The following courses are currently scheduled.
Courses are listed alphabetically by title.

       
All Ground Up - Sausage Making
Craig & Dianne Peterson/Marlo Larson
Session Options:
. . . 11/8/2008 - 11/9/2008
Make your own sausage flavored the way you like it using your favorite meats.  As a class, we will make 4-5 kinds of sausage of your choosing that you will take home from a list of about 10 varieties.  These will be fresh, non-smoked, non-cured sausages like bratwurst, breakfast sausage, Moroccan, Polish, Italian and more.  Sausage meats include pork or turkey, buffalo, elk, venison and lamb.  Learn how to grind, season, mix (using no msg, no preservatives), stuff, cook, eat, and serve the best sausages in the world - just the way you create them!  Homemade, handmade fresh from your kitchen, it doesn't get any better than this.

Learn how to make sausage at home using your own kitchen equipment, where and what to buy considerations, and suggestions on what your sausage making needs are.  A background will be given so you can adapt these principles to make any sausage on your own, using any ingredients you wish.  Plan to take 20 lbs of various sausages of your choice to enjoy and share with friends at home.

Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 2
. . . Hours: 9am-5pm
. . . Tuition: $130      
. . . Materials Fee: Varies ($40-$60)
. . . Intergenerational Age: 12+
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: Beginner to Advanced

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Discovering Homebrewing 
Peter James
Session Options:
. . . 4/11/2008 - 4/13/2008
Making boats and baskets, certainly!  But beer?  Sure!  Here’s your chance to engage in a rewarding craft and access the complete beer flavor spectrum.  You will discover the underlying causes of beer flavor and character by learning ingredient and process basics, which are augmented by several beer tastings.  You will then develop a recipe and brew a batch of beer that best matches your own palate.  Participants may sign up for this class in pairs for a reduced tuition and purchase only one brewer's kit.  (Brewers wishing to use their own equipment should contact North House and discuss this further with the instructor.)   Materials costs include an instructor-hosted lunch on Saturday to complement additional beer tastings.  Must be 21 years or older to register for this course.

Like many crafts of bygone days, brewing was often a home-based activity.  You will learn those aspects of brewing essential to homebrewing success, leaving with the skills and materials to finish your beer at home and the equipment to continue your newfound hobby in the future.  The first evening of class will include an overview of the brewing process, interspersed with beer tastings designed to develop the participants’ awareness of beer flavor and character.  The next day, students will develop recipes and begin brewing based on individual preferences.  To broaden students’ awareness of beer styles, the day features a hosted lunch with additional tastings.  In addition to the brewing process, the remainder of the class will include discussions, demonstrations, and activities related to transferring, bottling, carbonation, and conditioning.

Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 2.5
. . . Hours: Day 1: 5pm-9pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm; Day 3: 8am-Noon
. . . Tuition: $165 per brewer ($60 per brewer's assistant)      
. . . Materials Fee: $125 (plus $25 per brewer's assistant)
. . . Intergenerational Age: n/a
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: Beginner to Intermediate

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Flatbreads - Intro to Wood-Fired Baking
Amy James
Session Options:
. . . 5/11/2008
One of the oldest forms of bread, flatbread can be found in almost every culture around the world.  Explore a variety of styles, leavened and unleavened, as we bake our creations in North House Folk School’s wood-fired brick oven.  This course is designed for the new baker and for bakers who would like to learn more about wood-fired hearth baking.  Come join us and get your hands in some dough!


Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 1
. . . Hours: 9am-5pm
. . . Tuition: $75      
. . . Materials Fee: $15
. . . Intergenerational Age: na
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: Beginner

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Ovencrafting - Building The Wood-Fired Bread Oven
Derek Lucchese
Session Options:
. . . 5/16/2008 - 5/18/2008- FULL, call for waiting list
. . . 10/3/2008 - 10/5/2008
Hearthen breads, wood-fired cookery, traditional baking: These are all potential uses for the backyard wood-fired masonry oven.   Following the concept of masonry ovens made popular by Alan Scott, this workshop explores the wood-fired masonry oven including oven history and how to construct, fire, and bake a vast range of items, particularly hearthen breads.  You'll get enough thorough hands-on experience to build your own oven, useful for both the backyard baker and commercial builder.   As a class, participants will build an oven with a hearth capable of baking 16 artisan loaves in a batch, with the capacity to bake six or more batches from a single firing.

The course begins at the stage of the building a wooden form for the hearth on an already prepared block walls and foundation slab.  Next steps are the pouring of the hearth slab, laying of the hearth bricks, continuing with the wall bricks and arched ceiling, oven entrance, then throat and flue, as time allows.  The building of the foundation, block walls and the finishing of the oven façade, its insulation and housing will be explained in detail although time does not allow their construction at the course.

Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 3
. . . Hours: 9am-5pm
. . . Tuition: $295      
. . . Materials Fee: Included
. . . Intergenerational Age: na
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: Beginner to Advanced

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Sausages for the Summer Grill 
Craig & Dianne Peterson/Marlo Larson
Session Options:
. . . 5/24/2008
. . . 7/19/2008
Just in time for the summer season, a course to enable the grill master in all of us to make our own sausages for our BBQs.  Designed to teach you how to make several kinds of sausage for those easy summer meals - from bangers to bratwurst.  You will learn to grind, season, mix, stuff, prepare and serve your favorites.  Once you learn the basics you will be limited only by your own imagination in what you can create for your own grilling pleasure.  A summertime must try.

Summer is coming. Fire up the grill.  Here is a course for those summer cookouts.  Concentrating on bratwurst, the course will present several varieties to take and enjoy at home.  Additional recipes will be shared for many other varieties of sausage.  You will work with basic, simple equipment requiring little investment while learning complex skills.  Each student should plan to take 10 lbs of various sausages of your choice to enjoy and share with friends at home.

Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 1
. . . Hours: 9am-5pm
. . . Tuition: $75      
. . . Materials Fee: Varies ($20-$30)
. . . Intergenerational Age: 10+
. . . Intergenerational Tuition: $110 per adult/child pair
. . . Level: Beginner to Advanced

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Sourdough Breads
Amy James
Session Options:
. . . 4/19/2008 - 4/20/2008- FULL, call for waiting list
. . . 5/9/2008 - 5/10/2008
Biga, Levain, Poolish, Sponge, Starter – tasty words (and each refers to a type of pre-ferment used in bread baking).  The technique used to create what is commonly referred to as “sourdough bread” includes a wide variety of methods all using a pre-ferment to create bread with a great crust and depth of flavor. In this course, we will use each of these and – using the wood-fired oven - create tasty breads using a variety of flours and seasonings. While it would be helpful if participants have had their hands in bread dough before, this course is designed for any baker who would like to explore this technique.


Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 1.5
. . . Hours: Day 1: 3pm-5pm, Day 2: 9am-4pm
. . . Tuition: $130      
. . . Materials Fee: $30
. . . Intergenerational Age: na
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: Beginner to Intermediate

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Swedish Potato Sausage Making
Craig/Dianne Peterson
Session Options:
. . . 5/10/2008  
. . . 12/6/2008
If you enjoy sausage, you have to try Swedish potato sausage which is a homemade taste you can't find in the store!  In this class you'll learn the process of preparing, mixing, stuffing and enjoying Swedish potato sausage.  Also called "potatis korv," this sausage  is traditionally served with lutefisk, lefse and creamed peas on Christmas Eve, but also makes a great breakfast or BBQ sausage. This course is "hands-on" -  from mixing and stuffing to the tasting and packing of 4-5 lbs of sausage for taking home.  You'll learn about the planning, mixing and sausage-making equipment that apply to other types of sausage making as well.


Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 0.5
. . . Hours: Noon-4pm
. . . Tuition: $45      
. . . Materials Fee: $20
. . . Intergenerational Age: 10+
. . . Intergenerational Tuition: $70 per adult/child pair
. . . Level: Beginner

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Traditional Harvest of Wild Rice
Erik Simula
Session Options:
. . . 9/5/2008 - 9/7/2008
Manoomin, Zizani aquatica, wild rice… the symbolic grain of the North. Wild rice has been a significant food source for the peoples who have inhabited the Great Lakes region for centuries and who have harvested this annual grain generation after generation.  In this course paddle to a historic ricing bed for a day of harvesting and visit Grand Portage National Monument for  insight into the finishing of the grain. You'll learn about drying, parching, hulling, hand-winnowing and food preparation methods and you will go home with your own finished rice. Participants are required to bring canoes (one canoe per pair) and have previous paddling experience.

The class meets at North House for discussions about history of ricing - both traditional and conventional –the biology and ecosystems that support wild rice, and the ethics of harvesting wild grain.  Students will review ricing regulations and equipment on day 2.  The class will paddle to a rice lake and spend the day hand-harvesting rice.  Bagging, drying and storage will also be covered.  A visit to Grand Portage National Monument on day 3 will provide  insight into processing of rice, including drying, parching, hulling and hand-winnowing.  Cooking of rice includes historic recipes and ways of preparing rice.

Course Details:
. . . Length in Days: 3
. . . Hours: 9am-5pm
. . . Tuition: $225      
. . . Materials Fee: $20
. . . Intergenerational Age: 14+
. . . Intergenerational Tuition:
. . . Level: All Levels