By Karen Bjornland

In a small back room at Perreca's Bakery in Schenectady, Maria Perreca Papa is in a jolly mood. The coals in her 100-year-old brick oven are red-hot and the aroma of rum and raisins is in the air. On this morning, the rich, cream-colored dough is rising nicely, and Papa hovers over the 44 round pans, which are big and small.

"They are like little babies," she says. Warmth spills into the room as Papa opens a heavy metal door in the wall and peers into a cavern that is about 12 feet deep and 2 feet high. In the far right corner of this darkened space, a heap of coal is glowing, like charcoal in a backyard grill.

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Source: http://www.dailygazette.com/