Woah, Waco!

Top row from left: Jen Killpack, Caryn Squires, Heather Thomas, Amy Williams (food blogger), Valerie Kukahiko (food blogger and Caryn's daughter)

Second row from top: Christine Frost, Heidi Biship, Tammie Clark (Heidi's cousin), Kelcie Hardy (Heather's niece & assistant)

Third row from top: Faye Chakmakova, Sierra, Kim Christopherson, Kris Thurgood (Kim's twin)

Bottom to: Becca Valdez, me & Jackie Legg

I had an absolute blast going on a "baking retreat" with my good friend and "Sweat Sister" Jackie Legg. We flew to Waco, Texas, for baking blogger Heather Thomas' event. There were 14 ladies, half of whom were from Utah, and all but two were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We all had one thing in common: We all love bread. Heather was going to teach us how to make Danish pastries and sourdough bread. 

Before checking into the Dr. Pepper House (owned by the creator of Dr. Pepper, who used to live there in Waco) where Jackie and I were staying, we had some time to kill. I happened upon a Mammoth State Park in the area, so we went to check it out. We got a private tour with one of the guides and learned all about the discovery there in a stream by two teenage boys. They uncover over 20 Columbian mammoths. They then built an enclosure and have an ongoing dig to examine and uncover more fossils. It was fascinating. 

The Dr. Pepper House is a turn-of-the-century adorable home with all sorts of nooks and crannies and several rooms enough for most of the ladies to stay in. Jackie and I were up on the third floor.  

We had a lot of down time the first day or two, so we went while the weather was pleasant and explored the famous HGTV acclaimed Magnolia, owned by Joanne & Chip Gaines. It was a lot larger than I had imagined. More like a compound. It had a reconstructed old church, smaller shops, the actual Magnolia Home store, another Magnolia Store, a baseball diamond and greenspace with corn holes and picnic tables for families to hang out, a stage for performers, "the Silos," and Magnolia Bakery. Jackie and I wandered all around. We were sure to grab some goodies from the Bakery and also found ourselves Christmas ornaments since both of us collect them from places we visit.  

Jackie and I are both foodies, so we also spent a lot of our time finding yummy places to eat and trying all we could. It was chef's kiss amazing! (I totally gained five pounds on this trip, but it was worth it.)

Baking also did happen. Both the Danishes and the sourdough were multi-day projects, so a lot of the time, we were waiting for things to rest or rise. It was so great to walk through it all with an instructor and then get to see the fruits of our labor. 

Aren't those tasty looking Danishes? Faye, Jackie & I did that!

And this was our team's sourdough loaf. Perfection!

Not only did we get some "I'm a Bread Lady" shirts and some other merch from Heather and also from Valerie who is starting up a recipe keeping business called "Peachie", but I won the big raffle! I won an $800 Swedish mixer and accessories from Ankarsrum. Boom! I look forward to some more bread making, and am so grateful for the epic girls trip. Thank you for inviting me, Jackie!