by Cris Carl, Staff Writer, Daily Hampshire Gazette

NORTHAMPTON - If the kid in you craves the cookie dough before it's baked, but the grown-up in you knows ingesting products with raw eggs isn't a great idea, now you can have your cookie dough and eat it too.

Zuzzy's, raw cookie dough marketed in pint-sized ice cream-style containers - made with pasteurized eggs - is making its way around the Pioneer Valley.

Joseph Jeresaty and Jeff Sadowski began their venture in 1995. Jeresaty is the previous owner of The Thirsty Mind Cafe in Hadley. Sadowski works in the food service department at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley.

'A friend told me about Jeff and his legendary cookies,' said Jeresaty. 'We met and really connected.' After leaving the cafe business Jeresaty said that he wanted to start a nighttime cookie delivery service.

But after meeting Sadowski, he changed the direction of the business he was formulating and asked Sadowski to work with him in the venture to sell raw cookie dough.

'To my knowledge nobody else is doing this,' said Sadowski.

In December 2004, the two men began producing and experimenting with their product out of the Pioneer Food Pantry on Riverside Drive. The men say what makes their product unique is that is safe to eat raw - tapping into a market in which raw cookie dough has become very popular, often as an ingredient in ice cream.

'What could be more homey than cookie dough?' asked Sadowski.

As to the unusual name, Jeresaty has his younger sister to thank for that. 'When she was 3, she had a bee buzzing around her, and she and couldn't say 'buzz.'' What she could say was 'zuzz,' which earned her the lifetime nickname of 'Zuzzy.'

The cartons feature quirky and playful artwork that include a caricature of Zuzzy (now 35) as a child with a bee flying around her. Local syndicated cartoonist Hilary Price, author of the comic strip 'Rhymes With Orange,' provided the artwork for the Zuzzy containers.

'We really liked what Ben & Jerry's did with their packaging,' said Sadowski. 'They have a fun label.'

The two men produce about 80 cases of their product a month and are working to expand and distribute around the Valley and beyond. 'We have some accounts in Connecticut, and we'd like to move it into the Boston area,' said Jeresaty.

They have five flavors, chocolate chip, Heath bar, M&M, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin and are working on chocolate truffle and Oreo. As an extra touch, when you open the container, you see the 'goodies,' such as chocolate chips or M&Ms, liberally sprinkled on top of the dough. And yes, you can bake the dough into cookies too.

Jeresaty said they try to keep the recipes as natural and simple as possible.

The product is being carried at local markets and area colleges. For more information, go online at www.zuzzys.com.

Daily Hampshire Gazette Monday, November 6, 2006