Sarah Burnside from Pizzawich, Sunbridge Road, Bradford Sarah Burnside is keen to make a mess in her new kitchen. Flour, sugar, pastry, mixing bowls, spoons - she is eager to start cooking cakes and buns in her home in Cutler Heights Lane.

"I have just moved in with my fianc and it's so exciting, " she says. "It's great having our own space and I love being able to go in the kitchen and cook whenever I want to. I want to make all sorts of things."

The 22-year-old inherited her love of cooking from her step-mum Wendy, a prolific maker of buns. "I watched her baking and I wanted to have a go - it went on from there, " she says.

Sarah considered a career in catering, but after leaving Tong Upper School she found work at a florists and greengrocers in Sunbridge Road as a shop assistant.

She enjoyed her job, and continued to cook at home. But fate intervened. While at work Sarah used to regularly pop to the neighbouring sandwich shop, Pizzawich, for snacks. She got to know the staff and admired the array of homemade pies and cakes for sale.

When a part-time vacancy came up, cooking and serving customers, she applied and got the job.

"I spotted the advert in the window and because they knew me, and knew I could bake, they gave me the job straight away, " she recalls.

A year ago the grocers closed down, and she became full-time. Sarah is now a valued member of a busy team rustling up a range of savouries including cheese and onion pasties, quiche and pizzas, as well as sandwiches with fillings including beef and savoury cheese and prawn and cucumber salad. She also prepares paninis, jacket potatoes and salads.

Sarah is learning on the job. "There is something new every day, and of course I'm practising at home, " she laughs. "There is a good team, we all get on well and have a laugh."

Homemade cakes and pies, including coffee cake, cheesecake, Bakewell tart, fruit crumbles and fruit pies are also made for the stream of, mostly regular, customers - some who order the same thing day after day.

"With a lot of customers we don't even ask what they want, we just get on and prepare it, " she says. "One customer has ordered a corned beef salad sandwich and packet of plain crisps for lunch for years." Among the more unusual orders are a toasted currant teacake with banana and jam. "We try to give everyone what they want, " says Sarah.

At home her fiance, Michael, who works in a Bradford paint factory, is appreciative of her culinary skills. "He can't cook so he really enjoys my Sunday roasts and stews."

And she is eager to branch out and experiment with more elaborate dishes. "I really want to get going in my kitchen, " she adds.