How she became a pastry chef....

Finding what a person loves to do may take their whole lives, lucky for me I was born with it in my blood. (Only I didn't realize what that meant right away and who the genes came from)

Even from very young I started to mix cookies doughs with my mom which turned into Saturdays at Grandma's making bread, caramel rolls and cookies. Even my grandpa likes to bake, pecan pies are his specialty. This picture (2 1/2 years old here) is taken at Tillie's (our daycare provider) in Valley City, ND. She taught me many valuable lessons in baking and even fresh pasta that we had in her famous Chicken Noodle Soup.

At Grandma's making Norwegian Lefsa, a potato flatbread

Grandma's with my sister rolling cookies
Always the creative one, I loved to spend my time making holiday creations at my parent's house. Special requests started when I was about 10 - everyone loved the cream puffs. I recieved my first cookbook in a blue binder my mom made of copies containing easy-to-follow recipes from her cookbooks.
Baking filled the days and years still at home as I planned to make dessert for every holiday, gifts to family and friends. I started to talk more about it not realizing it is how I would spend the next 10 years of life. In high school I took a home-ec class and hand carved a cantelope as part of a fruit platter. It was then I realized baking was more than cookies and doughnuts. I struggled for the next 3 years to convince my family this is what I wanted to do and that I should fly half way across the country to attend JWU to learn more about it. As I got more into it I realized my Dad's mom Dorothy had decorated wedding cakes for years and years before handing it off to my aunt and now cousin. Passed down from both parents these talents are simply me.

In Dublin, Ireland were I worked for 3 months as a part of my education at JWU.

Eventually my family surrendered and off I flew to Providence, RI where I was only going to stay for 2 years which ended up being 4 for my Bachelor's in Baking and Pastry Arts. JWU was a great opportunity for me and I took every chance I got to learn and to travel!

I met Emeril Lagasse twice!

Swiss chocolates handmade by me~!

My class working on cookie platters

I started working in Valley City, ND at Another Time Restaurant senior year of high school. Then I left for school, worked at the Athenaeum Hotel in Chatauqua, NY Summer of 2004. Next adventure was Ireland where I worked for 3 months in a castle outside of Dublin in 2005. Then 2006 brought on Switzerland and Italy - a Study Abroad program that brought on many fun adventures and new pastries- most included Kirsch.

Now I am working for Whole Foods Market. I started out in Providence and quickly worked my way up from a team member to pastry chef, then Associate Team Leader. I flew to Kensington London to help open a store there, came back to open a store in Cranston. Currently I am commuting to the store in Bellingham, MA.