Ah, hey ya, hi, Becky here! Becky can now be found at The Bake Dept!
Bec & Jen
We’ve been friends since college (that picture on the right? that was us way back when), when we started baking and cooking into the wee hours of the night with an incredible group of friends, creating these knock-down drag-out feasts, bonding over coffee, chocolate, all things sugar, and of course a few baking train wrecks. Hovered around the world’s tiniest oven, of course. Ever since, we’ve been trading highly secretive, coveted recipes back and forth, making each other drool bucketloads with the other’s baking prowess. Do not ask us how long. No, just don’t. For years we’ve pined to either open a bakery or start a baking blog. Since we live almost 700 miles apart, and the commute to a co-owned bakery being a little tricky for one of us, the blog it is.
Here on this blog you may not find perfection, the prettiest baking dishes, maybe at times not the best photos, maybe at times baking fails. But one of our goals is to sort of demystify baking in a sense, to show you don’t need all that fancy stuff to turn out fancy stuff, just the right attitude. It’s all about the joy of learning for us, high-fiving ourselves over accomplishments (and of course cramming our faces full of tasty treats) so we hope you’ll enjoy this fun and quirky adventure with us.
Bec
As far back as I can remember I have always baked. Forever. A long lineage of baking gene passed from Great Grandma Sadie, Grandma Rose, to my mom to me. Needless to say then maybe, with a helpful hand from my mom, I am a self-taught baker but with decades of baking experience behind me.
I may not know all the science, I struggle with developing my own recipes, but sure as heck, I will test, research, dig, test, research some more, tweak, and test even more until that darn recipe is perfect. That’s when I share it with you!
Soooo, more about me? I wear many a hat, affectionately dubbed a Thing Maker.
I worked around the Chicago theater scene for um, a mighty long stretch there. Baking stuff in between when I could.
My extremely patient husband Mike who is consistently stuffed with baked goods (purchased patience, haha) and our weirdo dog Finn live in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago where my time is also spent ripping apart our house, putting it back together, and documenting it over on Flipping the Flip. And baking. You can also follow that fun over on Instagram here.
Thanks for joining me! Now let’s bake!
Jen
Just like Bec, I’m a self-taught baker who’s been baking my whole life. I grew up with a baking mom and a grandmother who made the most amazing apple pies, so baking’s in my genes, too. In college, I started baking things from scratch—out of curiosity and necessity (because box mixes cost more)—and haven’t made anything from a box in at least twenty-five years (please don’t do the math for me, either). Baking is an expression of love to me, and it’s something I do if I’m happy, sad, relaxed, stressed, grieving, celebrating…basically if I’m breathing.
I cook, but not with much skill. I mean, there are a small handful of things that I cook well, but I hate making dinner, and most days literally forget to even think about it until it’s too late to make something (there are just too many other things that take up my attention…you know, like baking). Far too often it gets to be dinner time, and that’s when I’m all Oh yeaaaah…dinner. Hmmm. Cooking simply isn’t my thing. But baking? THAT is where my skills shine—I’m a magnificent baker. (I mean, if I’m good at something I should own it, right?) Not that my creations are works of art or picture perfect all the time—they’re not. But the taste? Heavenly. And that’s what I’m after. So, while my kids and husband might be on their own for finding dinner a lot of the time, they will almost always find cookies in the freezer or something sweet waiting for them on the counter.
By profession, I’m the author of quite a few romance and young adult novels, and creator of hilariously sweary self-affirming coloring books. (You can get a glimpse of my writing life at jmeyersbooks.com.) By pastime, I’m an unschooling mom, baker, reader, knitter, artist, and basic DIYer of ALL the things. I live with my husband and four fabulous kids out in the country in central New York, where we are often found outside marveling over the wonders of nature. It’s a good life.
p.s. Find me here –> Instagram & Twitter
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