NAPA, Calif. — Rory Kandel’s strongest memories are of baking with her mother and grandmother. Though she dreamed of opening a bakery at 20, she first worked as a pastry assistant in New York City.

During the pandemic lockdown, inspiration struck. “I guess I’ll offer people cookies,” she recalls writing in a Facebook post, launching Rory’s Bakehouse. Quickly realizing her home oven’s limitations, Rory had an epiphany.

“As a pastry chef, I have frozen things consistently and baked from the freezer, and I thought, why don’t I just freeze everything? And people can bake it themselves.” This simple pivot created something beyond cookiesan experience. “The experience of baking it yourself is so joyful. It’s really like a hug.”

On December 1, 2023, Rory was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. “MS is called the snowflake disease. Nobody has it the same way.” Her perspective shifted dramatically. “Prior to being diagnosed, I felt like I had all the time in the world, and now I feel like I have no time.”

Yet Rory faces this reality with courage: “Every day I wake up, the sun is shining. This disease is not going to kill me. It’s just going to teach me new ways of living life.”

Rory is now forming “Rory’s Bakehouse” team for the MS Walk in San Francisco on April 27, combining her baking passion with advocacy for a cause that’s become deeply personal.

Her ambitions remain bold: “I envision being like Marie Calendar or Mrs. Fields. I want my cookies to be in grocery stores from here to New York City.” Her slogan says it all: “Loving your oven. Because we are putting love in people’s ovens all over the Bay area now.”

You can follow Rory on Instagram @Rorysbakehouse.