LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Saturday Jan. 21, the Lakeport Library – sponsored by the Friends of the Library – held a breadmaking class.

Library staffer Amy Patton greeted 35 enthusiastic members of the community, including three teenage boys.

Patton regaled her audience with stories of her and her husband’s families’ breadmaking traditions, recipes and useful short cuts.

She pointed out some distinctions between “cooking” and “baking” and kept the audience engaged as she went step by step through three traditional recipes: shepherd's bread, whole wheat bread, and cottage cheese bread (for cinnamon rolls, etc.).

As she mixed and kneaded the dough she pointed out pitfalls to avoid, and techniques for success.

After a break for peanut butter and jelly on bread rolls, the participants were given their own dough to knead to the perfect consistency (feels like your ear lobe).

A packet of recipes and techniques and a bibliography of recipe resources was handed out to all attendees.

It was a hugely informative and enjoyable afternoon.