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HI I'M DEENA! I AM A MOM, A BAKER, AUTHOR, AND A FITNESS INSTRUCTOR. EVERYTHING I DO IN LIFE IS CENTERED AROUND MY FAMILY, FAITH, FOOD AND FITNESS.

I wake up every morning asking God to give me His  "eyes to see and ears to hear" because whether I'm at home, in the kitchen or in a fitness studio, I strive to serve others every day. My goal as Sugar Mama is to create a delicious helping of love that just happens to be baked up into a beautiful dessert!  It's truly my treat to serve you.

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MY LOVE FOR BAKING STARTED IN MY MOTHER'S KITCHEN.

Her southern flair for cooking and hospitality was reflected daily in our home when I was growing up.  I was raised with the knowledge that hospitality wasn’t something you did - but a way of life. It didn’t have to be formal or fancy (although it could be) but rather it was a tangible expression of love that began in the kitchen and ended on the table! I am forever grateful to her for teaching me and my sisters how to use food as our love language, and I’ve spent my life “speaking that language” to my family, my friends, my customers, my classes and total strangers.

 

I started to dabble in catering in 1980 in Keokuk Iowa.  That effort resulted in different catering ventures in 4 different states and has culminated in my current home-based bakery called Sugar Mama, located in Franklin Tennessee. Although I pursued a simultaneous career in Fitness, I have volleyed back and forth between both fields while juggling the responsibility of raising 7 daughters. I’ve always found new ways to reinvent my endeavors that suit my surroundings and now that my girls are all grown and my husband has retired, I’m exhilarated to share my fitness experience and resume of recipes with this community!

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PIE IS MY FAVORITE!

There…I said it! Out loud even! People always ask me “What is your favorite thing to make?”  The truth is, I love making so many things, it's hard to pick a favorite, but I really do think I love making pie the  most.  Watching someone's expression as they take their first bite of one of my freshly baked pies is a joyful thing and it’s one of the reasons I do what I do! When I was teaching cooking classes, I always said "Making a pie takes a good recipe, good ingredients and a little bit of magic! Oh, and a lot of love! 

GRAB MY COOKBOOK!

In my cookbook, Swing The Door Open, I invite you to welcome some of my favorite recipes into your kitchen. This is a compilation of over 30 years of collected recipes and over 20 years of catering expertise. These pages provide valuable tools to help you create a wonderful experience for your family and guests.

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Cookbooks are $25 + shipping. To order a copy for your home, you can contact me directly through the button below.

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“Let no one seek his own good,

but each one, the other’s well-being.”

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- 1 Corinthians 10:24

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