Hi Everyone,
I've been promising so many people that I'd update this blog that I feel I owe you all a good one. This won't be it, as it's too late in the evening to write everything I want to, but I do want to tell you about a few things.
First, thank you to everyone at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont and to all who came to the whole grain bread class on August 5th and 6th. It was the first time this class has been offered and we did the second day as a hands-on workshop. Everyone seemed pleased (except those on the waiting list who couldn't get in--I'm so sorry, but we'll repeat it again in late spring or next summer).
I will soon post news about how to become a recipe tester for the new whole grains bread book, so check in from time to time. The testing won't begin until the new year, when the book is closer to being finished, so don't worry--there will be plenty of time to respond but I still have to set up the e-mailing folder and also the response questionaires. Bear with me, it will happen.
A few upcoming dates: Camp Bread takes place in SF on September 11-13. Over 200 serious bread-heads will be converging at the San Francisco Baking Institute for what could only be termed a bread baker's fantasy camp. I'll be teaching some classes on my pet project, cold fermentation, but more importantly, I will also be taking classes with some of our very best bakers. For more details check it out on The Bread Bakers Guild of America website (www.bbga.org).
I will be in NYC from November 1-3 for the New York Pizza Show and also for a short class at the Institute for Culinary Education (on the 3rd). Call them for more details if you want to attend, or check out their website (www.iceculinary.com) .
On Nov. 17th I'll be doing a demonstration class on whole grain breads at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. Please call them for details if you'd like to attend or check their website (www.southernseason.com)
Mostly, of course, I'll be in Charlotte as we begin our second year of classes at the new Johnson & Wales campus. This year we'll have 2,000 students as we add a sophomore class, instead of last year's 1,100 freshman, so it will be a whole new ball game. September will be full immersion for the students as the city celebrates the fourth annual Charlotte Shout (Sept. 22-24), probably the best food festival in the country with all sorts of celebrity chef demo's and cooking competitions, and barbecue championships, music, ice carving, barista competitions, and on and on. I'll be doing a pizza demo on Friday, the 21st, at 1:45, along with radio personality Charles Jenkin (a true pizza fanatic) and dough tossing champion Siler Chapman. Our students, freshman and all, will be assisting some of the best chefs and all we can ask of them is to make us proud. For many, this will be a life changing experience.
A few days before that, though, on Monday Sept. 19th, there will be a James Beard Foundation dinner, The Carolina Harvest Dinner of the Year, and some of our students will work with me and our other bread instructor, Chef Harry Peemoeller, to make all the breads, including a Carolina triple corn bread with all the corn grown and milled in either North or South Carolina (Anson Mills is supplying the corn meal and the grits, plus we'll be using some locally grown fresh corn). The dinner, which costs $165 per person, is nearly sold out already (125 seats). I'll write more about it afterwards, but it is a ten course tasting menu prepared by Charlotte's ten greatest chefs (plus a few extra treats, of course) all featuring North and South Carolina ingredients. Our stated goal is to make it the new benchmark in North Carolina of what a collaborative dinner event can be, comparable to something you might experience at The French Laundry or Per Se. I'll let you know if we pulled it off.
On October 20th I feel very honored to be doing a reading and answering questions at Charlotte's nationally known Novello Book Festival (7 pm at the new children's library, The Imaginon).
If you happen to be in the area, I'll also be speaking on "The Leaven Factor: Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life," at St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church, on Tuesday, October 4th at 7 pm. This is the first time I will have given this talk in Charlotte, and I hope to soon take it on the road.
There's more but that's enough for now--it's late! I'll write again when I get back from San Francisco.
Till then, may your bread always rise!
Peter