The Love Affair Begins…

For this first post, I decided to describe my personal history with bread.

Shortly after telling my family I was using bread baking as a form of meditation, my oldest niece asked when I first felt a passion for bread. (I’m paraphrasing since she’s a tween, and to my knowledge does not use the word “passion”.)

The answer took quite a bit of contemplation, but it would have to be when I went through an internship and was later hired by a local bakery. The original intention was to find out more about pastry, cookies, and all the sweet baked goods. I wanted to be a pastry chef.

The owner of the bakery had me shadow both the pastry baker and the bread baker. I didn’t see the artistic side to bread baking at the time, but I was excited for the opportunity.

The first night, yes I said night, I met the bread baker. I was in high school at the time, and had no concept of what it meant to work while others were asleep. My friend and I had been out and I didn’t try taking a nap during the day, but my excitement and young energy kept me going for a full shift.

There was a definite presence of nerves, but it became more enjoyable and less intimidating as the night progressed into early morning. We mixed, shaped, and baked several types of bread. With each batch I got a feel for the life within bread and infatuation grew.

Little did I know, learning how to properly shape bread loaves would play a part in shaping my life.