Happy National Gluten-Free Day! Whether you’re gluten-sensitive, living with celiac disease, or simply curious about exploring gluten-free options, today is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the benefits of going gluten-free — and indulge in some delicious GF treats while you’re at it!
At Petunia’s Pies & Pastries®, we’ve made it our mission to create downright delicious desserts that every tummy can enjoy! We believe that just because a food is gluten-free (and vegan) doesn’t mean it should be any less flavorful or satisfying. No matter what dietary restrictions you have, you should still enjoy the sweeter side of life!
How Portland’s First Gluten-Free & Vegan Bakery Was Born
Petunia’s Pies & Pastries’ founder, Lisa Clark, had a creative vision and plans beginning years ago as a child, as she learned to bake with her mother, Kathy. Lisa’s mother taught her all about traditional baking and how to express love through creation and nourishment. It quickly became clear that creative expression, acts of service, and nurturing others were part of Lisa’s foundation and what she needed to do in life. When Lisa was 12 years old, her mother passed away after battling ALS for seven long years. Needless to say, this dramatically changed Lisa’s life forever.
Once she went off to college at University of Oregon, Lisa began to have some severe health issues. Part of her issues were that she had developed a severe intolerance to gluten and dairy, and had to immediately cut both out of her diet. Lisa would also later be diagnosed with Lyme Disease, POTS, MCAS and EDS, amongst many other things, which have caused many complications along the way. But through it all, Lisa always remembered to keep fighting and to keep moving forward.
After her college graduation, and then holding two amazing baking jobs where she learned a ton about production baking and decorating, Lisa got the idea to start a niche gluten-free & vegan baking business out of her tiny home kitchen in Portland, Oregon. She decided to name the business after her mom’s ceramic pig, Petunia, who hung on the wall over the stovetop in her childhood kitchen. And in this way, she was able to honor her mother, and how she got her start baking.
As soon as Lisa began sharing her inventive, alternative ingredient-focused goodies with the people of Portland, things grew more quickly than she could have ever imagined. On her own at the age of 24, she grew the business from a small farmer’s market operation and expanded into major Portland area wholesale markets (now available at 75+ locations), weddings and event services, retail sales, teaching baking classes, and shipping products throughout the country.
Gluten-Free Day Giveaway!
In honor of National Gluten-Free Day this week, Petunia’s is having a raffle drawing to to encourage you to come in and celebrate with us! 🥳 We will give away a $100 gift card to one lucky winner!
How To Enter: Come into our bakery anytime from Monday 1/13-Sunday 1/19, and spend $25 or more to enter your name in the raffle. At the end of the week, we will draw one winner, who will receive a $100 Petunia’s gift card!
Good luck, and see you all soon, Happy GF Day!
Xoxo, Petunia’s Pies & Pastries® 💕