As the granddaughter of a professional pastry chef, Anna’s had a passion for baking for as long as she could remember. At age 10, her younger brother was diagnosed with many chronic illnesses and allergies, so Anna began experimenting with recipes to create treats he could safely eat and enjoy. She fell in love with serving others and bringing joy through food, which she now does daily at her allergy-friendly shop, To Your Health Bakery, a popular destination in Winston-Salem, NC. Though this hard-working, self-taught entrepreneur specializes in in gluten free, vegan, keto and paleo products, she adapts her recipes to please any palate, especially when she donates her time to produce thousands of cookies for various charities.
Find out more about the original Hallmark Channel Christmas movie “The Christmas Contest” starring Candace Cameron Bure, John Brotherton and Barbara Niven.
When struggling pastry chef Kylie Watson (Chabert) learns she’s made it to the finals of the American Gingerbread Competition, she thinks her competitive spirit has finally paid off and hopes the publicity will help her jumpstart her new café. There’s just one problem — the oven she’s supposed to use breaks down right before the contest. Determined to enter, she reaches out to Nick Mazannti (Coco), her old boyfriend from culinary school who gave up his dream of being a pastry chef to take over his family’s pizzeria. Nick allows her to use his industrial pizza oven at night to craft her ambitious gingerbread confections. As the two reminisce about the dreams of their youth, their romance is rekindled. But just as Kylie is on the cusp of taking the grand prize — and embracing true love — things get complicated when her ex-boyfriend takes drastic steps to win her back. Kylie realizes she must embrace the Christmas Spirit or risk losing both the contest and her new love. Starring Lacey Chabert, Lea Coco and Jonathan Adams.
