A couple times a week, I actually get five minutes to sit down and read the local newspaper. That’s when I spied the ad for King Arthur Flour’s upcoming baking class. I knew they held baking classes at their Vermont location, but didn’t realize they did them on the road as well. Sometimes stealing a few minutes to read the newspaper actually pays off! The class was only 10 minutes away and the price was right … free!
I pulled into the parking lot late and hurried to the front door. As I entered the hall, a King Arthur representative handed me a program and as I turned to grab a seat, I stopped for a second. Holy Crowded Room, Batman – there were a couple hundred people there! I later did a rough count and there were at least 300 or so, covering every demographic … old, young, female and male. I was surprised to see such a great turnout, but pleasantly so.
The instructor, Carolyn, had just began and there were large projection screens up to make it easier for everyone to see what she was doing in front of the room. She was outgoing, congenial and had a fantastic, dry sense of humor. She went through two recipes, an apple pie and a chocolate ganache tart, during the class, and gave many tips along the way. She explained everything effortlessly and took questions from the audience throughout.
I have never made a crust or bread from scratch, but leaving the class, I was totally inspired. Inspired enough to stop at the store on the way home and pick up what I needed to make their “awesome whole wheat bread,” a recipe featured in their program from the night. With under 10 minutes of hands-on time, and a reward of a homemade loaf of fresh bread, how can I resist?
The folks from King Arthur Flour were incredibly generous, giving away some 20-25 door prizes of their various products at the end of class, and giving every attendee a free dough scraper and a $10 gift card. Not near a King Arthur Flour class location? Fear not, they have free online classes ready when you are. You can find the complete list right here. Happy baking!
Sounds like a great class! Now, I need to read the paper more often so I can find these great opportunities!
Patsy Kreitmans last blog post..Quaker Oats Simple Harvest: GIVEAWAY Winner!
Cate, I can’t believe you haven’t made a homemade crust! You must do it…pretty easy. :-)
Claires last blog post..A Perfect Match!
Hey! Will you get me the recipe for the chocolate ganache tart? Sounds yummy!
I always hear about King Arthur flour but I don’t even know if any stores carry it in Canada. I’ve never seen it.
Is it really THAT good?
Nerissas last blog post..Simple Woman’s Daybook
Sounds like a wonderful class! I’m completely jealous!!
Elyses last blog post..Ninja cookies…
Sounds like fun (and ever better since it was free).
But you haven’t made bread or crust? Oh my. Cate, you are totally missing out!!!
Sarah Carons last blog post..Mouthwatering Chicken Burgers
thanks for the story and links! I’m a ‘bread-machiner’ and enjoyed reading the on-line class. When I was a member of on-line ABM groups, we talked a lot about flour. At first it was King Arthur (KA), and then White Lily (WL) became the star. Because of those groups, I learned a lot of hints and tricks (and some really good recipes that I later tweaked as I learned more and got braver)
“Holy Crowded Room, Batman” really cracked me up.
How did the bread turn out?
There is no reason to be afraid of dough from scratch, dough is thy friend!
nicks last blog post..TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake
that sounds like so much fun :) and i’m off to check out that recipe!
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I’m so jealous!! They never come to Knoxville :)
I make our bread from scratch, but I totally cheat and use my mixer to do all the kneading. I find kneading by hand to be very intimidating and would have never tried to make bread at all if I hadn’t tried it on my KitchenAid.
Crusts still elude me, though.
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Glad you enjoyed the class. Thanks for the great review. Mary @ KAF