In the kitchen with Uncle Mark at a young age.

Growing up, my parents tried very hard to keep our family eating moderate and healthy in a time when convenience food and artificial sugar were thriving. Dessert was not something we had on a regular basis, it was reserved for the holidays and sometimes vacations. My mom was not waiting at home for us after school with a plate of homemade cookies. Instead it was usually carrot sticks or apple slices in her office until the work day was over. However, my parents were always cooking from scratch with a focus on eating at home as a family. We had huge holiday celebrations with homemade pasta at Christmas and we made our own tomato sauce every summer from tomatoes we grew in our garden. Some where in that experience by the time I was in high school my interest in cooking began to peak. During those summers I would bake cookies and  worked on perfecting a strawberry rhubarb pie.

Making pasta at Christmas with the family.

When I was a senior in high school my economics teacher gave us an assignment to intern at a job or career we were interested in, then write about the experience. Right a way I knew what I wanted to do, I wanted to check out a professional kitchen. I got connected with a local restaurateurs and chef who let me come into her kitchen and help out a couple of times for the assignment.  It became one of those defining moments in my life, a pivotal experience that set me in motion to the place I am today. I did the assignment and turned in my paper but it was that first night in the kitchen that light the spark in me.

After high school I was encouraged to go to university first and then pursue my culinary dreams.  I gave collage a try but my heart was never completely into it. While at university I did find myself in the kitchen kind of, as I took a job in the dish room of the cafeteria and as a night time cookie baker.  But after the first year at university my mind began to wonder a bit too much and I soon found myself moving back home with the parents to regroup.  However, by the end of  the summer I had my car packed and was on my way to Seattle with my culinary dreams in mind.

In Seattle I got my self a job in an Irish pub in the front of the house. I was starting from the ground up so I started as a busser, then a moved up to a sever and also did some cocktail serving. At this time I was determined to get to culinary school in Seattle and I formed my plans. I also spent some time working in a coffee house (of course it’s Seattle!) and by summer of 2001 I was done with front of the house customer service and ready to go. I signed up for the Baking and Pastry program at Seattle Central Community College and would start in the fall. It must have been a move in the right direction because a couple of weeks after I signed up for school my cousin called me with a job off I just had to take. She was working at a catering company in Seattle and the pastry chef there had an opening for an assistant. They were open to someone who was in culinary school and willing to work with my schedule. It was a perfect fit! I was on my way.

I can’t say enough about my wonderful schooling experience. It is a truly unique program that gave me foundational skills I have continued to built on to this day. We started with close to 25 people in our program and ended with 7. The teachers were a culinary odd couple. One chef was the definition of a west coaster who proudly proclaimed his love of fermentation. He was a classically trained chef who loved cheese, wine and breads. We always had an intense rotation of bread baking each quarter of the program. Our other chef teacher was a French import originally born and raised in the Normand area of France. He was ridged in his method and stressed the importance of discipline and practice. Together they were a great example of the different possibles in this area of work.

Myself on the left with my friends from school Beth, Janna and Ashley.

Not long after I had graduated from school life presented me a opportunity to move to the east cost with my boyfriend as he started a new job. We packed up, drove across the country and ended up in Maryland on the night of the 4th of July. At this time, I took some time to myself to settle in and get a home set up as we finally settle in Baltimore Maryland. When I began looking for work I had no idea where to look. I had never been to Baltimore before we moved there, so I would literally take a stack of resumes and drive around looking for bakeries or restaurants, walk in and try to leave my information. As I was getting no where with this method and becoming frustrated by the day I applied for a job at Whole Foods Market. There were no positions in the bakery but they could take me as a checker and when something opened in the bakery I could move in. Faced with the decision to take this job or not I opened the City Paper on day and saw an add that said “Do you like to eat cheese?”. Yes I did, I was  very interested in cheese and had even made some fresh cheeses in culinary school. It turned out to be a job with a wholesale cheese and specialty foods distributer in Baltimore. I applied and got the job. This was a bit of a risk for me at the time because I was not working with pastries or in a kitchen. I did however get to know Baltimore and it’s culinary scene, make connections and learn invaluable lesson about cheese!

From there it’s all history as they say, I moved on from the cheese company and got my self back into the world of pastry. I have been actively living and working in Baltimore since. I currently live with my boyfriend Matt and our two dogs Riley and Roen. We have made Baltimore our home and happily wait to see what the future holds!