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This marks the start of a new series at little Indiana: Indiana Blogs! If you are an Indiana Blogger, please use the contact form and send me an email. You may be featured right here on little Indiana.
Indiana Blogs: Big Fat Baker
Big Fat Baker is an Indiana blog that follows the kitchen adventures of a young twenty-something.
You’ll love following along as she tries new things and experiments with classic recipes, tweaking them until they are just right (hello, banana bread!)
As for me? I’ll be in the cookies section reading. Or maybe cupcakes. Or maybe winter recipes…there’s lot to see and cook at the Big Fat Baker Blog!
Indiana Blogs: Big Fat Baker
Why did you start Big Fat Baker?
I started Big Fat Baker on a bit of whim.
One day, towards the end of my first semester at Purdue, my boyfriend started a blog. He worked really hard and was really interested in it and how it worked. At the time I didn’t understand blogging very well and it seemed so foreign to me. But then one day about a month later he mentioned me starting a food blog.
That really hit me. I could do that! So that summer I started planning and brainstorming. Then in September 2010 BigFatBaker was launched and I haven’t turned back since.
What about that name? Why Big Fat Baker?
I was trying to think of something that would catch peoples eye and stick in their mind. I also try not to take myself too seriously, so I tried to think of something kinda funny.
After about an hour of domain checking and countless random word combinations BigFatBaker came up. I instantly knew it was perfect.
What are three of your most favorite posts?
Picking 3 of my favorites is hard. There are a few things I made that I thought were really fun and different, while others were classics.
- This post was for Daring Baker’s and it was such a challenge! Definitely fun and worth trying one day if you have time or want to challenge yourself!
Daring Baker’s Challenge: Maple Mousse in an Edible Container - This marshmallow fondant post was so definitely different. I made this for a cake contest at school to cover my love bug cake. I have never made fondant so I was a little nervous, but now I can’t wait for another chance to make it! The process was so much easier than I expected too.
How To Make Marshmallow Fondant - And this is my favorite twist on the classic red velvet. Mini things are coming into fashion these days and red velvet is always the rage, so I combined the 2 trends and made these tasty little buggers.
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
What keeps you ready and raring to post? Why do you blog?
My motivation to blog actually comes from a few different places. First my boyfriend works really hard all day, so I try and keep up with him. I know if he’s working towards success then I should be too! I also get a LOT of motivation from school. I plan on being self employed after college and see this as my opportunity to get a huge head start on my own career.
Why do I blog? I blog because I love it. I love to share my creations with my readers and friends, as well as try to make things I wouldn’t have in a million years if not for BFB. I believe blogging is something you have to love to keep doing it.
If you can’t be passionate about it, why would someone want to follow your journeys through the kitchen?
Have you always had a baking obsession? Where did this come from?
I wouldn’t say I have always been obsessed with baking. I wasn’t one of those kids that ate sticks of butter or cookies until I was sick.
Don’t get me wrong, I have always had a sweet tooth, I just didn’t develop my obsession until I was old enough to understand the kitchen tools.
My main baking influence came from both my Mom and my Aunt (her sister). My mom is an amazing cook and I always admired how delicious she could make food taste. My aunt influenced me when I was young by teaching me/helping me make cookies at Christmas or when I would visit. She also is an amazing cook and with out her and my mom I wouldn’t be as confidant in the kitchen as I am today.
What are some of your favorite ingredients to use in a recipe?
Ooh this is a tough one. I try to make new things each time I post, so I don’t often buy similar things. I also try to focus on buying seasonal items, although that can be really hard sometimes.
I would have to say some of my favorite things to use are vanilla beans, cranberries, peanut butter, and cream cheese. Strange I know, but all of these things can be incorporated in so many places! Frostings, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, candy, bread… I am smitten with things that offer unlimited possibilities.
Dinner is on the table! What five people, living or dead, would you want to see sitting around it?
First, I would love for my Dad’s dad to be sitting there. He died when I was young so I never got the chance to really know him. But my dad speaks so fondly of him I wish I would have had the chance to know him better.
Second, how could I pass up the chance to sit and talk to John Lennon? I love music and he was so influential in the industry, I would like to know how he was motivated and influenced throughout his life.
Third, this is another person I wouldn’t pass up the chance in a million years to talk to….Steve Jobs. How could you not want to talk to one of the most influential people of our lives? He was so good at getting people to believe with him, not tell them what he wanted. I would LOVE to know more about the way his marketing and innovative mind worked.
Fourth, I would have to say Robert Mondavi. He was such an innovator for the California wine industry, I would love to know more about his life and career path and how he was able to change that part of the country.
Fifth, this is tough but I would really like the chance to talk to Julia Child. I don’t know much about her life and path in the food industry it would be interesting to hear what she thought were her ups and downs throughout her career.
Is there anything else that you would like little Indiana readers to know about you or your blog?
I am a student at Purdue currently studying hospitality and I have a huge passion for food. I love to talk, but can be quite shy at first. I am a hopeless romantic but not at all a girly girl. I am a PC turned Mac (and I’ll never go back!)
I have lived in a few different states, but I can’t wait to move to a brand new one. I like change. I have traveled quite a bit in my life (Maui being my favorite, hands down) but I can’t wait to explore the rest of the world.
I can make a mean cheesecake or your favorite Starbucks drink at home. I try to support the local communities and business as well as the organic market. I am a total animal lover, but so allergic cats.
If you want to stop by and say hi, please do! I don’t bite. You can always find me on Twitter chatting away, too!
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Erin is a wonder in the kitchen–and so needs to live right next door. I would be a great taste tester! Thanks for stopping by little Indiana today.
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