Ya’uc! Hello! My name is Carla Anderson. I grew up in Kitimat, B.C. and am part of the xa’isla nation. I LOVE cookies and my small business is called ‘Up the River Baking’. I’ve been a home baker for years and in June 2022, with the support of my husband Chris, started my small business.

I specialize in custom, small-batch, handmade, hand-decorated sugar cookies. I’m self-taught in the art of using royal icing to decorate cookies.

Where does the name ‘Up the River Baking’ come from?

I come from a family that’s always worried about whether you’ve had enough to eat. It’s our way of saying ‘I love you’.

I grew up watching the women in my family cooking and baking. They’d bake loaves upon loaves of bread by hand. Yet, the real treat for us kids was eating the ‘up the river bread’ hot out of the oil and dipping it into Roger’s syrup. When my ancestors went up the river during oolichan season, they would fry dough in the oolichan grease making ‘up the river bread’. Generally, known as fry bread or bannock.

Those early memories motivate me to bake and inspire me to express my creativity to bring people together with delicious treats.