"How Sweet It Is!..."

200 years is pretty old.

In dog years, that's 1,400 years old.

With respect to the Jurassic Period, it's a mere burp. Yo.

But it is in this year that the Winkler Bakery in historic Old Salem, North Carolina will celebrate the Winkler ovens firing for 200 years, starting when Christian Winkler came to take over the Salem bakery back in 1807.

Old Salem, Main Street, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Daily wafts of baking grains and brown sugar glazes fill the house and surrounding environs, continuing a tradition that has withstood the test of time with flying colors…and then some.

Monte Montello and I are the two full-time meteorologists for News 14 in the Triad, and we took the day to do a little traveling to area Visitor’s Centers and other sites Monday, albeit in those biting northwest winds and temperatures that could not muster 40 degrees. And what better way to beat the chill than to duck inside the cozy Winkler Bakery to pick up some goodies…and to meet some new ‘friends’ along the way.

Meet Mr. James. Bobby James. Baker extraordinaire who knows the ins and outs of baking from this time-tested oven (literally and figuratively).

Mr. James, Master Baker

He happened to be at the helm when Monte and I cruised in…well, Monte cruised in, while I limped like a wounded Limposaurus with my troublesome knee…so he invited us to see how the make the magic, at least the latter part of it. We missed the morning mixing of dough in what looks like a large cradle, as well as the kneading of dough on the paddle boards...but we did see the pans and loaves ready to fired by the oak-heated brick oven…9 feet deep…2 feet high…some odd feet wide…fired in the morning, with enough heat to make some 5 rounds of baking, I’m told.

Fresh loaves of white and whole wheat breads…and those Moravian Sugar Cakes. Stop the movie a moment...

Reggie Ferguson with mounds of gold ready for oven fluffing...

If you have never experienced a hot, freshly baked flat of Moravian Sugar Cake, you ain’t lived. And here we were at the very heart of the history of that Moravian community and pastry, seeing the Real McCoy.

Nuthin' says lovin' like Moravian Sugar Cakes ready for the oven...

Reggie and Bobby kept loadin' em' in for the mid-day baking, because even in the dead of winter customers like us kept comin' on in...and for very good reason...

And so our day was soon done as we headed south to prepare for the next day...while one of those whirlwind days, there were those wonderful moments where time stands still and you really experience something out of the ordinary. It is for times like that that I give thanks for daily.

May you, as well...

P.S.: Thursday's forecast is lookin' on the nasty side.....