The Palm Springs Baker came about from me, Chuck Swenson, as a dream project of sorts. I always tell people I’m in the last trimester of my life, and it’s time to do those things you’ve always wanted to do but either didn’t have the time or perhaps didn’t have the courage to try. Well, sometimes you simply need to get out of your own way

. . . and do it!

 

It’s funny how we discover our passions. Back in the Dark Ages while attending the University of Minnesota, I remember precisely the day I was wracking my brain trying to figure out my major before I graduated in “Undecided.” Thumbing through the syllabus, suddenly there it was . . . Advertising. Instantly, I knew that was me. I enjoyed a long career in that field and enjoyed every single minute of it. Then, suddenly, I knew there was more for me to do before the curtain comes down. While living and being bored out of my mind in Vermont, I began baking to pass the time. Well, my boredom vanished, and a new passion went into full play. You couldn’t stop me from having the flour and sugar flying! Best of all, everyone loved my little morsels. Everyone kept saying “you’ve got to open a bakery” or “you need to have your own baking show.” Well, my minor in college was Television Production . . . so there you go, I combined two of my passions, and The Palm Springs Baker was born!

 

After living in Minneapolis, Minnesota for over fifty years, my partner Ric and I traveled the country for his career, and now have a home in beautiful Palm Springs . . . much more me, where there are endless pool parties and happy hours, than Vermont, where there were pretty much gray skies and hay barns.

 

Along with Ric, I enjoy life immensely with my two canine kids, Oscar and Emmy – my most cherished awards. 

 

As I say at the end of each episode, “Be good . . . be you . . . and bake!”