Cynthia Cherry believes in embracing life at its best, whether that means feeding her children the healthiest food possible, growing that food herself in an organic garden, or helping a friend design the perfect wedding.

“When I was growing up,” Cherry said, “I always wished I could be an artist. Unfortunately, I can’t draw or sculpt to save my life, so I found other ways to express my love of beautiful design and presentation.”

Cherry holds a degree in interior design, and worked for a time as a wedding planner in partnership with a college friend. “We had so much fun running that business,” she said. “I really enjoyed coordinating with the various caterers we used, and began to get more and more interested in that part of planning the events. Before you know it, I was enrolled in cooking classes.”

Her plan of becoming a caterer was postponed, however, by the birth of her first child. She continued to study cooking, but there just wasn’t time to care for an infant and start a new business. Cherry did become convinced, however, that the American diet is a complete disaster and was determined her family would not live that way. While she was pregnant with her second child, Cherry began to put together her book “Feeding Baby.”

“I knew we adults weren’t eating well,” she said, “so there was no reason to assume the available nutritional products for infants were any better. I wanted to manage both of my children’s diets with wholesome, homemade foods. Before we realized what was happening, the whole family’s relationship with nutrition was transformed.”