Former Oil Rigger Turned Baker Launches Macaron Bakery In Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — What started as a hobby at home for her family and neighbors has grown into a small-batch macaron business straight from Caryl Dizon Yuhas' Martinsville home kitchen.

Yuhas, owner of Field Notes Bakery, said she officially got her cottage license in September and held her first public drop in October, which sold out.

She grew up in Monmouth County and has lived in Bridgewater since 2018.

Yuhas has been baking macarons for about 13 years, starting when she was working on an oil rig and making them at home during her free time.

For several years, she said, baking took a back seat while she worked in tech, but she left that field about two years ago because she wanted more time with her children, ages 5 and 7, and her community.

"I got pretty burnt out working in a pretty like fast-paced, high-growth big company, and I knew that when I took on a next project, I wanted it to really feel like human pace, and I wanted to take time to notice things and reconnect with all of my senses," said Yuhas.

She hopes more than anything that by launching Field Notes Bakery she can create little moments for other people.

She packages her products with an intention card and tries to "be really thoughtful about the ingredients and interesting flavors to add a little bit of surprise and connection to nature and connection to your senses."

Yuhas works to present her macarons artistically so that when customers "taste it, smell it, and really bring people into a present moment."

The appeal of macarons is both technical and creative.

She said the pastry changes with humidity, oven temperature and ingredients, and that challenge is part of what kept her interested.

Yuhas focus with Field Notes Bakery is to create macarons with care in small batches, with natural, home-grown and locally sourced ingredients.

She uses eggs from her chickens, fruits and flowers from her garden, local produce, and the best ingredients she can find.

Yuhas does not want to use artificial dyes and instead uses ingredients such as ceremonial grade matcha, turmeric, freeze-dried powders and flowers to create color.

Her typical macarons are gluten-free, though almonds and eggs are essential ingredients.

Field Notes Bakery includes limited drops of three flavors at a time, along with custom orders through the bakery website.

Her first box included raspberry, mugicha (a Japanese barley tea flavor), and pistachio.

She also said she plans to appear at her first farmers market event in November in Somerville.

The macarons vary in flavor, with more traditional flavors, such as pistachio, strawberry, raspberry and Earl Grey, while others are more unusual, including celery and calamansi.

The celery flavor came from her own travels around the world.

"I remember trying this incredible dessert. It was in Italy somewhere, and I was so shocked that they were able to make celery ice cream taste so good," said Yuhas.

While Field Notes Bakery does not have a storefront, Yuhas said she bakes from home and arranges pickups at the Washington Valley Library, where she volunteers.

Customers can order through seasonal drops, special events or custom requests online. For more information on Field Notes Bakery, visit fieldnotesbakery.com or follow instagram.com/fieldnotesbakery.

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