Being an avid baker, senior Mary Holtgreive has had her fair share of successes, as well as failures.
“One time, I was trying to make cupcakes,” Mary said. “They had to be filled with cream, but I forgot to whip the cream before I mixed it with the chocolate. So, it was so watery. It was disgusting, and my brother ate all of them. It was nasty.”
Luckily, not all of Mary’s recipes turn out as badly as the cupcakes.
Most of the recipes she finds end up much better, especially her favorite dish.
“I made this avocado tortellini pasta,” Mary said. “It [had] avocados and chia seeds. It was really lemony. And then you just mix it in with tortellini. It was really good. It was definitely healthier. My mom was really impressed and that’s all I strive for.”
Mary’s family is a huge part of her love for cooking and baking, and their encouragement makes her want to continue trying new things and sharing her creations.
“I come from a very foodie family,” Mary said. “I’m constantly finding recipes on Instagram and I like to try them. Cooking and baking and culinary arts are definitely something I enjoy.”
Though Mary loves cooking and baking for the wondrous treats she creates, she also loves it for the hands-on aspect. As a self-proclaimed “crafty person,” Mary loves to find other hands-on activities to let her creativity soar.
While her favorite food to make is avocado tortellini pasta, Mary’s favorite craft is a little more seasonal. In the fall and winter, Mary loves to cozy up with a bundle of yarn and a crochet hook to get to work on all kinds of items.
“I like to crochet; that’s kind of a little random fact,” Mary said. “My winter thing is crocheting. I don’t really do it in the summer. And yeah, it’s kind of one of those things that if I get into it, I’m doing it every day. And if I don’t get into it, I just don’t do it every day.”
Mary’s love for her winter craft is one a few years of age.
Unlike some recipes that Mary only makes once, she has one crochet constant that she has made loads of in her years.
“In seventh grade, I had a class where we were crocheting a bunch of hats for babies—newborn babies,” Mary said. “And my parents got me a hat loom for Christmas, and that’s when I started making hats like crazy. I would sell them, and I think I made like $100.”
In her many years of crochet experience, Mary has made even more hats, as well as other, bigger projects.
Her biggest crochet escapade may have taken a long time, but it remains her favorite.
“I crocheted a blanket for my grandparents with all my cousin’s favorite colors on it, so it was like a grandkid blanket,” Mary said. “There were like 19 different colors on it. It took a whole year of crocheting.”
Though Mary loves to crochet items for her family, as she loves to cook for them, she also enjoys creating things for herself, whether literally or mentally.
Crafting and baking may involve different materials, but they culminate perfectly for Mary and her love of expressing her imagination.
“They both come together in a way that I’m creating something, whether it would be edible or not,” Mary said. “But it’s fun to think of something in my head and then either get it out on paper or create it. That’s really fun for me to let my creative juices go.”
