Hello! I’m Natalie and welcome to Adoleo Baking (pronounced ah-dough-lay-o).
About the Name
The word Adoleo is Latin and has a few different meanings: to worship; treat by heat or fire; and to emit an aroma. Put it all together and you have:
Adoleo: to produce a pleasing aroma of worship through the treatment of heat or fire
The vision for Adoleo Baking was born from this definition. I love the idea that every baked good I place in the oven has the potential to be offered up to God as a tangible form of worship to Him.
God has placed an insatiable passion on my heart for food, baking and hospitality. My favorite thing about making food is its power to nourish both the body and soul and the sense of community it ignites. I find it to be the most tangible way for me to show my love for people.
About the Baker
As many food-inspired stories go, it all started with my grandma. She loves to cook and is great at it. Since neither of my parents especially enjoy cooking, I’ve joked with my brother that our passions skipped a generation – I got my love of food from our grandma and he got his love of woodworking from grandpa.
Beginning at a young age I felt the need to create something with food. As a toddler I would grab random items from the fridge (e.g. ketchup, orange juice, cheese, etc.) and dump it all in one large bowl. I called these mixtures “Nat’s Concoctions” and begged my parents to try them. Later, on my fifth birthday, my uncle bought me an Easy Bake Oven. I spent countless hours of my childhood peering through the little window of that oven waiting for my five-minute chocolate chip cookies or yellow cakes to come out.
Throughout my adolescent years, my passion for baking only grew deeper. It became something I could not stop thinking about. I remember secretly writing down new recipe ideas while sitting in my college classes, thinking of fun new flavor combinations to try.
After finishing my undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon (‘sko Ducks!) I moved to the Midwest for graduate school where I earned my Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. It was during my clinical outplacements that Adoleo Baking was created.
On any given day off, you will most likely find me in the kitchen baking and dancing along to classic country and classic rock, jazz and everything in between; doing something active outdoors with friends and family such as playing tennis, riding horses, or going on a run; or snuggled up on the couch with a big mug of licorice tea and bowl of kettle corn watching a movie or reading a book.
I hope you enjoy Adoleo Baking and have as much fun trying these recipes as I did creating them. Feel free to reach out anytime; I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading – God bless and Go Ducks!
Blessings on your home and table,
~Natalie