Thanks for the intro since I’m relatively new to your blog. I live in Maine on 80 acres but grew up in the very urban environment of Chicago. I’ve always made yeast bread for my family as my kids were growing, but absolutely fell in love with whole grain seeded sourdough loaves when my eldest son was living in Belgium. I knew right then that I had to learn to reproduce those amazing European loaves in my own kitchen, since there are few bakeries in the US (and none in Maine!) that generate that quality of whole grain goodness. After many professional lessons at King Arthur and over 10 years later I’m doing just that, and occasionally donating my bread services to local charity auctions (I.e. so many loaves/month for 6-12 months) and other fundraisers. I also learned where to source locally-grown rye , heritage wheats and other quality whole grain flours. I bake for the joy of it, since by myself I can’t possibly eat that much bread!
Hi Amy, We met briefly when staying in the same house during the 2019 Grain Conference in Maine! French trained, I teach breadmaking both online and in person. Always looking for inspiration and learning new things that I can share. I'm really enjoying baking with some YQ wheat (Population wheat) and some old heritage wheats too.
Hi! I’m originally from Germany, so my bread exposure started way early in life—although not the baking part. With bakeries at every corner, I never thought about baking my own bread back then. I moved to the US in 1983, survived Alabama & Missouri, and since 1998 I’m happily residing and baking in Washington State with my husband, a parrot, cat, turtle and 101 Gardengnomes. My son is 34 and loves my homemade bread when he visits. Bread to me has to be a flavor explosion – like all foods. I don’t necessarily go for beauty in a loaf of bread, but the loud crunch with exploding crumbs all over my plate, the taste of grain and beer and nuttiness … makes bread a comfort food. I only bake with sourdough, use beer as fluid (“water is for washing” as correctly stated by my granny 😊) and a portion of spent grain from my husband’s homebrewing hobby. I love seeds (Teff is awesome!) and cheese & nuts in my bread, but am not overly fond of sweet stuff. My favorite inclusion is onion with sprouted rye, and the best topping of a slice of bread will always be cheese and homemade Sauerkraut! I mill the wholegrain part of my breads with my Mockmill attachment to the KitchenAid and bake in the Challenger Pan. I only use about 30-50% whole grain for each loaf, or the bread gets too heavy for us. My bread flour is “Organic Expresso” from Cairnspringsmills in Burlington, WA. My starter’s name is Sir Bobby Farts-A lot. Aside from baking, I ferment Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Tempeh and make Tofu. We do Woodworking, glassfusing, gardening, hiking and kayaking (when my back & knees cooperate). Did I mention already that I love bread & beer? 😊
Thanks for the intro since I’m relatively new to your blog. I live in Maine on 80 acres but grew up in the very urban environment of Chicago. I’ve always made yeast bread for my family as my kids were growing, but absolutely fell in love with whole grain seeded sourdough loaves when my eldest son was living in Belgium. I knew right then that I had to learn to reproduce those amazing European loaves in my own kitchen, since there are few bakeries in the US (and none in Maine!) that generate that quality of whole grain goodness. After many professional lessons at King Arthur and over 10 years later I’m doing just that, and occasionally donating my bread services to local charity auctions (I.e. so many loaves/month for 6-12 months) and other fundraisers. I also learned where to source locally-grown rye , heritage wheats and other quality whole grain flours. I bake for the joy of it, since by myself I can’t possibly eat that much bread!
Hi Amy, We met briefly when staying in the same house during the 2019 Grain Conference in Maine! French trained, I teach breadmaking both online and in person. Always looking for inspiration and learning new things that I can share. I'm really enjoying baking with some YQ wheat (Population wheat) and some old heritage wheats too.
Hi! I’m originally from Germany, so my bread exposure started way early in life—although not the baking part. With bakeries at every corner, I never thought about baking my own bread back then. I moved to the US in 1983, survived Alabama & Missouri, and since 1998 I’m happily residing and baking in Washington State with my husband, a parrot, cat, turtle and 101 Gardengnomes. My son is 34 and loves my homemade bread when he visits. Bread to me has to be a flavor explosion – like all foods. I don’t necessarily go for beauty in a loaf of bread, but the loud crunch with exploding crumbs all over my plate, the taste of grain and beer and nuttiness … makes bread a comfort food. I only bake with sourdough, use beer as fluid (“water is for washing” as correctly stated by my granny 😊) and a portion of spent grain from my husband’s homebrewing hobby. I love seeds (Teff is awesome!) and cheese & nuts in my bread, but am not overly fond of sweet stuff. My favorite inclusion is onion with sprouted rye, and the best topping of a slice of bread will always be cheese and homemade Sauerkraut! I mill the wholegrain part of my breads with my Mockmill attachment to the KitchenAid and bake in the Challenger Pan. I only use about 30-50% whole grain for each loaf, or the bread gets too heavy for us. My bread flour is “Organic Expresso” from Cairnspringsmills in Burlington, WA. My starter’s name is Sir Bobby Farts-A lot. Aside from baking, I ferment Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Tempeh and make Tofu. We do Woodworking, glassfusing, gardening, hiking and kayaking (when my back & knees cooperate). Did I mention already that I love bread & beer? 😊