Love and baking are recurring themes in films (“Like Water for Chocolate”), musicals (“Waitress”), and romance novels (“A Bakery in Paris”).
Though these are fiction, they can be based on fact. Here is a possible Hollywood "pitch," based on a true story:
Minerva Aguilar González is a young TV journalist in Guadalajara, Mexico. A country girl who grew up on a Mexican sugar plantation in the small town of Vista Hermosa in Jalisco.
On a trip to Napa Valley, she falls in love with Ricardo Camarillo, a farm equipment mechanic in St. Helena.
She chooses love, moving to a foreign land, leaving her family and a successful career behind. She moves to Napa and struggles with the language and finding her place in a new community.
She finds an escape through baking — eventually becoming a successful local baker renowned for her signature butter cookies and loved by all.
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The story is believable because it's true. Minerva González and Ricardo Camarillo are real people. They live in Napa and have two young children.
She is now well on her way to being the successful entrepreneur in this story, selling her baked goods to merchants like Napa Bookmine and catering to private events and wineries under the moniker De'Canela.
Growing up, her grandparents had a large sugar plantation in Jalisco, Mexico, which produced sugar and alcohol, González recalled.
She remembers playing in sugarcane fields as a young girl, she said. Some of her early memories are of a beloved Barbie oven and making cakes for her grandfather.
"I don't think they tasted very good, but he pretended to like them," she recalled.
As a college graduate in Mexico, baking was an enjoyable hobby that she never considered as a career path. González took a cake decorating and fondant course, and nurtured her passion for baking in her spare time. She shared her baked goods with friends and family in Guadalajara.
After graduation, she studied journalism at the University of Guadalajara and worked on television documentaries. She explained that these documentaries were focused on food production.
She met her now husband on several trips to Napa to visit family over the years. They married in 2017 in Napa, and she left her job, family and friends in Mexico to start a new life.
González took classes to improve her English. She found a job at a restaurant (Galpão Gaucho) where she could speak Spanish. She was pleased when they hired her to work on desserts in the kitchen.
"They didn't even ask me if I was interested in baking; they just needed someone in that section," she said.
The main character in this story wanted more out of life — she dreamed of starting her own business, González explained. In addition, she was pregnant with her first child and knew she wanted to be home for the baby.
"Many of my friends in Mexico were successful small business owners, and I wanted to do the same. I just didn't know what I wanted to do."
One of her close cousins, a designer in Guadalajara, helped her find her way. González recalled he asked her what she liked to do and helped her understand that if baking was her passion, then it could be something she could turn into a business.
"I asked him to help me brainstorm how to launch. He asked me my favorite colors, and we came up with the logo. He helped me with the name De'Canela because cinnamon is my favorite flavor for baking," she said.
"He gave me a gift to start, and my mom gave me all her cookbooks." The Mexican name also is a nod to the mission stated on her website, "to honor our traditional Mexican roots."
Since launching her business in 2018, she has had invaluable support from friends. One friend made the webpage, employing a minimalist design that matches her baking aesthetic.
She said she also gets business advice and support from Alex Soto, the chef-owner of the recently closed Lane 33 Café. She started small, with catering jobs for Abreu Vineyards during harvest and bottling, making breakfast sandwiches, conchas and cookies.
Initially, she was only selling to the Mexican community "due to the language barrier," González explained. The first batch of her new business was Horchata Cinnamon Cookies.
"Everyone loved my baked goods. I use only natural ingredients, nothing artificial, and I make homemade essences and natural colors out of my garden."
González continued, "Everything is of the earth. The color red is from beets and strawberries — butterfly peas for blue (for her lavender muffins). My garden has lavender, chamomile and orange trees, which I use for tea infusions. It's like magic!"
Her mom brings her a steady supply of cocoa and cinnamon from Mexico.
Her breakthrough to the English-speaking community came through a chance meeting at the playground.
There, González met and befriended Naomi Chamblin, the owner of Bookmine, who was moving to a larger location on Second Street, which would include a small café. Now, she fulfills a standing order for Bookmine.
The cafe manager, Alexa Gagon, said, "We always order the lime shortbread cookies. They have a whisper of lime." Seasonally, they also sell vegan lavender muffins.
"When we stopped selling them in winter, customers were really upset, but they will be back now that the lavender is in bloom." She explained that the summer menu launches on Memorial Day weekend.
Gagon described the allure of De'Canela: "The appearance is minimalist and very clean; she doesn't need to jazz it up with anything or add frills, but once you bite into it, that's when the maximum flavor comes in. That's the maximalist in her — the flavors."
She added, "We always have the miniature besitos de nuez (Mexican wedding cookies), which are great as a little bite next to a cappuccino and are the perfect size for kids."
González’s clean ingredients and her flexibility are also appreciated by Gagon.
"There are so many people who are dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan, and we want them to have as many items as possible."
On a personal note, Gagon said, "She is just a wonderful person; we see her on a weekly basis, and she is always beaming. Her products speak to how much love and care she puts into her business and her family life. Minerva is truly a gem, and we love her here at Bookmine."
De'Canela baked goods are available by special order on the website (decanelabakery.com), Instagram (@decanelamx), and Bookmine Café.
González is also planning for the La Onda Latin music festival, where she will have a booth selling her most popular items. She might consider adding tres leches to the festival menu.
González used the Spanish term "emocionado" repeatedly to describe the feeling she experiences when she bakes.
This word can be translated to mean "excited, touched or moved."
Regardless of the translation, it is evident that González has discovered happiness in her new profession and community.