Hello from Minnesota
Hi, all.
I'm very excited about just having joined this forum. I was born and raised in Germany and learned the craft of a Baker as a teenager there. After 4 years of school and apprenticeship, I am proud to call myself a "Journeyman". Married a gal from Iowa and moved to Rochester, MN in 1995. Worked for a year at a local bakery until I realized that the night hours of a baker simply don't agree with a newly wedded wife who is a nurse. Different job for me then. After quite a few years later, we built a house in Zumbrota, just 30 minutes North of Rochester. After moving in, we found out we (and by "we", I mean my wife) found out we'd have a baby. After the first year, I decided to quit my job and stay home full time with the little guy. That allowed me to delve into Baking a little more again. I had been using my Zojirushi for our everyday bread, but then we decided I should get more serious: I'll be taking an Oven Building Class at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN in May. See http://www.northhouse.org/courses/courses/course.cfm/cid/328 for details. I'm planning to build next Spring and then hopefully be able to bake and sell at local Farmers Markets - mostly for fun and bragging rights; I realize this isn't going to be a full-time job (and I don't want it to be).
Looking forward to learn from and share with all of you!
Stephan
My goodness, with that Journeyman background we look forward to learning from you!
What types of breads did you bake during your schooling and apprenticeship?
Lindy,
I worked in a Bakery in a small town South of Cologne. Main breads were Wheat and some Wheat/Rye mix, French Breads, fresh rolls for morning delivery, some hardcore Pumpernickel (that stuff was AWESOME!!!), Sweet Breads in various forms and some Multigrain. I don't have huge experience with sourdough from scratch, though. In the interest of speed and dependability, my boss "cheated" with a Sour additive:)
I enjoyed working with breads a lot more than the pastries - not a big sweet tooth, I guess. I'd like to think I got pretty good at the shaping part...
Hope to see you here often and learn from you !
Anna (formerly Thüringen)
My parents came to the USA from Germany a year before I was born and I have since had one foot planted in each culture. One of the things I've been most interested in learning is German style yeast bakery. My mom was never one for baking yeast breads, although her cookies and nut breads were exceptional.
I'm happy to make your acquaintance, Stephan, and I hope you will enjoy being a member of this forum as much as I already do.
Emelye