About Vintage Baked Modern

About my professional experience…

In 2013, I founded Harvest Circle Workshop, located in Valparaiso, IN where I developed and sold all-natural innovative snacks like Harvest Superfood Balls and Harvest Superfood Granola. These products were sold in grocery stores like Whole Foods Market and Fresh Thyme Market, Beatrix micro-markets, and food service Parkhurst Dining and Compass Group.

In 2019, I re-branded my company to Vintage Baked Modern, an all-natural, specialty baking company selling wholesale premium gluten-free baked goods and baking mixes using my own blend of gluten-free flour. During this time, I was also the gluten-free/vegan chef for Parkhurst Dining at Valparaiso University and Carthage College which lead into an expansion of commercial baking of cookies, cakes, etc. I also would teach bakery staff how to use my gluten-free flour and baking mixes to produce large amounts of gluten-free baked goods for their students.

I currently still sell the Harvest Superfood Balls in university food service grab-n-go and at local coffee shops.

About my blog…

In the midst of the pandemic in 2020 I started my blog Vintage Baked Modern™ with the intent to teach today’s bakers how to convert vintage recipes utilizing modern methods, tools, and ingredients.

My recipes use good quality, simple ingredients which really make a difference when recreating “old-fashioned” flavors of baked goods. I’ve found that using natural, minimally processed ingredients create the most authentic “taste”, since they are free from artificial ingredients, chemicals or additives. After running an all-natural, specialty bakery, my recipes use basic ingredients and the reason why I choose them and even offer suggestions on how to make them from scratch. So come take a bite into the simple tastes of yesteryear!

The blog will show you how to take a unique, lost vintage recipe and break down the steps using modern methods such as decorating skills to make baking easier; provide modern tools to show you how to take make things faster; teach you how to swap out ingredients (like oleo) for a modern substitute like butter; OR convert a recipe to meet today’s specialty dietary restrictions, like making it wholesome, gluten-free, or vegan.

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 time together was making favorite family holiday foods or after picking fresh fruit from an orchard.

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.

I learned how to bake from scratch 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 to share with others. Embracing these all-natural lifestyle principals has always been a way of life for me, my business, and in raising my own family.

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?”