Renee's Story
Once upon a time, in a little town called Fort Collins, CO, a little girl named Renee was born. As she grew up in Fort Collins she learned to love the mountains, local community, music and baking.
During Jr. High School she began to delve into baking by involving food in all open-ended school projects - including a gingerbread house map, apple butter and brown bread from old colonial recipes. This creative assignment-completion continued into high school (including a cake exploration of Roman architecture) until she discovered how fun it was to bring and share cookies with her fellow pep band members. Over the 4 years of high school, bringing cookies to all the games resulted in an estimated 5,000+ cookies, using at least 60 lbs of butter.
At the top of Horsetooth Rock
Fort Collin, CO
Happy Birthday at William Oliver's
Public House, Fort Collins, CO
When she attended college in Wisconsin she became a kitchen assistant in the dining hall. Once Renee’s skills were discovered, the head baker became her mentor and Renee’s baking skills further developed, this time in a large-scale commercial kitchen.
Returning home to Fort Collins after graduating with a music degree, Renee began to make pie as rent payments to her parents. During this time she found a love for experimentation and adaptation that has greatly influenced her current baking passions. Renee’s next adventure was a year abroad in New Zealand where she learned of the majestic food called savory pie - expanding her “pie-niverse”. She also enjoyed sharing “classic American chocolate chip cookies” with her friends from around the world.
Again returning to Fort Collins, Renee has enjoyed finding local inspiration for pie flavors, developing relationships with local farmers/bakers/eaters/foodies/etc. and exploring new ways to incorporate local ingredients. She believes that everyone should be able to enjoy delightful baked treats for any occasion.
And she lives Happily Ever After.
While living happily ever after Renee bakes for her roommates, family, and self (she has a particular enjoyment for all desserts chocolate), hikes in the summer, snowboards in the winter, plays trombone, listens to live music, plays tabletop games, and spends time with her cats.
