2012 Asheville Bread Festival date is set. 

For details visit the festival site!

Asheville Bread Festival

If you are a bread maker, I want to make sure that you have visited the site for the Asheville Bread Festival.  The festival was started in 2003 to showcase the products and talents of artisan bread makers in the Asheville area, it’s grow to include other artisan products – spreads, oils and more. These are mostly locally produced goods although a few of the exhibitors travel from other parts of the country.  There is even a fellow who travels in from Colorado to show his portable wood fired oven!   I myself will be traveling in from Cleveland on April 2^nd to celebrate this wonderful event.

Many are interested in the workshops that are conducted there at the AB Tech facility and at other locations throughout the community.  My friend, Peter Reinhart will be conducting two workshops as will Lionel Vatinet, Mark Rosenstein, Emily Buelher, Didier Rosada and other local artisan bakers.  Each will share their experience and knowledge about the art of artisan bread!

You can learn more about the festival and even purchase workshop tickets in advance at www.ashevillebreadfestival.com . If you are traveling by air the nearest airport is Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT) and the drive time is under two hours to Asheville. 

2010 Retrospective

I've tried a few new things in 2010 and learned much about where Internet Cooking School is headed for the future.  It was a lot of work and fun to set up a booth at the Sate and County fairs in the late summer.  The Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland in the fall gave was interesting too.  The booth and the public presence helped me know who my audience was.  I'm not sure that I'll continue those efforts.  It seems more practical to keep in touch with you mainly through this website.  It was a pleasure to meet all of you who came to the fairs and the food show.  Thanks for stopping by the booth.

I appreciate that it is a little confusing that Bread Technique, Inc and Internet Cooking School are presented together.  I started out with www.breadtechnique.com in 2006 and only lately determined that a larger audience could be addressed that encompassed both baking and cooking.  Because the concept grew in this way a new URL was acquired and the buisness model changed a bit.  The new URL is the one you are visiting now.  Eventually, the Bread Technique site will simply direct you here.  I haven't done that yet because of the number of people who still visit Peter Reinharts Q and A Forum.  If you are a bread maker check it out!  The first posting tells you how to join if you are interested.  Unfortunately spammers began to plague the site and I was spending too much time trying to figure out who was a bread maker and who wanted to post advertisements.  The registration is now accomplished by email to me with a short description of your interest in the forum.

In April I attended the Asheville Bread Festival in Asheville, North Carolina. What a great time that was.  In 2011 the festival is on April 2nd and if you can get there you'll find committed artisan bread makers sampling and selling their wares.  You can also attend workshops with Peter Reinhart, Lionel Vatinet, Didier Rosada and others.  If you love good bread and the connection it gives you to one of mankind's most ancient food cultures, this festival is one you must attend.  I'll have a simple table there this year, so please stop by and say hello.

In July I released Comfort Food Cooking and  in November I released a series about Thanksgiving dinner called Relax It's Just Thanksgiving.  The first two discs are packaged together and describe the process of putting together a Thanksgiving dinner without panic.  New non DVD products were added to the eBay store  including a value priced dough scraper, flax linen couche, parchment paper and a flipping board.  Most things that weigh under 13 ounces ship free within the United States.

Amazon now streams the entire bread making series from Bread Technique and has began shipping the DVD versions too.  The division of Amazon that does this is called Amazon Video on Demand.  In the near future all of my video titles from both Bread Technique and Internet Cooking School will be available from Amazon.  If you purchase direct from Internet Cooking School using the Bread Technique eBay store you'll get a printed recipe card with the video.  The AVOD option doesn't include this feature. 

I picked up customers this year in Greece, Israel, Germany, England and Canada.  It has been rewarding to see momentum build over the last five years and I look forward to slow and steady growth to continue.

Internet Cooking School will also become involved in recipe testing with an author in the early part of 2011.  If you have come to the site at the direction of an author you will find the testing resources easy and fun to use.  The author's blog will give you the link to instructions on how to apply to be a recipe tester.  It's volunteer work that is rewarding and engaging.

What else would you like to see in this resource?  I'm open to your ideas so please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Slow Down and Enjoy the Kitchen!

Some cooks see time in the kitchen as a chore.  Not me: I enjoy almost every moment.  If you are a fan of television shows that purport to show you how to create a meal in less than half an hour, you probably won't enjoy this site.  At InternetCookingSchool.com site you will find recipes, links, video and offerings to help you make the most of your time in the kitchen.  You won't find anything that urges you to get out of the kitchen. On this site TODAY you can see an example of what video instruction can be, in our comfort food cooking series premier presentation, Meatloaf and Baked Potatoes! This sample video lesson is presented in its entire length free of charge.  You can even download a recipe card.

My approach to teaching kitchen skills can be described as visual and conversational.   There will be lots of sample video.  This is an extension of the teaching approach I used with Bread Technique where hundreds of people have employed my instructional videos in learning to make bread. 

InternetCookingSchool.com takes the same concept to a different level, allowing novice home cooks to learn new skills and try new things.  Experienced cooks may also enjoy the recipes that are posted.  Some bakers and cooks may like the idea of referring someone who needs help to the site. 

I believe there can be 90 to 180 minutes of enjoyment in any meal. Up to 60 minutes are spent in the consumption of the food and the balance is the time spent cooking.  Of course there are times when you make or buy a sandwich to eat on the go.  Quickly consuming food this way is not a meal as much as it is maintenance feeding.  We are all busy. 

It isn't practical to think that every time you eat it should be a fully executed meal.  Weekend days or days off from work are ideal times to enjoy your kitchen time and to take in the aroma of freshly chopped onions and garlic sautéed in olive oil or the surprisingly intense fragrance of sliced cucumbers.  When fresh food ingredients come to the kitchen, so does the family! These cooking aromas will permeate your home and call people together.  The family will arrive with their hunger ramped up and ready! 

I suggest you make some time to cook when you can, express yourself, stretch your skills and become comfortable in an apron.  Whether you are cooking for friends, family or for a large event, cooking is simply an expression of love and appreciation.

Write me with questions, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Here are the five titles that are in the works for Series One, Set One:

Lesson 1 Meatloaf and Baked Potatoes, complete with roasted garlic sour cream topping

Lesson 2 Stuffed Peppers

Lesson 3 One Chicken Two Meals - Part One featuring how to deal with a whole chicken, use the breasts for pan roasted chicken and roasted root crop.  In part one you use the rest of the chicken to make stock for part two!

Lesson 4 One Chicken Two Meals - Part Two featuring a delicious and hearty pot pie.

Lesson 5 Pot Roast with Hearty Vegetables showing just how to get an inexpensive chunk of beef to fall apart with a fork.

The titles are avaliable now for shipping on July 15th. Click on the menu item at the top of this page to learn more.