Learning to Bake: Lessons from King Arthur Flour

Being the terrible baker that I am, I very graciously (and mighty eagerly) accepted an invitation from Megan to spend to spend the day at the headquarters of King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont.  Along with 9 other Boston-based bloggers (Jen, Alicia, Meghan, Michelle, Daisy, Kerstin, Elina and Bridget), we all headed north to spend the weekend kneading, rolling and mixing through three baking classes (featuring "how-to's" on pizza dough, homemade crackers and whole wheat brownies) and a fun evening out for dinner.  It was kind of like a giant sleepover party full of lots of laughing, ton of fun, and of course, food, food, food!  Our weekend in the country was picture-perfect and I could devote a week's worth of posts (at least) to writing all about it but I thought the best way to share all of my learnings, observations and just things that I enjoyed was via pictures and a list of 25 things (listed in no particular order):

1. Vermont is beautiful

2. Absolutely gorgeous

3. King Arthur is located in Vermont and it's America's Oldest Flour Company 

4. And they have a "Live Help" feature on their website and a hotline to help save any baking catastrophe

5. Lunch is always best when freshly made

6. When measuring flour, lightly dust it into the cup and level it out with a flat surface 

7. When making yeast based doughs (pizza dough shown here), knead gently don't beat the dough up!

8. Separate your ingredients in the bowl so if you get interrupted, you'll know where you left off

9. Us food bloggers take LOTS of pictures

10. But in the kitchen is where are the happiest

11. Cooking/Baking with the freshest ingredients is always the best

12. Homemade crackers are light years better than store bought 

13. Slingin' pizzas into an outdoor oven ROCKS

14. I very badly want one of these for my non-existent back yard

15. There's something SO satisfying about making your own pizza from scratch

16. These were in fact, the best brownies ever

17. Did I mention how many pictures we Bloggers take?

18. After a day of baking, a celebratory glass of wine (served out of a pint glass, naturally) is very necessary 

19. As is a good hearty 3 course meal (after all, a day of baking is hard work!)

20. A good hearty breakfast of blueberry and cream cheese strata with bacon is a great way to start the day

21. The leaves are already starting to turn and fall in Vermont

22. Zoe, of the Norwich Bed and Breakfast, came dangerously close to being brought back to Boston

23. Sheep are a skittish bunch

24. Whenever you get the opportunity to learn from a pro, do it.

25. And cooking/baking with friends is the best

Special thanks to the folks at King Arthur for showing us around and helping me to get a little more comfortable baking in the kitchen.  I'm excited to take what I've learned this weekend into my Small Boston Kitchen and see what bakes up!  Thanks to all who made this fantastic weekend possible!