Heather the "Flour Girl"

Calling all foodies!

Hi! My name is Heather and I'm a recovering newspaper reporter in search of a new career in flour, sugar, butter and yeast.

With an opening line like that, how can you resist not wanting to know more? The author, Heather Lalley, is someone I've known since the mid-90s, when she was a junior journalism major at Northwestern University and I was The Oregonian's internship coordinator. Which is to say, it was years before she became a mom and well before she left the business about a year and a half ago.

It still pains me to think about that -- someone with Heather's talent and passion having to leave the profession she loved, for the usual economic reasons that are challenging newsrooms everywhere. In her case, especially so, because Heather was such a pleasure to be around, with a dry wit that I like to think was honed growing up outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

Anyway, check out this post from her "Flour Girl" blog -- "Taking home the Bronze Cupcake" -- and see if you agree that journalism's loss is the blogosphere's gain, especially for those who love freshly baked bread and/or a homemade cupcake.