Three of the North Bay's Top Women Bakers and Confectioners
Share Their Stories and Recipes
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By Leslie Harlib
What does it take to become an acclaimed creator of pies, a wood-fired bread baker, pastry chef or
inventor of candies? Two words: passion and devotion.
While it's passion that fuels all artists, food artistry is special in that it might take days, sometimes years, to
perfect a recipe. Yet when you make it, it's consumed in minutes. A true chef/artist will say, that's all to the
good. You can keep making your art over and over again, always able to reach someone new with something
delicious.
In the Bay Area, we are lucky to have hundreds of story-worthy bakers and confectioners. Some of the most
successful creators in this world of dough and sugar are female. Here are short profiles and recipes from three
of the best:
Christine Milne, Founder/Owner, Christine's Upper Crust Pies, San Rafael
When Christine Milne started baking from-scratch blackberry pies (with wild fruit she picked herself) to
help recover from a divorce, she was in a sense a pie-oneer. "It was 1987. There were no pies in any of the
Christine Milne, founder and owner of Christine's Upper Crust Pies, at her location in San Rafael. Next page, the famous pie
with the perfect crust.
– Photos by Stuart Lirette.
