The Truth About Jennifer Hood From Holiday Baking Championship Season 8

For foodies and home chefs, the holidays mean baking, baking, and — you guessed it — more baking. After all, what's December without a never-ending onslaught of homemade Christmas cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats? For instance, you might want to bring a tin of chocolate crinkle cookies to your family holiday party, put out a plate of gingerbread men for all your houseguests this season, or gift your coworkers fudge to spread some holiday cheer. Regardless, many of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen during this time of year, whether we are whipping up batch after batch of goodies or indulging in an extra cookie (or two or three) as they come out of the oven.

If you are looking for some culinary inspiration this Christmas, you're in luck: Food Network's popular "Holiday Baking Championship" will return just in time for the start of the season on November 1. This year, the cooking competition welcomes eight cheftestants who will mix, whisk, and frost their way to the title of baking champion. One of those lucky contestants? Jennifer Hood. Here's what you need to know about the baker from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Jennifer Hood is a 29-year-old registered dietician who works as the assistant director of school nutrition programs in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (via Winston-Salem Journal). However, while Jennifer teaches kids about nutrition during the day, it's her side hustle that earned her a spot on this season's "Holiday Baking Championship." Jennifer is the founder and owner of JBakes, a bake shop that offers homemade goodies along with hands-on baking classes for people in the local community. Some of her specialties? Made-to-order cakes, fudgy brownies, and caramel-filled snickerdoodles. (Drooling yet?)

"Baking has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember," Jennifer writes on her website. "I spent many days in the kitchen with my parents, too small to even see over the kitchen counter." That love blossomed into a business after Jennifer graduated from college. She explains that she was out to dinner with friends, enjoying a cake she had baked, when a few women at the table next to her asked to try it. They fell in love, asked for a business card, and JBakes was born. Now, Jennifer has the chance to prove her prowess on a national stage. Will she have what it takes to become the holiday baking champion?