Bread Winner!!! Part Dos!

This morning I got my winner email from Panera Bread...

I was a First Prize winner!  They awarded 1 Grand Prize, 5 First Prizes, and 25 Second Prizes...so I'm definitely excited!  I have won free Panera for a year, and a copy of Erik Kastel's (of the Culinary Institute of America) Artisan Breads at Home.  I cannot wait for the book to get here, and I have a sneaking suspicion that my family cannot wait either lol.  My brother is already hinting that I should ship homemade bread to him at college!

Congratulations to all of the other winners, and especially Lindsay W., the Grand Prize winner!!!  Her story was definitely touching and beautifully written!  Check out her winning entry!

Bread Winner!!!

Yeah...this happened today!!!

Clicky Clicky

Proofing My Passion

I couldn't resist sharing this with all of you.  I entered a contest tonight (ok more like 2:15 this morning), that required me to write about my passion for baking.  The grand prize is a huge culinary school scholarship (fingers crossed)!  Most of the people that entered wrote serious stories about their love of baking or about how it is a family tradition, while I on the other hand opted for a light hearted poem about my need for this scholarship because I suck at baking bread/dough related things.  Here it is...I hope you enjoy my....errr...prose?...maybe I should find a writing scholarship? :-P

Proofing My Passion

I learned how to cook

at a very young age,

but the story is too long

for the size of this page

So here’s the story,

a condensed version if you will,

about a girl who longs to bake

with CIA level precision and skill

My mom taught me the basics -

boiling, frying, and baking.

I knew early on that the culinary world

was mine for the taking!

As I got older and wiser

my kitchen adventures grew,

and I soon learned the hard way

there was little about baking I knew.

Cookies, cheesecakes, cakes, and pies

were mine for the taking,

but that darn loaf of bread

I have always had difficulty making!

Many years at college,

and several loans later,

I learned the hard way

that I did not want to be an educator!

Soon I lost my job,

and mom got cancer.

Time in the kitchen

became my only answer.

With books by Julia Child,

and some by Julie Powell, too,

I had piles of inspiration,

And lots of dishes to do!

I soon took back the position

I had at a deli in high school,

and  remembered that a job

can be fun and not cruel.

I have spent the days since

chopping, slicing, and dicing -

knowing all along that

My future I was not sacrificing!

Recently a brand new business

has branched out all alone,

A new catering company

which I can call my own!

I love treating others

to the homemade, savory, and sweet,

and hope that I can soon

offer them a yeast risen treat!

In the years my cooking has grown,

and skills are what I've learned,

but making delicious and edible carbs

is a skill for which I still yearn.

Many attempts at baking were made,

and at most of them I failed,

so I know that this scholarship

would give me the chance to prevail!

I hope this poem has given you

a chuckle or a laugh,

but also reflect my passion

for unleashing my baking wrath!