SATURDAY AT PORTLAND'S CULINARY WORKSHOP

Saturday started out early for me with a holiday artisan breads class that began at the Culinary Workshop at 9 a.m.  

I was one of twelve students that included two men.  We prepared and baked a Povitica, a traditional Croatian pastry.  It's made from buttery pastry dough stretched very thin and covered with a mixture of walnuts, sugar, bittersweet chocolate and a few other ingredients.  It's rolled into a strudel and baked.


Our next project was Hefenkrantz, a German bread that is braided and shaped into a wreath.  Traditionally, it's a sweet bread but ours was savory, using pecorino cheese and finely minced fresh rosemary and thyme.  The students made one of each of the above breads to take home so both are wrapped in the freezer, ready to defrost and warm on Thanksgiving. While our breads were baking we enjoyed a demonstration of preparing a Christmas Star Twisted Bread that we all enjoyed with cheeses and fruit during the break.

The class was a perfect way to get some "holiday spirit", learn new skills and meet people who love to cook and bake.  It you're in the Portland area, check out their website.  The school offers a large variety of cuisines and they offer cooking classes for children, as well.