Retired Baker?

Some of you may have heard that in March I was planning to work on an Organic farm near Knoxville, TN. Rich and I had done a lot of research and decided to contact several farms through an organization called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. After several weeks of emailing and conversing with several of these farms, we had set our hopes on Green Man Farm. The farm was offering three internship positions; Garden Manager, Livestock Manager and Baker's Apprentice. After interviewing with the owner of the farm, Rich and I were all set to move to TN in March for nearly 8 months. I had obtained the position of Baker's Apprentice and I was extremely excited about it.

I had even started to practice baking by attempting to recreate a Christmas tradition my Dad began. He use to make fresh cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Since his passing we had been doing store bought or easy bake rolls in an effort to keep the traditional meal alive. I decided it was time to recreate the original tradition by making the rolls from scratch. After a practice run, where I managed to murder the yeast, I successfully made delicious Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas morning. This got me even more excited to be baking on a daily basis.

Rich and I had planned a trip to visit the farm on January 10th for an event the family was hosting. About two days before we were supposed to leave for the trip we got a call from the Farm owner who regretfully let us know that they would not be needing our help for the upcoming season. Both of us were pretty bummed out. I was especially disappointed that my baking career was over before it even began.

Rich had gotten us a few books to prepare for our Farming adventure. He got me a few baking books and I've decided to keep my baking career alive. I have now made coffee cake and white corn rolls from scratch. I plan to continue trying recipes to refine my baking skills, even if they are only used to fill my friends and family's bellies. Both my Grandfather and Father enjoyed baking and I guess I have inherited that trait. Even if it's just in my free time, I refuse to retire at this baking thing!