I'm Susette, a long-time kitchen veteran who is finally acting on the encouragment of family and friends to make my desserts available to others. For years, faithful taste-testers have been telling me “you should sell this” and now is the time.

My Mom taught me to cook and bake when I was very young. And because of the skills and curiousity she cultivated in me years ago, I continue to wonder “what would happen if?” and then go on to tweak and perfect my recipes.

Family heritage has given me a great appreciation for variety; holiday favorites like Schnecken and Kolachi come from the Slovak side. I draw from childhood, too, for my versatile shortbread base and the family birthday cake recipe. Because of my husband's French background, I learned to make Bûche de Noël. Greek restaurants in the north inspired my crunchy, chewy AlmondEsse cookies, a high school friend gave me the start with her recipe for baklava, and my spumoni cake had its flavor origin in the ice cream of an Italian restaurant in Binghamton.

I've lived up north, in the Midwest, and now for over a decade have happily made King, North Carolina my home. But no matter where my kitchen has been located, I've been developing recipes that are Critiqued — Tested — Tweaked — Perfected.

Quality matters. I'm one of those people who really can tell the difference. I know that the appeal of the product you end up with is determined by the quality of the ingredients you use. And I'm never interested in making something that looks amazing but tastes strange.

So whether you are also a dark chocolate fan or a lemon lover, whether you prefer nutty and crunchy, flaky or creamy, I have a beautiful, special dessert for you to try!