Wait, your name is Sarah? Who’s Ann Potter?
I get this question lots, and then some. A brief history of how Ann Potter Baking came to be: I have always loved being in the kitchen. My love of baking and cooking in general is a gift courtesy of my momma, Carol. Some of my fondest memories of growing up are with her and my sister in the kitchen and I clearly remember the Christmas we worked on an elaborate spread of cookies for my neighbors. We made dropped and dipped cookies, used a cookie press for spritz cookies and cheese straws, baked pound cakes, and worked overtime on decorated cookies with royal icing. It was my first foray into cookie embellishment and I distinctly remember the yellow powder that was supposed to look like gold dust. It had nothing on the Rolkem powder we use these days, but back in my 2nd grade mind, it was luxurious!!!
My Mom taught me how to cook through baking, as baking is a precise science. If you follow the instructions and add just the right amount of ingredients, the baked good should turn out. Of course, if you’re working with meringue, rancid Crisco or confuse salt for sugar, well you’re out of luck. I’ll share those stories another day. I have experimented with baking for as long as I can remember. Decorated sugar cookies combine my love of baking and creative art and one day (mid 2011) I re-tried my hand at these fun treats! A few weeks later I was making cookies for my sister Meghan’s baby shower. My niece, Ann, will be 9 this year and her birthday is always a bright reminder of how my business came to be and how far it has come! When I started this creative endeavor, I didn’t envision it snowballing into a business. Fast forward to me needing a business name for all those pesky business documents. I felt silly naming something after myself (and have never been saccharine sweet so “Sarah’s Sugar Spot” was out ha!). I decided a pseudonym of sorts was in order. Enter “Ann”, (my middle name and my niece who got this whole shindig started), and “Potter”, after my Golden, Lily Potter. Nine years later and the anonymity is still so fun!
Look at these cookies- such a glimpse into where I started. I joke about how terrible my first cookie designs were, but the journey wouldn’t be nearly as fun if we all started out “perfect”. And if you have a good recipe- an ugly cookie tastes just as sweet as a pretty one. ;)
Baby shower cookies for “Ann Teeter”.
It is my hope that Sam will always love being in the kitchen and find that cooking is also a passion for her. I try my hardest to let her help and let her learn with me in this space. Experimenting in the kitchen is therapy for me, and passing on the love of cooking to my children is an invaluable life skill that I take seriously. Some of my favorite photos of Sam are in the kitchen- and I have pictures of BOTH of my babies being weighed in mixing bowls. As any new parents knows, when you have tiny newborns, the ounces matter. The only scale we own that records ounces is my food scale; talk about heritage photos! Happy day to yall! Hopefully I’ll be back soon to share some more baking love and recipes!
