adventuresinbread

Grain Gathering 2016

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Grain Gathering 2016 We gather in a meadow surrounded by orchards and grain fields. We sit cross-legged in the sun and talk about farming and milling and baking and everything in between. There are big, white tents sheltering communal tables lined with cutting boards spilling over with loaves made with different varietals of wheat, rye, barley, and spelt. Dr. Steven Jones recites poetry and we listen with open hearts, ready to take it all in, believing beyond belief for the first time in a long time that the food system just might…actually could…can be a better place that works … Read more

Sunlight, Seed, and Soil

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Understanding new visions of FARMING grain There was a time when I didn’t think much about flour. Sure, it was one of those pervasive ingredients that appeared regularly, but beyond lifting it off the grocery store shelves, I didn’t ponder this silky white powder. I just measured it out and that was that. It was a backbone, but mostly I just saw it as a blank slate. It always seemed so inert in and of itself, kind of like a drab little wallflower that had some prospect for pizazz if you knew how to nudge her the right way. … Read more

Los Angeles Bakers & Millers

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Hello, my loves. I’m back at it, firing my ovens after a weekend of excess and inspiration in LA. Besides the fact that I grew up there and kept bumping into loosened strands of the little lost kitten I once was, one who purred into the heart of her own experiences with a fervor that still lives on, I also got to eat (and eat and eat) a lot of tremendous bread. It all started when I stepped off the plane last Thursday and drove straight to the home of my childhood best friend in Culver City. Through a … Read more

This Week- Anchorage –> Home

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Anchorage, Alaska –> Home at the end of the week I started this week in Alaska with my family for Spring Break, which puts one more notch on my state-by-state belt. As Gregg was approaching a big birthday, people kept asking him about his “bucket list”, a term I’m not all that crazy about, but still. What I am crazy about is making things happen for people, so when he kept answering “The Northern Lights”, I started checking tickets and researching the magic that is magnetic radiation hitting our atmosphere. I had never been to Alaska and here’s what … Read more

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