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!