As far back as I can remember I have had a love for cooking and baking. I was raised in a home with my maternal grandma. She was a full blooded German woman and she loved cooking and cleaning. She would tellme she was teaching me how to be a good wife. I can remember being maybe three, and I would stand next to the stove where Grandma was cooking and I'd be on my tippy-toes so I could see every ingredient and every move she made. I had many recipes in my head before I was ever old enough to actually cook. I can remember one time she was making gravy and as she sprinkled in the salt and pepper it began to thicken, so for a while I thought that the salt & pepper is what made gravy thick. My Grandma loved to bake also. My Grandma was a chuby little lady and I would get excited when I came home from school and she had flour on her belly, cause I knew we had something great in the house. I am so very thankful for having the opportunity to learn so much from my Grandma.
When I first got married I was always baking and my husband put on a few extra pounds. He was glad when I started Candie's Cakes and Candy so I could get it out of my system and the baked goods were going out the door with someone else. My family is still my taste testers when I experiment. I really like making up new recipes. Most have been fine, but a few needed some tweeking!
When I was pregnant with my first child, I took the Wilton "at home" cake decorating class and loved it. I had a hard time with flowers, so I took a course at Karen Ann' supply store and mastered them. The first wedding cake I did, I needed 50 roses and I must have made 300 to get 50 I liked. I can be my own worst enemy when it comes to perfection.
I have taught cake decorating classes many times in churches. I have done a lot with the schools in our area. I do a cake demo for the Foods 3 teacher at our high school and I have done many chocolate demonstrations with younger kids in the school district. I have so much fun with my job!
Now days I do more catering than anything. The largest job I have done was for 425 people for my Mother and Father-in-law's 50th anniversary. I do many jobs for less than 50 because many caterers won't mess with small jobs, but I will. Catering is hard work, but my family has been wonderful and they have all helped with it in one way or another. My husband is wonderful. I could not have bulit the business without his help and support. Our two boys both love cooking but our daughter doesn't like cooking at all. She is a great help with the cathering, though. She is a great people person and an organizer so she is great with setting up and serving the meal. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter have also been a part of my business. Like I said, I just could not do this business without the help of my family.
