Vegas

That oh-so-funny saying, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, will not be true next week. I’m heading out there on Friday to help the Bread Bakers Guild dazzle the baking world at IBIE, a huge industry trade show. We’ve got demos galore, a big international competition, book signings, and just generally lots of baking shenanigans. I’m mostly looking forward to hanging out and working with some of my most favorite people in the country.

I’ll do a little bit of reporting, and keep you all posted on what’s going on with the competitions (8 teams trying out for 2 spots at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie 2012 in Paris). I’ve got twitter (@sunstreetbreads) and facebook (Sun Street Breads) at my disposal, plus this site. We’ll see what I can pull off. Definitely a bunch of pics because that’s the best part (plus I finally set myself up to put pics on twitter, and I got a new phone with a kickass camera).

So, check around those places from Sunday to Wednesday. The US team competes on Sunday, but the results won’t be announced until Wednesday. I’ve been helping manage and coach these guys and all of us will be nervous wrecks for those interim days.

My last trip to Vegas was on 9/11. There were lots of scared and worried bakers wandering the convention center hallways trying to find a way home and an available pay phone, while the rest of Vegas partied on. That was one of the more surreal parts, going from the convention area to the casino floor with everyone drinking and smoking and playing the slots. One lovely lady slurred to me “they can wreck New York but they won’t wreck my vacation.”

Anyway, that was a total aside, but every time I think of Las Vegas and baking trade shows I think of that, and the tiny car full of my boss and two local purveyors and me, driving straight home, so happy to be outta there. I’m positive this trip will be much better and come to a much happier conclusion for everyone.