I guess my professional relationship with the food world began in the late 80’s / early 90’s on Madison Avenue in New York City. I was an Account Exec on the 100% Colombian Coffee ad account and yes, I met Juan Valdez! Thanks to all the exposure to food and cooking media we used, I discovered a love of culinary arts.

In 1994 my husband Chris and I moved to Los Angeles. I landed a new advertising job, but soon had enough of the grind. I hung up the suit, put on a chef’s coat and enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts. Wow, culinary school was fun! I took on a few catering gigs, but mostly used my professional culinary skills as Executive Chef for the DeMoulin Family. They were usually pretty satisfied!

Fast forward 18 years to 2014-15 when I embarked on two life changing women’s trips to Israel. I was taught the beautiful tradition of baking challah imbued with all the goodness of nourishment, community, tradition, spirituality and creativity. And I’ve been baking challah regularly ever since.

After those trips to Israel, I began teaching challah baking to small groups from my home in Malibu. We walked the beach while the dough was proofing and shared brunch while the challah was in the oven. People arrived as strangers and left as friends with arms full of fresh challah for Shabbat and newfound skills and confidence to bake challah at home. I would still be doing these small group classes if I could!

“Baking Together While We’re Staying Home” was born over 2 years ago, in Spring 2020 when Covid-19 put an end to in-person classes. I figured that baking together virtually would be better than not at all, and invited a few friends to join me on Zoom. Before I knew it, 40, 50, 60, 70 people were zooming in from all over the world. What at first seemed limiting, was actually bigger and broader than I’d ever thought possible!

In addition to live online classes, I also partner with organizations for fundraising and adult education, and take custom orders for special events and holidays.

Thank you for being part of the story!

- Monica