I grew up on the south shore of boston, which meant spending summers along the Atlantic ocean. Some of my earliest memories are of collecting scallop shells with my sister and brother while our mother and grandmother cooked chowders and baked stuffed clams back at the house. When it was time to leave our sandy escape each September, my favorite shells always came along—the perfect portable reminder of all the beauty and joy the beach held.
My love for shells only grew as I got older. I’ll always be a collector of these seaside souvenirs, opting to hunt for the prettiest shells instead of plopping in a beach chair any day. So discovering my first madeleine pan in a small baking shop in San Francisco was a “eureka!” moment. Time seemed to stand still while I thought of making little cakelets shaped like the summertime shells I loved collecting so much.