Childs Kelly - Made with love: more than 100 sweet and savory plant-based recipes for every moment in life

Are You Living Your Life Yet? is a registered trademark of Childs and Weatherbie Inc. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication is available upon request ISBN: 978-0-147-52983-1 eBook ISBN: 978-0-147-52984-8 Cover and book photography: Alyssa Wodabek and Chris Sue-Chu Published in Canada by Appetite by Random House, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited www.penguinrandomhouse.ca v3.1 This book is dedicated to my dad. It is only fitting because he deserves the credit more than anyone else. I know I would not be here without the creative dreaming and magical values he instilled in me. For you, Dad. (Wink-wink.) To Kindfood: thank you for giving us the inspiration, strength, love and passion to create Kellys Bake Shoppe and Lettuce Love Caf. (Wink-wink.) To Kindfood: thank you for giving us the inspiration, strength, love and passion to create Kellys Bake Shoppe and Lettuce Love Caf.

You will forever be in our hearts.

Starting the Bake Shoppe wasnt something that I set out to do, it wasnt my goal. But when I think back on my childhood it seems like it was inevitable. My sister, Shannon, and I had a special, magical childhood. Our father, Russ Childs, was uniquely artistic, creative, imaginative, loving and very generous. On Christmas morning, there were Santas muddy boot prints (they could only have been Santas) and reindeer footprints (Rudolphs!) tracked in the snow outside our windows. The house would be lavishly decorated with lights, candles, garlands, tinsel and candy, a wonderland like something Dickens would have imagined.

With my dad, we didnt just cut flowers from our backyard and give them to my mom for her to put in a vase: we had flower-arranging lessons on a massive table, complete with vases, scissors, rulers and Dad teaching us the basics of design! But the ultimate thrill for me was the outdoor kitchen and bakery Dad created for us in the backyard ravine, complete with cake pans, cookie sheets, cutlery, muffin pans, a roaster and even a rotary eggbeater. All of these were hand-me-downs from my mom, but the kitchen was Dads idea, and it was pure magic to me. My love of making dirt cakes and mud pies in our backyard was the catalyst for Kellys Bake Shoppe. What I experienced as a childinnocence, fun, creative passion and everyday celebrationis what we now try to share with everyone who walks through the doors at the bakery, and its what we hope to share with this book, too. My father was my inspiration, my mentor and my biggest fan. He encouraged me to dream big and believe in myself.

My dad died suddenly in 1995, when I was 32 and he was just 61. My daughter, Erinn, was five when he died and she was his very special golden girl. They spent hours together laughing, dreaming, and painting, coloring and drawing make-believe stories. He always said she had a beautifully shaped head, full of remarkable brains, and that she would be a superstar. Well, she is, Dad!

At Kellys Bake Shoppe, we are the healthier bakery; we make and serve treats that are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and peanut-free, all made with plant-based, natural, organic ingredients. We want to include everyone in the delicious fun, so that people with allergies, food intolerances or restricted diets can all indulge. Because everyone deserves the happiness of a treat, or a little magical escape from their busy lives, at least for the time it takes to eat a cupcake. As it says outside our Bake Shoppe, You cant buy happiness but you can buy cupcakes, and thats kind of the same thing. Made with love, and magic,

Well, a family road trip to a farm sanctuary in 2008 really started it all. We set off for Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York, completely unaware of the life-changing experience it would turn out to be. We packed Ken (Kellys husband) and Mike (Erinns boyfriend) into the car with us and drove to visit this peaceful retreat for rescued farm animals. At the sanctuary we learned for the first time about the full extent of factory farming, big agriculture and about what animals have to endure in the process. We came to truly understand the suffering that humans inflict upon billions of animals a year in the name of mass-produced food. It was such a moving experience that on the way home, as we reflected on what we had learned, we decided that somehow we had to make a difference in the world.