Annie lived in Columbia, Missouri, and worked for prominent families as a cook until she started her own catering business.

Through her cooking, Fisher amassed a sizable fortune and purchased rental properties and farms in and around Boone County.

Fisher found her love of cooking while working in kitchens of wealthy white families in the Columbia area.

In 1890, Fisher began to work for George Bingham Rollins and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Missouri.

[1] Fisher saved most of the money she made cooking to start her catering business which she operated out of her restaurant, the Wayside Inn, which was located at the site of her childhood home behind Grindstone schoolhouse.

Annie cooked in what she referred to as, "old Missouri style," which meant she used local ingredients to give her food a distinct flavor.

Her cooking became so popular that she began endorsing local businesses such as the Boone County Mill's H-P flour which she used in her famous biscuits.

[5] In 1911, a Sedalia hostess who handled catering for the Missouri State fair made sure Fisher's biscuits were on the presidential table for William Howard Taft's visit.

Later after Fisher's catering business had become quite successful, she purchased a 58-acre farm outside of Columbia where she raised livestock and crops to use in her cooking.

[9] Annie gave out her recipes freely, but noted that she could not teach the common sense needed to cook her food.