It seems that artistry is born into the genes and needs nurturing. My father was a lithographer in the Army (WW2), and could build anything, then my mother was very creative in the kitchen, and artistic in all her creations. With crafts and artwork, for me, nothing has satisfied the creative juices than making and especially decorating cakes. This addiction to cake decorating started with a temp agency position at Dawn Bakery here in York, PA. With a quick demo and a few minutes to practice they put me on a fast moving assembly line of cakes and the first thing I piped was rose buds and leaves. The line moved quickly and you had only a small window of time and area to do your work. It was a natural skill and came easily and quickly. That's what gave me the decorating bug, so I purchased decorating equipment and any cake decorating books that I could find. My stay was short at Dawn and Harley Davidson Motor Company hired me on for the second time. With many birthdays and ‘bring a dish’ occasions I would bake cupcakes and cake to bring in, even for no reason at all, before cupcakes was a trend in the baking field. The other employee’s knew me as the “Cake Lady,” and would watch to see if I’d be bringing in “goodies.” I had quite a following.





After 2.5 years Harley Davidson MC started laying off people so I got “chopped”, and Obama was telling mothers to go back to school. Without any funding, grants or any help, I enrolled into a local culinary school for professional baking and pastry in which I earned a diploma. Even with the struggling economy I've established my business "Outside The Cake Box, LLC" with a website and popular Face book wall, plus managed to take an extensive amount of private decorating classes with the top decorator- teachers. I continue to take classes to keep on the cutting edge with the new trends in cake decorating, plus learning new techniques and styles. The next big event is the ICES Convention at NC in August which I’ve signed up for the latest and greatest classes. Now that I’m a Professional Baker I’ve joined several groups and organizations as a member and hold positions in some of those groups related to the field:

Vice President of White Rose Cake Decorator’s Club

Recording Secretary of the PA121 - American Culinary Federation, Susquehanna Valley Chefs Association

York County School of Technology Occupational Advisory Committee

International Cake Exploration Societe

Retail Bakers Association

1st Tenant of the YorKitchen, York, PA

NAPW