As word gets out about the BakeHouse leaving New Jersey, several questions have surfaced that I will try and answer.

The first question is the most popular: What will happen to the oven? The oven stays here in New Jersey.

This then sparks the next question: Is the buyer of your property going to bake bread? The answer is, no.

The next question that follows: Well what are they going to do with the oven? And that my dear friends I cannot answer - but let me encourage you by sharing that the oven has made a strong impression.

I will be honest and let you know that I've not processed the reality of "leaving my oven" and "leaving our faithful bread customers" yet. It's as if the two of us, the oven and myself, are going through the day to day routine of firing and putting out BakeHouse Breads, but we've not yet reached that point of saying good-bye. I know the day that the oven is fired for the last bake will be a day of very intense emotions.

But with that said, I look back and marvel at what this little oven has taught Tom and I. Thinking back to the beginning, I remember how excited Alan Scott was of my plans to be a "Micro Baker", and how helpful he was to Tom as he built the oven. And of our dear friend and fellow baker, Robert Hunt, sharing with us that after 6 months, our new "little" oven would dry out and it would start to "hum along" like clock work. He was right, with the passing of time, the oven has become like the little engine that could, putting out 10,000+ loaves a season from it's humble 3' x 4' chamber. And I've learned the most valuable lesson for the baker of bread: "The Oven and Bread will always be my teacher, and I will always be their student". Thoughtfully, Kath

photo courtesy of: Carla Fernandez, NY, NY