The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Back Home Bakery intern Michelle

mcs's picture
mcs

Back Home Bakery intern Michelle

Michelle came to the Back Home Bakery from Vancouver, BC last month for one week of bread baking and pastry making.  Like most visiting interns who specialize in rustic breads, Michelle quickly added an introduction to laminated doughs to her repertoire.  She used her meticulous nature and detail oriented hand-skills to create picture perfect Apfelstrudels, Spinach Puffs and Cheese Danish too.  I think her favorite breads to shape were the Buckwheat Flax loaves we make into boules. 

Unfortunately, most of the pictures we took during the week were on her camera or tablet, so she is invited to add her own photos to this thread!

Thanks for the help Michelle, and I hope you and your husband continue to enjoy your baking skills at home.

-Mark
http://TheBackHomeBakery.com

 


Michelle pre-shaping the dough slabs on Day 1 of Puff-Pastry making.

 


Michelle demonstrating that moving quickly while working with sticky dough will make your life easier.

Comments

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Mark,

For a production kitchen your photos always seem to carry a very relaxed feel to them....especially like the view out of the window....oh, and the dough looks very relaxed too :-)

Thanks for sharing!

Janet

tananaBrian's picture
tananaBrian

I hope someday that I can make it to Montana... for a bit of time with Mark!

 

bd

CJtheDeuce's picture
CJtheDeuce

Whats with all that daylight in the background. seemed most of our work was during the absence of light part of the day.

Charlie

mcs's picture
mcs

photoshop

M2's picture
M2

Thank you Mark for posting those two pictures!  I've gone through the pics in my two devices and all the pictures with me in it are pastry related.  Though I did enjoy learning new skills in pastry, my passion is still in bread!  The second pic in Mark's posting showed my effort in transferring the dough to the end of the table.  It was only about 3 feet away from where I was standing, but every transfer was a challenge.  Without skills, the dough WILL STICK to your hand in a split of a sec.  I felt a sense of accomplishment simply by laying down the dough smoothly without sticking :)

The week spent in the Back Home Bakery was like a fairy tale.  I got the privilege to hone my bread making skills in picturesque Montana.  Mark is the most generous teacher/baker who has enormous patience to work and teach the interns.  Everyday was a blessing.  I am a night person in general but when I was at the Back Home Bakery, I couldn't wait to get up in the middle of the night and started working.

Fairy tale usually ends with a happy ending, and I think finishing up the internship at the farmer's market is definitely a happy one.  Everyone lining up for Mark's booth was similing.  I can tell that they are looking forward to Saturdays.  Our hard work paid off, afterall, making bread is about happiness.

P.S. Since my internship, I have developed a new obsession...making baguette.  Mark's baguette is so unbelievably amazing that you have to sit down before you bite into it.

making Apfelstrudels

yep, we did start in the early morning

 

mcs's picture
mcs

I'm glad you had such a great time.  I thought it was pretty funny when you had one of the baguettes for the first time and you kept looking at it and savoring every bite saying, "Amaaaaaazing!"

Although the pictures I posted may not seem that impressive to the uninitiated, to form a boule with sticky dough is not an easy task!  Sharon was so impressed, she took 6 pictures of you doing that but I only posted 2.  Anyway, thanks for coming to Kalispell for 1 week+ and for getting me ahead in the pastry preparation department.

-Mark

M2's picture
M2

hmm...a bit embarrassed...true, I couldn't get my eyes off your baguette. The crumb, the crust, the colour...it was a beauty.

Thank you!

Michelle