I'm Rebecca Hamilton, the founder and owner of a million-dollar bakery called Chick Boss Cake, the #1 bakery and dessert spot that all the locals in southwestern Ontario are obsessed with. I know what you're thinking: she must be highly educated with some kind of fancy business or baking diploma. Well, I'm not. Sorry to burst your idyllic bubble, but if I did happen to be armed with the "proper" education or "ideal" upbringing, I wouldn't be writing this book because, well... that never makes for a great story now does it? No one likes to read stories about prestigious, silver-spooned Harvard-educated know-it-alls who achieve success via entitlement and the birth canal of their rich mother. Nah, the best success stories come from someone like me. Allow me to explain... I dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to move out with my (then) boyfriend. I never set foot in a college or university unless it was to attend a party when I was (very) underage. I got stuck in several unhealthy and abusive relationships and found myself in plenty of "what the fuck?" situations along the way. I was angry, depressed, stubborn, riddled with anxiety and basically a runaway freight train trying not to go off the rails. I'm here to keep it real and share my personal story of how I built a million-dollar bakery business from nothing but pure grit and tenacity when no one else believed in me. Let's be real: If I can create this much success with a little bakery in small-town Ontario, Canada, I absolutely know for a fact that you can create the same level of success within any industry! This book is for everyone who's been through the worst and is still here against all odds. It's for the woman who lost her voice but knows the world needs to hear what she has to say. It's for the wife who pursued a career that society made her feel was the only respectable option. It's for the girl who settled down too soon instead of chasing her wild and crazy dreams that everyone laughed at. It's for the entrepreneur-at-heart who shows up every day to their soul-crushing 9-5 job feeling unfulfilled instead of pursuing their passion and igniting the fire within. This is the story of how I created the life of my dreams, and there ain't no sugar-coating it (bakery puns are essential in this book, for obvious reasons). Get ready to open your mind to endless possibilities and unlock your potential. Shit's about to get real.

An inspirational rags-to-riches memoir by the founder of the most successful Caribbean business ever established in the US. “The American question gets a great, real-life look in The Baker’s Son . . . Hawthorne’s story is at once inspirational and revelatory.” —Publishers Weekly The Baker’s Son is a charming and well-crafted memoir by the co-founder of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, the hugely successful Jamaican-owned and -run enterprise that reaches from Massachusetts to Florida with over 120 franchise locations. Today the Golden Krust brand represents the most lucrative Caribbean business ever established in America. An independently owned family enterprise, Golden Krust was established in 1989 by members of the extended Hawthorne family. Within a few short years, Golden Krust developed into a very successful business. The original inspiration for the company came from the family patriarch, Ephraim Hawthorne, who for many years ran a successful bakery in the secluded hamlet of Border, in the rural parish of St. Andrew in Jamaica. The Baker’s Son is a deeply moving account that tells the story of an immigrant family from rural Jamaica that relocated to the Bronx in the 1980s. Starting from humble beginnings, and after weathering several major crises along the way, personal as well as professional, the Hawthorne family has scaled the heights of success to achieve the American Dream to an unprecedented degree. Not content to rest on its well-deserved laurels, the family has, in addition, established an innovative and very successful philanthropic foundation to give back to the community. As much a “business memoir” as it is a “spiritual memoir,” the book records a profound journey of the author from his childhood within the Hawthorne family in Jamaica to his spiritual rebirth and conversion in the recent past. The author attributes the real source of his success in business to his wife, siblings, and children, and to the deep Christian faith inculcated in him by his father and mother from a young age.

“Spectacular cake creations [that] are positively bursting with beauty, color, flavor, and fun . . . this book will ignite the baking passion within you!” —Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Grandbaby Cakes is the debut cookbook from sensational food writer, Jocelyn Delk Adams. Since founding her popular recipe blog, Grandbaby Cakes, in 2012, Adams has been putting fresh twists on old favorites. She has earned praise from critics and the adoration of bakers both young and old for her easygoing advice, rich photography, and the heartwarming memories she shares of her grandmother, affectionately nicknamed Big Mama, who baked and developed delicious, melt-in-your-mouth desserts. Grandbaby Cakes pairs charming stories of Big Mama’s kitchen with recipes ranging from classic standbys to exciting adventures—helpfully marked by degree of difficulty—that will inspire your own family for years to come. Adams creates sophisticated flavor combinations based on Big Mama’s gorgeous centerpiece cakes, giving each recipe something familiar mixed with something new. Not only will home bakers be able to make staples like yellow cake and icebox cake exactly how their grandmothers did, but they’ll also be preparing impressive innovations, like the Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake and the Fig-Brown Sugar Cake. From pound cakes and layer cakes to sheet cakes and “baby” cakes (cupcakes and cakelettes), Grandbaby Cakes delivers fun, hip recipes perfect for any celebration. “[Adams] offers up her greatest hits alongside sweet stories of her family’s generations-old baking traditions.” —People.com “There is a heritage of love and tradition steeped in her recipes . . . A trip down memory lane that ends with delicious treats on your table.” —Carla Hall, TV chef and author of Carla Hall’s Soul Food

ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Boston Globe • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Food Network, The Washington Post, Time Out, Glamour, Taste of Home, Southern Living, Library Journal “As much about a collection of recipes that makes your mouth water and tugs at your heart with food memories as it is about the chronicles and life lessons of a true comeback kid.”—Carla Hall Popular baking personality and lawyer turned baker Vallery Lomas debuts her first baking book celebrating more than 100 recipes for everything from Apple Cider Fritters to Lemon-Honey Madeleines and Crawfish Hand Pies to her Grandma’s Million Dollar Cake. Vallery shares heirloom family recipes from her native Louisiana, time spent in Paris, The Great American Baking Show (which she famously won!), and of course sweets and breads inspired by her adopted hometown, New York City. Vallery’s “when life gives you lemons, make lemon curd” philosophy will empower legions of bakers and fans to find their inner warrior and bake their best life. “Life Is What You Bake It is not only a collection of recipes but also an empowering book that shows us there’s often more possible than we can even imagine.”—Julia Turshen, bestselling author of Simply Julia, host of Keep Calm and Cook On podcast, and founder of Equity at the Table

Bread and Butter is a book with three parts: First, it's the story of the birth of an extraordinarily successful kind of business called a "freedom franchise": Great Harvest Bread Co., which began as one bakery 25 years ago, is now a $60-million-a-year company with 140 stores in 40 states. Second, it's the story of one employee's success--the author, Tom McMakin, who was looking for a job and found a lifestyle. McMakin's immersion into Great Harvest is a model for modern entrepreneurship and an inspiration in this age of failed dot-coms and dissatisfied young employees. Third, McMakin uses GH's experience to provide advice for everyone from dreamers starting their own multi-million-dollar companies to small-business owners to someone who doesn't know what she wants to do. Things like: creating a "learning community" using email and an extranet; operating without loans, relying instead on profits for reinvesting in the company; GH's "40-hour" rule so no one works more than 40 hours a week; and more. Bread and Butter can help you discover how, instead of living your life in service to the business, you can create a business in service of your life.

A James Beard Award nominee: “This year’s best bread book . . . produces fantastic results! . . . It should be a mandatory purchase for its pizza dough alone” (Salon). Acclaimed professional baker Suzanne Dunaway reveals her truly revolutionary technique for baking unforgettable breads that require no fuss and no special equipment. The crusts are lighter, chewier, and the crumb is moist, stays fresh longer, and has more intense flavor than most breads. Her ingredients are simply flour, water, yeast, salt—and passion. She uses no preservatives or additives of any kind. The recipes are her own creations, developed over years of trial and error. You will find focaccia, ciabatta, pane rustico, and pizza as well as breads from around the world such as baguette, sourdough flapjacks, blini, muffins, corn bread, brioche, African Spiced bread, kulich, and kolaches. In addition many of the basic bread doughs are fat-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free making then perfect for people on strict dietary or allergy regimes. There are also dozens of recipes for dishes you can make with bread: soufflés, soups, salads, and even desserts such as chocolate bread pudding. Plus, fun recipes to make with children. Suzanne Dunaway was the owner and head baker of Buona Forchetta Handmade Breads in Los Angeles, hailed as one of the seven best bakeries in the world by W Magazine. Gourmet called her breads “addictive.” “If kneading makes you need a sit down and need a rest, then this book will encourage you back into the kitchen. A great bread making class for all of us lazy bread makers.” —Foodepedia “Fabulous.” —The Telegraph

The long-awaited cookbook from an immensely popular cooking blog. Melissa Sperka learned to cook, like many people, from her mother and her grandmothers. For generations, her family made gathering around the kitchen table for meals an important part of every day—something to look forward to and cherish. She’s passing these values on to her own children, and to the many readers of her blog, Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen. Sperka’s grandparents lived on the food they grew and harvested on their Virginia farmland. Her mother continued this tradition as her mother did before her, canning, freezing, and cooking fresh produce from her backyard garden. Everyone was welcome at the supper table: family, neighbors, and friends alike. Pull up a chair, encourages Sperka, and become inspired to cook with recipes such as these: Puff Pastry-Wrapped Smokies Sweet-Tomato Glazed Meat Loaf Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicken Spaghetti Granma's Famous Blueberry Icebox Pie Jalapeno Jepper Jack Corn Bread This cookbook is a labor of love, paying homage to those who instilled in her a love for cooking and baking Southern-style.