Catherine Reef: Hello. My name is Catherine Reef. When I was born, my parents named me Catherine Mary for the two great-grandmothers I had living at the time. One was an immigrant from Sweden, one came from Ireland, and both were gifted bakers. One made delicate cakes and adorned them with lacy inscriptions. The other pulled tall meringue pies and fat cupcakes from an oven that was hotter than a potter's kiln. I like to bake too. My baking connects me to my heritage just as my name does.

I like my last name, Reef, because it is uncommon but it is easy for people to spell, say, and remember. My last name was a gift from my husband whose ancestor brought it to the United States from Germany. This ancestor had 13 children of whom my husband's grandfather was the youngest. That was a big bunch of siblings, but only a few descendants of the 13th baby still bear the family name. My last name connects me to two of those descendants, my husband and my son.