Monday Open Thread 1/31/22
Monday Open Thread 1/31/22
Tell me how much you love me
Just kidding, sort of.
This weekend I taught another one of my “Sourdough Lifestyle” workshops, and—despite a few technical glitches—I think it went well. I’ll post the video and handout soon if you missed it and would like to purchase a copy to watch on your own time1.
If you’ve taken a few of my Zoom-based workshops in the past, you’ll know that the company I used originally to host them, Airsubs, went out of business, and I had to move to Ribbon (now called Momence) instead. In the process of migrating over, I lost all of the reviews—positive and or/constructively critical—that previous students had left after taking my workshops. Given that that sort of feedback is useful for me to judge whether or not I’m on the right track, and useful for others who might be thinking about taking a class, I’d like to recreate a version of it here.
So: if you’ve taken one of my classes before—including the sourdough one this past weekend—and you feel so inclined, would you mind telling others about your experience with it on this thread? (Feel free to also add requests for future classes too, since it’s my goal to teach about once per month this year.)
Thank you!
—Andrew
If you took any one of my Sourdough Crash Course or Sourdough Lifestyle classes in the past, keep an eye out for an email from me, because I’m going to send you a link to download this most recent one too, since I think it is the best one yet. (And if you don’t hear from me, please reach out.)
I find this space a place that has generated a community of bread heads I didnt think Id find. Andrew is a facilitator of community, learning, and IMO most importantly: sharing voices that might not otherwise be lifted. I love this nook of the internet.
I took Andrew’s very first Sourdough bread course, before it was named Sourdough Lifestyle. I’ve also taken his Pizza al Taglio/Sourdough Focaccia Double-Header, the Friday Nite Pizza Party: Bar Pizza, the Friday Nite Pizza Party: Sicilian Slab and the Baguettes Sans Peur classes as well. I also took this past weekend’s Sourdough Lifestyle course.
All of these classes have been spectacular. Andrew is a great teacher, and really good at demonstrating the various aspects of his techniques and recipes. I often come away thinking “I would have burned my kitchen down if I tried to teach the way he does, with timers going off, things going in and out of the oven, all the while calmly explaining what’s happening and answering questions patiently and thoroughly.” He imparts so much knowledge. And his handouts are very thorough. It’s not unusual for him to revise a handout based on questions that come up during class. He’s committed to helping his students learn how to master sourdough baking in various forms. I’ve learned a lot from these classes.
I highly recommend all of the classes I’ve taken with him and will definitely sign up for new ones that appear. I’m most interested in learning more about inclusions, and I’d love to see a class on the style of bread used in his Chocolate-Sour Cherry-Cardamom Sourdough recipe. I made that bread and I still have questions about it, including potential modifications and extensions to it.