Meet Blogger
Camila Hurst
THE FORCE BEHIND THE INSTAGRAM SENSATION... WRITTEN BY THERESA ST. JOHN | PHOTOS PROVIDED
“The first thing we should probably talk about is my grandmother,” Camila tells me with a far-away look in her eye.
We’re sitting together enjoying a strong cup of coffee and fresh pastry at Mrs. London’s – one of my favorite places in downtown Saratoga and the perfect spot to talk about fond childhood memories. “She owned a bakery for 50-plus years, down the street from my house. I remember visiting the shop every day while growing up.” I love stories like this one; strong family ties, one generation learning from the one before. I have a gazillion heart-warming recollections myself. Listening to Camila fills me with a myriad of emotions – all of them tied to nostalgia.
“Grandmothers are voices of the past and role models of the present. Grandmothers open the doors to the future.”
- Helen Ketchum
“My grandmother was such a hard worker, waking up before the sun each morning to bake her selection of bread. She only took one day off during the year, which was Christmas. She worked tirelessly, and her work ethic? It was insane – something you don’t always see today.” I can hear both pride and love in this granddaughter’s voice.
“Grandma moved from Portugal to Brazil when she was just a child. I admire how she was an immigrant who found her way in another country. Being an immigrant myself, helps me relate to some of the things she must have gone through all those years ago.” “Her story must inspire you,” I say.
“It does!” Camila replies. “My grandfather was also an immigrant, and at one point, they both owned bakeries. Grandpa eventually sold his business and went to work with my grandmother and her siblings.” I ask if the bakery still exists. I wonder if the family still owns it – would it someday be passed down?
“My grandmother just turned 81,” Camila confides. “But my grandfather passed away a few years ago, and all of the siblings are older now, so the family decided to sell the shop.”
Camila shares recollections of her grandmother’s dedication to baking – and how she’d look at the shop’s glass cases filled with a variety of tempting sweets. “It’s funny,” she tells me. “Every time I bake, I see the past and find myself striving to make something worthy to be in a bakery’s window too.”
Camila explains how, when she first started her blog/business, she loved pies and tacos. “I still love them,” she grins at me over her coffee cup. “But you’re all about macarons now!” I smile back at her. 68 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | SUMMER 2021
saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
