After writing my last blog, I started looking at some of the other cookbooks I own. Like a hundred other things I have collected, cookbooks have always interested me. I bought a Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook a little while ago. It was copyrighted in 1950. It was in pristine condition, which meant no one ever used it, so it was a great find for me. The illustrations are truly historic artworks and worth preserving. I first started reading the recipes out of curiosity, but now

I still get the Sunday Enquirer each week. I actually enjoy walking out to the end of my driveway in my robe to pick it up and bring it into the house. It’s as if it was a specially delivered gift I get to unwrap each week. It covers the news from the world to my city and sometimes even to my neighborhood. Once in a while I will cut out pertinent articles I want to remember, line my kitchen compost bin with it, save it on the porch to start a fire, or occasionally I’ll wrap d

December 4, 2025   A new Holiday Perspective  Christmas. Some people love it. Some people don’t. I am always vaguely disgruntled when I see Christmas decorations up the day after Halloween. We barely had time to count how many pumpkin cookies we had left at the bakery. But the rush is always on. A panicky feeling takes over that perhaps I too should be in a hurry or I’ll miss out on something.  I don’t think choosing to do something because it saves time is necessarily the b

October 1, 2025                           Fall  in Cincinnati ….. the best place on earth?     It’s always a debate with me. Is Spring or Fall the best season? But right around mid- September, it’s always Fall, especially in the beautiful Midwest. I was just out in the real West visiting my niece for her 50th Birthday. It seems like whenever I’ve gone to Denver it always looks about the same, except for winter. Brown barren land punctuated by a flurry of trees, big blue skies

August 20, 2025 This is Leah. Some of you may already know her. She has interviewed hundreds of future brides over the last few years helping them to sort through the details of one of the many daunting tasks undertaken as they plan their wedding.……… in our case, the CAKE!  This picture of Leah makes me smile. Here she is in her wedding dress  at the reception consulting with Alison, who was taking the photo, also a past  Bonbonerie wedding cake coordinator and recent bride,

June 9, 2025 Father’s Day is almost here. My Father’s birthday is June 10th, so we celebrated everything about him in the month of June.  Dads are easy. A kiss on the cheek, a small box of golf tees or a promise to wash his car was all we needed to do to wish him happiness or to thank him for being our dad. I’ve recently been introduced to the newest technological feature of my phone which is that it randomly brings up a photo from the past. I’m not sure why Apple feels compe

May 26, 2025 Thank Heavens for Family and Friends. We know that our families and friends deserve partial responsibility for our success. From giving us seed money to separating doilies, they helped us succeed physically and emotionally. Mary Pat’s Family’s Contribution Brother Tom $500. Investment, financial advice (and constructive criticism) Husband Mark brainstormer, designed our original computer ordering system, fixit man, middle of the night emergency problem solver, Wh

May 8, 2025 This is a picture of an etching from 1590’s. It’s a woman wearing a skirt covered with all things having to do with pastry making. Oh how the French romanticized everything perfectly. I wanted to use this image as our logo and did for awhile, but eventually we needed a better way to identify ourselves in a bolder, clearer way. After many of my own uninspired attempts at creating a logo, I met Lauren Hayes. I had never hired a professional before to design anything

November 22, 2024 Recently, a young woman from Cincinnati Magazine called to let me know that they were writing an article about our collection of teapots at BonBonerie. A photographer soon arrived. Our teapots are nestled in spots all over the bakery, café, and tearoom, and I led her from space to space, pointing out the ones I loved the most. Occasionally, I discovered one or two I had even forgotten about. Mary Pat once took an inventory of all of them. She said there wer

January 31, 2025              I recently learned that the original meaning of the word poem meant to make . It’s no wonder that when I...

When I saw the cupcakes Megan had finished decorating for the bakery, I was thrilled that I had caught her in time for a picture. Look!...