STIR THE POTS

Istanbul

As some of you may know I am on vacation. Most of the time was spent at home alone with the cat! So today I go on a little adventure. I fly off to Istanbul to meet Dilara Erbay who has invited me as a guest chef at her restaurant Dilara Sabra cadabra.

See you on the otherside.

llamas and wurstli

During my travels in Baselland, we decided on a traditional outdoor Swiss meal, but it's like a weenie roast, I can't recall the spelling  it's brotli or something like that? My sister will box my ears regarding my misspelling, for sure!
Making our way down the road in the family automobile I winced  from my previous days excursion on bike to Maisprach as we passed some hilly country!  My brother in-law suggested we take a short ride around this area, no way! We were headed for a town called Reigoldswil, just a few km's away, scenic for sure!
Parking the car and disembarking the kids from the family van, we got on a gondola and headed up the side of the mountain adjacent to the town, you could admire the blue skies and even see the Black forest not so far away just yonder! The kids loved showing me the different landmarks, and just below we saw some llamas!!
I snapped away and we walked to a path after choosing not to climb any higher, god if we did I would of croaked from exhaustion!
We staked out a camp fire that was already used and sent the kids and Unkel Jerry to fetch wood for the fire as my sister unpacked some potato chips and readied our wurstli. My Swiss army knife came in quite handy, a must when in Switzerland, you never know what situation you will find yourself, believe me!
The kids climbed up the sides of the hills as I waited below less motivated than usual. The first sticks were shaved and pointed like little spears for the wurst, the rest was parked over the stones and we sparked up the wood, a crackling fire was at work! The various wurstli were impaled on sticks as they turned there skin browned and the smoke hissed when the juices kissed the hot coals. This is my second brotli, the first I have to say was a bit tastier, we had some bier, this outing was simpler, though the wurst were delicious and I didn't mind stopping by to see the llamas, I called out to them in Spanish, saying, "hola primo!" I should of known they spoke only Swiss German!
Now that we were on the mountain, we had to get down, what else would this family of mine think of, a wanderweg, but on the most challenging Jaeger route! The end of the road led to a local bakery for some gelati, my sister and kids quickly faded as me and Andre piloted our way back home, I was ready for a beer!

Bara in Bethesda

I don't think I have ever mentioned my mate Mick from the bread forum, accept for the fact that I would go to visit Wales for a bread baking trip during my month long vacation to Europe!

This is my story of that wonderful gathering.Bethesdabakin',named for the town where it took place.Free wheeling, filled with anarchic bread talk,rough rugby types, a dog named Otto, amongst some of the finest people from different corners of the UK, France, the US and one cute rye baker from Denmark!
Well I am only three days back and I am ready to win the 350 million mega lottery tonight so I can  fly back tomorrow, if I were so lucky!

The first time I met Mick amongst other avid home/pro bakers on Dan Lepards site, there was this feeling that somehow I knew this guy for years? We exchanged formulas, he gave me his sound advice on some leaven care and usage; generally I  asked only his opinion on my latest loaf and he would begrudgingly give my ego some much needed patting on the head.
So Mick who had a long thread on Dan's site relating a project to open a bakery for fellows on the wrong side of the law; that went sour when his former employers who's need for publicity out weighed the kneads that Mick was giving to this band of men who wanted to learn the fine art of baking bread. Dashed hopes and dreams, Mick rebounded on the shores of  France,(nice life!), There he conjured up a meeting of bakers at his homestead in  Bethesda,Wales.   The previous year I missed a chance to meet Mick for a few pints and some bread talk  while on vacation. So he started putting the idea back on the forum and instilled and recruited some of us with the idea to gather and organize with him an event, sort of a Woodstock of bread baking in Bethesda!
Now that I have attended what I believe will be an annual event, where we shared ideas,laughed and above all enjoyed the company of some really great people. This is my chance to share some images of the goings on, which is now a wiki site that Dan Lepard set up that tells what happened and celebrates this event! Another fellow attendee I had met prior to the event James, had a site for the event set up too, the clock at the bottom of the page reset and is ticking off for next year,be there or be square!!

P.S. thanks to all these fine people

1. Mick
2. Dan Lepard
3. Jeremy
4. James (jlangt)
5. John (Mercurius)
6. Dom
7. Alex (black dog)
8. Kathy (may or may not join in the baking)
9. Ben Johnson
10. Rick Coldman (Moonbake)
11. Stig
12. Nina
13. shooz
14. Jack (sideburns)
15. Adam
16. Nick
17. Bradley Prezant

And to TP, spirits were felt, including the Schnapps!!

Ecuador

Hola!
Just waiting for my flight back to New York from Ecuador.This was a business/family holiday trip and as usual I assume the worse when traveling here, but was surprised to find some changes and modernization, but "further on up the road" I would be haunted by the ghosts of Ruminhuai and Atahualpa probably because of my Mothers ancestors or the plato typica that I so stupidly ordered before going on an eight hour trip from Guayaquil on the coast to Loja, stopping through Cuenca on the Puerta de Inca road in the southern Andes.To be continued.......