Well, I was there again today and (again!) did not have my camera. But I thought, I will just post some pictures of my purchase from home and make it happen already! So, what you see above is the 10 kg bag of Daisy Flour – it is the Mill”s Unbleached White Flour. That 10 kg bag rings up at $12.50 which I think is a great price.

The grain used to make the flour is brought in from local farms that surround the mill. The coolest thing about the Arva Flour Mill is that it is run on water power from Medway Creek – how cool is that?!! The very first time I visited the mill, there was a young German exchange student wearing a beret and working a summer job at the mill and he actually started it up for me and my friend to see. It was the coolest thing ever! There are all these compartments that the grains come spilling down into and then the hydro from Medway Creek gets the power running into the big grinding belts that move quickly back and forth – the sound is deafening and amazing. The different compartments are for different grades of flour, I believe that the Daisy Unbleached White Flour is one of the finer flours available, I should have asked – but it makes sense that it is. Because it is a white flour,it would get ground down to remove the grain husks and then again and again until it is smooth enough for baking.

Another thing you might like to know is that the Arva Flour Mill was started in 1819! There are resident white ducks and geese on the grounds of the mill,so make sure you don”t drive over them with your car or your bicycle! The Mill Store has many goods for sale – you will be amazed. There are Greaves Jams and Jellies, all kinds of baking supplies, nuts, dried beans, other flours, some dairy products and even fresh local eggs. Don”t forget, on Saturdays Jeff from On The Move Organics may be there selling organic produce. Oh – and yes, the rumors are true – Jack and Meg White of the “The White Stripes” played a totally spontaneous and unannounced concert at the Mill in July of 2007 – see here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ie8a_the-white-stripes-at-the-arva-flour_music

Getting back to the baking, and to help you think of what you might do with 10kg of flour!! I made this amazing Boule Bread. It was my first artisan bread, and it turned out so well I am just thrilled! The shape is a bit off – Boule means “ball” in French, so it should have been a bit more circular. This bread is from the latest addition to my cookbook collection and it is called “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day”. This Boule bread is the base recipe of which most of the breads in the book are based on. I would love to publish the recipe here to share with you, but that would not be fair to Zoe – one of the authors, whom I just started following on Twitter. She also has a great website for you foodies out there – check it out!

Please visit the Mill! I know it is all too easy to buy flour at the grocery store and I even do sometimes when I am desperate. Remember, something like this Mill is available to us – right in our own city! It seems too good to be true – it is a hidden gem, really. So get there, vote with your food dollars to keep The Arva Flour Mill running!

Kelly hearts the Mill. xo