Slow Food Christmas Cookie Exchange

Thirteen brave folks added the Slow Food Cookie exchange to their busy holiday calendars.  This despite the invitation to put vegetables in cookies, and categories for judging including "healthiest ingredient" and "most unusual ingredient."  Slow Food folk are incredibly intrepid!  They even shared favorite baking memories with the receptive group.   From left, Kurt, Nick, Sarah, Aisling, Peggy, Rachel, Laurie and Russ.

Ask Angela about anything to do with baking, and you will get an enthusiastic and thorough response, as Whitney finds out!

We sampled Carrot-Beet Cookies, Herb Shortbread, Spinach-Blueberry-Oat Bars, Squash-Cranberry-Walnut Biscotti, Pumpkin Cookies, Brandy Balls, Ginger Cookies, and Green Tea-Pecan Cookies. A good-natured but somewhat controlled free-for-all voting session awarded bakers prizes for healthiest ingredient, most local, most unusual ingredient, and first place in taste.  Congratulations to winners Sarah (2!), Angela and Peggy.

Not just cookies, but cider, local cheeses, fresh-baked bread (with local flour) by Angela, local hot spiced wine, and fruits were on offer.

Softly falling snow added to the holiday ambiance.

My Mom chats with Russ and Laurie, who supply many local folks with free-range chickens, eggs, turkeys, and even ducks. Thanks to all the farmers and bakers who made this relaxing and fun Slow Food event possible!  And special thanks to Angela for co-hosting!

Slow Food Breadmaking Class

On Saturday, the first ever Slow Food Breadmaking Class got rolling at 9:00 a.m. with six students and three presenters. We learned breadmaking techniques, and shaped and baked personal artisan boules from dough Angela brought. Tracy showed us how to mix and knead molasses-wheat bread, and we shaped little loaves of it to take home and bake.

We also ate a lot of bread! We tasted limpa, molasses-wheat, Ashland bread, chai bread (Angela wants to try it with rye so she can call it chai rye), rosemary sourdough, and 100% whole wheat rolls made from fresh-ground wheat.

As everyone knows, homemade bread is all good, but FRESH homemade bread is ethereal. Using the methods they've been experimenting with from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Tracy and Angela showed us how to keep a bowl of fresh bread dough in the fridge for two weeks, during which time a hunk of it can be shaped and baked anytime you wish. Who isn't for saving work but getting great bread at the same time? Wonderful stuff. And no kneading! Just mix, refrigerate, and the dough is there when you have a hankering for a fresh, crusty loaf.

As always, successful breadmaking results in the desire to experiment further, and try new things. Angela and Tracy are thinking about Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day for their next area of exploration.

Becky talked about her sourdough and wheat-grinding experiences and handed out little containers of sourdough starter for interested bakers. This starter's life began in Becky's parents' grape vineyard ... the yeast was obtained from grapes submerged in flour and water according to the method used in Nancy Silverton's Breads from LaBrea Bakery.

It's an amazing experience to share three hours in a kitchen with eight enthusiastic people who love food, bread, and baking. Hosting a Slow Food class is highly recommended!

Here's our group, except for Angela, who's shown in the next picture taking our artisan boules from the oven. (L-R: Darci, Cathy, James, Tracy, Becky, Madeleine, Peggy, and Lisa.)