Kneading Conference 2025

Ancient grains, Modern indulgence – A Pastry Workshop
with Einkorn Laminated Brioche & Teff-Mandarine Kouign-Amann
Step into the world of refined viennoiserie with French baker Romain Dufour in this immersive workshop celebrating ancient grains and bold flavors.
🧈 Einkorn Laminated Brioche
Delicately layered with buttery finesse, filled with a silky Einkorn pudding and house-made Einkorn praline — this creation honors the grain’s deep heritage while elevating it with modern pastry technique.
🍊 Teff & Mandarine Kouign-Amann
A bold twist on a Breton classic — earthy Ethiopian teff and vibrant mandarin compote folded into caramelized, crisp layers for a pastry that’s both rustic and radiant.

Join April for a morning flow for all levels. The practice will focus on present moment awareness and incorporate breathing practices with movement to nourish and uplift.  

Mats and blocks will be provided.

Farm-to-Table breakfast featuring pastries and locally sourced yogurt, granola, and fruit.

Marion Nestle is a consumer advocate, nutritionist, award-winning author, and academic who specializes in the politics of food and dietary choice. Her research examines scientific, economic, and social influences on food choice and health, with an emphasis on the role of food industry marketing. Her books explore how politics affects food production, dietary intake, food safety, and human and planetary health.

She is the author of the classic Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health which won awards from the Association of American Publishers, the James Beard Foundation, and World Hunger Year. Her second book, Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety, won the Steinhardt School of Education’s Griffiths Research Award.
Dr. Nestle’s book, What to Eat was named as one of Amazon’s top ten books of the year and a “Must Read” by Eating Well magazine; it also won the Better Life Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the James Beard Foundation book award for best food reference. She is currently working on an updated edition titled What to Eat Now (North Point Press, Fall 2025). An excerpt titled The Fish Counter will be published by Picador on June 10, 2025 as part of their “Oceans, Rivers, and Streams” series.

Dr. Nestle’s other books include Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine; Feed Your Pet Right, co-authored with Malden Nesheim; Why Calories Count: from Science to Politics, also with Malden Nesheim, which won book of the year from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP); Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics, which won an IACP book award; Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), which won an IACP book award along with the James Beard Award for Writing & Literature; Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat which exposes how the food industry corrupts scientific research for profit and was one of Nature‘s Best Science Books of the Year; and Let’s Ask Marion: What You Need to Know about the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health with Kerry Trueman. Dr. Nestle has also written a memoir titled Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics.

Join Dusty Dowse -- emerita professor of biology at the University of Maine, professional baker, and MGA Education Director -- and Lynne Rowe -- owner of Tortillería Pachanga, a fresh corn tortillería in Southern Maine -- for a deep dive into the process of nixtamalization and tortilla-making. Dusty will walk you through the history and scientific basis of nixtamalization, while Lynne will give a hands-on tutorial on making delicious, authentic tortillas with Maine-grown corn. You'll even get the opportunity to explore alternative uses for corn by making tamales.  

Join Melissa Johnson of Breadtopia for a workshop covering everything you need to know to bake your own sourdough bread at home!

In this talk, Natasha will share her insights and strategies gleaned from nearly a decades’ worth of fundraiser bake sales and culinary event production. How do these complicated, ambitious events come together? What tools do we already have, latent within us, to bring these ideas to life, no matter where we live or what resources we have available to us? We’ll discuss workable strategies and how to align your value system within budgetary, logistical, and philosophical parameters. We’ll review the fundamentals and nitty-gritty of event planning, from drafting a critical path to negotiating brand partnerships to chef curation to volunteer management. Together, we’ll write the perfect “recipe” to make your bake sale a reality. 

I was inspired by a comment from the Tinder Hearth team's presentation last year, along the lines of: Growth tends to happen to bakeries– the hardest part is doing it on your terms. I've found that communities are often quite supportive of their bakeries, sometimes even too-much-so in a way that demands and pressures a bakery to become something that it's not. 

