  “People love our homemade marinara which we use in our traditional lasagna, stuffed peppers, and chicken cacciatore.”

The daily specials get rave reviews as well, but Wednesdays they really hit it out of the park – featuring all three kinds of their homemade Shepherd’s Pies, which are hugely popular with their patrons. The rotating daily specials are never boring, and each day assorted baked goods are also part of the rotation, but the brownies, lemon squares, and maple peanut butter cookies all disappear the quickest.

Good neighbors

Two Mums Kitchen supports other local businesses. Their Chicken Spezzatino soup is made with locally raised chickens from the small family farm Better Together Acres in North Yarmouth. They also use meat products from D’Ameri Acres right in Gray.

“Using locally sourced products is a big hit with our customers,” Watson says. “Even our ice cream sandwiches are made with B&R ice cream, another local establishment.”

Two Mums Kitchen also welcomes inquiries from all local food businesses interested in learning more about partnerships and featuring their products.

Full bellies

Making sourdough is a process that takes patience and time, and it’s a practice that only a soul who truly loves to cook would be willing to undertake.

“Our kitchen is all about creating delicious dishes from raw ingredients,” Langley reports. “Eliza’s favorite thing to make is sourdough.”

Watson has to feed the sourdough starter a few times a week, almost like caring for a pet. Making big batches of dough in their ancient mixer – dubbed Big Bertha – Watson produces baguettes, stuffed Pullman loaves, and cinnamon buns. As for Langley, her favorite thing to make is bread pudding – which also uses their house-made sourdough breads. Additionally, she enjoys making their cakes using local fruits and eggs, and creating specialty casseroles with family recipes.

“For Thanksgiving, we both loved creating meals for the Gray, New Gloucester, and Windham Seniors monthly dinners, and offered Thanksgiving casseroles and sides for complementing our customers’ meals,” Langley says. “We are inspired to create new and traditional dishes and recipes from locally sourced seasonal ingredients.”

The ladies don’t just make delicious food and snacks for humans. They also offer natural dog biscuits and frozen chicken meals for pets.

A family affair

“Eliza and I have been working and cooking together in the kitchen since she was a child, in years past, it was a big part of being a family,” says Langely.  “We really feel that creating Two Mums Kitchen is an extension of what we’ve always done around family gatherings.”

With the great success that they have achieved since opening in April, it’s safe to say that the Two Mums Kitchen “family” will continue to grow as they serve the community unique and delicious foods.

Two Mums Kitchen

Gray | twomumskitchen.com