More Than Just Baking Bread

…one of the reasons why I find it so hard to lose weight

As many of you know I volunteer at one of the historical museums in Toronto and bake bread which is then sold at the Farmers’ Market. All the proceeds go to the Inn to support their programming.

Every Tuesday I make the 15 minute drive to Montgomery’s Inn, where I prepare the dough for four to six different varieties of bread. I also feed the sour dough starter for the bread that we make the next day and the following week. The dough is stored overnight in the refrigerator. There are usually 2 or 3 of us that do the initial prep work.

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The next day on Wednesday there are anywhere from four to six of us that prepare the sour dough bread, get the fire in the oven ready and shape the breads that we made the day before and that morning. We’re also in charge of clean-up and Jim is particularly good at it and likes doing it.

When the first loaves are in the oven we sit down as a group and have a lunch that is prepared by our lead baker and I’ve become the salad maker. Every week the meals seem to get more elaborate and in the past three weeks, Dale, has also added desserts which he usually prepares at home. Dessert is served after the second batch of bread is in the oven and we sit down and enjoy Dale’s sweet delights with a cup of tea.

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These scones were baked in the wood fired oven. They may look a little dark but they were delicious.

All in all we have a great time together and look forward every week to meeting up again.

The Final Holdouts for Hallowe’en

…even though the 31st was 10 days ago the pumpkins and decorations are still evident

This will be probably be the last weekend for Hallowe’en decorations. With Christmas fairs and church bazaars about to open their doors for the holiday season we will start seeing Christmas lights, door wreaths and lawn ornaments pop up all over the neighbourhood.

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