Meet Melissa Green | Bread Artist & Cat Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Green and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
When I decided to start making bread about 5-6 years ago, I had no real idea what I was doing, but I have always loved cooking (more so than baking, I like having the freedom to add and take away ingredients and you can’t really do that with baking), and I tend to be a risk taker with the things I make. I love trying new recipes, so I looked up a few bread recipes and thought “how hard could this be?”, and went for it. There is some structure to it, but it allows for a lot of creativity as well. As far as food goes, I tend to jump right in with no fear, and that’s how I approached bread making. Of course I had some failures at the beginning, but now it’s my main therapeutic and creative outlet. I am always thinking up new flavor combinations or types of breads (sourdough, focaccia, buns, etc) that I want to try.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The most important thing I’ve learned is that you have to take risks to succeed. Even when you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing and want to give up, you need to remember that this is a feeling that everyone has at times. I have felt like the most uncreative person in the world at times and like I have no business trying to do what I’m doing. Success doesn’t happen overnight, I am still working at it every day. I started very small, making bread for friends and family and worked up from there. Now, I have repeat customers and a sellout market almost every week. There is no better feeling than when I get a good review or have someone come to the market because they heard about how good my bread is.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would want to spend as much time outdoors as possible (as long as it wasn’t the middle of summer). White Rock Lake, The Trinity River Audubon Center, and Samuel Farm are some of my favorite places to go on walks or hikes. Deep Ellum for all the great food and live music options, browse the Dallas Farmers Market, the Rockwall Harbor for the beautiful sunsets, and definitely a day or two in Fort Worth because there is so much to do there as well. I actually moved to DFW at the end of 2019 right before Covid so I haven’t gotten to experience as much as I would like about the area yet either, but these are some of my favorite things to do.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Brandon! He is my biggest supporter and has been since the beginning. He sees the artist in me at times that I don’t, and pushes me to constantly explore my creative side. He helps me self promote and come up with new ideas for things to try out. He also gets to be taste-tester for all my first time recipes, much to his delight!

Website: Www.mapleandbluebonnet.com

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