Temple, Maine
A History of LL&T
In the beginning, there was the loaf. Just a humble, plain white bread, unassuming, delicious, and basic. Then came the inspiration - make a dip! Mayo, mustard, a smattering of herbs. Yummy. Several months later, I thought, why not put the herbs IN the bread? And thus was born my Signature Herbed Bread way back in 1989.
I made this bread often and my friends and family began to request loaves for themselves. I sold it at gatherings and a few very small festivals.
A wonderful artist friend of mine, J Anthony Fiori, hand-drew my first logo, as seen below. I designed the business card and bread labels (which were simply printed on paper, cut out, and taped to each loaf bag). I used that logo for a few years until another friend suggested a simpler look - she designed me the logo I still use today. There's a special place in my heart for the original still.
In 2014, I worked with Vocational Rehab to get a licensed kitchen and join a farmer's market and United Maine Craftsmen. Springvale was my first farmer's market, shown below center. That picture was from my first day, and I had forgotten my signature orange tablecloths, so I ran into the drug store and grabbed the red and which checkered cloth you see.
Back then I was making fudge as well as breads. I had a blast researching flavors and coming up with my own. I had a few (very few) dessert breads as well. Scones and cookies came later, as well as focaccia, fogause, biscuits, and other goodies.
In 2017, after three years of fairs, festivals, and craft shows, I decided to take a break from baking. I was working for LLBean customer service, and had been since 1988. Trying to coordinate my light working schedule and time enough for baking, not to mention weekend days off for shows, became too much to handle.
Cue Covid and 2020. The call centers at Beans had shut down, and I wasn't working. An old school chum contacted me and said, "Hey, the Cumberland farmer's market needs a baker - whaddaya think?" I figured since work was slight to nil anyway, I may as well give it a shot. And I loved it! My first summer at this Saturday market was a bit challenging, given the social distancing and masking that we were doing, but the markets were very creative and we worked through wonderfully. I started doing the Lewiston market a bit later that summer as well, being on Sunday, and that tied things in nicely.
Market ended in October 2020 and I was getting a few hours at Beans, but I was headed toward surgery to repair my rotator cuff and bicepital tendon which meant I was going to be out of work for four months. The closer I got to my return date in late April, the more I dreamed of market, baking, and the joy it brought me. Grant you, I would not have spent 30 years of my adult life with LLBean has I not loved that, too, but I was feeling like it was time for a change. So come the end of April 2021, I left Beans for baking.
I stepped back into Cumberland and Lewiston regularly in May of 2021, also joining the Cumberland-Falmouth Market Board as secretary. I was generally finished with craft fairs and other shows, and gave my attention and devotion to my weekend markets. Come winter of 2021, I was able to join the Berwick Winter Market, a once-a-month gig with a huge customer base - to date, I haven't missed a single one. I tried a few other winter markets over the years and fairs like the Maine Cheese Festival with varying results, but always with delight and satisfaction.
In April 2024, I had the chance to do a big show, the Maine Culinary Festival. It hit between market changeovers, and was a perfect venue and opportunity. I took part in 2025 and 2026 as well, and it was a delightful experience. The below picture was from 2025.
I've done my own food photography with varying results (I'm not a professional by any means, but a somewhat talented amateur).Over time, I've gotten better with lighting and props.
Way back when I was first playing with decorating breads, I attempted, well, appliqué. I took extra bread dough, colored it, shaped it, and added the pieces to a partially-baked loaf (having learned that if I added them immediately, they'd just go brown and lose color). While interesting, the extra pieces weren't really edible. I painted designs with food coloring, too, once the loaf was baked. Ever tried painting a loaf of bread? Not for the faint of heart, lemmetellya.
Another color project came from a customer who wanted a rainbow loaf. Now THAT was a lot of work! I had to make the dough, separate it into six different pieces, try to dye them evenly (quite the trick, that), lay them all out on atop the other, roll them together, and bake. As you can see, it made a pretty loaf, but at only $6, it was not a money-maker.
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In fall of 2020, I started experimenting with different loaf slashing techniques, shapes, and weaves. Many can be seen on my Bread Sculptures page. While I don't generally do more than a 3-strand plait (braid) very often these days, I had a blast figuring out methods by way of multiple repeats on Instagram videos. The Challah, pictured left with the blue background, is done with a traditional 6-strand braid. Anadama bread (center) lends itself nicely to decorative cuts - I always make one heart, the rest are individual. The rosemary loaf, far right, is just slashed simply. Different breads cut uniquely, and as you can see, sometimes the cuts "bloom" and sometimes they stay nice and slim. I never know what will come.
