The most frequently asked question I receive is “How long have you been baking?”
The easy answer is that I’ve been baking my entire adult life. My passion for baking was born out of 19-year-old me trying to impress my then-boyfriend with a gourmet triple layer chocolate cheesecake. Good golly! Anyone who makes cheesecakes knows that is a challenging cake to make, even for an experienced baker. But I was obsessed with Chocolatier magazine and I meticulously followed the recipe and churned out a near-perfect cake! I guess it did the trick because not only was a baker born that day but that boyfriend married me and has been putting up with me for nearly 3 decades!
Occasionally, I would make desserts for friends’ parties and weddings but I also loved crafting, knitting, was working full time, and raising a child so it was just a hobby and nothing more.
When my son left for college and the empty nest freed up some time, I dove in headfirst and have barely come up for air for the last couple of years.
The next most often asked question is “How long did it take you to learn 
this?” That is a much trickier answer. I suppose you could say I have followed the Malcolm Gladwell approach to learning and have literally made thousands of desserts in a very short period of time. I’m not perfect and have thrown out a TON of fails but after just 4 months of practicing with royal icing, I entered a national contest and won 3rd place in the semi-pro category! I almost fell to my knees with surprise when that happened but it encouraged me to keep on keeping on. I’ve since competed on Food Network’s Cookie Wars!
Third most frequently asked is “Where/How did you learn how to do all of this?” I am completely self-taught. From Martha Stewart Living Magazine (and her TV show) in the 90s to YouTube and YouTube and YouTube and food blogs and trial and error, I have simply figured it out on my own. I’m sure there are things I could have learned differently or better with some formal culinary training but, hey, I’m doing pretty dang well on my own.
And one last question that has come up on more than one occasion…”Is there anything you can’t do?” Well, probably, yes. But so far, there isn’t anything that I have tried to do, that I have completely given up on. I heard about a chef several years back who lives by the philosophy that if it can be done by a person, he can do it or learn to do it. That one thing has inspired me more than any other and I remind myself of it on the daily.
You’ll find I’m adept at making enormous messes, a pro at screwing up, and a perfectionist until the bitter end. I always find a way to make it work! I haven’t met a challenge I couldn’t conquer.
Love and kisses to all who support me along the way!