Welcome to the very first Wordloaf weekly open thread post! The idea here is simple: Talk amongst yourselves, using the comment thread below.
Let’s use this space to get to know one another and to share questions, triumphs, setbacks, in our bread baking (and otherwise). Whatever you want—it’s a community space. I’ll be here to answer questions or comments directed to me, but I want this to be as much a group conversation as it is a town hall with me at the podium.
When I teach in-person classes (*sigh*, someday), I usually begin by going around the room and asking people to answer a few simple questions about themselves, to gauge the vibe and gain a sense of what people are hoping to come away with once the class is done.
Let’s try something like that with this first thread. Tell us all a little bit about yourself and your relationship to baking bread, starting with the following questions:
What is your name and where do you live?
How long you’ve been subscribing to Wordloaf?
What is your bread baking experience?
What are one or two bread skills or recipes you’d like to tackle and want help with?
Anything else you’d like to share…
Okay, let’s do this! (Please don’t be shy, pretend you are in class and everyone is doing it too.)
By the way, this Wednesday’s newsletter will be a guest post that I am extremely excited about, as it is a chapter from Kate Lebo’s The Book of Difficult Fruit, a book that I just adore. (I’ve been on a bit of a fruit kick here lately, I know, but I promise you that this excerpt is definitely bread-adjacent.)
—Andrew
YOU GUYS!!! This is amazing, thank you all for sharing. I'll say more soon, but I want you to know that I'm paying attention from the sidelines, and so happy that you are finding community here.
My name is LuAnne, and I live north of Seattle, WA
I have been enjoying Word Loaf for about six months.
I have been in the retail business and marketing since I was 12 and retired eight years ago.
I live six months of the year in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
I have been baking bread since I got married in 1976, when I baked Sheep Herders Bread every day off.
Many years ago I had a sour dough starter, but lost it when I escaped from an abusive marriage.
I would love to learn how to keep a starter alive over a six-month hiatus, and/or how to start a starter and bake with it in a hot, humid, tropical climate at sea level.