Jeff and Nancy spent 5 incredible days (May 18-22) at the North House Folk School in beautiful Grand Marais, Minnesota. Within 4 full days and one evening, we managed to build the perfect brick oven, learn some true bread crafting and share great times with 10 other eager students and one incredible teacher.
By the end of the first day, we realized we actually might be able to accomplish this silly dream of ours... to build an oven for friends, with friends (rain or shine).
Day one
Was spent both in the classroom and under the tarp (it was cold and rainy) constructing the oven. We started in the classroom not only learned the special qualities of baking in a brick oven, but we also prepared our peasant bread. Outside in the cold, windy rain we laid foam glass for insulation and prepped the base by pouring the hearth slab.
Day two
Was a beautiful day (the only beautiful day). We baked our peasant bread and worked hard outside. We laboriously laid the hearth bricks and the wall bricks, perfecting each lay just as our master teacher instructed us.
Day three
We learned more about artesian breads, cultivated our own sour dough, finished laying the wall bricks and poured the surrounding cement to contain the heat when cooking.
Day four
We built the arches and baked our many different sour dough breads. We ending the evening with an incredible meal of fresh fish from the chilly waters of lake superior baked in the same oven originally fried up two days prior. New friends from places as far as Canada, Iowa and Wisconsin gathered, shared stories, laughed and had good times.
Day Five
Complete! We built the chimney and poured the dome slab. One of our awesome classmates, even managed to slip in a few pies into the oven and we took a break for lunch with three fresh baked pies straight out of the oven (again from the same firing now three days old).
Thanks Sheryl, they were incredible!
