I believe my soul is always in search of new adventure. As I drank my latte in solace, I envisioned what Vermont had in store for me this time around. I wasn't going to be hiking to the summit of a 4,006 foot mountain, but I was setting out for adventure of a different sort.
I was ecstatic for the journey North on this gorgeous almost fall day. 
I know the rest of the bloggers who greeted me with bright smiles and warm hugs were as well. Michelle, Kerstin and I piled into Megan's car, followed by a caravan of Alicia, Elina, and Meghan. Upon arrival at the King Arthur Flour (KAF) headquarters in Norwich, Vermont we were met by Bridget, Jen and Katie.
Megan should be commended for all her hard work and dedication that went into planning this event. Who knew reaching out on a whim to her favorite flour company would result in all that unfolded today. 
The King Arthur grounds are pristine and well-maintained. The perimeter is lined with evergreens surrounding rolling green hills dotted with picnic tables and trees, wildflowers and a even a small pond.
We were greeted by Allison Furbish the KAF Web Media Coordinator who lead us through the Bakers Store and upstairs where we were introduced to her boss, the director of marketing, Tom Payne. We got to know each other over lunch and a birthday cake! 
We were treated to a spread with fruit salad and a variety of sandwiches made with fresh vegetables and savory spreads on hearty moist slices of just baked bread. 
I chose an arugula and portobello mushroom sandwich on olive bread and a tomato, basil, mozzarella on a baguette,
along with a bottle of Nantucket Nectars Half & Half.
Megan's chocolate birthday cake with vanilla buttercream frosting was rich and decadent. What an unexpexted and throughtful suprise!
Allison had prepared and informal presentation including fun facts and a history lesson! Yes, that deserved an exclamation because I was genuinely intrigued and excited to learn about KAF and how they came to be in existence.-It all began in 1790 in Boston.
-KAF is America's oldest flour company. (That's 220 years old.)-When our country was young there was no source of pure flour. The company (not yet named King Arthur) imported their flour from Europe.
-In the late 1800's King Arthur got its name. The owner at the time decided the name shouldn't change each time a new family took ownership. Recently inspired by a production on King Arthur, he recognized how the king embodied integrity and purity - the same characteristics company prided itself on and would continue to strive for.-As the U.S. expanded and gained greater control over grain production, King Arthur Flour evolved and still today purchases their grain from farms in the mid-west. Primarily Kansas, Oklahoma and North Dakota.
-A very diverse company, since 1996 KAF has been employee-owned. Frank & Brinna Sands made the decision to sell the company to the employees after 5 generations of family ownership.
-King Arthur flour might cost a little more, but the product is guaranteed to be always pure and unbleached. Their customer service motto reads: “Quality lingers on, long after the price is forgotten.” 
-The finest quality ingredients and recipes are tested, developed and packaged in the test kitchen on the premises using standard equipment that the home baker themselves would use.-The company is heavily involved in community outreach and provides real world application programs from the Life Skills Bread Baking Program (4th-7th grade baking classes at school!) to the Travel Baking Demos (visiting cities throughout the US). They even offering a baking hotline encouraging bakers with questions or those seeking advice and tips to give them a call anytime.
Speaking of baking-
After lunch, Allison lead us across the parking lot to the Baking Education Center where we partook in a number of hands on baking classes with the centers director, the down-to-earth, super nice and patient, Susan Miller. 
I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I state we were in awe of the facilities and pumped for the afternoon that awaited us. 
We began the courses by discussing with Susan our baking knowledge, hopes, fears and expectations.
The group of us ranges from those who consider baking a serious passion - like Megan who used to work at Boston's Flour Bakery, Jen who's blog is appropriately titled Beantown Baker, and Kerstin from Cake, Batter, and Bowl who's winning recipes have been featured on Pillsbury's Bake-Off and Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown. The other extreme ranges to those intimidated by baking - ahem, myself. I am definitely a novice, having never made a homemade dough - not a loaf of bread, nor a homemade pizza, heck my baking pretty much consists of making a batch of cookies once or twice a year. Wait - I lied. I have made banana bread using my Mom's recipe a few times. And once I experimented with pumpkin bread - a failed attempt but an attempt none-the-less.
The baking classes were informative, hands-on, and fun! Essentially the classes, and Susan, breathed new life into an activity that intimidated and to be perfectly honest, rarely interested me. I can't wait to tell you about all that I learned how to bake from scratch, but since there are three different recipes, I hope you don't mind, I'm going to save them for Part 2. For now, I want to share the goodies generously provided to us throughout the day at KAF as we baked away the afternoon. 
Bread. The most delightfully, moist, whole wheat loaf. I spread a slice thick with butter. 
Cookies!! The Pumpkin shaped with orange sugar crystals were especially fun. 
At one point we were offered to sample mini desserts that were made that day in a pastry class.
It was moments like this that gave the afternoon an informal "welcome to our kitchen, we've got nothing to hide" type of feel as we were spontaneously lead through hallways and into kitchens filled with tons and tons of baking equipment, past large ovens, to a back room with this elegantly presented tray of desserts.
The chef who taught the class stopped what she was doing and came over to explain each of the trays and to our delight, told us we could dig in!
The mini chocolate macaroons were heavenly.
But perhaps one of the most heartwarming and appreciative gestures were the SWAG bags Allison put together and handed out to us at the end of class.
The bags included the 600 page James Beard Award nominee KAF Whole Grain Baking Cookbook, multiple bags of flour, cake batter, baking instruments, and each individual received a different box of a certain kind of bake mix. Mine was French Kiss Cookies. 
Can't wait to share with you all that I learned in baking class, our dinner in downtown Norwich, and our stay at the Norwich B&B.
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