In 2012, I left my 20+ year career as event planner and fundraiser. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit and a combined passion for living a healthy lifestyle, I created my first business, Harvest Circle Workshop. There I developed all-natural innovative snacks like Harvest Superfood Balls and Harvest Superfood Granola sold in local health food stores, Whole Foods Market, and Fresh Thyme Market.
Building on that momentum in the natural foods space, in 2019 I re-branded the company to Vintage Baked Modern, an all-natural, wholesale specialty baking company located in downtown Valparaiso, Indiana. I developed and added a specialty line of premium gluten-free baked goods and baking mixes using my own blend of gluten-free flour.
In 2020 in the wake of covid, I like many others, had to find ways to pivot my own business. I became gluten-free/vegan chef for Parkhurst Dining at Valparaiso University using my own baking mixes and recipes. Harvest Superfood Balls can still be found today in several Parkhurst grab-n-go cafes in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, Fluid Coffee shops, and Beatrix micro-markets in downtown Chicago.
About my blog...We take classic retro recipes and convert them to meet today's specialty diets, by stripping away what our modern taste palettes have unfortunately become used to...processed commercial baked goods filled with chemicals and artificial flavors...and bite into the flavor and taste the simplicity of yesteryear. It's not what's saved in your recipe files, it's what in your memories.
My passion is to spend time in my cookbook nook browsing through vintage recipes. Most recently I've added a vintage archive to my blog. Here you will be able to find vintage cookbooks and recipe files (20+ years old). You can join our Facebook Group "Seasons & Reasons" which is all about sharing recipes for the holidays and celebrations.
FUN FACT: In addition to my cookbook collection I had over 1,000 cookie cutters!
—Apryl Niksch, Founder/Owner