Marco Ropke is a pastry chef and owner of the Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver.  Having been born and trained in Hamburg, Germany, his career started young with him helping out occassionally in the local bakery at the age of 6. After completing his pastry apprenticeship at the age of 15, Marco traveled the world, working as the executive pastry chef at some of the best hotels in the Middle East and Asia.  Now residing in Vancouver, Macro has settled down to fulfil his dream of opening his own pastry training centre.

As a world-class pastry chef, Marco understands that in order to end up with a delicious end product, you need to start with the best ingredients.  Ingredients that are honest, simple & consistent.  In a show of support, Marco will be posting some of his own, world-class recipes right here on our blog for you to enjoy over the upcoming months.

If you'd like more information about Marco and the Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver, check out his website or come join him for one of their Artisan Baking Courses (they have eight to choose from!) to learn more about bread, yeast, fermentation and the art of creating real Artisan breads in you own home.

Baking delicious organic goodies this holiday season couldn't be easier!

Start with Anita's Organic Holiday Cookie Mixes: Total Bliss Shortbread Cookie Mix, and Gingerbread Cookie Mix. Natural fresh organic ingredients, and no preservatives or artificial additives means premium treats for you and your family this holiday season.

Be sure to bake extra for Santa!

At Anita's Organic Grain & Flour Mill, we are committed to innovating the way that flour is produced. We are pleased to announce that we now produce Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour, available in-store.

"Sprouted Flour" means that the whole grain is first soaked, to begin to germinate. Once a sprout is formed, the grain is dehydrated at a low temperature (we aim to keep it raw, so as to preserve vital nutrients & enzymes) and once dried, the grain is ground into a whole-grain flour.

"The process of germination not only produces Vitamin C, but also changes the composition of grains and seeds in numerous beneficial ways. Sprouting increases Vitamin B content, especially B2, B5, and B6. Carotene increases dramatically - sometimes eightfold.

"Even more important, sprouting neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc; sprouting also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract.

"A portion of the starch in grain is transformed into sugar. Finally, numerous enzymes that help digestion are produced during the germination process." Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation