What started almost twenty years ago as a foreign-exchange trip to Japan's Akita prefecture has grown into a lifelong love and appreciation for Japan's rich culture and cuisine. During that first trip, I fondly remember going to the local bakery to pick out breakfast pastries with my host-family each week, and always being amazed at each new thing I tried. Melonpan was my favorite. I became a little obsessed with melonpan, with its perfectly soft, sweet texture and crackly cookie crust. I was then devastated when I returned home to Alabama only to realize how difficult it was to find Japanese baked goods in my area, and that I might never be able to enjoy melonpan again or share it with my loved ones.

In college, I returned to Japan for a year to study economics in Tokyo, where I basked daily in the abundance and variety of Japan's rich culinary culture. After that trip, I took up hobby baking and found a job at a Korean bakery in Auburn. At the bakery, I began to build a foundation of skills, techniques, and discipline that fueled many years of joyful, experimental baking for friends and family.

After our most recent trip to Japan, my husband and I again found ourselves lamenting how difficult it was to find Japanese baked goods back home. It was then that I decided to get my cottage food license and begin baking Japanese confections to sell at our local farmers market. In the short time that Panda Pan has been operating, we have found a wonderful community of customers and supporters who are just as passionate about all things Japanese as we are. It is my goal and mission to bring our customers an authentic taste of Japan through the same commitment to quality, technique, and precision that makes Japanese baking so special.