As DAYS OF OUR LIVES readied to shut down for their two-week break in April, Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) planned to enjoy the hiatus with her family and prepare for the next chapter in her thriving pie business. The actress eagerly filled us in on her plans.
Soap Opera Weekly: What’s the latest with Mary Beth’s pies?
Mary Beth Evans: It’s doing very well, after that [food] show I did in San Francisco. The pies are going to be available on drugstore.com. They are launching a specialty food division in mid-April. It also looks like it’s going to be a go for QVC, which is very interesting. That’s a big deal. I’m going to have to have 3,000 pies already made and ready to go.
Weekly: So you’ll be up to your elbows in flour and shortening?
Evans: That’s right. We made these cool octagon pie boxes with a twist-down top, like on old coin purses. We’re working on all the artwork for that and organizing the place where all the pies would be shipped from. It’s been fun putting all the pieces together. It just keeps pushing me along, which is great.
Weekly: Well, at least you have some free time with the show’s two-week break. Any plans?
Evans: Yes. I’m going to take my daughter, Katie, to the East Coast on a whirlwind college viewing. I’m taking her to Maine and Vermont and Boston — all the areas where she wants to see schools. Then, my husband and I are going to go to Napa [in California] for a few days to get away by ourselves. I swear, we never go anywhere by ourselves anymore.
Weekly: Which schools are Katie looking at?
Evans: Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Cornell, Boston University…on the upper East Coast. We’re going to look at some California schools, too. None of us has seen the East Coast ones, so we want to look at those.
Weekly: Would you prefer Katie go to school in California?
Evans: I wouldn’t, actually. I adore her. I can’t even imagine her leaving, but I think it’s a great experience to go somewhere else. It’s been great for my son, Danny. He went to Ohio. It’s been wonderful for him. He has to do his own laundry and take care of himself. We can’t put out his fires. I think that’s healthy. He comes home in May for four months. It’s healthy to go to college somewhere else, to see other things and be in a different environment, instead of just going here to USC.
Weekly: Has everyone been fighting over Danny’s room?
Evans: Matthew moved himself up there, but Danny came home at Christmas and pushed him right back out. Matthew’s room was actually a tiny room with another tiny room next to it. We’re in the process of blowing the wall out and making Matthew’s a regular-size room before Danny gets back.
Weekly: What is the plan for your trip to Napa?
Evans: Michael and I just want to go there and relax. Matthew plays water polo like a fiend, and every weekend we’re doing water polo things with him. This will be a chance for us to get away for a minute. I think we’re going there for three days. We’re going to stay at some inn that’s on a vineyard. It should be fun.
Weekly: Are you and Michael into wine tasting?
Evans: Yeah, we like wine. A little red wine. We like connoisseur-ing red wine. We’re not winos, but as you get older you have to find your little things [to love].
Weekly: Were you inspired by the movie Sideways?
Evans: We saw it, but I don’t think that got us going. You get tired of drinking junky wines. If you’re going to have a nice dinner, you want something a little bit better. It just became a little hobby to collect some [good bottles of wine].
Weekly: Will you spend any time relaxing at home before going back to work?
Evans: Between the weekends to the East Coast and Napa there are four days we will be home. That’s when we will be doing that bedroom thing for Matthew, getting new carpet and painting. Matt’s going to be in high school. He’s a teenager. He needs to move up to a big boy room.
