Mountains, yes. Pretty landscapes, check. Hiking and climbing galore. Reasons why people trek thousands of miles to Colorado, a state where the residents have a sense of superiority because they think everyone secretly wants to live there. Not me, nice beauty out there, but I like a tree-lined neighborhood.
Now another reason to visit Colorado and get off the beaten track in the neighborhood of Boulder is the Moxie Bread Company, a bakery in small Louisville, Colorado, close to Boulder, but on the way to Denver. It was a small town; now it's a small town in the midst of Denver-to-Boulder sprawl - with a view of those mountains, of course.
[Note: I tried to insert the absolutely gorgeous bread photos here, but my laptop has decided to have a fit each time I try. Not sure why it's being so grumpy when it's usually happy to insert photos. I might try again soon.]
And wonderful bread at Moxie. All naturally leavened. A gorgeous oven with multiple levels. Good coffee. An oasis. The bread is heavenly tasting and lovely to look at. You know the second that you see the display case that this is a special bread destination.
Native New Yorker, must criticize
Someone at Moxie either passed through or is from New York because there's Bed-Stuy Rye and bialys. Now, I'm from Brooklyn and there is no unique rye in Beford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that was until recently low income and dangerous, but now is enjoying a renaissance for people with more money - and white people. I had one of the wonderful whole grain bialys at Moxie. It was a luscious roll, but in no universe was this a bialy. A bialy has a particular shape; it's not merely a roll with diced onions on top. Still, delicious.
Still Moxie is an oasis of great bread made in a way that screams out - but no one in Colorado screams - baker's craft. And it is a cute spot for bread, coffee, a sandwich, or to use the free wifi and work. I went back and worked for a whole morning there.
My bakery fantasy - not dead yet
There is a vacant eatery nearby with nice outdoor space and I wonder if it is a good location for muffins, coffee, bread classes, and baking books. Maybe other baking classes as well, and my friend could teach jam classes. I see myself in that fantasy spending a half hour baking, then painting for hours.
One bread challenge remains that could bring me back into the bread world for a while - the quest to make a sourdough challah as good as the one produced by the bread machine's dough making, which includes commercial yeast and sugar. Not sure I would give up the sugar, though I've made good challahs with honey instead.
Too busy at work and with business trips right now to even fantasize fully about the bakery idea. Yearning for less work travel, but, frankly, once I am there (wherever that happens to be) I always enjoy the time there.
Probably not a good business idea when the fantasy does not include bustling, perky, or, for that matter, any customers.
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