Cooking and baking are in my blood. As early as I can remember, I’ve had my hands in a mixing bowl and a deep appreciation for a well cooked meal. Hailing from Pennsylvania, I was raised on hearty dishes and age-old desserts, tried and true by my mother, Grandma and Great-Grandma. With family ties in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, I grew up on cookies, cheesecake, perogi and pepperoni bread (with a healthy dose of veggies mixed in… for balance of course).
One week after my 15th birthday, I took my first job as a clerk at a local bakery. Monotonous work at first, I packaged hundreds of Italian loaves and demi baguettes, cut and filled thousands of whoopie pies and glazed so many donuts I smelled perpetually of fried dough. Over the course of the next 6 years, I began to learn the science of baking, the art of cake decorating and the joy of making food for others at this small town bakery.
In college I began to develop my cooking muscles. My patient roommates were glad to be guinea pigs to my experimental dinners (thankful to not eat Ramen, I assume) and my mother coaxed on my interest by getting me tools and cooking necessities and always picking up the phone at 6 p.m. when I called to clarify a recipe or forgot what temperature to set the oven to. By my senior year, I regularly had friends over to teach them how to make basic dinners, cookies and cakes. The satisfaction of teaching others the essential skill of cooking has stuck with me ever since.
After college, I joined corporate America, moved to Texas and underwent a personal culinary revolution with exposure to the flavors, textures and spices of Mexican, Tex-Mex and Southern foods. I began to modify family favorites with regional zest and add new dishes to my arsenal of recipes. Taking a trial and error approach, my enthusiastic boyfriend gladly taste-tested and helped me refine dishes like jambalaya, enchiladas, and kielbasa kabobs.
In 2015, we moved from Fort Worth, TX to Seattle, WA and a second revolution began. Curries, fresh seafood, thai spices, dim sum, and a farmer’s market culture with farm-to-table meats and produce again changed my personal cooking and baking game. Still living in Seattle, I can hardly keep up with exploring the cuisines this region of the country has to offer.
So why start a blog? Life is hectic. It’s easy to get swept up into the daily routine and focus on being successful vs being happy. As I’ve moved across the country and settled over 2,700 miles from the place I call home, my passion for cooking and baking has moved back into the spotlight of my life; making food for the enjoyment of others gives me satisfaction unrivaled by anything else I’ve ever done. I hope my readers feel this love through the stories and recipes I share and can introduce the comfort of my food to their own families.
This blog is ever evolving with the only intent of passing on the happiness I hold to everyone who visits. Enjoy and thank you for reading!
Weekend Baker 
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