Minneapolis is nicknamed the Mill City for good reason. By the late 1800s, this town situated on the banks of both the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, was booming with mills for cotton, paper, wood, wool, and most importantly, flour. Grain grown in the Great Plains was shipped to Minneapolis' 34 flour mills for production. According to the Mill City Museum, in its heyday, a single mill at Washburn-Crosby (General Mills' predecessor) made enough flour for 12 million loaves of bread each day. There's no doubt about it, flour soon became ingrained in this city's culture.Leslie spent some time in Minneapolis recently, admiring the rich heritage one delicious loaf at a time. Here is a sampling of some of her favorite stops along the way.Stop 1: Sun Street BreadsWe filed in line with crowds of people waiting for delicious brunch. Their Biscuit Sandwiches are not to be missed. We selected a combination of biscuits, southern-style sausage gravy, cheddar scrambled eggs and fresh scallions. It was so good! We also had the Sourdough Flapjacks, made with bread starter perfectly balanced with the sweetness of real maple syrup and sweet butter. They are famous for their southern fried biscuits with chicken fried steak, bacon and sausage gravy... Oh my stars! As we were leaving we couldn’t resist getting a loaf of their Bergen Bread packed with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax meal, cracked wheat, rolled oats, and rolled rye. The Bergen Bread was awesome for a midday snack with cheese and fruit. The café had a bustling atmosphere with very friendly and helpful staff.Stop 2: Patisserie 46Tucked into the Kingfield neighborhood in southwestern Minneapolis, this lovey bakery sits. It offers elegant French-inspired pastries, a great selection of baguettes and levain-style breads; lunch with soup, tartines, sandwiches, quiche and crepes; and the most elegant chocolates! John Kraus, the owner, was a pastry instructor for many years before opening this wonderful bakery. The pastries and bread were devoured in minutes, but the chocolates stopped me in my tracks! A must see!Stop 3: Salty Tart BakeryIt took a bit of a search to find this bakery. It is located in the Midtown Global Market, nestled in the center of the block-long cross-cultural textile and food concessions. The best time to visit is in the morning when the display is full of warm pastries and cookies. I bought one cream-filled brioche; simple but out of this world. I immediately bought two more to bring back to Seattle to share at Macrina. The richness of the brioche filled with vanilla bean-scented pastry cream is very simple but stunning!Stop 4: BoroughWe didn’t have reservations but were able to find seats at the bar. This was awesome as we had a window into the kitchen, which was very entertaining and fun to watch. The octopus was excellent with yam, soy and cilantro. The grilled prawns was also a great first course. The menu changes often, but we enjoyed the grilled shrimp with ricotta cavatelli, tomatoes and English peas. The lamb entrée was succulent with lamb loin, belly and cheeks, fresh fava beans, couscous and harissa. The Parlour downstairs is more casual with hand-cut fries and juicy burgers that will make you drool.Stop 5: DigsThis is a sweet shop packed with art from local artists, yarn, unique cards, housewares, earrings, stoneware cups and custom T-shirts. It was so much fun to spend an hour and find all the birthday and graduation gifts needed for the next few months! Very special finds! Owner Linda Schneewind is a wealth of information.

Want to make a ciabatta or baguette? You're going to have to get your hands doughy. Working with wet dough takes practice and patience...and a little extra flour on your fingertips. This sticky stuff, if treated right, creates a golden-brown crust and cream colored crumb. But overwork it and your loaf will come out less than stellar. That's because kneading and handling wet dough too much overdevelops the gluten (the part that gives your loaf shape and texture).To produce the most beautiful, freshly baked loaf, knead wet dough gently in the beginning and then do what we breadheads call a “baker’s turn.”Step 1: Flour your hands well to prevent sticking to the dough. Keeping the dough in a bowl, use your fingertips to release the edges of the dough from the bowl.

Step 2: Pull and stretch the right side of the dough outward, extending the dough past the rim of the bowl about six inches. Bring the stretched dough back to the center of the bowl and lay it on top of the dough ball.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 with the left side as well as top and bottom portions of the dough, bringing the stretched dough back to the center each time.

Step 4: Flip the dough ball over, placing it seam side down in the bowl.

Now you’re ready to proceed according to your recipe's instructions. Some recipes require several rounds of bakers turns after each resting period. This helps develop the gluten and give your loaf shape.Check back next week when we'll be making our One-Day Artisan Whole Grain Loaf using flour mentioned in our previous Flour 101 blog post and preparing our wet dough with using the baker's turn technique.

Let's face it, without flour our bread racks would be bare, our pastry cases empty, and there would be a little less bounce in our steps. It's a key ingredient in just about everything we make, so it's only natural that we put a lot of consideration into the brands and types we use.In honor of National Flour Month, we're dipping into the fluffy world of flour with a little series taking you from grain to loaf. First up, let's talk about our favorite flour suppliers and why Leslie selected each one.Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill - More and more we are reaching for Fairhaven Mill's flour for our products. The folks at Fairhaven strive to work with local farmers whenever possible, and as a result 70 percent of the grain used in their flour is grown right here in Washington. The whole-grain milled flour that we get from Fairhaven is made with grain grown on the Williams Brothers' farm in Walla Walla. Milling the grain completely intact preserves its nutrition and natural sweetness. That exceptional flavor and texture really shines through in our Vollkorn, Pane Francese, Greek Olive and Raisin Pumpernickel to name just a few.Cook Natural Products - Leslie chooses Cook's identity-preserved wheat flour, because it creates a very flavorful bread. Identity-preserved grain is never mingled with other grains nor is it ever modified, so bakers know exactly what to expect with quality and flavor. This fine ingredient is one of the reasons our signature Baguette is so delicious.Shepherd’s Grain - Shepherd's Grain flour is a favorite staple among many local bakers. Recognizing the benefits of sustainable agriculture, this brand sources grain from family farms built with those practices in mind. Their growers use no-till and direct seed farming to conserve soil, prevent erosion and increase fertility. You'll find Shepherd's Grain Low-Gluten Strength Flour in our Mrs. D's Vegan Cookie.As simple an ingredient as flour may be, sourcing the best not only impacts the food we make, it affects our environment and farmers too. You can find more information on the flour we use as well as recipes for many of our artisan breads in our More from Macrina cookbook.Now that we have the basics covered, check back next week when we'll get into the nitty gritty of working with wet dough!