Hello bread and grain friends,
It is so hot out, and yet there have been many good bake sales this summer. It got me thinking about the bake sale as a concept. It’s hard to raise money for the causes we believe in, but bread and cookies and pies make it all the more palatable (I couldn’t help that pun). What is it about little handheld cakes and bialys and chocolate chip cookies the size of my head that give it a little more zhuzh? This is my plea to find yourself a cause and bake your heart out for it. If you do, let me know and I’ll be there in whatever way I can be, rain or shine or 100+° weather.
Here’s what I’m baking this month:
Baguette Au Levain
Gregg gifted me this book in French (does he know me, or what?), and I decided it’s time to start putting baguette into our rotation. What better way than to follow along, while also strengthening my French language skills. I’m well into my third year of a daily streak of practicing French on Duolingo, and it’s super fun to be able to follow a recipe while practicing my language skills.
Cacio e Pepe Focaccia
My friend Charlene brought me a huge, and I mean huuuuge, block of pecorino romano cheese. I watched a movie and grated it all up and shared it around. I’m making a few batches of focaccia with T65 Glacier Peak flour from Cairnspring Mill and topping it with a generous shower of pecorino cheese and fresh ground pepper. This will make for an easy weeknight meal served alongside a batch of Lentil soup or cold gazpacho.
Sesame Einkorn
I got a new batch of Einkorn grain and I’ve been playing with it to figure out the hydration of the new harvest. In the meantime, I’m craving that alluring sesame crunch. I grind the grains and toast and soak the seeds the night before, and it’s so worth it! The einkorn comes from Bluebird Grain Farms and the sesame is Anson Mills Sea Island benne seeds.
Other news from the world of grain:
-If you’ve been around here a while, you probably know that I am a huge fan of Eat This Podcast. Jeremy takes deep dives into his topics, and he tends to be one of the more thoughtful podcast hosts in the food area. I, of course, went crazy for his recent series on grain, which was based on the book Oceans of Grain by Scott Reynolds Nelson. Check out the three episodes in this series: One on Grain and Transport; one on Grain and Finance; and and amazing episode on Empire and Grain.
-I love this video from The Bread Lab about affordable bread for everyone.
– I am hosting a monthly Zoom meeting as a free resource for all bakers who want to ask questions and share ideas. It will be the first Sunday of each month, and you can join the first one on Sunday November 7th from 10am to 11:30am PST by going to this link. Hope to see you there!
-For information about the Flour Hour experience on Airbnb, go here.