A trip to Pane d'Amore's Mother Ship

Pane d"Amore's Original store in Pt. Townsend

Somedays just seem to have a little more magic in them to me. Call it karma, God's will, serendipity or just dumb luck but some days in my life just seem to click better and go way beyond what I would define as a "good day. Last Thursday was such a day for me. I had to go to Pt. Townsend on an errand and decided to go to "the Mother Ship" as I call it, a.k.a. Pane d'Amore's store and baking center. It's where their delicacies are artfully made by their team of skilled bakers distributed to the rest of us through their Bainbridge Island or Sequim locations, your local grocery or restaurant.

Some of the baked offerings

I had that nervous/anxious feeling like I felt on Christmas Eve as a kid, wondering what was in store for me the next morning, what presents would be given.  I wasn't sure if my visit here would live up to all I had imagined when I first discovered this amazing source of baked yummies. 

Gifts, picnic ideas, sauces and condiments

The outside looks so quaint, very Pt. Townsend to me;  mixture of vintage, eco-friendly and art.

Yeast, butter and sugar scents wafted through the air. I started taking pics with my iPhone immediately. Inside, the aroma was more pronounced, almost heady. Pure heaven! The store was lovely, smaller than I imagined. There was a lady in baker's garb talking on her cell at the small counter facing the street. I snapped quietly and intently.

When she finished her call, we smiled at each other. Still snapping pictures, I apologized to her, "I'm sorry if I'm distracting you. I am a big food geek and I just love your store! I'm a blogger, I hope you don't mind."

"You're the blogger!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I have a blog. I'm not sure what blog you're referring to...my name is Darci."I replied tentatively, not knowing where this was going.

"You're the blogger! What's your blog called?"

"C'est Darci".

"Yes, you're the blogger!"

I asked her name, "I'm Linda. I'm the owner."

Now we were both super excited! She thanked me for my blog post on their Sequim location. I thanked her for making such fantastically delicious goodies and praised her for her and her team's obvious passion for their craft. "You can taste it [the passion] in the product!", I assured her. I told her about how I called this store "the Mother ship" because of it's the source of all the baked goods. She laughed, "I call it the Mother ship too, because I'm the Mom and this is where I work". Life was clicking for us today.

Darci and Linda

We chatted for 20 minutes, two passionate foodies who were excited to make the connection. I took our picture together from my iPhone. We talked about her trip to Paris and their cultural pride in creating culinary delights, the exclusive food show she was able to attend while there. We could have talked for days about food and travel but our schedules were calling us back to reality.

My purchases; Seedy Sourdough, a fabulous ham sandwich and a card

We said our thank you's and good-byes. I felt like I had met a true visionary and made a new friend. It was like Christmas, that warm feeling of kinship and pleasant surprises. 

My insanely good ham sandwich

I tore into my ham sandwich immediately when I got into my car. The crusty exterior, the fresh spinach, sweet ham, sorrel mayo, pickled red onions all danced in my mouth. WOW! THAT was a seriously good sandwich. This place rocks! 

Santa's sleigh a.k.a their delivery truck

Visiting the Mother ship was a memorable experience. Meeting Linda was a marvelous surprise. Some days things just come together in such a way that it shocks even eternal optimists.  Thanks Linda!

Here's to unexpected surprises in life. May we all be open and ready to savor the moments life brings us all! Break some bread, drink in the richness of life.

Chow for now my friends.