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Growing up I had a wide variety of birthday parties. When I turned 5, Britney Spears came to hang out with us for an afternoon. I took one look at her and knew it wasn’t the real Britney and the party was ruined. When I was 7 I had a bowling party and ended up on time out in the closet of the bowling alley due to an extreme meltdown I had. One year we went indoor rock climbing and I have no memories of meltdowns there. Lots of pool parties, sleepovers, and pizza. I’m pretty sure every birthday party I went to under the age of 10 had pizza. Wasn’t that what every kid in the 90s/early 2000s ate at parties?! Multiple boxes of piping hot Dominos, always!
I was feeling nostalgic and this weekend, while in LA, I got a few friends together for a belated birthday party at my mom’s house. Our pizza was elevated and instead of Dominos, we picked up Jon & Vinny’s. Many bottles of natural wine from Helen’s were consumed and we enjoyed them one at a time like we were at a private wine tasting. I blew out candles on the famous Sweet Lady Jane Tripple Berry Cake and we shared the overpriced icing cookies from Viktor Bene’s bakery. We ripped through two rolls of Polaroid film and colored on paper table cloths with Crayons like little kids. It was an elevated 90s kid birthday party and I was living for it.
After we cleaned up the empty wine bottles and Crayon doodles we migrated to a karaoke bar and sang for three hours. My cup is full of endorphins and memories from this weekend and as the wise Kris Jenner once said “I love my friends.”
People To Follow
Tessa and I lived together in San Francisco when we were in culinary school. She’s a badass baker and a huge inspiration. A must-follow!
Hi! I’m Tessa!
I am a new mother, wife, sister, daughter, & baker. I take pride in all these titles I hold and couldn’t imagine not having “baker” amongst them. I have been working in the food industry for about 10 years now. My journey with food started as a young child, growing up baking with my nana & developing a refined sweet tooth with my father. I love art and always imagined myself working in a creative industry. While I have many artistic hobbies, none of them bring me the same joy, peace, & fulfillment that baking does. Because of that, I decided to embark on a journey into the professional world of cooking.
Baking has taken me all over the country. Starting out at culinary school in San Francisco, to working in Brooklyn, then Los Angeles, & now Honolulu. I love working with seasonal & local ingredients and it’s been a wonderful experience getting to see how geography affects available products. While living in LA, I started my own small business called Bitten Bakes. Mostly focusing on custom cakes, I’ve been able to hone in on my style of baking, both with flavor profiles and aesthetics. I love a balance of sweet and salty, utilizing seasonal ingredients, and playing with the savory side of things. I believe that sweets should be slutty, they always leave you wanting more. I hope you’ll follow my journey through the Bitten Instagram @bittenbakes.
Stuff to Read
Santa Monica’s Highly Anticipated Jyan Isaac Bread Is Already Selling Out
When you ‘Ask app not to track,’ some iPhone apps keep snooping anyway
Goodbye, Summer from Cat Sarsfield’s newsletter, Since No One Asked
Recipe Inspo
Places I ate
Tucked away in the Hollywood Hills, behind the Magic Castle, is a tiny restaurant named Kensho. Their kitchen is basically one small counter and the two chefs make everything to order. The meal was 11.5/10 but the whole experience is something special. You escape the bustling traffic and feel like you are transported to a quaint Japanese spot. We tried basically everything on the menu but the crab fried rice was my favorite by far.
Thing Everybody Needs
Birthday candles are a small detail that can totally elevate a cake. Meri Meri makes beautiful and fun tall candles that I always use. This year my cake had neon confetti but always have the ombré pink ones on hand. Get some Meri Meri candles, here!
Animal Cuteness
Lily in her perch.
Hang tight with me through the end of the month. We are halfway through a crazy few weeks of weddings and traveling. After September things will start to settle down again. And if you have an upcoming birthday, remember a pizza party is always a good idea!
See you next week, M.