The following is an example of some of the nice letters we receive- this one from the other side of the world! In June of 2007, Bob received a message from Nebojsa Spasojevic (Nesa) on our website. Nesa owns a small milling and baking company in Serbia and wrote to invite Bob to come speak at a seminar being held there for Serbian millers.

Nesa wrote, “Serbian millers often ask us about new ideas or what is next in milling industry and my answer in the last 3 years is “do as Bob’s Red Mill does”.”
Bob was unable to attend the seminar but communicated with Nesa several times to gather together all the appropriate and helpful information he could send.

Today Bob received the following email and pictures from Nesa:

Dear Mr. Bob,

You are responsible for my new habit of bread eating. For almost 6 months I have been milling and baking my own bread. I have installed a small stone mill and home bakery machine in my kitchen and spend only 10 minutes in milling and preparing everything before pushing the button on the baking machine. Almost two years ago, when you were unable to participate in our Milling Days conference, I had a presentation about you and your magnificent production. From that time you and your mill is well known here in Serbia.

Best regards to you, your wife and all Bob’s Red Mill crew.
Neboja Spasojevic

Pictured here, Nesa displays the beautful loaf of bread he made using the bread machine and home mill. (above) Nesa and his son, Darko. (below)

Nesa has a great sense of humor and sent this picture of his French bread from the breadmachine. (below)

Give Dennis Gilliam (our EVP) one of those Rorschach inkblot tests and you’ll get a series of answers that goes something like this: oatmeal, whole wheat bun, bulgur, bran muffin, quinoa salad… He’s possessed by whole grains. Remember that commercial where everything the kid sees around him becomes a Tootsie Roll? That’s Dennis all over, so it’s no surprise that our recent visit to Chicago inspired delusions of his deepest desires. Some of his prolific musings found their way into my possession. (Okay, I read them over his shoulder at the airport) Here’s what he scrawled:

Obsessing over corn and all its derivatives has been a welcome pastime for years. When in Chicago, I always crave sighting two luscious ears of corn on the Chicago River. Some call them “corncobs.” Officially they are called the Marina City Towers. Just south of the new Trump Tower and close to the House of Blues, one of the corncobs was featured in Steve McQueen’s film “Hunter” where a car plunges from the parking area into the river. Ho hum; Big Hollywood deal. I’d still rather have a fresh ear of corn off the grill. I wonder if condo owners at the corncob let their condos by the week.

If you ask anyone around the mill who has the most intriguing office, they will point you in the direction of Dennis Gilliam, our Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Dennis has an eclectic style and has filled his space with all sorts of antique collector’s items, old ticket stubs, funky furniture and our favorite, a Brunswick round table and chair set. Dennis willingly set aside time from his busy schedule to share his story with you, our readers.

Cassidy: Hi Dennis. Let’s start by having you describe what you do here for our readers.

Dennis: My job title is a smoke screen— it makes you forget that I do all the fun stuff (like creating advertising, planning public relations, new product development and new business strategies) so you don’t covet my job.

C: How long have you been with Bob’s Red Mill?

D: Eighteen plus years.

C: Eighteen years? You must like working here to stick around that long. What do you like most about your job?

D: Working in a wholesome atmosphere breathing the rarefied air of professionalism, hard work, good humor, mutual respect and tolerance of differences.

C: Well said. Those of us who work with you know that you are just full of interesting stories and have worked in several different fields. What was your first job?

D: Selling garden seeds door-to-door and my morning newspaper route at roughly 10 years old.

C: You’ve been working since you were 10 years old? Not many people can say that these days. Use three words to describe for our readers your ideal day off.

D: Why use three words when one sentence is better? A bit of exercise, a stroll in our flower garden listening to the birds, a quirky keep-Portland-weird restaurant, a visit to the Chinese Garden, poking around Rejuvenation and Hippo Hardware, lunch with a friend for conversation, jazz and classical music on the radio, look for a new-to-me used bow tie at Ray’s Ragtime, community sing at Artichoke Music, a Stumptown coffee break (with pastry) and dinner with Marie at Chart House or Clay’s Smoke House. (Okay my three words are: garden, listen, explore).

C: That sounds like a lovely day. Matt and I are lucky enough to hear about your adventures on a regular basis. Why don’t you tell our readers where you took your last vacation?

D: April in Paris (2008) was as good as it gets. Marie and I had an apartment one block from Metro and near many specialty food shops, the best antique street in the city, and numerous museums and shops. Two stops a day for coffee and pastry . . . and . . . when can we go back?

C: Sounds wonderful. Some of our readers may recall the great tips you gave on how to eat hot cereal. What is your favorite whole grain food and why?

D: Any and all (7 Grain is my favorite) of the Bob’s Red Mill granular cereals. They are fast, foolproof, and full of flavor and they all give me an excuse to add a few raisins and nuts as I prepare the world’s best breakfast.

C: Raisins and nuts sound like great toppings. I bet that keeps you going all through your busy day. Thanks for sharing your time with us today, Dennis. I’m sure I could grill you for hours and not bore our readers.

Check back for more interviews with Bob’s Red Mill employees and mill news.

A few of us at the mill are “training” for the Cross Crusade cyclocross race series coming up this Fall so we’ve been geeking out in the extreme over the tour. Who knew average wattage statistics and lactic acid threshholds for top racers could inspire such interoffice debate. As you may have heard, we’re full of zeal for all things cycling here in Portland, so we got all got little lumps of pride in our throats when we learned that Team Columbia’s Kim Kirchen was the Tour de France’s overall leader after stage six.

Dennis Gilliam, our EVP of Marketing is unmatched in his romance for hot, whole grain cereal preparation. If you ever meet him, don’t get him started or you’ll soon understand why Bob’s Red Mill has so many breakfast cereal options; he’s a fanatic. Hoping to capture some of his gruelly passion, I sprayed the hive with this simple request and ran like hell, “how about a few words on cereal?” Here’s what came buzzing out:

A wholesome breakfast of hot cooked cereal is often skipped for all of the wrong reasons. I sometimes hear, “Cooked cereal tastes like wallpaper paste” and “I don’t have time for breakfast.” Yet I notice coffee drinking in cars and donuts at desks.

There’s a better way. Here it is.

Night before: Measure 1 c water into pan with tight-fitting lid.

Next morning: Bring water to boil, stir in 1/3 c. BRM granular cereal, replace lid, remove from heat. Go do stuff. In ten minutes, slide perfectly cooked (not overcooked) cereal into a bowl, embellish and eat. Hunger disappears until noon. Anyway, you did it “quickly and easily.”