Hi, I’m Lalya Mae Carter, and I believe food is the purest way to tell someone I love you.

I was born in a small town in Tennessee in 1975, the daughter of a schoolteacher and a truck driver. Life wasn’t always easy, but our kitchen was the heart of our home. It was where my mother would knead dough with tired hands after a long day, humming old gospel songs as the scent of cinnamon rolls filled the air. It was where my grandmother taught me how to make her famous peach cobbler, whispering secrets between spoonfuls like it was sacred magic. And it was where I learned that food could heal, gather, and speak when words failed.

When I was 10, my mother fell ill. It was sudden and unexpected. I started cooking more to help at home. At first it was out of necessity, but soon it became an act of love. I realized that each pie I baked, each pot I stirred, was a way of keeping her comforted and close. Even after she passed, cooking became my way of remembering her voice, her strength, and her warmth.

I didn’t go to culinary school right away. Life took its detours. I married young, raised three beautiful children, and only returned to my culinary dream in my 40s. I enrolled in night classes at the local community college and took a job in a diner kitchen, scrubbing pans and soaking up every lesson I could. I was the oldest student in the class, and probably the most stubborn. But something in me told me it was never too late.

At 50, I finally opened my own kitchen. Not a fancy restaurant, just a humble little bakery tucked into a corner of my hometown, where the smell of fresh bread welcomes you like an old friend. Everything I make is rooted in memory, in tradition, and in love. My signature biscuits are still made from Mama’s recipe, and every cake I frost is a tribute to the women who taught me to love with my hands.

I cook because I feel. I bake because I remember. And I share it with you because I believe we’re all a little hungry for more than just food. We’re hungry for connection.

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen. I hope you can taste the love in every bite.

With warmth,
Lalya Mae