History


My journey into the bread baking world began around 2003 when I was working for a national pizza chain for extra cash in college.  It was there that I first became fascinated with dough and the living organism within: yeast.

Some short years later I began working for another national chain where we baked bread daily for our sandwiches.  It was here that I learned, with more detail, the basics of bread baking and came to appreciate the intricacies that bring a loaf its shape, color, texture, and taste.

Move forward to late 2015.

I now own my own franchise of the aforementioned sandwich shop.  I'm working 90+ hours a week and trying to figure out what my purpose in all of this is.  What's keeping me going? What's there left for me to appreciate?

Bread.

Our company had decided to change to a different french bread and the roll out (no pun intended) did not go as planned.  Many owners and managers were having difficulty making the proper adjustments to baking this new "artisan" bread.  I struggled as well but I refused to give up.  I kept thinking through my index of knowledge I amassed over the years and created my own troubleshooting guide.  Soon I persevered and mastered the new bread.  It was at that point I had discovered my true passion.  I became obsessed with bread and learning all I could about it.  I read blogs, watched videos, read books and recipes.  Soon I found myself trying these different techniques I had learned, sometimes with success, other times with failure.

Now, I'm a novice moving to an intermediate in the world of bread baking.  I created this blog to share my experiences with those who are looking to delve into the daunting world or flour, water, salt, and yeast for themselves and hopefully show them we don't all have to be a mater baker to make a good loaf.