Customers, staff, and even your own ambitions will create pressure in different ways. Without clear structures and policies, growth can feel like an unstoppable force rather than something you control. And while counterintuitive, putting structures in place can give you even more space to be creative.

Our core lessons to set the terms of your business will cover:

• “How We Work” policies that set up wholesale and catering relationships for success
• Pay Structure templates to give a reliable and fair structure around employee pay with growth in mind
• Situational Leadership tools to develop leadership skills, navigate expectation-setting, and maintain a positive company culture in a growing team

This workshop is intended for owners, managers, and leaders who are actively growing their teams, and looking to do so with intention and structure. It's not intended for cottage food bakeries looking to transition to commercial work, but they're of course welcome to attend.

This workshop is all day Thursday and continues on Friday:

Join Albie Barden, who has been building masonry heaters and ovens for nearly fifty years, along with Michele Barden, as they share their unique approach to oven construction and their passion for preserving heritage corn.

A few years ago, Albie realized that an antique cast iron bathtub, when turned upside down, could make the perfect oven shape. He purchased a five-foot antique tub and had it sandblasted to remove the enamel. Scott Barden's team at Maine Wood Heat then cut out a door opening and a chimney exit with a torch. They welded a rimmed plate for the base to contain the oven and three inches of structural insulation, on top of which Albie templated and cut a floor of all-natural firebrick. He also formed and cast an arched refractory baffle to keep flame and heat inside the oven as long as possible.

On top of the tub, Albie added three inches of reinforced cast refractory concrete and a thick layer of insulation. A metal shell was added over the entire oven, which was mounted on a cart for a total portable weight of 1800 pounds. More recently, Albie and Scott's team have prepared a second five-foot sandblasted tub. This oven will feature hard red mortared bricks as the thermal mass, with about three inches of insulation added. Conestoga ribs and wire mesh will allow for a stuccoed finish or metal skin to be added later.

The original portable tub oven that Albie and Michele use regularly at home will be present at the workshop. They will bring heritage flint corn to shell in an antique Maine-made cabinet corn sheller. They will also make or bring fine ground cornmeal, bake and share Jonny Cakes in the original tub oven, and discuss their project of preserving Maine and New England's heritage flint corns.

This workshop offers a unique opportunity to learn about innovative oven construction techniques and the importance of preserving agricultural heritage.

Lunch Options (Thurs.-Fri.):

1. The Maine Meal:
   • Main Course: Pasta dish TBD (vegetarian)
   • Sides: TBD
2. The Bankery:
   • Main Course: - 16oz Sesame Noodle Salad with tofu (vegetarian)
     
   • Sides: An apple and a classic whoopie pie for dessert
3. The Miller's Table at Maine Grains:
   • Main Course: Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
     seasonal greens, shaved cabbage, chicken breast, smoky bacon, red onion, cocktail tomatoes, house basil buttermilk ranch dressing
   • Sides: Sourdough country bread and a chocolate rye brownie for dessert
4. Joe's Flat Iron Café:
   • Main Course: Bagel sandwich with turkey and fresh vegetables
   • Sides: Sides or chips TBD

This is during lunch. Please bring your bagged lunch to Maine Grains with you. You will have about 30 minutes after the tour to eat.

We hope you’ll join us for a free tour of the grist mill, it is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Maine Grains is housed in the historic former Somerset County Jail building, which is also the home of The Miller’s Table café, Crooked Face Creamery, Happyknits yarn shop, WXNZ community radio & the weekly Skowhegan Farmers Market. The mill has been an engine of entrepreneurship and resides in the heart of historic downtown Skowhegan.

During our tours you will learn about our unique history, the process of transforming a jail into a mill, how stone milled flour is made, and what we’re hoping to accomplish in the years to come. We’ll tour the facility from the bottom up, so you can see our team of talented millers at work and our beautiful Austrian stone mills busily humming away, transforming whole grain into beautiful & delicious flour.

