Baking, Photography, and Blogging

Hello there! So a little (or a lot) about myself.

My name is Edith, and I just recently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley this past May. I started off studying Molecular Biology, but ended up in the Interdisciplinary Studies department. Basically it meant that I could choose the upper division courses I wanted to take (and were approved, of course) in various departments and write a senior thesis in the end. My focus was in International Development, Poverty, and Healthcare (specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa) and my final thesis was a theoretical analysis of the debate on the effect of official donor aid (ODA) on development in developing countries (the Global South, if you want to be politically correct about it). Now, I am graduated, and in the process of looking for that self-fulfilling job that everyone wants before I go to grad school.


Don't I look so proud? Photograph courtesy of Mike Ross

In the mean time, I've decided to take on this part-time project.

Many people keep on telling me to open my own bakery, or to become a pastry chef, or something of the sort, since I kept on bringing in baked goods (once, often twice a week) and giving them away at work, in class, and at dance practice. I honestly don't believe that I would be happy become a full-time baker/chef, but I figure I might as well at least try and cover my expenses from what has become a very expensive hobby that I keep on giving away for free. :)


Rockclimbing at Taos, New Mexico in the rain. Photograph Courtesy of Jay Foley

I am a hodge-podge of things, and my studies are just the beginning of it. My interests range from backpacking to skiing to painting to old computer platform games (yes, I have a DOS-box installed on my laptop) to logic puzzles to reading pretentious Russian novels. And for those who know me, they know that I can't stop dancing around, especially when music is playing.


I love my Fei Tian Dancers. Photography courtesy of Wilson So

And of course, I love baking, cooking, and photography. My weapon of choice is my Canon Rebel XT, and currently my favorite lens is my Canon 50mm f-1.4 lens. It's nice and compact, and takes great photos, especially in low lighting. I love taking candid shots of people... documentary photography and dance photography are my favorites, but I am trying to get better at still-life photography (for baking, of course!).

Now for the baking. I never grew up baking--my family had an oven, but that was used mainly for storing extra frying pans or the occasional carrot cake from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I loved so much in junior high. In fact, for the first half of college, I lived off of rice, ramen, and lots of soups (I love soups... you just toss everything into a pot and let it boil). It wasn't until the summer/fall of 2006, when my boyfriend and I had broken up when I, for some reason (maybe because he loved baking), picked up a baking frenzy. It's pretty safe to say that my roommate, who lived in the living room next to the kitchen, hated me for the longest time because I would take my frustrations from school and life out on my baked goods. At that point, all I went off of was allrecipes.com (which is a great site, by the way) and not much experience and started off with cookies and muffins. It then evolved into pies and quick breads, and now (hopefully), I am a more skilled and refined baker and cook.


I love feeding people... some of the food I made for my recent house-warming party!

Well, enough words for now. At this point, I'm notorious for never keep up with my blogs (I have a travel blog that has half-finished trips posted...). However, hopefully this will not be the case with this one. I hope to use this site as a way for people to look at the things that I bake, and as a way for myself to see how my baking and cooking have evolved.

If you're interested in ordering something, take a look at the menu, and please feel free to email me at OmNomNom.Goodies[at]gmail[dot]com.

Cheers, Edith