Always slightly unnerving talking about myself, but I want my customers to know where my inspirations, and love of baking springs from.
I am a mom of 3 adult children and Nee-Nah (grandma) to 5 grandkids. They are my reason for being!
My passion for all things sweet began as a little kid. I have always had an overactive sweet tooth. My mom, who was taught by her mom (Mammaw Wartenbach), and she by her mom, (Grandma Huckabee). And the ancestry line goes back further, but we will stop at my great grandmother. These women were my first teachers in the culinary world.
Another influencer in my baking/dessert journey is one of my childhood best friend, Kim Morrow's mother - Ann Merten. She was a cake artist and a grocery store cake decorator. She is the one who made me fall in love with cake artistry!
She taught me so much! I practically lived every afternoon that I didn't have dance class, at Kim's house just to watch her mom bake & decorate. She always handed us a piping bag of icing to play with. I would watch her decorate, just absolutely mesmerized. In my 20's I took the Wilton classes. In my 40's I discovered cake shows and began training with some of the greats in the industry at the master classes they offered.
My other and first passion in life is that of a dancer. I trained in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet from the age of 5. I was introduced to tap, jazz, & modern at the age of 9. I had a very long, successful professional career in the dance world and retired from being a dance educator, choreographer, and dance competition judge in 2018. In 2010 I invented a dance training tool, believe it or not, inspired by my cake decorating life! I was piping a border on a cake and quickly spun the turntable around. The border went flying off! Light Bulb moment...Using centrifugal force to train dancers to exert their own centripetal force to maintain multiple turns! Thus, the Spin Spot was born. I released it for sale in early 2014 and it is sold globally. I gifted the company to my daughter Brittney Hufham, as she is still in the dance industry as an educator, adjudicator, and choreographer. She and her husband, Jonathon run the company now. www.spinspot.net if you have a dancer in your home. It is the original turntable style training tool for dancers to get better balance, turnout, and of course, turns. Oh and my daughter Brittney is also a pastry chef who graduated from Escoffier Culinary Institute.
tly. But, not going to dwell on that...moving on! And UP!
My passion for all things sweet began as a little kid. I have always had an overactive sweet tooth. My mom, who was taught by her mom (Mammaw Wartenbach), and she by her mom, (Grandma Huckabee). And the ancestry line goes back further, but we will stop at my great grandmother. These women were my first teachers in the culinary world.
Another influencer in my baking/dessert journey is one of my childhood best friend, Kim Morrow's mother - Ann Merten. She was a cake artist and a grocery store cake decorator. She is the one who made me fall in love with cake artistry!
She taught me so much! I practically lived every afternoon that I didn't have dance class, at Kim's house just to watch her mom bake & decorate. She always handed us a piping bag of icing to play with. I would watch her decorate, just absolutely mesmerized. In my 20's I took the Wilton classes. In my 40's I discovered cake shows and began training with some of the greats in the industry at the master classes they offered.
My other and first passion in life is that of a dancer. I trained in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet from the age of 5. I was introduced to tap, jazz, & modern at the age of 9. I had a very long, successful professional career in the dance world and retired from being a dance educator, choreographer, and dance competition judge in 2018. In 2010 I invented a dance training tool, believe it or not, inspired by my cake decorating life! I was piping a border on a cake and quickly spun the turntable around. The border went flying off! Light Bulb moment...Using centrifugal force to train dancers to exert their own centripetal force to maintain multiple turns! Thus, the Spin Spot was born. I released it for sale in early 2014 and it is sold globally. I gifted the company to my daughter Brittney Hufham, as she is still in the dance industry as an educator, adjudicator, and choreographer. She and her husband, Jonathon run the company now. www.spinspot.net if you have a dancer in your home. It is the original turntable style training tool for dancers to get better balance, turnout, and of course, turns. Oh and my daughter Brittney is also a pastry chef who graduated from Escoffier Culinary Institute.
