Addies e Edition

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Bill Fridge, a native of Chicago,

IL, started his career in law

enforcement and corporate

security as a police officer for five years

in Gary, IN. He left that job, moved to

Minneapolis, and became Director of 

Safety and Security for Prudential

Financial, here in Twin Cities. His wife

and partner in life is Dolores Fridge,

former Minnesota State Human Rights Commissioner, and

former Associate Vice Chancellor at Minnesota State Colleges

and Universities (MNSCU).

But from his days as a young man, Bill Fridge harbored a

vision of bringing to market a food product that he

believed was divinely inspired. Described asauthentic and “down home” dessert, Fridge

says his work pays tribute to the “sacred

yam” - known in America as the

sweet potato.

Modeling the spirit of 

collaboration that characterizes

legendary Black business

ingenuity, the Bakers and

the Fridges struck a deal

that provides first class

commercial production

facilities at Elite

Catering for the

creation of Fridge’s

masterwork, Addie’s

Sweet Potato Pie.

“It is simply delicious,”

Fridge said. “We also make a

healthy, tasty sweet potato

muffin. The original Addie’s sweet

potato muffin went over so well, we decided to have some fun

with it and add different flavors and fruits to it and make a line

of sweet potato based muffins. Each one has a unique flavor

and they are all as healthy as the original. Along the way we

took a detour and picked up a lime, a key lime, to be exact, and

made a pie with a hand-made graham cracker crust.”

As a boy, Fridge was like most children. He sat in the kitchen

with his mother as she baked. He waited for her to let him lick 

the remaining batter from the mixing bowl. Fridge’s mother, like

her mother before her, baked her pies using a coffee cup instead

of a measuring cup, adding ingredients by memory and taste.

ADDIE’S SWEET SECRETS:

DIVINELY INSPIRED TRIBUTE

TO THE SACRED YAM

BY AL MCFARLANE AND B.P. FORD, THE EDITORS

IT’S THE KIND OF COLLABORATION THAT FORMS THE BEDROCK OF BUSINESS SUCCESS.

Entrepreneurs James and Alice Baker, owners of Elite Catering and its retail restaurant subsidiary, Sunnyside

Café on Glenwood Avenue in North Minneapolis, determined that their businesses had excess capacity.

They had down time for their commercial kitchens which served the restaurant and the catering operations.

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Fridge had only a vague idea of ingredients and measurements

of his mother’s sweet potato pie. His interest as a child was the

final product: the exquisitely delicious pie. There was never a

written recipe for this special family treat. When his mother,

father and three siblings died in an auto accident, the then 18-

year-old Fridge was more focused on surviving and helping his

remaining eight brothers and sisters than preserving familyrecipes and traditions.

But after many years of combining different ingredients and

spices, Fridge was able to reconstruct his mother’s sweet potato

pie. It was first introduced to family and friends during the

holidays. It then made its first public appearance at David

Howard’s Fish and Seafood Restaurant in Minneapolis in 1991.

The pies made their second appearance at the Bill & Jerry’s

Shrimp Boil, an annual Twin Cities charity event.

In October of 2004, William Fridge decided to go into businessfull-time, making his mother’s sweet potato pies for the masses.

He formed Addie’s Sweet Secrets, L.L.C., naming the company

in honor of his mother. The signature and staple of the

company is his Addie’s ‘down-home’ sweet potato pie, as

remembered by her son. Addie’s Sweet Secrets pies and muffins

are available retail at Eastside Coop Grocery Store, 2552 Central

Avenue, and North Country Coop Grocery Store, 1929 5th

Avenue S, in Minneapolis. Addie’s Key Lime pie is on the menu

at Crave Restaurant in the Galleria Shopping Center in Edina

and the pies and muffins are available at Keith Baker’s Palm

Court Restaurant, 2424 Central Ave NE, Babalu’s Restaurant,

800 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, Market Bar-B-Que,1414

Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, and 15320 Wayzata Blvd, Wayzata,

Baker’s Ribs, 8019 Glen Lane, Eden Prairie, MN, and Cuppa

Java coffee restaurant, 400 Penn Ave. S, in Minneapolis’ Bryn

Mawr neighborhood. The muffins are available at DiamondsCoffee Shoppe, 1618 Central Avenue NE, Minneapolis.

Fridge says his desserts are huge hits at company and agency

meetings and events. Bill Davis, director of Minneapolis

Community Action Agency, and Attorney Jerry Blackwell are

among regular agency and corporate clients who serve Addie’s

Sweet Secrets products at events and meetings they host. The

delectable desserts can be custom ordered for events, meetings,

banquets and the like by calling 952-974-1232.

The Fridge’s say they are fortunate, blessed, to have their

daughter Denise Burnett as vice-president of the company withresponsibility for business planning and marketing. Burnett

moved back to Minneapolis from New York for two years to

help convert the Fridge’s dream from a sideline to a full-fledge

business operation. Burnett, a marketing and computer science

professional, earned her degrees at University of Minnesota. She

lives back in New York but visits frequently and participates in

the daily businesses of the family business via internet.

For further information about Addie’s Sweet Secrets, visit the

company online at www.addiesweetsecrets.com.