What if your kitchen could quiet anxiety and spark connection at the same time? We sit down with Chef Melanie Underwood—culinary educator, mindfulness teacher, and founder of Nourish and Gather—to explore how cooking, gardening, and simple rituals transform everyday meals into meaningful self-care. From farm roots and family dinners to high‑pressure hotel kitchens and meditation, Melanie shares the practices that helped her turn attention into ease and ingredients into anchors.

We dig into the power of seasonal, local food and why flavor is the best teacher for mindful eating. You’ll hear how phones‑off classes, garden harvests, and sensory prompts build confidence in teens and adults alike, and how a single request from a shy student can become a lifelong lesson in self‑advocacy. Melanie also opens up about navigating a rare cancer diagnosis and creating space for healing outdoors and at the stove, reminding us that solace lives in soil, steam, and shared tables.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make dinner feel less rushed and more restorative, this conversation offers practical steps: slow your pace, use all five senses, start a weekly family meal, and try thoughtful prompts—like Melanie’s Mindful Table napkins—to turn silence into stories. We also examine the culture of professional kitchens and why centering well‑being, mindfulness, and community is not just humane, it’s smart. Ready to cook with intention and gather with purpose? Listen now, then subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs a calmer way to eat and connect.

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A salty first batch of cookies, a cross-continental childhood, and a decision to walk away from nursing—Salome’s path to Afua's Sweets is equal parts grit and grace. We sit down with the Ghanaian cake artist to unpack how culture, constraint, and courage shaped a business that blends bold flavor with delicate technique.

Salome traces the roots of her palate from Ghana’s tropical brightness to Ethiopia’s Italian-leaning pastry traditions, revealing how coffee, mango, and passion fruit found their way into her modern designs. When lactose intolerance made traditional tasting impossible, she pivoted into vegan methods, testing butter and cream alternatives until she could whip, bake, and serve desserts that fooled even devoted dairy fans. Along the way, she rediscovered why baking calms the mind: small, intentional steps that transform stress into focus and joy.

The leap from hobby to business brought its own lessons. We break down the turning points: cost analysis that ended the “dirt cheap” label, coaching from Porsha Kimble that encouraged her to show up on camera and set prices with confidence, and boundaries that eliminated late-night DMs and last-minute chaos. Salome shares practical tactics for home bakers—how to price, how to practice, how to build systems—and casts a vision for the future with petite French-style desserts that let complex pairings shine in elegant bites. It’s a conversation about valuing your craft, honoring your limits, and letting your story be part of the brand.

If you felt seen by any part of this journey, hit follow, share the episode with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more bakers find us. Your support keeps Cake Therapy growing and brings more voices, more flavors, and more healing to the kitchen.

Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Share the episodes and let's chat in the comments.

Support the Cake Therapy Foundation:
1. Cake Therapy - Cake Therapy (thecaketherapyfoundation.org)
2. Buy Me A Coffee : The Cake Therapy Foundation (buymeacoffee.com)
3. Buy The Book: Cake Therapy: How Baking Changed My Life https://a.co/d/76dZ5T0

4. Buy The Book: Lessons I Never Learned from My Father: Things We Missed Out On and How They Still Impact Me https://a.co/d/9wLOguc

Follow Sugarspoon Desserts on all social media platforms @sugarspoondesserts

Beauty lives in the smallest details, and sometimes those details become a life. We welcome Gabby from Rosa’s Cakes in New Orleans—a self-described non-cook who transformed a love of clay miniatures into intricate fondant toppers, sought-after treat sets, and a thriving home-based bakery with her mom, Rosa. While preparing for an approaching hurricane, Gabby opens up about resilience, family legacy from Nicaragua, and the practical choices that keep their creative business strong through real-world storms.

You’ll hear how clay beads turned into cake toppers, and how event-planning experience evolved into stellar customer service and efficient production systems. Gabby breaks down her design workflow for cupcakes and sets, where three variations per dozen keep creativity structured and timelines sane. We dive into how she sources molds and materials, why she favors treats over towering cakes in sweltering summers, and how Instagram became their storefront—proof that consistent, thoughtful posting can elevate a neighborhood favorite into a regional go-to.

What stands out most is her definition of success: showing up for her kids, protecting quality, and shipping work she loves regardless of likes. She offers grounded advice for emerging cake artists—be patient with yourself, invest in presentation, and let motivation carry you through slow seasons. This is a warm, candid look at building a legacy of work ethic and craft, turning detail into identity, and finding freedom in a business shaped by care, culture, and grit.

If the story moved you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so others can discover the show. Your support helps us spotlight more makers and fuel the Cake Therapy Foundation’s work with women and girls.

Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Share the episodes and let's chat in the comments.

Support the Cake Therapy Foundation:
1. Cake Therapy - Cake Therapy (thecaketherapyfoundation.org)
2. Buy Me A Coffee : The Cake Therapy Foundation (buymeacoffee.com)
3. Buy The Book: Cake Therapy: How Baking Changed My Life https://a.co/d/76dZ5T0

4. Buy The Book: Lessons I Never Learned from My Father: Things We Missed Out On and How They Still Impact Me https://a.co/d/9wLOguc

Follow Sugarspoon Desserts on all social media platforms @sugarspoondesserts