This Week’s Adventures in Bread

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Red Wheat Levain

Oh, how I love you, Organic Landrace Red Wheat from Camas Country Mill. I’m working my way through your 50-pound sack and each time I reach in for a new cup, I muse on how clean and plump and healthy you are. You will certainly nourish me to the core this week. What is landrace wheat? Landrace refers to a breed that has been adapted for a regional ecotype. My understanding is that within a species, there are genetic variations and some of these variations are adaptations to the specific environments where they are being bred. What seems important … Read more

Talking with Bakers *Brad Holderfield of Tabor Bread*

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  Brad Holderfield grew up around military bases the world over. His family hopped from Alabama to the west coast, then all the way over to Germany. It was weird moving around all the time, and to cope with the inevitable detachment that comes with not being able to put down roots, he retreated into a world of fantasy and daydreaming. There is a wild, ethereal air about him, even today at thirty-something. While totally grounded in his knowledge about bread and baking, he has a spacious look in his eyes, as if he might be seeing all that … Read more

Books & Bread *Josey Baker Bread*

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Books and bread are two of the headiest things in this world. Combine them and I can’t help but delve in. Here is the first installment in recording my adventures with books & bread.   Book: Josey Baker Bread by Josey Baker   Recipe: Dark Mountain Rye   I was lucky enough to discover Josey Baker Bread long after I’d already become an avid home baker. Oh man, what crazy ardent joy I discovered when this book landed in my lap! First, there is nothing about Josey that’s not steeped in exuberance. He releases smiles and encouragement at every … Read more

Let’s Start with Starter

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Natural Levain/Sourdough Workshop

I’ve been trying to decide where to start. What part of my bread story do I want to tell right from the get go? I could start in 1920’s Krakow, Poland with my grandmother. A lot of stories start with grandmothers. I’ve always been enchanted when my Grandma Doda talks about bread. Back in the 20’s, she and her twin brother trampled home from long days at school to a determined maid who fed them nubs of bread floating in broth. Later each day, their mother would come in and sit with them for a bedtime snack before heading … Read more

Bread is Life. Bread is Alive.

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Wheat

Bread is life. As cliché as it sounds, it’s true. History tells us that bread has kept societies alive and functioning. Yes, and sometimes bread has failed us. We’ll get to all that. For now, I want to stop and peer into the bowl of dough rising on my counter. There’s life in there. It’s moving, breathing, pulsing with valiant communities of yeast and bacteria. Bread isn’t just life…Bread is alive. Anyone who works with the modest mixture of flour, water, salt, and yeast knows this to be true. Every loaf of bread is an appreciable ecosystem in and … Read more

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