Hello bread and grain friends,
September is always a whirlwind with many Jewish holidays all in a row, while the rest of the non-Jewish world is busy having a regular weekday of putting out trash and driving kids to school in a traffic jam on Rosh Hashana. Meanwhile, we emerge from Yom Kippur and it feels like we’re thoroughly entrenched in the Fall season. Baking season!
Here’s what’s going on in my kitchen when I get home this month:
Mama Bread
This month’s Mama bread is made with the addition of buckwheat in every loaf. I recently got to attend a buckwheat festival up at the Bread Lab with Lane from Culinary Breeding Network. She’s part of a project called More Bang for your Buckwheat, and I was lucky enough to get to work on the zine for it. In these loaves, I’m using flour from Chimacum Valley Grainery, and it’s some of the best buckwheat I’ve found in our region. This project is to raise awareness of buckwheat, but also to get more diversity into the diet. I’m loving these loaves with a bit of buckwheat honey in the afternoons.
Sesame Einkorn
This year has been all about einkorn and these loaves haven’t left my side. This month, I’m making them with Anson Mills Sea Island benne seeds. My three favorite sources for einkorn flour are Bluebird, Carolina Ground, and Maine Grains.
Challah
I love making Challah on Fridays and putting it out reverently on the dinner table, watching it whittle down as my family joyfully takes bites with our Shabbat dinner. This is the best way to end a busy week, and the loveliest threshold to a mandated time of rest. I feel so much gratitude in these small moments. I’ve been working on a new version of naturally leavened challah with a sweet stiff starter. I’ll keep you all posted! I’ve been making it lately with Glacier Peak flour from Cairnspring Mill.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Quickbread
A friend is staying with us, and he makes the best banana bread on the planet. The problem is, my son doesn’t like banana bread, so I swapped out the mashed banana for pumpkin puree, used einkorn flour and a bit of starter, and my son is hooked! Recipe coming soon.
Other news from the world of grain:
-My friend Sonya who hosts the Food Friends Podcast (one of my favorites!) is also the most fun person in the world to walk around a farmer’s market with. She knows who has what and which time of year. She recently started doing tours of two markets in Portland and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. I took my dad and family recently, and although I go to the market regularly, I learned a ton!
-If you’re in Portland, Don’t miss the upcoming Sagra del Radicchio at the Redd in December. It’s always a food lover’s haven.
-My new book, Einkorn Made Easy, is coming out on December 2nd, and it’s available for preorder here.