About The Bakers

Who are these people, and why are they so awesome?

Leannis Maxwell (pictured left)

Leannis has been baking since she was little, and still regularly bakes for friends and family even outside of the EDB schedule. She works at the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities where she's well-connected with the North Florida community of parents, educators, healthcare givers, and friends of people diagnosed with or exhibiting spectrum behavior, helping to provide support for this little-understood issue. It was a suggestion of hers that led to the conception of the still-developing EDB GF-CF (gluten-free, casein-free) School Lunch program, which will hopefully be ready for release during the coming school year. Lele, as she is sometimes called by her dearest friends, profoundly loves baking, and is also our resident campaigner for Sweets for the Lactose Intolerant, and EDB now uses only cultured, organic butter in all our recipes as a result of her attention and care. EDB happily provides Lactose-reduced versions of our baked goods, where possible, by substituting soy, cultured dairy, or other alternative non-dairy ingredients for a small fee. Lele lives in Gainesville, Florida, and is heavily involved in theater at the Gainesville Community Playhouse, where her warmly endearing stage presence and angelic and powerful singing voice are given free reign, when she has the time!

Samara Golabuk Crutchfield (pictured right)

Samara discovered baking while working as a restaurant manager at a local eatery, where she quickly made a name for herself producing delicious desserts. She's passionate about wholesome ingredients, and is a driving force behind EDB's "no artificial ingredients" policy. She also loves providing sweets for those with alternative nutritional lifestyles, whether GF-CF for autism-specturm sufferers, or vegan, dairy-free, or egg-free for those with strict personal philosophies or nutritional needs. She adores recipe-testing and tweaking, and coming up with new goodies to try, and can often be found whisking ingredients together at whim and motivated by speculation, without a cookbook nearby, just to see what the stuff turns into when you do stuff to the ingredients. Samara lives in Gainesville, FL with her husband and son, and can also occasionally be found on the Gainesville Community Playhouse stage...or at the local Stich'n Bitch gathering...or tootling around on her bike...or huddled in her home office working on a design project for a new client...

Moss Crutchfield (pictured below, at a particularly goofy moment)

Long-time supporter and recent addition to the active EDB team is Moss, a veteran of restaurant kitchens and all around Awesome Guy. He had to retire from the restaurant industry a couple of years ago when a repetitive stress injury prevented him from working his professional magic behind the line. He brings his 17+ years of experience with and understanding about food to the EDB table now, and his skill, artistic sensibilities, and support have only made us better! He works at home and is heaviily involved in Cub Scouts as a cubmaster for Pack 202, and he does some web design work on the side. Everybody loves it when he cooks dinner! He lives in Gainesville, FL with wife, Samara, and their son, where he also harbors an unnatural affection for frozen burritos.

We also have many friends and family who have supported us as we've grown, and with whom we adore sharing our success by feeding them yummy treats and generally acting silly and happy around them whenever possible.