Baking full circle

I am always saying that life is just a series of circles... you know, you meet people and connect and then life continues and then years later they are for some unknown reason brought back into your life...or you connect with someone is has a close relationship with that person... circles. 

Well, for me this time it is my passion for baking that has come full circle. I began in a "natural foods" bakery. Using all whole wheat flour and honey for sweetener. After 8 years of this I longed for white sugar and white flour so I went on that journey. Now here it is almost 40 years later and I am heading back in the natural foods direction. 

Of course things have changed tremendously. Instead of just whole wheat flour I will be using spelt, oat and rye flours and instead of honey, agave syrup is my chosen sweetener. Many people are now on special diets and must eliminate dairy, salt, sugar and gluten from their diet so I feel the need to teach those poor folks how to bake delicious goodies using alternative ingredients. The good news is there is massive amounts of research and information on this subject now, unlike when I was trying to convert white flour and white sugar formulas to whole wheat and honey. So at this beautiful new facility on the Westside of Santa Cruz at the brand spanking new New Leaf market I will be teaching natural foods baking classes. This has become so foreign to me of late that I am really excited to research, learn and share with you all. Please check out the schedule at the New Leaf web site or watch the local papers for a printed one and come see me!