About Tammy The Baker

Tammy grew up in Middletown, NY and has one sister. She spent summers on her grandparents 60-acre farm in Tennessee. Tammy’s mother was a baker. She started baking Christmas cookies at the beginning of December and when they were complete, they would make cookie platters for friends and family and hand deliver them to their homes. Tammy’s mom was one of three children (Mom, Aunt Sue, and Aunt Sandy) they didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so her grandmother had them enter baked goods in the town fairs 4H where her mother took home many ribbons and won 1st place a lot. Tammy’s Aunt Sue was crafty, and Aunt Sandy loved animals. Her grandmother always made as much as she could from home. Her family had a garden the size of the house. They made our own breads, jelly, jam, and tomato sauce - all from their home garden. They really didn’t go to the grocery store too much. They raised cattle for beef. They usually took the kids to the Amish community to buy the supplies. Sunday mornings the family made homemade biscuits with sausage and eggs. Tammy still has the baking sheet her grandmother would roll the biscuits on. After her grandmother passed away, Tammy and her mom continued to the tradition to bake every year with her until her mother passed away. Tammy remembers the first time she baked Christmas cookies without her mom; when she hand delivered the cookies to friends and family, they cried because they knew that’s what her mom would have wanted. Tammy continues to bake where she now teaches her granddaughters Theia and Ashlynn every year at Christmas.