In the Kitchen with Louisa Edgerton...

The first of our "In the Kitchen with..." interview series is with Louisa Edgerton, Operations Manager. Louisa has been with the bakery since 1997, and brought to the job 20 years of previous food service experience. She grew up in Gorham and East Boothbay, studied in Spain for two years, and graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Louisa spent several years working in Utah and three years in the Peace Corps in Poland, teaching English, before moving back to Maine. She loves sailing, gardening, knitting, entertaining and being outdoors.

Wild Oats Bakery: If you were stuck on a desert island and could have only one Wild Oats Bakery product, what would it be?

Louisa Edgerton: I think I could survive a good long time on Wild Oats Turkey Salad, on a bed of lettuce with a Buttermilk Biscuit on the side. I guess that's two items, but that's what I want. I love the delicate maple flavor of the turkey salad, and the biscuits are rich and buttery!


WOB: Tell us about your role at the Bakery...

LE: That would probably take me a week - but to sum it up, I'm sort of the oil that keeps the wheels turning. I do everything from covering the counter or helping in the kitchen; to graphic design and marketing; to printing off stickers and labels; and I pretty much embody the HR department. I never know what each day is going to demand of me, and I think that's what I love most about my job.

WOB: What's the best cooking tip that you've learned since starting here?

LE: I've always hated cooking rice, because I always burnt it or left it too watery. When I first started at Wild Oats I was a cook, and learned to put my rice and COLD water together in the pan, bring it to a boil and then turn it off. Twenty minutes later you have perfect rice!

WOB: If there was one thing that you would want people to know about the bakery, what would it be?

LE:  We're really grateful to our community for keeping us in business, and I love that the owners recognize this. We give a lot back to the community in the form of donations to a ton of different organizations, and I'm proud to be a part of that.

Stay tuned for more staff interviews and please feel free to send your suggestions for future interview questions to wildoatsbakery@wildoatsbakery.com.