About Us
Alexandra McLean-Williams
Alex is the driving force behind Lady Penelope’s Kitchen, bringing a lifelong appreciation for craftsmanship, detail, and beautifully made things into the world of home baking.
After a career shaped by creativity and cultural projects, she found herself drawn to the quiet, absorbing process of sourdough baking, discovering in it a sense of calm, focus, and satisfaction that felt increasingly rare in everyday life.
What began as a simple curiosity quickly became a daily ritual. Through time spent learning, testing, and refining, Alexandra developed a collection of dependable recipes and a deep appreciation for the tools that make baking both enjoyable and successful.
Lady Penelope’s Kitchen grew from this experience, a thoughtfully curated offering of sourdough kits, downloadable recipes, and essential baking tools, designed to make the process approachable without losing its sense of craft.
Philip & Tanya Taylor
Philip and Tanya Taylor bring their design-led approach and hands-on experience to Lady Penelope’s Kitchen, combining creativity with a practical understanding of making things well.
With a background in running a London-based studio where products are designed and produced in-house, they are drawn to process, precision, and the small details that elevate everyday objects.
At Lady Penelope’s Kitchen, this translates into thoughtfully developed kits, clear and reliable recipes, and a carefully chosen selection of tools — all designed to make sourdough baking feel intuitive, enjoyable, and repeatable at home.
Together, they bring a balance of creative thinking, craftsmanship, and real-world know-how to everything they create.
Our Sourdough Story
We began baking sourdough almost by accident and quickly discovered how absorbing it could be. What started as a simple curiosity soon became a quiet ritual. A way to step away from our day jobs and find a sense of calm at the kitchen counter.
There was something deeply grounding about the process. Measuring, mixing, folding, waiting, and watching the dough slowly transform became a welcome contrast to the pace of everyday life. It demanded patience, attention, and care, and in return, offered a kind of focus that felt both rare and restorative. For those moments, it was simply us and the dough.
As our confidence grew, so did our curiosity. We experimented with different flours, timings, and techniques, learning through trial, error, and repetition. Some loaves were far from perfect, others surprisingly good but each one taught us something. Gradually, baking became less about following instructions and more about understanding the process.
Before long, we began sharing our bread with friends and family. Alongside the loaves came handwritten notes, recipes, and small tips we’d picked up along the way. One friend gently suggested that we should do something more with it after all, the recipes were working, and people kept asking for them. That small nudge became the starting point for Lady Penelope’s Kitchen.
This space has grown naturally from that idea: a place to share the recipes we return to again and again, along with the tools and accessories we’ve come to rely on. Everything we offer is shaped by our own experience, chosen for its practicality, quality, and ability to make the process feel more enjoyable and less intimidating.
Lady Penelope’s Kitchen is, at its heart, about slowing down and baking with intention. It’s about understanding your ingredients, trusting the process, and finding satisfaction in something made by hand. Whether you are just beginning or quietly refining your craft, we hope this becomes a place you can return to for guidance, inspiration, and the simple pleasure of baking good bread.
It’s still early days for us, and that’s part of the joy. We’re learning as we go, one bake at a time, and we’re glad to have you along for the journey.