Hello Bread and Grain friends, Words escape me. This month has been…a lot. Besides world events being what they are (in my thoughts, Ukraine), closer to home, a sad turn of events took a family member and brought a new one all in the same day. My step-dad died at the same time that my sister (his daughter) was in labor with her first child. So many feelings to process. My step dad used to ride us around our Hollywood neighborhood in his old white Cadillac with silk pinstriped seats; Dixieland jazz played as we pulled up to such … Read more

Hello Bread and Grain friends, As these months of darkness slowly gather light, I am enjoying my time in the kitchen more than ever. Today is the start of a new lunar month; Adar, a month where joy is purported to return in the Hebrew calendar. Today is also Lunar New Year in many traditions, and it does bring me joy to know that my friends are celebrating and eating the foods of their ancestors and attuning to the delights we share in community. Whatever your February traditions, I hope that gather yourself in the luscious darkness to know … Read more

Hello Bread and Grain friends, Welcome to 2022! It started out with a new Lunar month and a crazy new phase of this pandemic. Sigh. That’s all I have to say for now. I’m still baking and I hope you are, too. Here’s what’s on the menu this month: Mama Bread This month’s Mama bread is made with leftover whey or buttermilk from my dairying adventures, plus a base of organic white wheat milled by Camas Country Mills in Eugene, Oregon. I’m also adding a scratch of streaker barley to the mix. This makes for a hearty loaf that … Read more