Please be aware that your safety is our priority. We are a food producing facility & you’ll be venturing near machinery. Please refrain from wearing dangly earrings and loose clothing, tie back long hair, wear comfy shoes (we’ll be climbing stairs), and feel free to look but please don’t touch the equipment. Hairnets and earplugs will be provided.
***We will be climbing up/down flights of stairs 6+ times during the tour. We understand that not everyone can make this journey! It can be a workout. Please wear comfortable closed-toed shoes.

https://mainegrains.com/tours/

Dumplings are a beloved staple across Asian cuisines—comforting, versatile, and endlessly adaptable. Found everywhere from street stalls to high-end restaurants, many traditional dumplings are easily modified to incorporate local grains and other local ingredients. 
 
In this hands-on class led by Wai Chu—Education and Events Manager at the Bread Bakers Guild of America and coauthor of The Dumpling: A Seasonal Guide—you’ll explore a delicious variety of dumplings, from steam buns to delicate rice-based treats. Using distinctive, locally-sourced Maine grains and ingredients, you’ll make: 
 

• Tibetan Buckwheat Momos Filled with Turmeric-Stained Potatoes 
• Summer Vegetable Steam Buns 
• Malaysian Sweet Potato-Rice Dumplings Stuffed with Maine Maple Sugar 

 
Whether you're new to dumpling-making or looking to expand your repertoire, this class will give you the techniques and inspiration to fold, fill, and steam your way through a world of flavor—local and delicious. 

Discover the art of oven building with Scott Barden, master oven-builder and heater builder from Maine Wood Heat. Join us as Scott leads an immersive workshop delving into the fundamentals of oven construction, fire building, and heat management. We'll gather at the Maine Wood Heat (MWH) oven near The Kitchen at 185 Water St. before carpooling to the MWH facility for hands-on learning. Maine Wood Heat Co. upholds a philosophy centered on crafting the greenest, most efficient, and aesthetically pleasing products possible. Our Le Panyol oven stands as a testament to this ethos, constructed solely from 100% pure materials, offering unparalleled quality and performance.

Jon and Olivia started their story as partners, paired together by chance in the kitchen at Johnson & Wales University. They soon realized that they were not only great partners in the kitchen, but also in life. Wanting to create something of their own, they came up with "The Pastry Pair," a name that encompasses both their passion for the craft and doing what they love together. The Pastry Pair specializes in sourdough breads, laminated pastries, and handcrafted artisanal bonbons. As their business has grown, they have started selling at farmers markets all across Southern Maine. When it comes to their products, they emphasize the importance of freshness, using quality and local ingredients and turning them into something both beautiful and delicious.

Easy to make & long-lasting, super-adaptable, sanctified as Matzoh or Communion Wafers: otherwise known as Crackers! 
 
None of the scary performance anxiety of bread-making. A fraction of the assembly and waiting time. Few of the specialized tools. 
 
Yes, they can be naturally leavened! And made with a remarkable variety of flours, with off-beat inclusions such flax or fennel seeds, rubbed sage or dried onion, and almost anything else you can flatten into a thin dough with a rolling pin...
 
Join artisan baker Jonathan Stevens for a fun, illuminating, and flour-flecked exploration into the world of super-thin, crisp flatbread. We will be getting our hands sticky with some 18-minute matzoh, some Spelt-Sesame crackers, and some unadulterated "Graham" crackers (whole wheat without the honey). 
 
Bring an apron and an appetite!

Take a leisurely stroll to a nearby local business, where you can savor a delicious cup of coffee or bubble tea with friends and fellow attendees. It's the perfect opportunity to network, unwind, and recharge before the next session. Whether you're catching up with colleagues or exploring the charming surroundings, enjoy a refreshing pause in your day filled with camaraderie and relaxation.

All levels welcome, mats and blocks will be provided.

Kick back and relax among old friends and new! The Grain Gab will feature grain-based specialty cocktails, local beer, wine, cheese, and a spread of locally made delights. 

We are thrilled to offer a locally sourced, potluck style community supper!

Menu details coming soon