|
About KimberlyHey! I'm Kimberly, and I've been an enthusiastic baker and quite the foodie for as long as I can remember. Just ask my Mom - she could tell you all about the messy and disastrous kitchen filled with dishes and new experimental concoctions that the "unadventurous" didn't want to eat.
I began my food journey in high-school when I was chosen from my food and hospitality class to co-op at a local casual dining restaurant, Thyme On 21. I was certainly still "green" and new to the restaurant industry, but I quickly found a professional passion in food. After the co-op position was complete, I decided to stay there as an apprentice cook under the very talented chef, Terry Kennedy. If you've ever had their homemade onion sage bread, you'll know that it's a Goderich favourite. To this day it's still something I make every holiday season for my family as a nod to the early days of my career. It's the first thing I remember being proud of learning how to bake. |
A few years later, I moved on to Toronto, ON where I completed my Cook apprenticeship at George Brown Chef School. Although much of the emphasis of the program was on preparing food, I found true love in their basic and advanced baking courses, which were also part of the Cook program. Gimme all that baking theory - I wanna know the science behind it all. After spending a few years in Toronto, working and absorbing all of the great food and culture, I eventually made my way back to my hometown of Goderich, ON.
|
I began working at a little candy store on the Square called Sweets & Memories - owned by a lovely lady named Lynn Neitsch, where I made gelato and chocolate. We became known for our 55% dark chocolate salted caramel bark.
Cooking and baking wasn't my only passion - I also spent my time sculpting with polymer clay under the alias, Monster Kookies - Kookie being a nickname that I got when I first started apprenticing as a cook. Kinda funny, though, when you look into the future... Unfortunately, when the August 2011 tornado hit the town of Goderich, Sweets & Memories was very badly damaged, and it was decided that it would not be re-open. It was definitely a very heartbreaking day. |
Long live Sweets & Memories. ♥
|
After the tornado, I continued sculpting, but there was definitely something missing. Wandering around the Square one day, I visited Cravings, owned by a bubbly lady named Nicole Scruton, and bought a London Fog - a delicious hot drink made from Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup. Soon after, I was now crafting chocolate, decorating buttercream and ice cream cakes, and baking my Goderich-famous 'monster cookies' at Cravings, but mostly staying busy at the front making lattes and beverages, scooping ice cream, and slowly learning the names of customers. It was definitely a whole new world.
Almost two years later, I had developed "Cupcake Fridays" at Cravings and was decorating the periodic buttercream cake or making cupcakes for weddings. But I wanted to venture out on my own, and this is where my little Facebook page, Sweethart Baking Experiment, became more than just a place for me to share photos of my latest goodies that I made at work or at home to share with family and friends. In September 2014, I said goodbye to Cravings and ventured the world of baking from my own home kitchen.
After getting my first home kitchen health inspection, I started out with cakes, cupcakes, chocolate bark, and other treats for local makers and farmers markets, but it wasn't until a year later that I started dabbling in the art of sugar cookie decorating. It wasn't the most beautiful sugar cookie - it definitely lacked finesse - but it certainly tasted great! But through much patience, persistence, and a willingness to learn, sugar cookies have become my specialty over the years.
People would message me online and stop her in the street to say "Hey! You're the cookie lady!" and were intrigued by the making of these sugar cookies. They wanted to know just how it was done. And so, Kookievision was born - starting out as Facebook live streams straight from the kitchen, to time lapsed "Kookievision Minute" videos on Instagram and full tutorials with dialogue on YouTube.
Art + Baking = one happy Kookie!
Almost two years later, I had developed "Cupcake Fridays" at Cravings and was decorating the periodic buttercream cake or making cupcakes for weddings. But I wanted to venture out on my own, and this is where my little Facebook page, Sweethart Baking Experiment, became more than just a place for me to share photos of my latest goodies that I made at work or at home to share with family and friends. In September 2014, I said goodbye to Cravings and ventured the world of baking from my own home kitchen.
After getting my first home kitchen health inspection, I started out with cakes, cupcakes, chocolate bark, and other treats for local makers and farmers markets, but it wasn't until a year later that I started dabbling in the art of sugar cookie decorating. It wasn't the most beautiful sugar cookie - it definitely lacked finesse - but it certainly tasted great! But through much patience, persistence, and a willingness to learn, sugar cookies have become my specialty over the years.
People would message me online and stop her in the street to say "Hey! You're the cookie lady!" and were intrigued by the making of these sugar cookies. They wanted to know just how it was done. And so, Kookievision was born - starting out as Facebook live streams straight from the kitchen, to time lapsed "Kookievision Minute" videos on Instagram and full tutorials with dialogue on YouTube.
Art + Baking = one happy Kookie!
