About
I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Anne Marie and I am a pastry chef and general food-lover. From a very early age, I have always loved to cook. Whether it was playing with an easy bake oven as a child, or baking cookies in college to take a break from studying, I have always felt alive in the kitchen. Although I believed my love of baking would simply be a hobby, the more I thought about it, the more I realized food was a true passion. So after a lot of though and a bit of faith, I took a deep breath and moved across country to enroll as a pastry student at the Culinary Institute of America. That time in Napa (I was lucky enough to enroll in a program offered in the CIA’s satellite campus in the Napa Valley – I know, I have a tough life) was a true gift. I was able to concentrate on my passion all day every day, surrounded by people who shared my love of food. Not only did I learn all the ins and outs of baking and pastry arts, but I learned about wine, farm markets, and agriculture. I was immersed in a food community and happy to say that I soaked it up every minute. Playing in wine country inevitably had to come to an end and so I moved back to the East Coast to start my career.
My husband and I found ourselves in Connecticut and most recently I have been working for a small Kosher grocery store, The Crown Market, in West Hartford. Offering the general grocery store baking fare, the store hired me to roll out a new line of gourmet product. The job has been a great opportunity to challenge myself and allow my creativity to take flight. One of the things that has always attracted me to food is the artistry of it all. I completely believe that we all eat with our eyes and nose before the food ever hits our tongue. I look at a plate (and now a showcase) as a blank canvas and know the possibilities are endless.
A couple of things you should know about this blog. Even though I am a pastry chef, this is a general food blog, geared most specifically to my personal food experiences living in central Connecticut. I plan on sharing my cooking experiences, especially my new efforts to cook with more thought and concern (and I have to admit concern for my pocketbook as well). Along with recipes, I’ll post restaurant reviews, wine notes, meal planning ideas, seasonal cooking tips, and anything that tickles my food fancy.
I hope you enjoy.
-Anne Marie
What a fantastic place Dee’s is! I visited today and I too, sampled a plethora of goodies. They were all incredible taste sensations. I left with cupcakes, a baguette of rosemary bread and a gigantic chunk of very berry bread pudding! AH heaven!
Love your blog. I wish you all the best and look forward to creating your recipes.
I love family stories about food, and enjoyed reading about your stock adventures. I agree that homemade stock is best, but at my advanced age I can no longer lift the stock pot into the fridge…a small tip about “pretend stock”…it’s better if you prepare some meat and bones as for stock, baking with veggies and seasonings, then then add to store bought stock and simmer as uaual…not perfect, but better than purchased stock by itself.
What a great tip Nancy! And yes, along with love, stock also requires some muscles. Even I struggle with that stock pot!
Hi. i was wondering.. you guys don’t deliver cakes do u? i fell in love with the Abby cake and that is going to be the theme of my daughters birthday.. unfortunately we live in MASS
Hi. i don’t know if u have received my reply to your e-mail. we live in Foxborough. The party is March 28th and it is for about 60-70 people. I was just wondering about how much u charge as well.
You are such a super-star! I love your stuff and am SO impressed 🙂 Keep it up!
hi do you do orders . i really need a backyardigans cake asap please tell me prices
I stummbled uoin your site and am drooling over all of the Fall yummies on your home page! Everything looks sooooo delicious! :)Beautiful website!
hi!!! love what you are doing!! im tring to start a cupcake shop .doing it on the side right now bc i am afull time mom and work full time ,but i love to bake and used to be a cake decorator. im always thinking of new recipes .my mind is always going thats all i think about is cupcake cupcake and more cupcake !!!! but one day would love to own my own shop!! any sugestions for me? how do i get my name out there?
Hello, I was looking at your cakes, in particular your wedding cake. I was thinking about endevouring on that journey myself and was wondering if you had any tips for me? What was your timeline? How long can a covered fondant cake sit and still taste good? I read that you had cream cheese frosting and have heard a lot of different opinions on that matter. Is it fine to leave cream cheese frosting or buttercream out in a covered fondant cake? Can I make the gumpaste flowers a week in advance and just let them sit? I use a homemade fondant recipie and while it tastes delicious it doesn’t hold up well in the elements and was wondering if you had a tride and true fondant recipie. Also if you had any tips for storing and transporting. I know this is a lot but I would love to hear from someone who has already been there. I’m not a professional baker but I do have a pretty good skill set and just can’t see letting someone else do this for thousands of dollars when I could do it myself for cost and have the exact cake I want.
Thank you very much in advance,
Jessica
nice
Hi i was wondering how much will it cost for an abby cadabby cake..its for a first birthday party (October 1st) i want something big that can feed at least 50 people..please get back to me with estimates of the price thank you
Hello,
Thank you for your interest in an Abby Cadabby Cake. I am located outside of Hartford, CT, so the first information I would need would be your location. I can deliver, but my radius is fairly limited to CT and some parts of MA. You are welcome to pick up the cake, but then I would not be responsible for how the cake would “fare” during its transport.
Depending on flavor, and specific decoration, a cake feeding 50 people with Abby Cadabby would average $125.
If you are still interested, please let me know and we can discuss further details via e-mail.
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Hi,
We are throwing a blogger event and we would like to invite you. Do you have a contact email we can send an invitation to? Thanks so much
-Amy
Hey Anne Marie,
I lost my cell phone last year and all of my contact info. Looking for a new baker for the bakery. Wondering what’s going on in your world these days and if you’re looking for a new challenge. Love to hear from you.
Hope all is well in your world!
Diane