Baking & Pastry Skill Building Class #1

It was fabulous. Christine, the teacher, creates a warm welcoming and informal atmosphere in our class. I loved it. We were a small class and we have the run of the place. We used some of their commercial equipment, we had help from senior students and there were samples of things to eat everywhere — and we were offered wine whilst our bread rose.

I also found myself in the company of some fun, wonderful women. Sarah, on my left, is young and a gamer. She builds code for an online bingo game in spite of graduating in psychology. Irina is a charming lovely woman from Bulgaria, Betsy is a fun country girl and Anita who is sometimes my partner, is a joy to work with.

This is Christine, our teacher. She has an impressive
resumé and us warn and welcoming. I could not with
for a nicer teacher.

The steps of bread making.

Look at how firm her hands are. She figures she has made
well over 1,000 baguettes. 

Christine is showing fellow students how to read the
"window pane" to know if the bread is ready to rise.

The foccacia before going into the oven.

Is that not a stunning sight! I love this shot into the commercial
ovens which we accessed for some of our baking.

Lunch. The baked foccacia.

The raw dough for the buns and baguettes.

We had access to this huge wonderful warming oven
in which to rise out bread.

My first baguettes! They sound great when they are pinched.

My first wholegrain buns.