Peter Reinhart's Weblog

Folks, We Have a Winner

Hi Everyone,

      I'm happy to announce that long time correspondent and recipe tester Dan Haggarty is the winner of the "Name That Book" contest. He came up with, "Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques for Enhanced Flavours." I'd say that's pretty darn close, so he gets a free signed copy. Thanks Dan--great intuition!

      If any of you already have the book please feel free to send in your reviews to Amazon and other web book services and discussion groups (hopefully, they'll be positive reviews but, of course, be frank).  There is one reviewer on Amazon that claims he learned  nothing new from this book--I'm really sorry to have disappointed him but I'd love to know what books he's read that have anything like the formulas and new applications of traditional methodology that we (and I include all the testers, who helped shape these) came up with for this book. Oh well, you can't win them all, but I hope others of you are finding it new and original and are enjoying the breads. Let me know your thoughts at recipetesters@yahoo.com . 

    I'm going to try this weekend to set up a response thread directly on the blog--does anyone know how this is done? If so, write to me at the above e-address. I feel like such a dork in these matters--thank goodness for Mena Trott, of Typepad/Moveable Type who set this blog up for me in the first place, or I'd never have gotten it going.

    May Your Bread Always Rise!

   Peter

   

Travel Dates

Hi Everyone,

      I've been promising this for a while so here it is, at last. All of these classes will be based on the new whole grains bread book unless otherwise noted. I hope you can make it to one of them and, if not, I will be booking future classes, probably for the late spring and early summer of 2008, to other cities around the country and will post them in a few months when they are confirmed. So this is just a start. Please contact the actual venues, not me,  if you want to reserve a seat or to ask  time and location questions:

September 22: A Southern Season, Chapel Hill, NC (pizza class)

October 20th: A Southern Season, Chapel Hill, NC (whole grain breads)

November 2-3: Two day hands-on workshop at King Arthur Flour, Norwich, VT

January 28-Feb 2: Central Market tour (San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Ft. Worth--contact the store nearest you for actual date, as we are still working on the final order of appearances)

Feb. 25th:  Carlsbad, CA, Sur la Table (SLT)

Feb. 26th: Newport Beach, CA (SLT)

Feb. 28: LA Farmers Market, Los Angeles (SLT)

Feb.29: Westlake Village CA, Let's Get Cookin'

March 1: Westlake Ville CA, Let's Get Cookin' (Panini class)

March 3: Los Gatos, CA (SLT)

March 4:  San Mateo, CA (Draeger's Market)

March 5: San Francsico, SLT (Maiden Lane store)

March 6: Danville, CA (Draeger's Market)

March 8: Sonoma, CA (Ramekins)

March 9: Sonoma, (Ramekins,  Panini class)

March 10: Santa Rosa, CA (SLT)

March 12: Scottsdale, AZ (SLT)

      That's it for now, but I will post new bookings as they arise. There's agood chance I'll be in Philadelphia during the week of October 22nd for the Book and the Cook, but don't have the details yet. It won't be a class, just a great dinner event featuring some of the new breads from the book at one of the participating restaurants; should know which one soon.

     Okay, it's a start. By this time next year I hope to have visited many more cities. If you live near a cooking school that likes to bring in visiting authors or travel teachers, please contact them and encourage them to contact me (please, don't write to me about a school near you that I should contact--I'd rather that the school contact me first). The best e-address to give them is: recipetesters@yahoo.com Because of my teaching obligations at Johnson & Wales it's very tricky to travel all the time, but I am planning on leaving time in June and July for this, so hang in there and I'll try to get to a city near you sooner or later.

       More soon. Till then, may your bread always rise!

      Peter