Today, December 20th, 2023, is the 3 year anniversary of my baking instagram and blog! I (obviously) haven’t made a blogpost in ages but had to today. This post will have a 2023 baking recap, life updates, and some sappiness probably too. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read it let’s gooo 🙂

So… 3 YEARS!!?! It’s wild how I was just a tiny 12 year old in quarantine who decided she wanted a blog and now I’m almost 16, thinking about how I can make this my future. 2023 has been one of the strangest years of my life, and also one of the best. And for SURE the biggest baking related thing I pulled off has been a monthly treat box subscription! Here’s a gallery of all the boxes!!

As you can see, this year I definitely turned this passion into a buisness, and I’m still beyond shocked. As a sophmore in high school, all around me there’s people asking what I want to do next, where I’m gonna go to college, and what I’ll do afterward. Though there’s still stress and uncertainty around that, I’m starting to get a more firm idea (writing it down here is partially fun because someday future me will go back to it) of how it’s going to go. I want to major in buisness or food science, and then START A VEGAN BAKERY WOOH!!!! Who knows how this will go for me, but seeing as my passion has only grown over all these years I have a feeling it’s what I’m sticking to.

Here’s my recap of 2023 (check out 2022 if you want as well!)

January: Starting off not so strong… baked like 3 things (weirdest month everrrr)

February: Started the treat box subscription!! Had 5 amazing recipients

March+ April+ May: End of month boxes, 4 or 5 things in each box, maybe 7 people?

June: Started my iconic summer challenge… this year: 40 different treats!!

July: Baking constantly, almost every day, made it to 25 treats by the end

August: Successfully finished the summer challenge, and made a messy messy 2 tiered cake as the 40th treat to celebrate!

September: I got Covid… and was super busy with cross country… but I did have treat boxes again!

November: Skipped treat boxes to instead have the most epic and crazy baking week of my life, bake sale week!

December: Bake sale!!!!!! (On December 2nd), sooo successful and fun, read this for more info about it, and then treat boxes at the end of the month with 10 Recipents and 12 total boxes (So much thanks to my nextdoor neighbor who got 3). Also… today, the 3rd anniversary! What a month.

I really have to do some personal thank you’s before I end this thing, so here I go. Thank you to my amazing mom, it was her idea to make a treat box subsription, and my dad and little brother, cause you people have gotta eat so much of my food. Thank you to all my treat box purchasers and subscribers, specifically Nikole (a subscriber since it wasn’t even a subscription in 2022), David (same thing), Amity, Liz, Jennie, and Woody. And thank you to my friend Freya, who helped convince me to make this website when we were both little 12 year olds hoping we’d get famous or something. Lastly, thank you to the woman in the booth next to me at the bake sale who said “What you’re doing here, keep doing it.” and was so kind, and shocked I was only 15. You guys all really boost my confidence… I’m so lucky to have so much support.

And finally, thank you so much to baking. Having a passion, something I know I’m good at, and the ability to keep going has tethered me so much this crazy year/ always. In any little teenage girl hard times, I know that I can bake and all stress will dissapear. When the state of the world is looking sad, I know I can make something that’ll make someone else’s day and bring these small bits of light to our chaotic world. UGH I’m getting emotional now I warned you that this would be sappy!! Okay, that’s enough of that. Basically, shockingly, I love baking so incredibly much, and I always will. And I love you so much too. Have the happiest holidays and new year, 2024 isn’t ready for us!!!!

With love and good wishes, Cora