Seattle: Parchment Bakery Pop Up

I am floored that one person can create such diversity with flour, butter and sugar. As I explore life in Seattle, I clip articles about people and places I am interested in and Laura Pyles of Parchment has been on my radar. I am my own Rick Steves.  

I read a lot about Laura Pyles' mad skills with pastry and heard that she had gone the "Pop Up" route to get her product into the public's hands. Her incarnation Parchment (a wonderful name for a bakery!) sells pastries during the Ballard farmers market on Sunday inside the beautifully stocked cooking store, Culinary Essentials, where she also teaches classes.

Earlier this year, we went to the Ballard Farmers Market and tracked down Laura. We chose a rhubarb pinwheel and a blueberry hand pie for our late breakfast and then on impulse, I added one of her famous cannolis when I saw that she had a few left. She was pleased that I had heard about them and said that she's probably the only pastry chef on earth who still fries her own cannoli shells. We could tell - it was delicious. 


Dan and I traded bites of the pastries back and forth and couldn't decide between them. Yum and crunch and tart and yes. That 's how I would describe them.

Good luck to you, Laura! May the life of a Pop Up Baker treat you well.