My name is Kristen Joyal and I live in Wichita, Kansas.  For nine years I taught Math at Valley Center High School in Valley Center, Kansas.  I have two children Alan who is 6 years old and Ashlyn who is 3.  With two small children I searched for a way to be at home with them on a daily basis.  In May 2001 I finally made the big decision to quit my job and be at home with Alan and Ashlyn full-time.  My husband Roger and I have been married for 8 years.  Roger is an Design Engineer for Airbus and a V-5 CATIA instructor at Wichita State University.  Roger and I have operated our own business, Straight Forward Technologies for several years.  Until now we have mainly designed and updated websites.

Being at home was quite a change.  I searched for months for some type of work that I could do while still being at home with my kids.  I happened to stumble onto a great idea when Ashlyn received an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas.  It was only a few days before all the mixes were gone and she still wanted to bake.  When we visited the store and I saw how much they were selling for, I decided to try making recipes and mixes on my own.  I was amazed at how well the small-portion recipes worked in her oven.  Soon the idea for the “Baking with Mommy Cookbook: Recipes for Kid-Size Ovens” was born (See note at the bottom of the page concerning the title).  Suddenly I found myself busy making, testing and tasting new recipes on a daily basis.  Even better, it was a project that we were all working on together.  Alan and Ashlyn were actively involved in baking, testing and naming all the new recipes.  Alan’s Kindergarten class even ended up doing the illustrations for the inside of the cookbook. 

In was in June 2002 that we finally had the finished product in our hands.  This cookbook contains 70 recipes all made for kid-size light bulb ovens.  All the recipes have been tested in the Easy Bake Oven, Barbie Bake with Me Oven and the Mrs. Fields Baking Factory.  These light bulb ovens use a 100 watt light bulb to cook the food.  These recipes can also be made in a 350 degree oven. To help measure the small amounts needed in many of these recipes, we have also attached the Dash, Pinch and Smidgen measuring spoons to each cookbook.  These stainless steel measuring spoons will help children measure out 1/8 tsp., 1/16 tsp and 1/32 tsp.  I made the decision to self-publish this book and I am now starting the process of marketing it to the major retail stores to be sold along side the Easy Bake OvenTM, BarbieTM Bake with Me Oven and the Mrs. FieldsTM Baking Factory.  

Alan's class ended up doing the inside illustrations after I searched for away to liven up the inside of the cookbook.  I hated to just use clipart, then suddenly the idea came to me, use drawings from Alan and other people his age.  I talked to Alan's teacher, Jamie Pearson and soon I had more drawings than I could use.

I am so grateful to GS Memorymaker from Valley Center, Kansas.  They were kind enough to donate time and effort that allowed us to include professional pictures in the cookbook.  Originally we were going to have a picture of the kids on the cover, but Ashlyn refused to take any pictures.  So when you thumb through the cookbook you will find pictures of Alan and cousin Emily Warner (a 2nd grader at West).  Layne Johnson, a children’s illustrator from Houston Texas, designed our cover.  After taking hundreds of digital pictures of Ashlyn, I finally got the one of her stirring that is on the cover.  Layne did an oil painting of her and added in the idea of the ovens in the background.

My family and friends have offered me a great deal of support and encouragement.  So often an everyday person will have what they consider a great idea, but they don't follow through for one reason or another.  I felt like I had a great idea and was determined to follow through.  For now I hope to sell enough books to pay our expenses for publishing the book and then sell enough to finance me staying at home with my kids until they are older.  I love teaching and I miss it greatly, but by teaching, I also saw first hand how important it is for parents to be involved in their children’s lives.

We hope that you enjoy using this cookbook as much as we have enjoyed the experience of creating, publishing and marketing this book. 

Kristen Joyal - Author & Publisher

History Addition

September 27, 2002 - It was decided on this date to officially change the title of the "Mommy & Me Cookbook:  Recipes for Kid-Size Ovens"  to  "Baking with Mommy Cookbook -  Recipes for Kid-Size Ovens."  We hope this title change will not cause our customers any problems in finding the cookbook.