I'm the Director of Digital Production for one of Baltimore's largest advertising agencies. I've been riding motorcycles since 2001 and am now a motorcycle race instructor (my current ride is a GSXR600). In 2009 I took up cake decorating as a hobby and in 2010 I turned it into a small side business called Merry Cakes.
My favorite things to cook
I love to bake deserts and to make party appetizers. As an artist, I enjoy making these because they have both taste AND eye appeal. Plus they're fun to eat!
My favorite family cooking traditions
In our house growing up, the birthday person got to select the entire dinner menu. I loved going to Lexington Market in Baltimore with my dad to pick out a huge fish to put on the grill. Something about going to that huge market appealed to my young inner chef.
My cooking triumphs
Starting my own cake decorating business has to be my favorite cooking triumph. Specially since it's not only my decorating skills, but the taste of my cakes that brings my customers back for more. I love teaching myself new techniques and attending classes to expand my skill set.
My cooking tragedies
In 2009 (just before I got into cake decorating). My best friend was getting married and her mother-in-law was doing the wedding cake. I offered my home for her to use to make the cake and I took off work to watch. It was great watching a wedding cake come together and helping out where I could. The day before the wedding we finished the cake and loaded it into my car. Ten miles down the road I stopped for gas and checked on the cake. To my utter horror, I opened the back of my car to find the cake had completely fallen apart. I nearly died right there. I was so distraught from killing my best friend's wedding cake. I drove to my friend's house where her mother-in-law was resting and walked up to the door carrying 3/4 of a wedding cake. After much crying and panic on both our parts, her mother-in-law managed to remake the whole thing overnight and no one was the wiser!