About
My name is Michelle Lopez, and I’m the baker, blogger, and photographer behind the popular baking blog, Hummingbird High. I first created Hummingbird High in 2011 as a way to share my recipes with faraway friends and escape from the drudgery of my corporate job.
Little did I know that chronicling my baking adventures would create a communit of over 100,000+ aspiring bakers and dessert lovers who use my blog as a resource for recipes and a source of expertise.
I do not take that responsibility lightly, and because of that, I need your help.
How It Began
I started Hummingbird High as a personal journal. My older content reflects this; I focused solely on sharing recipes that interested me, sometimes with rare and ianccessible ingredients that betrayed my privileged means and resources. But over the years, as more of you turned to my blog as a baking resource, I made the conscious decision to share more accessible recipes that reflected the reality and lives of the members in my community.
What exactly does that mean? Three years ago, I realized that many of you loved to bake, but rarely had time to do it. I was in a similar position–for many years, I blogged at Hummingbird High while working a full-time, demanding job in tech. I created many of the elaborate recipes on my blog with the intense time management skills I exercised at my work: my goal was to break down a recipe into parts that I could tackle in the limited time I had.
The funny thing is, on Hummingbird High, with the exception of a cheery baker’s note now and again, I never candidly discussed what it was like to bake all the time while balancing a nine-to-five.
My recipes were presented with beautiful pictures, but often without mention of my time constraints and struggles. That can happen on both the internet and social media, where we choose to present only the best part of ourselves; I felt both implicit and explicit pressure to maintain an illusion of paradise in my kitchen. Blogs are where everything is perfect, where everybody has all the time in the world to spend as they wish.
But I know that’s not true–and that’s why I decided to write my cookbook, Weeknight Baking.In my book, I take painstaking care to share all the time-saving tips, tricks, and techniques that I hid for many years on my blog, all applied to classic, accessible baking recipes.
The Blog Today
Since my book was released, I’ve gone on to apply that same candidness on Hummingbird High. Every recipe shared on my blog now has detailed information on how to make the recipes work within your limited schedule, along with extensive information on how to troubleshoot common problems, difficult techniques, and other relevant resources related to the recipe. I’ve also shifted my content calendar to create recipes that are more reflective of what folks are actively searching for, as well as accommodating any requests I get from you via email and social media.
These days, I write every post with the goal for you to see Hummingbird High as one of your most trusted baking resources, with an extensive collection of recipes suited for all levels and occasions, all accompanied by incredibly detailed blog posts and rigorously tested tips and techniques.
And I need your help.
This type of recipe development and content creation requires a lot of financial resources. A single recipe, along with its accompanying blog post and/or Instagram tutorial, can take me over 80 hours to research, develop, test, write about, photograph, answer your questions on social media, and more. And by becoming a patron of Hummingbird High, you enable me to keep developing the baking recipes that you use and rely on.
Patreon Benefits
What You Get as a Patreon Member
Extra Patreon-Only Recipes.
All Patreon supporters get one extra recipe per month; these recipes are exclusive to Patreon and are only available to Patreon members!
Secret Instagram Story Tutorials.
All Patreon supporters can opt in to receive “secret” Instagram Story recipes. These are video tutorials of the exclusive Patreon recipes!
More Personalized Content.
All Patreon supporters can vote in exclusive polls that help determine future recipes and content on both Hummingbird High and Patreon.
Weeknight Baking Book Swag.
All Patreon supporters can opt in to receive a personalized copy of my cookbook, Weeknight Baking, as well as a bottle of custom, hand-mixed sprinkles to match its cover.
A Direct Line to Yours Truly.
All Patreon supporters can message me directly on Patreon’s messaging system, enabling me to help troubleshoot any baking questions faster. Supporters can also opt in to have access to my “Close Friends” Instagram DM inbox and a one-on-one monthly phone call!
