Welcome to The Baking Corner!
About This Blog
I am Linda Amendt and this blog expresses my love for all things baking – cookies, cakes, pies, breads, home-style desserts and everything in between. We will cover a number of topics on these pages: baking recipes, ingredients, equipment, techniques, baking competitions and more. I hope you will join me on this journey and have fun along the way.
When I talk about food, especially sweet baked goods, I frequently use the word “love”. Now, love is a strong emotion and I do not use it lightly. I love to bake because it brings me joy, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. For me, baking is a relaxing endeavor and playing with ingredients and flavor combinations is a lot of fun. Seeing someone enjoy something that I have baked brings me great pleasure. Oh yeah, and I get to eat those tasty treats myself, too!
About Me
I am a self-taught baker. My mom was a good cook, but never really enjoyed cooking and didn’t do much baking, except she did make a great lemon meringue pie. So mom was very happy and encouraged me every step of the way when, at an early age, I showed a strong interest in both cooking and baking. Before long, I took over cooking dinner and baking dessert for the family. I never looked back and baking quickly became my passion.
In addition to being an enthusiastic home baker, I am also the author of three award-winning cookbooks:
400 Sensational Cookies
175 Best Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & Other Soft Spreads
Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & More
For more information on my books, check out the Cookbook Corner.
Before the publication of my first book, Blue Ribbon Preserves, I was an active competitor in state and county fair baked foods and preserved foods competitions. During my competitive years, I earned over 900 awards, including over 600 blue ribbons and special awards for excellence.
Jumping to the other side of the table, I now serve as a judge for state and county fair food competitions and special contests. The California State Fair is my favorite fair to judge because the judging is conducted in front of a live audience during the fair and the judges discuss the good qualities of each entry and offer suggestions for improvement. I enjoy sharing my baking, home canning and competitive knowledge, along with my secrets to success, with the entrants in the audience.
My Pineapple Coconut Crumb Muffin was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner in the nationwide Mimi’s Meaningful Muffin Search contest sponsored by Mimi’s Café. Featured on the menu in all 144 Mimi’s Café restaurants across the United States, sales of my muffin raised $40,000 for the charity Share Our Strength, which is working to end childhood hunger in America.
I was also selected as a Lifetime Member of the Inaugural Class of the Sure-Jell Hall of Fame, which was established to honor the very best jam and jelly makers in the country.
I am a member of the following professional organizations:
International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP)
Cordon d’ Or – Gold Ribbon Academy of the Culinary Arts
Authors Guild, Inc.
My hobbies include gardening and working as a volunteer float decorator for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.
About the Photos
I personally bake all of the food for my photos. All of the food is real and edible. I do not use any fake food or professional food stylist tricks or tweak the food in any way to achieve the “perfect look” in my photos. What you see is what I actually baked in my own kitchen. I have fun playing with dishes and backgrounds and camera angles to make interesting photos, but all of the food is real.
I take all of my own photos in my home, either in the kitchen or the dining room depending on the lighting at the particular time of day I am taking the photo, or on the back patio on low-light days. The photos are taken using natural light conditions without a flash.
Copyright Notice
All content on this site is protected by copyright.
Text, recipes, and photos may not be reprinted or reposted or used in any other manner without my written permission. Please ask first. Short excerpts, for the purpose of informing readers about my article or blog, with a link back to the full post on my site are allowed.
Recipes may be printed for the express personal use of the reader, but may not be copied or distributed without permission.
If you would like to use one of my recipes or my content, you can easily reach me by email through the link in the right column. Thank you for respecting my copyright.
