Posted by Woodbury Bulletin, MN on August 06, 2008 at 12:50:08:
Baking is therapy for award-winning grandmother
Louise Ernewein Woodbury Bulletin
Published Wednesday, August 06, 2008
A lifelong love of baking has won a grandmother from Afton the title of grand champion.
Dorothy Froehner, who lives on 15th Street in rural Afton, took home the title of grand champion in the tea ring category of the baking contest at the Washington County Fair on Wednesday, July 30.
Froehner, who says she is just a month short of her 90th birthday, explained she had let her baking lapse a few years ago, but took it up again for health reasons.
“I use the yeast kneading as therapeutic for my arthritis, and that’s why I started up again,” said Froehner, who has three children and five grandchildren.
“It seems to give me a lot of comfort.”
Tea rings are ring-shaped breads, often with fruit fillings or different flavorings.
Froehner’s class-winning tea ring was filled with dates, and she said it was based on a recipe she had used previously.
“I improvised something I had been using,” she explained. “I’m one that never follows the recipe the same twice — I add a handful of this or a little more of that.”
Although she has entered the Washington County Fair and the Minnesota State Fair baking contests previously, Froehner said she hadn’t put together any entries in recent years.
This year, spurred on by her children, she was encouraged to do so once again.
“My children love my baking, and they persuaded me to do it,” she said. “It wasn’t my thought — it was theirs…
“I’m happier in my kitchen than in any place.”
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