KAYLA MCBETH-BURROWS
A CRUMB ABOUT ME
The French might think they hold the deed to this beautiful, sweet, delightful piece of cookie real estate, but not anymore! I fell in love with macarons in that “turn lemons into lemonade” kind of way. Being furloughed from work due to Covid allowed me to have so much time to play around with my true passion: baking. I had tried them before, but it’s a complicated cookie. One that makes you work for its respect. Baking has always been a passion of mine but this challenged me in a new kind of way and, as a result, turned my passion into a slight obsession.
When Covid hit, I, like so many, was furloughed. I was so excited to have this invaluable time with my newborn daughter, 5 year old son, and Husband. As things in NYC began to look glum, my family and I decided to take a break from the city and went to my hometown for the summer. While there, I had the time to continue trying to perfect these little cookies. At this point, I had been trying to make macarons for a year, and failed, BUT, those less than perfect macarons that I had made over that year certainly didn’t keep me from trying once again. During this time, our next-door neighbor, who was like my second mother, was in the hospital on life-support. The day she passed away was the very first time I ever had a successful batch of macarons come out of the oven. I don’t know about you, but I am all about signs, and I took that to be a clear one. She was always a huge support of my baking, encouraging me to make it into something more than a hobby; my BEST taste tester. So with all of this time on my hands due to the circumstances of the year, that’s exactly what I did. And thus, The Urban Baker was born!
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