About Vintage Baked Modern

About my professional experience…

I founded Harvest Circle Workshop in 2012 developing all-natural innovative snacks like Harvest Superfood Balls and Harvest Superfood Granola sold in Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme Market, and Beatrix micro-markets.

In 2019, I re-branded to Vintage Baked Modern, an all-natural, wholesale specialty baking company located in Valparaiso, Indiana. I developed premium gluten-free baked goods and baking mixes created with my own blend of gluten-free flour. During that time, I also became the gluten-free/vegan chef for Parkhurst Dining at Valparaiso University.

About my roots…

I’ve always had an intuition for baking, passed down from my great-grandmother in West Virginia. She was a member the Ladies Aid Society and 4-H, and would volunteer to go into other women’s homes to teach them basic skills like baking, cooking, preserving food, etc. I’ve been baking since I was a child in my Nan’s kitchen. I remember the sights, the smells, and watching her turn flour, into the most delicious, comforting baked goods. Most of our baking together was around making our favorite holiday foods or after picking fresh fruit from an orchard. I learned how to bake from scratch using techniques and skills watching my Nan and my mother which I assumed everyone did. In retrospect, I understand that this trait was simply in my blood and now “lean into” this natural gift.

Throughout my childhood, we were raised on food trends following the hippie era of the late ’70’s and into the early 80’s. During that time, the trend was to eat natural, healthy, whole-grain, refined-sugar free foods. My mom was part of a local food co-op and a La Leche group where she learned how to use healthy ingredients. We ate well-balanced meals, healthy snacks, and low-sugar baked goods, and homemade bread and preserved foods from the garden. Meals were all from scratch, as going out to eat was saved for special occasions.

Embracing these all-natural lifestyle principals has always been a way of life for me, my businesses, and in raising my own family. All Vintage Baked Modern recipes are original and created using all-natural, whole, real-food ingredients.

About my blog…

I created Vintage Baked Modern™ to teach today’s bakers how to convert vintage recipes by utilizing modern methods, tools, and ingredients – preserving old-fashioned flavor by stripping away what our modern taste palettes have unfortunately become used to: processed commercial baked goods filled with chemicals and artificial flavors. Bite into the the simple tastes of yesteryear!

I’m always up for a test recipe challenge, so reach out to me at [email protected] and ask “how do I swap out an ingredient from my grandma’s recipe?” or “how can I re-create a cool retro recipe?”

The blog will teach you how to:

– take a unique, lost vintage recipe and break down the steps using modern tricks, tools or decorating skills to make it easier. Or show you how to take a favorite family recipe and swap out ingredients (like oleo) for a modern substitute of butter.

-convert a recipe to meet today’s specialty dietary restrictions, like making it wholesome, gluten-free, or vegan.

-share with you curated vintage recipes by food type. My passion is to spend time in my cookbook nook browsing through vintage recipes. I have an index of Vintage Cookbooks where you can peruse my vintage cookbooks and recipe files of at least 20+ years old.

You can join our Facebook Group “Seasons & Reasons” which is all about sharing recipes for the holidays and celebrations.