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Home » Podcast Episodes

039 "I Thought My Mother Was the Strongest Woman in the World" with Cheryl Norris

Last Modified: Jul 24, 2023 · This post may contain affiliate links

When Cheryl, an engineer by profession and also the blogger behind Bakes by Brown Sugar, and contestant on Great American Bakeoff Season 4, contacted me, it was the words she wrote about her mother that made me set up an interview as quickly as possible.

 Several years after moving to Portland, OR in the 1940’s, Cheryl’s mother was a single parent of 7 kids, a self-employed seamstress, raising Cheryl, the baby of the family, all while also helping raise her grandkids. Cheryl writes, “Despite the poverty, mom always cooked amazing food with the simplest tools. I know her love was expressed in the food that she made and shared.” 

Thrilled to welcome Cheryl to the podcast and to share her mother’s deceptively simple Kentucky Butter Cake, so good it’s worth burning your fingers to get the first syrup-soaked piece.

Highlights

  • Growing up only 2 years older than your niece
  • Cheryl’s mom’s first sick day in 20 years
  • How Cheryl’s mom primed her to be the first in her family to graduate college
  • Why engineers and mathematicians make the best bakers
  • The Great American Bakeoff
  • A cake in a suitcase
  • Self-doubt and trusting the process
  • Why room temperature eggs matter and the best trick for warming them

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Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe

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How to Contact Cheryl Norris

Website: www.bakesbybrownsugar.com

Facebook: facebook.com/bakesbybrownsugar

Instagram: instagram.com/bakesbybrownsugar

Pinterest: pinterest.com/bakesbybrownsugar

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Welcome, Friend!

I’m Becky Hadeed, a mother to 4, curious home cook, lover of extraordinary light, and host of The Storied Recipe Podcast. I consider it a great honor that my guests entrust me with their stories and allow me photograph and share their most treasured family recipes.

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dark and moody photo of Becky Hadeed kneading arepas dough

Welcome, Friend!

I’m Becky Hadeed, a mother to 4, curious home cook, lover of extraordinary light, and host of The Storied Recipe Podcast. I consider it a great honor that my guests entrust me with their stories and allow me photograph and share their most treasured family recipes.

More About Me ->

Most Popular Recipes

  • two slices of chewy golden nian gao on pink plate
    Baked Nian Gao: Glutinous Rice Cake (with Sticky Rice Flour)
  • hand holds flaky spiraled roti paratha (aka roti canai in malaysia) above lush green foliage.
    How to Make Flaky Roti Paratha (Malaysian Roti Canai)
  • pollo frito puerto rican fried chicken with no flour in basket lined with red checked napkin
    Pollo Frito: Puerto Rican Fried Chicken (Without Flour)
  • delicate white dish holds fish cooked in tomato sauce, topped with gently caramelized onons, dill and parsley
    Ukrainian Red Fish in Tomato Sauce

Follow in Your Favorite Player

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts

Listen to the Latest

Featured Episodes

  • 058 "I Wanted Something Different" with Juan Salazar of La Coop Coffee
  • 022 "I am Piotr's Granddaughter" with Lydia Cottrell
  • 019 "We Were Not Leprosy" with Suwanee Lennon
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