For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to the kitchen and baking; the only A grade I got in my O Levels was in food nutrition and home economics! During my teens I fell in love with the hospitality industry and went on to train in hotel and catering management, concluding with a year in London working for an elite catering company. In my early 20s I took a year out traveling, returning to join an exciting fledgeling company called Kate’s Cakes in West Sussex as a ‘hands on bakery manager.’ Kate’s Cakes had just won their first contract with a new aspiring company called Pret a Manger. As Pret grew so did we; six years later I found myself overseeing the daily production for a multi-million pound turnover business. During those years I honed my leadership skills and developed a baker’s intuition. A huge part of my job was to develop and implement training programmes to ensure our cakes were consistent and looked as if they had come from a homely kitchen and not an industrial estate. After my years as a commercial bakery manager, I found my singing voice and went on to be a professional singer, creating a one woman show called ‘Ising on the Cake’ which I toured in New Zealand and England.
In 2012 I moved to a 16th century merchant’s house and inherited a cherry red 70s Aga installed by a local master baker….. and so began my journey with sourdough bread. I like to consider myself a reformed commercial baker where I now nurture the practice of mindfulness and not mass production. I am a self taught sourdough baker with a special interest in rural heritage, folklore, story collecting and spiritual practice. I promote the support of British millers and organic farmers and my hope is to empower and inspire others to become bread adventurers x
I live in Bexhill-on Sea, East Sussex, and facilitate sourdough workshops in my home and the wider community.
For more information please contact me.
The Gossamer Threads Project 