The Stand Mixer That Changed Everything: A Love Letter to My Mom and My Baking Journey

Baking isn’t just about the butter and the sugar – for my baking journey, so much of it has been about the memories.

Baking goes beyond the cookies and cupcakes. For so many of us, this passion is also about people you love, the moments that feel like home, and the recipes that carry stories long after the dishes have been cleared.

If you’ve ever made a dessert that tasted like your childhood, you probably know what I mean.

Thanks for being here, baking bestie. I’m Lisa Favre, the founder of The Secret Crunch, and today’s post isn’t a recipe. Instead, it’s a little piece of my heart, and how I got here as a full-time foodie content creator.

In fact, today’s post is the story about the woman who made me who I am, and the baking journey she unknowingly set in motion with a single, beautiful gift.

My Mom: The Woman Who Inspired It All

Anyone who knew my mom knew how incredibly kind she was.

She was one of those rare people who made every single person feel like family. My friends growing up adored her — she was our safe space, our biggest cheerleader, and hands down, the best baker on the block. Her pan de sal – a famous Filipino bread, made with very simple ingredients – was legendary. I swear, kids of all cultures and backgrounds would practically line up at our door just to have a warm, pillowy bun fresh from her oven.

She was my world. My angel on Earth.

When we lost her, my heart broke in a way that words can’t touch. And truthfully, it’s a grief I still carry with me every single day.

The Gift That Started It All

In my mid-twenties, I was finishing-up school and starting a new and shiny 9 to 5 job, but I needed more – so I started to get a little serious about baking. Growing up, I had the privilege of watching my mom in the kitchen – she did everything so effortlessly and with such grace. I was always interested in creating sweet treats but this time, it felt much more different.

Of course, my mom being the selfless woman that she was, noticed instantly.

So, for my 25th birthday, she surprised me with my very first KitchenAid stand mixer. It was bright red — because “millennial me” was convinced that my future apartment was going to have all-red-appliances (don’t judge, it was a thing back then). But more than the color, it was my dream. My baking dreams felt real in that moment. And the best part was that she believed in them.

That mixer became my most prized possession.

Life-Changing Grief

Unfortunately, my mom passed away seven years after my 25th birthday celebration. As a part of my grieving journey, I just couldn’t bring myself to use that KitchenAid mixer.

Every time I looked at it, it hurt. A part of me felt extreme loneliness, knowing that I wouldn’t be baking alongside her again. Then there was another part of me that felt so much gratitude, and the mixer was a reminder of her selflessness – then I would think, “Did I do enough as a daughter? Did she know how much I loved her?”

It’s funny how grief has a way of weaving itself into the places you least expect.

From Pan de Sal to Chocolate Chip Cookies

Growing up, my mom’s pan de sal was the recipe. Everyone knew it, and no one could replicate it. As a little girl watching her in the kitchen, I always knew I wanted a recipe of my own someday. Something people would crave… Ssomething that felt like me.

A few years after losing mom, I started working on my chocolate chip cookies. I tested, tweaked, and perfected them until they were soft, gooey, and packed with the perfect balance of melty chocolate and just a hint of salt.

Now? They’re my thing. The cookies people request. The recipe friends and followers ask for. The one I’ll teach my sons to make someday.

Big Steps With My Mixer

This year — for the first time in years — I plugged in that old red KitchenAid stand mixer.

And something inside me shifted.

Rather than the sharp sting of sadness, I felt warmth… I felt her. I remembered that everything I know about baking, about nurturing, about loving people through food — I learned from her.

Now, every time I whip up a batch of cookies, a cake, or a batch of Teddy Graham Muffins, I know she’s right there in the kitchen with me.

My Baking Journey Continues

I created The Secret Crunch because I love baking: but more than that, I love what baking represents — family, tradition, stories passed down through recipes. And I want you to feel that too.

If you’ve lost someone you love, or if there’s a recipe that reminds you of home, know you’re not alone in that.

And if you’ve never tried my famous chocolate chip cookies — I hope you will. Not just because they’re delicious (though they absolutely are), but because they carry a little piece of my story with them.

From my kitchen to yours,
Lisa 💕