Carole Ferrari

One of the great joys of baking is the solidarity one feels with the world of bakers. There are two primary ways I feel this through a bake. The first way is in a word, celestial. When I finish a bake and the sun is rising, I am ready to get the load out of the oven and into the hands of people hungry for breakfast, all around the world. It is then I often think of the bakers who are in the middle of the bake, or just about to begin their shift to get bread ready for their community. It feels as if we are in a relay, the path laid out by time. As the earth turns and the sun shines on different parts of the earth, we pass the proverbial oven peel on to the next set of bakers for whom the sun has set and it is time to get the bread ready for the oven, to be ready for their morning customers, as their hungry bellies are ready for their first bite of bread.

 The second kind of baker solidarity is one of essential community. I am a baker because we are bakers. I could not bake without being taught how to bake, without a history of bakers passing along knowledge, without bakers writing down what they know and teaching us through their books and classes, without a community of bakers to share with.

 Supporting bakeries around the world is uplifting the craft, and the good effect, of baking itself. It is really exciting to imagine passing the oven peel to bakers at the Adama Bakery as it blossoms into a full-fledged production bakery. I was so excited to be able to contribute, however possible, to this blossoming. I watched the Bread Bakers Guild sponsored fundraiser for the Adama Bakery. The fundraiser was an incredible sharing of bread and pastry knowledge. When LaSheeda Perry presented her cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese frosting, I knew my customers would love them and that I could sell quite a few to raise funds for Adama. I told them about the fundraiser through my weekly newsletter and my amazing customers bought $1400 CAD worth of cinnamon rolls!  

 I look forward to learning from the Adama bakers and baking their recipes, one day soon I hope. For all the hardships one faces in running a bakery and getting a good bake out, being part of the great world of baking is a joyful, good thing.