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Meet Cortnie
My love of baking began at an early age. Everyone has their own childhood memory of baking with grandma or mom, mine is no different. While my peers watched cartoons, I watched the Food Network and dreamed of being in a kitchen. Although that didn't quite pan out the way I'd hope, I ended up here all the same! While I went to college, and pursued other career paths, I still avidly baked at home for family and coworkers.
I started my professional baking career at Scratch Baking CO. in South Portland, ME as part of the bread and bagel team. I quickly knew that I had made the right choice because baking stilled my mind and help put me back together during a time of immense personal strife. Although my goal during the first couple of years was to get out of the bread world and into the pastry side of things. Fast forward to summer of 2022 where I attended the Kneading Conference, an annual gathering of bakers, farmers, millers, and brewers, put on by the Maine Grains Alliance. My life changed after those two days. I was so inspired and reinvigorated by the passion and general sharing of knowledge that I knew I could never leave the bread world. So, I dug in. I have been voracious in my pursuit of bettering my craft, learning about stone milled flours, and supporting Maine's local food economy of farmers and food producers.
With Nourish Bakehouse, I am to combine the things I love (breads and lots of cookies, among other things), and using local ingredients to bring myself to people as me. There is nothing that makes me feel more vulnerable than to but myself into a baked good and give it to someone as an expression of love. I aim to build a community of people who are passionate about good, local, intentional products.
Southern Maine Bakers for a Cause
The group's mission is to "bake the world a better place" by holding bake sales throughout southern Maine to benefit organizations that provide aid to oppressed communities whether that be based on race, gender, sexual identity, or socioeconomic status. We seek to build a community through our love of baking and desire to leave the world a little better than we found it. The group began in 2022 when the decision to overturn Roe V Wade was passed. Since then we have raised over $6k for organizations such as Maine Needs, NNAF’s Collective Power Fund,Mom's Demand Action, Amnesty Iran, Full Plates Full Potential.