Eat It, Virginia!

Cou Cou Rachou bakery owner Rachel De Jong grew up in a large family in Charlottesville, Virginia. She credited her family with helping her discover her passion in the kitchen. "I'm one of five children, so food was around a lot. When you're feeding seven people in the house, I was always in the kitchen, I was always watching my mom. But I had a huge sweet tooth," she said. "And of course, all my brothers always wanted cookies around. My mom preferred to do the cooking, baking not quite, so I just assumed the role and started baking all the time." Her love of baking eventually landed her in school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.  Stints at Baker's Palette and Gearharts Fine Chocolates in Charlottesville came next followed by the opportunity to work with Chef Patrick O'Connell at The Inn at Little Washington. Over her four years at the Inn, De Jong's kitchen experience grew. "The pastry department was baking for the gift shop, it was baking the cookie boxes for favor, the little cute Inn boxes, doing thing