Local school teacher and long-time citizen of the Elizabeth community, Libby Strother, has been working at Elizabeth High School for the past 30 years, 25 of those years spent in the pre-school classroom. Since Covid-19, she has been the reading intervention teacher for Pre-K through second grade.
In the last three years she began to really tune into her baking skills. When asking Libby about where her passion for baking came from she stated, “I’ve always loved to cook. Anything and everything, since I was eleven or twelve.” Libby says she used her fellow teachers at EHS as guinea pigs for her recipes. From my perspective of being one of those teachers, it was always a treat to walk into the teacher’s lounge and see that she had brought cookies or brownies that day.
A few friends and fellow taste testers began to mention to Libby that she should start selling what she made. After thinking it over for a few months, she decided to try it out. The only thing that was missing was the name. Around this time, Libby says that her nephew passed away and he was the first person to ever call her Bib as a nickname. Throughout this, she realized what better way to give tribute to him than naming her business “Bib’s Kitchen.” Since starting around September 2020, the desire for her desserts all over Allen Parish has quickly escalated. From wedding showers to birthday parties or just the occasional sweet tooth, she can do it all.
Libby’s specialty is her cupcakes, specifically her jumbo stuffed cupcakes. She said she loves taking suggestions and trying new things such as adding a Kit-Kat Cupcake or Heath bar into the mix. After trying a few times to get some of her recipes out of her, she still refused to give her secrets up. Though when revealing that I had not had some of her flavors, she whipped me some up the next day. My sweet tooth was in heaven! Her recommendation of Coconut Cream was incredible.
Libby has three children as well as multiple grandchildren and a full time job teaching. She says that she does not see herself retiring anytime soon and that she loves her job at EHS. She said that she loves being part of this community as well as the reality that we all support one another. I asked Libby how she makes time for it all. She says “I just do, I get it done, it’s something I really enjoy.” When asking Libby about where she sees baking in her future, she just knows that it will be there. She says “It’s a hobby. It’s something that I just really love to do.”
Libby is available to take orders through her personal Facebook page Libby Strother or by telephone (318) 359-8707.
