Hello, I am Lily and I am so excited to welcome you to The Flour Barn Homestead! Being the youngest among us you can expect to see me learning and growing with you along this journey. Growing up in a family of seven, four girls and one boy, I took for granted the comfort in family. I would always have someone nearby, whether I wanted it or not. It was when I moved away that I realized how much I cherished the feeling of home. Desperate for the warmth of my mom’s cooking, my dad’s early morning wake up calls, and laughs of my sisters, I had to find ways to feel close to home. It was this time I really discovered my passion for baking, the outdoors and making a home.
Now I am back in my hometown and I am pursuing my dreams. I am the part owner of The Flour Barn Bakery. This bakery was a dream my sister, Ellen, and I had had for a long time. She was equipped with so much talent, and I with a lot of enthusiasm.
My Baker origin Story
I graduated high school with the goal of becoming a nurse, just like my mother, sister, brother and aunts. I looked up to each of them and always felt nursing was such a compassionate position. I set out for a nursing degree and four years later I had one. But nursing school was just one of the many things going on within those crucial four years….
- I got married! My sophomore year of college I married my high school sweetheart. What an amazing experience to be able to go through college with your best friend by your side. Was it also maddening sometimes? Yes. But was it mostly great? Yes.
- I discovered my love of baking. During the summers, my husband would have to do Co-ops for his engineering degree, and those golden bands pulled me along with him. One of those summers I decided instead of working as a Nursing Aid, as I had done in the past, I was going to devote myself to baking. Every day I started my morning baking brioche. While waiting on my brioche to properly proof, I would dive into a new recipe. I would study that recipe, taking notes and researching methods. I’m sure you’re wondering what I did with all those baked goods. My husband did not eat all of them. I actually would sell them to my neighbors in the same apartment building.
- I worked a couple different odd jobs. I worked as a tutor, as a nurse’s aide, and as a Metropark employee. At the park I was able to teach inner city kids all about different plants and animals. It was there that I took away a love for the outdoors, an appreciation for country living and a newfound joy of sharing knowledge.
- I started a bakery with my dad and sister. It was during my junior year that The Flour Barn was born, but on a much smaller scale. I was coming home on the weekends to fill cinnamon roll and catering orders. It was my goal to just have enough business where I could still be a nurse and bake on the side.
By the end my senior year of college we were starting to open every Saturday and were doing increasingly well each week. I had never expected to be able to pursue baking fulltime right out of college. It had always seemed like a far-off dream. I had lined up a nursing job that I was so excited and grateful to have, but as the bakery grew it became apparent that I had to make choice. Leave the bakery or leave nursing. Although the bakery was a risk and I did not know what the future would hold, it was my dream, and I am so glad I had faith in it.
The beginnings to such an exciting journey!
I welcomed my first baby boy, Clayton, this year. He is the best little friend and I am so thankful to have him in my life.
Also this year, I moved into my very own farmhouse on about five acres of land. We have five barns and no clue what to do with them yet. I have several unkept flower beds and the perfect plot for a dream garden I hope to have some day.
I have a garage full of old furniture that I am slowly painting and sanding my way through. My sisters often make fun of my obsession with antique dish sets and hutches, but I won’t let that stop me.
Come along for the journey
I am so excited to share with you my favorite recipes and projects, but also to have you learn with me. I have so many new ideas I want to try and so many skills I cannot wait to learn. Ellen and my mom, Kim, are some of the best resources I know and we can learn and grow together.