Love From the Oven: Baking with Heart

At Love From the Oven, you’ll find a blog full of heartful blog posts. Christi’s baking blog is full of recipes and ideas for amazing treats that will make your stomach and heart sing. Now, I know that that heartful is not a real word, but it should be because it describes this blog and it’s author so well. Christi has a heart of gold and definitely knows that way to my stomach!  If you can’t find enough creations on Love From the Oven to get your stomach rumbling, then you can also find her on Tip Junkie sharing fun tutorials, like how to make S’mores Pops.  Let’s give Christi a warm SITS welcome.

Tell us about your blog. How did you decide to start a baking blog?
Love From The Oven is where I share my recipes, ideas, favorite baking products and all of the amazing baked goods I find that other bakers and bloggers create.   I’ve been blogging for over five years, baking for as long as I can remember, and finally decided to put the two together.   I started Love From The Oven as a way to keep track of my recipes and to show others that they too can create baked goods.   Many of my friends are somewhat intimidated by baking and I am always trying to tell and show them that it’s really easier than they think.   Chocolate covered pretzels are one of my most requested treats and people are surprised to see how easy they are to make.    I really believe that baking should be fun, and my hope is that through my blog I can convey that to others and encourage them to try making something new.

When was your love of baking born?  What was the first thing you ever baked?
I started “helping” in the kitchen as soon as I could stand on a stool and hold a spoon.    Growing up I have fond memories of my grandmother’s baked goods on holidays and my little blue Holly Hobbie Easy Bake Oven.    Chocolate chip cookies were probably the first treat I helped create and were the one that I remember making most often.    My grandmothers were great at letting the kids help out in the kitchen, and I remember being so proud to say “I helped make that!”.

What is your favorite thing to bake?
I think my favorite thing to bake is muffins.   I’ve worked hard to develop muffin recipes that my extremely picky eaters think are delicious, yet also pack a nutritious punch.     My muffin recipes are probably my most personal recipes as they were made with my daughters in mind and are what they eat for breakfast each day.      They aren’t the most glamorous recipes, but they are the ones I make the most and am probably the proudest of.   I often hear my daughter telling her friends about the “great muffins my mom makes” – I can’t ask for anything better than that.

What is your best kept baking secret that you can share with us?
I’m not sure that it’s a secret but if I had one bit of information I like to share it’s that baking should be FUN.   I’m not a technical baker, I play with recipes all the time, rarely adhere to them strictly and would probably fail “how to measure ingredients 101”.   When I bake I want to have fun, not solve fractions.   Sure, if you are making Baked Alaska you probably should stick to the recipe word for word, but if you are making cookies, feel free to get creative.   I work with what I have – if a recipe calls for sour cream and all I have in the fridge is vanilla yogurt, I’ll use the yogurt, and the overwhelming majority of the time it works out great.   Don’t like milk chocolate?  Go with the dark.   I have friends who sometimes get stressed about making small changes or trying something different, and all I can think is it’s buttercream frosting, it’s not rocket science – even if it’s not perfect it will most likely still taste great – it’s butter and sugar!    My one epic baking failure was my first Christmas in college when I used an entire box of paraffin wax when I was supposed to only use a block, and I ended up making what would best be described as chocolate flavored candles.   They may not have been edible but they were worth the laugh!

Semi sweet or White Chocolate?
Semi-sweet please!

Favorite Posts:
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:  I truly believe that if I made these muffins on a regular basis that my son would NEVER leave home.
Cookies & Cream Brownies:  This recipe looks amazingly rich.
Cupcake Cake Pops: Ever wondered how to make those cute Cake Pops?  Well wonder no more.  This takes them a step further, too.

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About Alina Thomas

Alina is a Northern Virginia wedding photographer based out of Leesburg, VA. She has a passion for arts and design, and strives to express it through her work. She is creative at heart and loves nothing more than sharing her knowledge in photography with other Virginia wedding photographers on her blog each week. Alina loves being a new mom to her first-born and spending time with her husband who helps her run her businesses. Please feel free to follow her on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Google+.

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