Hello I’m Melanie and here is a little bit about me! 
I share my life with two fabulous Border Collies – Ripley and Jasper, five hens and my lovely hubby Bob. We live on the Isle of Skye having recently moved from the comically named village of Wetwang on the Yorkshire Wolds.
I am Yorkshire born & bred with a family tree full of cooking and baking matriarchs. It seems I am destined to love cooking and more importantly love good quality home cooked food. I was a Restaurant Manager for 15 years before becoming self employed in 2011.
My first business Wolds Cottage Kitchen won 10 National and International awards for its handmade preserves. In 2015 I changed it all up a bit, daring to do something completely different in the Yorkshire food scene. I started Amos & Tom’s Gourmet Popcorn – handcrafting sweet and savoury popcorn from my Wetwang base. During these years I have been the judge inside the produce tent at numerous agricultural shows, channelling my inner Mary Berry. My businesses have been heavily influenced by my foodie upbringing and tastes. Moving to Skye in 2018 has put my foodie businesses on hold but I now have more time to cook for pleasure and explore new places which I’ll share with you on my blog.
With the beauty of the Isle of Skye now on my doorstep I’m hunting out new “cake stops” for before, during or after a hike with the dogs. Great scenery and great cake are two of life’s simple pleasures. With this blog I want to share my favourite recipes, great days out and fabulous food we have eaten. Hence my blog being called Collies and Cakes – my two passions in life with little extras thrown in here and there for good measure. So enough About Me and onto the food…
Melanie x