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Father’s Day 2017

Larry Keyes at a Paris Bakery, 1948

Peggy, Kathy & Larry Keyes at Pagosa Baking Company, 2006

Croissants and Love

While my dad was not the daily cook in the family, occasionally he would take on a big project, like fried wontons during a snow storm, or more often, a huge pot of spaghetti sauce.  The wontons covered both the dining room and kitchen tables, and induced a family sized ( I think there were only 3 of us kids then) food coma.  I have a very distinct memory of falling in love with butter when in an Adirondack cabin on vacation, he produced a big pot of elbow macaroni with butter and salt.  It was a revelation, as margarine was the spread used at home.  Dad’s experience of living in Paris as a teen inspired a love of croissants, and his love inspired me to make them.  When I was 11, I pulled out my mom’s Fannie Farmer cookbook, and made my first attempt.  It was an all day effort.  They turned out as one might expect – small, greasy, compact – but Dad praised them, and ate them.  I then moved on to cheese cake, another of his favorites, that required much less time and labor, and much better results.  The whole family ate that.

I’ve had much better success with croissants as an adult.  They sell out every day here at Pagosa Baking Company.  During a 2006 visit from my parents, I roped my mom and dad into helping out with a batch.  It was an act of memory, acknowledgement, connection, gratitude.  My dad didn’t support my early yearnings for a career in food, but he sure supported my love of creation and development of skills.  I still have and use the rolling pin he gave me.  His gift of the Reader’s Digest Creative Cooking cookbook – it’s contributors and editors are a list of who’s who food writers of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s – stimulated my curiosity about world cuisines and seasonality.  I tribute my knife honing skills to Dad.  We butted heads about what I would study in college.  I wanted to go to Johnson and Whales, a cooking school in Providence RI.  Becoming a dietitian was Dad’s idea.  I got my degree in nutrition and food science, and after a decade working in clinical nutrition, I got my food career.  My food science background has been an invaluable resource.  Thanks, Dad.

Our Mascot, the Bear

or how two city chicks learned the woods may not be the best place to start a bakery…

Pagosa Baking Company began with a 30 qt Hobart mixer on the front porch, and more passion and enthusiasm than sense.  The renovation of our garage into a commercial baking kitchen 12 miles south of Pagosa Springs happened in December 2000.

We sold bread to our neighbors, from the back of the car, and from a couple of very hospitable local businesses (Handcrafted Interiors, Wolftracks Books & Coffee) .   It smelled pretty good in the neighborhood, and the bears noticed.  Kirsten came home one night to find the Shop Vac and a large sack of wheat bran sitting in the middle of the driveway.  The Shop Vac suffered some puncture wounds, and it was clear the bear did not find the wheat bran very tasty.  A few weeks later while we were out of town, our young neighbor and pet sitter Corbin arrived to find the sliding door wide open,  and 50# of sugar poured out of the bin onto the floor.  He scooped the sugar back into the bin and locked the sliding door.  We realized once we were returned that a case of walnuts, a case of raisins and a large box of shortbread cookies had disappeared as well.  Not satisfied, a few nights later the bear attempted another break in.  We found the screen door ripped out, bear claw punctures lining the door trim, and enormous muddy paw prints covering each window.  Not a happy guy…  Locked doors and windows became the rule.  Months later walking along the ditch, we found empty case boxes of walnuts and raisins.  I guess it was our contribution to his hibernation calorie stash that year.

Once we opened our retail location, shortbread bear cookies dipped in chocolate became the symbol of our bakery’s beginning in the kitchen in the woods, our mascot.  Join us on Sunday April 2, 2017, Pagosa Baking Company’s Local Appreciation Day, for a shortbread bear cookie on us, and share in our tradition.  Thanks for your support!

Kathy & Kirsten

PBC’s Local Appreciation Day

Celebrate with 25% Discount