About Me | Mama Cormier

This has been an extremely busy week. It started with a trip up north to visit our youngest daughter and her family at the camp where they are living for the summer. The next day I attended a garden party at the Women’s Art Association of Canada house in Downtown Toronto. Last year I volunteered to take over the position of library chairperson and in appreciation for the work that I did along with other new volunteers we were each presented with a rose.

The meal was outstanding and my only regret is the I didn’t take any photos of the event. The president, however, did take photos and she sent me one the same day. I thought that she was only taking a photo of the band but she managed to capture me next to the balloons where I stopped so I wouldn’t get in front of her shot.

….bread making

Now that may not be your cup of tea but for me it’s fun and it helps support activities at Montgomery’s Inn (an 1840s-era inn operated as a museum by Toronto Cultural Services at 4709 Dundas St W (at Islington Ave) in Etobicoke, Ontario, 416-394-8113, montinn@toronto.ca.).

Every Tuesday I go to the inn to help prepare the dough for six to seven different types of bread. There are no preservatives in the bread and most of them are made with specific bread flours that are ordered from specialty mills. I’m usually in the kitchen for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

On Wednesday I return to the inn where anywhere from four to seven volunteers shape the dough, fire up the outdoor brick oven, prepare two sourdough breads and one or two batches of focaccia. Wednesdays is always a longer day because it takes anywhere from two to three bakes to get all the bread baked and ready for the Farmers’ Market where a another group of volunteers sell the bread. Typically on Wednesday we’re there for five to six hours and lunch is always prepared for us by our ‘boss’ who makes some of the most amazing meals from scratch (homemade soups and stews, sausages with homemade buns, pasta and salads, baked beans, etc.).

This week I took some photos of our beautiful and delicious bread.