Do you live in Chicago? If not, might you visit our fair city sometime soon? It would be nice to meet you.
I am happy that you like the braid in the photo. It is a challah braid, just before I popped it into the oven. To arrive at the rosette shape, I followed the illustrations on p.297 of Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman.
Please check out my blog for the challah recipe, as well as photos of the braid before and after baking.
I love the Meetup.com format. It's what we use on our site. I tried to get people interested but with everyone's busy schedules, it's hard. We've had tours of bakeries, commerical baking businesses and even have done several charity things. I didn't want the group to become a recipe exchange, but alas.. it could be turning into that. LOL
Luckily, my motorcycle group is on Meetup too so when I'm tired of bread, I can go for a ride.
I did notice a huge influx of new bakers to my group.. and they all want lessons, etc. Are you dealing with those things?
It was great to read your comment--it gave me a lot to think about.
We are just starting out. So far, this week we are doing a visit to a new artisanal bakery in town. Next week we are having a "taste-and-tell": each member brings a freshly baked bread, and we taste, ask questions, and learn from one another. This will be a monthly event.
We are learning as we go. And finding it important that our members have some experience to share with the group. We are asking the total newbies to take a stab at bread baking before joining--so that they begin to develop an awareness of the many variables involved in the bread-baking practice, and get more from the discussions.
It would be helpful for me to have a look at your meetup site, and learn from your experience. Could you post the link?
We had our second meeting of the Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers last night--a "Taste-and-Tell," to which each baker brought a loaf to share with the group. Again, we were wowed by 100% turnout, and by all that we can learn from one another.
I posted a recap of the event, along with lots of photos, here and here.
I started something similar here in Arizona. We also buy cooperatively.. which makes it even nicer.
Hi rookiejane,
Do you live in Chicago? If not, might you visit our fair city sometime soon? It would be nice to meet you.
I am happy that you like the braid in the photo. It is a challah braid, just before I popped it into the oven. To arrive at the rosette shape, I followed the illustrations on p.297 of Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman.
Please check out my blog for the challah recipe, as well as photos of the braid before and after baking.
I've posted some tips and tricks for challah rosette shaping here, along with a video.
It would be interesting to hear about others' tips and tricks for coaxing bread into pleasing shapes.
. . . The Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers meetup is off to a great start.
Please check us out and join the group!
I love the Meetup.com format. It's what we use on our site. I tried to get people interested but with everyone's busy schedules, it's hard. We've had tours of bakeries, commerical baking businesses and even have done several charity things. I didn't want the group to become a recipe exchange, but alas.. it could be turning into that. LOL
Luckily, my motorcycle group is on Meetup too so when I'm tired of bread, I can go for a ride.
I did notice a huge influx of new bakers to my group.. and they all want lessons, etc. Are you dealing with those things?
Hello BellesAZ,
It was great to read your comment--it gave me a lot to think about.
We are just starting out. So far, this week we are doing a visit to a new artisanal bakery in town. Next week we are having a "taste-and-tell": each member brings a freshly baked bread, and we taste, ask questions, and learn from one another. This will be a monthly event.
We are learning as we go. And finding it important that our members have some experience to share with the group. We are asking the total newbies to take a stab at bread baking before joining--so that they begin to develop an awareness of the many variables involved in the bread-baking practice, and get more from the discussions.
It would be helpful for me to have a look at your meetup site, and learn from your experience. Could you post the link?
Last evening we kicked off the Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers meetup. We were wowed by the turnout---100% attendance--and even more impressed by our members' interest and enthusiasm. Here's a blog post recapping last night's event at Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter.
We had our second meeting of the Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers last night--a "Taste-and-Tell," to which each baker brought a loaf to share with the group. Again, we were wowed by 100% turnout, and by all that we can learn from one another.I posted a recap of the event, along with lots of photos, here and here.
Hi just saw this post! I am in Chicago too and am recently getting more addicted to bread baking.
I am going to sign up for your group now :-)