Well, Jeff and I attended the Summer Loaf in Portland last weekend. We had
a wonderful time. Met old friends, made new friends, inhaled and tasted
some fabulous aromas and taste teases of great breads!!
We started the day by going over and picking up Phyllis to take to the
event. We got into town and located the area, parked and followed our
noses to the location.
We located the info booth and was warmly greeted by Heidi who was part of
the organizing people. Jeff and I had met her previously at a meeting we
attended in April in Portland. We got our T-shirts and started working our
way to the Speaker's Corner where the talks were taking place.
The first talk we attended was by Gary Ebert. He is the owner of Zeppole
Baking in Boise, ID. He started his bakery in 1993 after 15 years of
practicing law. He is a very funny guy but he sure does know his
profession. He spoke of the joys and heartaches of owning and running the
first artisan bakery in Boise. He is going to start doing organic breads.
If you are ever there be sure and check it out.
The other talk we listened to was Didier Rosada. He is from the National
Baking Center in Minneapolis, MN. He spoke about the science of bread
making. He explained relationships about amount of yeast and fermentation
time etc. It was a wonderfully complex talk that left you kneading more
info... He also gave the Master Class on Sun.
We didn't attend the Master Class but we later spoke with a friend who did
attend. She was absolutely astonished at the amount of knowledge Didier
shared with all present. She stated it was an excellent class and she
really learned a lot from it.
We saw the oven that was built by Christian Pozzar. What a fabulous
looking oven. I am sure that if Jeff and I built one we would have
neighbors hanging over the fence when we fired it up to make bread.
We also got to meet Michael Zusman who was the spearhead of Summer Loaf.
It was a very nice to get to finally meet him after talking back and forth
with him about Summer Loaf. He promised to keep us and all of you informed
about next's years event so more of you can attend and enjoy it.
We ran into quite a few friends we had met in April and actually got to
meet new people too. Bread is such a nice way to meet folks.
We finally progressed over to Powell's Books for Cooks and met up with
another friend. We attended the talk (and majorly surprised Lora) by Lora
and Max Brody. (Max is Lora's son who has written "Stuff It") Lora didn't
expect to see Jeff and I. So when she looked up and saw us the expression
on her face was priceless. They are on a book and cooking class tour
around the US. If she comes to your area be sure and go... this class was
about making bread and was fun as well as very, very informative. She is
always a treat to listen to and watch in action!!<G>
We ended the evening going out to dinner and celebrating with Phyllis, her
husband and a couple of her friends. That was the end of a truely
fulfilling day.
Reggie