Saturday Class Pics...

Saturday Class Breads

Saturday's class in Rustic Breads and Soups was wonderful and exhausting. The class was fast-paced, informative, and we stood the entire six hours.

We all came home with samples of everything the class made, so we all got to share our breads and soups. The breads in the photos are (clockwise from left: Crusty French Baguette, Hearth Bread, Rustic Fruit and Nut Sweet Bread, and two small loaves of Rye Bread with Dill.) Each one has its own delicious flavor and texture, and will be healthy additions to my bread making repertoire here at the farmhouse.

Students Listening To Chef Sue

One especially delightful surprise was coming face-to-face with a high school classmate I hadn't seen in decades. The best part was that she recognized me as immediately as I recognized her! She attended the class with her husband (the tall man behind Chef in the next photo), and we had a little time to catch up, too.

Students And Chef Sue

We learned more about bread making techniques - like water/milk temps to add to the ingredients for dough making (115º), and optimum temp for a fully baked loaf (210º).  I also got more practice for shaping boules and long loaves (and the best way to get them from bench to oven). Those things alone were worth the class fee!

Four Rustic Soups Made In Class

We tended loaves of bread from mixing to proofing to baking, while we also created delicious soups. Top to bottom: French Onion Soup (not shown are the tasty slices of baguettes, topped with shredded Gruyere cheese for floating in the hot soup), a delicious Pork Stew, Autumn Squash Soup (with homemade faux creme fraiche and sunflower seeds), and finally the soup created by the team I was on...Chicken and Corn Chowder Stew. 

Everyone sat down for samples of each soup and bread, and we all declared the class a rousing success. This is the last of the classes I signed up for until Spring. I'm already looking forward to that, but will be making new breads and soups to keep us warm through the winter. I'm sure we'll be sharing with family and friends, too! These are all too good to keep to ourselves!

I'm in the studio today. I've got orders to ship and commissions to work on. We've got plenty of bread from Saturday, which means I won't be baking any this week. So, if you're looking for me, look upstairs at the farmhouse! Tag will be here to say "hi" tomorrow. 

Have a great Monday, friends.

I Have Made Bread!...

Artisan Bread Class Results

Saturday was a day of learning, and it was so much fun! I drove to Fond du Lac to take a class at the technical college. Our instructor was Tom Endejan who, I confirmed that day, is an older brother of a great guy I dated for a little while in high school. Small world. There were eight other ladies who were there, like me, to learn how to make artisan breads. We certainly weren't disappointed.

Teaching Us About Artisan Bread Consistency

Tom taught us about ingredients, measuring, bread types and consistency, and we immediately got our hands-on experience. The students mixed up doughs for multi-grain, sweet, oatmeal and French (my class partner and I did that one) breads. We learned about proofing the bread, and how to treat it after it went through each phase of the rising process. I learned you don't have to beat up the dough (or yourself) to turn out a delicious, crusty bread. Tom also had two foccacia doughs in progress that would become our lunch before we left for the day.

Artisan Bread Classmates and Instructor, Tom Endejan

Here are the students with Tom (I'm behind the lens), and they're all holding a piece of the fabulous, crusty foccacia that had just cooled from the oven - and was our lunch.

We all brought home a selections of the doughs that we'd created in class, so we could bake those at home. We also brought home loaves of multi-grain bread that had been baked while we were learning, along with samples of the baked sweet doughs that had been turned into rolls and coffee cakes.

When I walked in the back door of the farmhouse, Handsome was there to take my bags from me. He was surprised at how much came home from the class, and after tasting everything, he declared the class a huge success. No more grocery store Italian bread (in ten different shapes) in our house. From now on, there will be freshly baked goodness from recipes we received in class.

I'm already scheduled for a second class in late October (Rustic Breads and Soups), but Tom is teaching a second class that takes what I learned over the weekend, further steps in the process. I'm going to the school this morning to see about enrolling in that one, too. (Handsome is encouraging me to go!)

I hope you had a great weekend. Our football and baseball teams (Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers) both won their Sunday games, which is always fun for us. Can you even believe it's already October? Where is the time going? What's the hurry? I'm still wondering what happened to September!

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Well, Happy October! I guess I'll just have to "roll" with it. (I really didn't mean to make that pun. lol) Gotta run. I'll see you Wednesday, after Tag checks in with you tomorrow.

Grandma's Going To School This Fall...

MPTC Class Schedule Cover

 

I'm not going to school this fall for a degree (yet), but I am taking classes to learn how to make artisan breads and rustic soups (three classes total). 

 

I'm so tired of going to the grocery story for a limited selection of "okay" breads. I'd like to create our own breads here at the farm, instead of choosing from Italian, French, sourdough, country, etc., that have no real substance to them. After a while, they all taste the same. I'm taking the bread classes to learn how to make breads with personality (meaning taste, texture, and appeal). 

What goes better with a delicious bread than a hefty, comforting, soup? I'm looking forward to expanding my soup repertoire in time for the cooler weather, too! I think this is going to be fun, and I can't wait for my first class in September.

 

Farmhouse Bread & Butter Pickles

 

Handsome and I put up the last of the farmer's market pickles yesterday, too. These are bread and butter pickles for the pantry. I plan to make more, but I've got other things to do first.

 

Today, I'll be back in the studio (yippee!) to work on setting up more of my Twilight Garden blocks. I have more than a few to get caught up. I'm also going to prepare the weekly minis so I can get those stitched, too. I'm anxious to get a needle in my hand again. I'm happy today's the day.