Who am I and why am I doing this?
My name is Holly Fonda and my two greatest passions in life are traveling and baking (well, if I'm honest - eating baked goods). I have been at the mercy of my sweet tooth for as long as I can remember (and as I'm told, long before that). My parents gave me a lick of ice cream as a baby, and I've been hooked ever since. As I got older, my favorite memories with my family often involved baking loads of chocolate chip cookies and piling onto the couch for story time. Fast forward 20 years or so, and baking is something that I do almost every day - to the chagrin of my personal trainer, and my husband who can't help but taste test everything... hey, what's wrong with a little indulgence?
On December 6, 2011, though, I thought that was all going to change. I finally made the decision to go vegan, and had no idea what to expect...I mean, how can you make delicious cakes, cookies and sweets without eggs? Milk? Butter?? Well, I discovered a few vegan baked goods in some health food stores and a very small selection of bakeries...and I was horrified. The ones that were even somewhat edible were dry, completely lacking in flavor, and didn't taste indulgent at all. I was beyond disappointed so I started reading about vegan baking, walked into my kitchen, and whipped up a simple vegan chocolate cake. I anxiously waited for the timer to beep, and cut myself a slice. About 5 minutes later, most of the cake was gone and I couldn't understand why so few people seemed to get it right.
That cake led to cookies, which led to brownies, which led to pies, and truffles and candies and whatever tickled my fancy, and it all came out great. I started baking for friends and family and loved hearing their reactions, which often sounded something like "I can't believe this is vegan!" or "There's really no butter in this?" or "What do you use instead of eggs??". I started thinking, hey, maybe I have something here...and Bite was born.
On December 6, 2011, though, I thought that was all going to change. I finally made the decision to go vegan, and had no idea what to expect...I mean, how can you make delicious cakes, cookies and sweets without eggs? Milk? Butter?? Well, I discovered a few vegan baked goods in some health food stores and a very small selection of bakeries...and I was horrified. The ones that were even somewhat edible were dry, completely lacking in flavor, and didn't taste indulgent at all. I was beyond disappointed so I started reading about vegan baking, walked into my kitchen, and whipped up a simple vegan chocolate cake. I anxiously waited for the timer to beep, and cut myself a slice. About 5 minutes later, most of the cake was gone and I couldn't understand why so few people seemed to get it right.
That cake led to cookies, which led to brownies, which led to pies, and truffles and candies and whatever tickled my fancy, and it all came out great. I started baking for friends and family and loved hearing their reactions, which often sounded something like "I can't believe this is vegan!" or "There's really no butter in this?" or "What do you use instead of eggs??". I started thinking, hey, maybe I have something here...and Bite was born.
