Hi, I'm Naomi. Welcome to my blog, I am so thankful you are here!
Here is a little bit about me and Knead Some Sweets, my food blog where I love to share yummy baking recipes that I have developed! Cookies, scones, muffins, brownies, bars, pies, cheesecakes, puddings, bread recipes, you name it! Click here to browse all of my recipes.
Here are 10 facts about me!
- I am a Christian. Saved by grace through faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9. I hope and pray this blog is a blessing to others and brings glory to God!
- I have 6 siblings + 2 sisters-in-law! It's great having so many family members around to be taste testers/food critics for all the recipes that I test! Sometimes a little frustrating, of course, but at least you can know all my recipes are duly critiqued before I publish them, haha!
- When I'm not baking or photographing food or working away on my laptop, I work part-time as a bookkeeper! I have always loved math and numbers and am in my happy place balancing the books.
- I kind of have an addiction to cardigans. Not even joking, I have 12 cardigans in my closet!
- I am Canadian! I live on Vancouver Island on the West Coast and absolutely love it! Ocean, mountains, tall trees, and mild climate, I love all the West Coast has to offer! I don't think I could ever move away from the ocean.
- I love coffee!! So basic, right? But, it’s true. My go-to coffee order is a plain Americano with cream. Kinda boring, I guess, but it is DELICIOUS! Sometimes I spice it up by adding a pump of hazelnut syrup or I get it iced! Yum!!
- I have only visited 4 provinces in Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
- And just 4 states in the US: Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii.
- I am a bit of a germaphobe. Ok, a lot! I always carry hand sanitizer when I go out and wash my hands many, many times a day. That's a good thing especially when you're handling food all the time, right?
- I was homeschooled all the way through Grade 12! I loved being homeschooled and am so thankful my parents chose that form of education for my siblings and me. Being homeschooled has allowed me to accomplish so many things that I would not have had the chance to do otherwise.
About Knead Some Sweets
Knead Some Sweets started as a small baking endeavour in a local farmers market. After coming to the realization that selling my baking wasn’t really something I did well at, I decided (on a total whim!!) to start a blog to share my recipes online.
Only thing is, I had absolutely NO idea how to blog. In fact, I had always said that I would NEVER have a blog. Or be a photographer. Or develop recipes. Funny how you sometimes end up doing the exact things you once said you’d never do…
Please don’t look at my first recipes ever posted! Wowsers, they sucked!! Or maybe do, if you want to be encouraged by seeing how far you can come in just a few years with lots of hard work, dedication, and practice!
Why a Baking Blog?
When I started blogging in 2017, I wasn't sure at all what niche I wanted to pursue within the realm of food blogging. Originally I thought I would just do everything. Meals, baking, breakfast, desserts, even healthy recipes.
After only a few weeks of blogging, it became apparent that baking & desserts would be my specialty. Looking back, I don’t even know how that came to be. It just fell into place like that and I am SO glad it did!
Photography
I started my “food photography” journey (if you would even call it that) using an iPhone. A 5s model iPhone to be exact. And I edited my photos with the filters in iPhoto. Hahahahahaha. I’m sure any photographers reading this are cringing right now!
In November 2017, I upgraded to an iPhone 7 and got Lightroom soon after. Don’t get me wrong, you totally can photograph food with an iPhone and I really value the practice in food styling and even editing that I got when I used an iPhone. They make great starter cameras for beginners, especially if you are just feeling out whether photography is right for you! In other words, you don't need a fancy camera to start photographing.
I am happy to tell you that I did upgrade to a real DSLR big girl camera in April 2019 and loved it from the start! I have a Canon Rebel SL2. A nice, small-sized, entry-level camera that has been a total game-changer in my photography. My friend taught me the basics of using a camera and most everything else has been self-taught. Trial & error, practice, and good old google have been great teachers. I am by no means an expert photographer (quite far from it, actually), but I am very thankful for how far I’ve come and look forward to practicing and learning more about this art.
Blogging
Want to know something crazy about me? I hate writing. That was the part about blogging that made me say I would never do it. I’m just not a writer. How is that, you ask? I don’t know actually, seeing that I’m nearly 900 words into writing this about page. And I write at least 300 words for each blog post that I publish. I’m good at writing, it just takes me a lot of procrastinating before I get around to doing it. Maybe I’m just a lazy writer. Good, but lazy.
That basically sums up who I am and what I do! I am definitely not any kind of expert at this whole blogging thing. Not an expert baker, photographer, or writer. I certainly have room for improvement in all these skills and I cannot wait to see what the coming years hold for this blog!
Thank you so much for following Knead Some Sweets and making my recipes!! I really love hearing about when my readers make my recipes and really appreciate any authentic review/ratings on my recipes! Let me know what you enjoyed about the recipe, who loved it, or how the recipe went, for instance!
Thank you for reading a little bit about Knead Some Sweets! Let's stay connected, follow me on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
Love,
Naomi
(Photos by McKinnon Photography.)