The lingering effects of the pandemic have been devastating. The upside, though, is they’ve taught us that life is short, time is precious, and we should love what we do. Shocking situations help us pause, re-evaluate our lives, and, perhaps, hit the reset button. That’s how I fell into owning my business; I was laid off during the economic downturn in 2009 and decided to be bold, trust myself and my idea, take a chance, and become an entrepreneur. Now I’m fortunate in that I have a dream job: telling the stories of our region’s local food-and-drink culture. And the same is true for some of this issue’s subjects.
Rather than just make pastries for the family on the weekends, the women highlighted in our cover story turned their baking passion into thriving businesses. The 2013 Nevada Cottage Food law allows them to craft creative breads, cookies, and cakes at home and resell them directly to consumers. Microbakeries became quite a trend during the pandemic, and their popularity is not waning. Meet the local microbakers we feature in this issue and learn how you can taste their goodies for yourself.
Whether you bake or cook, the mission of our annual Cooks! edition is to get you into the kitchen. You’ll find inspiring stories here, including features on home cooks such as Dr. Leticia Anderson, chief of staff at Reno’s new Sierra Medical Center; Wyatt Denny, a world-class bareback rodeo rider from Minden; Colleen Worlton, Reno site leader at Intuit and chair of Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada; Connie Wray, a longtime Reno media personality; and Devin Middlebrook, South Lake Tahoe’s mayor.
Don’t miss our stories on infusing butter with seasonings for fantastic flavor, making soft pretzels at home, and whipping up a batch of quick pickles. Then learn how to select, store, and use spices with tips and tricks from local spice makers.
Take a look at our home guide and local gift guide for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduation day. And it’s farmers’ market season, y’all! You can count on us to have all the details on local farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture programs, and farm stands.
As the weather warms up, take your cooking outside to the barbecue, and pluck fresh herbs from the garden for your cocktails. I, for one, can’t wait to raid my mint barrel to shake up mojitos for friends on the patio.
Cheers!
About the Cover Eva Ruiz of Lowenkind Bakery, a cottage foods business in Reno, scoops vanilla ice cream onto the top of her fondant au chocolat organic dessert, which is gluten free, nut free, and butter-only dairy. Photo by Candice Vivien
Omission In our happy hour story in the Spring edition, we failed to credit the photographer. It was Lou Manna. We regret the error.
