My mom was a notable cook in the Persian community, but baking was non-existent in our house. When it comes to baking in the Iranian culture, it's all about breads being baked in a tanour (clay oven). Our oven was used for storage :)

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My earliest baking memory? I was 3 or 4, at my dad's BFF's house, where his wife and son were baking cupcakes. I remember feeling so elated, out of breath, hyperventilating with the biggest smile on my face. Fast forward to the next time I would bake, Home Ec in the 8th grade; the first time I made cookies from scratch. I ran home with the desire to show my mom what I could do, except... we didn't have butter. Because the boomer gen was all about margarine, my attempt at homemade snickerdoodles, turned into flat cinnamon pancakes.

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It would be a while before I tapped into the baking again but when I did, I realized how much I enjoyed doing it compared to anything else I had ever done. At 19, I joined the pastry arts program at the French Culinary Institute* in Campbell, California. Unfortunately, I graduated at the fall of the market in 2008, and finding work in the industry was extremely hard for newcomers like me.

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I spent the next few years yoyo-ing with my craft until I realized I was better off going back to school to seek other professions. I spent a lot of this time with FOMO when it came to anything related to baking, but no need to share the details in between --let's go straight to late 2023. Things were getting even weirder and more unpredictable in the world, so I got sentimental and reverted my attention to baking for my loved ones, my neighbors, and my community. This turned into a year long unintentional "project" which really showed me that I was worth being a baker.

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And you think I had it figured out... no. When I tried to re-enter the industry, the universe or whatever said "LOL, no." I alllllmost fell backwards into the trap of feeling like I didn't belong, feeling like an imposter, feeling like I was better off elsewhere. Then I remembered...

I have free will.

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Deservedly, Buttery Provisions was born.

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