JUNE 2022

It is finally spring!  We had such great hopes for May, but alas we are looking at June to be the time for all things growing.   One resilient local product has stubbornly made it's debut and for that I am grateful, hint in the picture above! The Baker's Journal features a little bit about my bread journey from "zippybread to artisan sourdough". My Crew Celebrity this month is a gifted baking assistant whom you will never actually meet during our open hours as she is working in the background during the week.  Before all that let's make sure you know when we are open. 

JUNE 2022

Then Paris happened....

In 2017 I had an opportunity to visit Paris (I will tell you more about that in a future newsletter) and my ideas of what bread should taste like changed dramatically.  I arrived in Paris with an agenda to discover a product to replace breads because my sales were terrible!  I would bring 20 loaves to market and come home with 9.  Discouraging except for the part where I wasn't actually putting that much effort into the process. Note to self: What you put into something you will get out of it!  Once I tasted sourdough in Paris it took no convincing to introduce new methods and REAL sourdough into my repertoire.  (True confessions I was making fake sourdough before that.  Did you know that there is an additive to put into the dough to make it sourdough flavoured? You guessed it, chances are that the sourdough you purchase at a big chain store is made of such a thing.)  I hang my head in shame for what I was making before.  But no more!  Now my sourdough is a 2 day process using mothers (starters) I feed and love so that my bread tastes like something I care about!  Each starter is named!  In addition to the sourdough breads I also make a number of breads using a poolish method; baguettes, dill and onion, french and canary are all made with a slow fermentation process using a tiny bit of yeast with a water/flour slurry, letting it sit for 12 -14 hours and then adding the balance of my ingredients. Finally I make my biga cheese bread using a biga method; 80% of my ingredients overnight with a small amount of yeast and then the balance added 14 hours later.  

MEET MY MOTHERS.....

LEGO - because let's be honest, if I want to build a new combination of flours for a starter it is much quicker to begin with a building block. Lego is 100% white and is the basis of my raisin bread.

SARAH - If you have any biblical background you will know that Sarah is recorded as the oldest woman to give birth.  Sarah is 100% Neepawa wheat, grown in Black Creek and is the basis of the ancient grain and the pumpkin sun breads.

MARTIN - Martin the person is both mentor and friend.  He was the fearless leader of our Paris adventure and is currently the Executive Director of  Baking Association of Canada.  While honing some sourdough skills at his home based business Seraphina's Oven in Ladysmith he gave me his starter, 50/50 whole wheat/rye. Martin is the basis of country blonde and savoury breads.

RYAN - I bet you can guess this one...100% rye also grown next door to us in Black Creek and is the basis for farmhouse medley.

All of this to say that although homemade "zippybread" is better than anything store-bought, the response to my artisan approach has been rewarded with better sales and many happy customers. 

ps If you are interested in getting some of my starters to try your hand at sourdough breads I am happy to give it away, either in dry flake form which can be mailed or fridge ready. Contact me through my website.

HEIDI FALK

Almost two years ago I was in a bit of a crisis.  My summer baking assistant was returning to high school and I was 4 days from my big Friday bake and I needed help! (yes, I had procrastinated and now I was paying for it) There was a quiet voice whispering a name in my ear and I ignored it three days running because although I knew the young woman, I honestly didn't have enough of a relationship with her to have any reason to believe she would be interested or available to work for me.  With 1 day to spare and hearing the whisper EVERY day (most definitely the voice of God) I finally phoned her and....well here we are 1.5 years later and I am thrilled with our team work, her dedication and flexibility and I think you are well acquainted with her skills if you have been enjoying our brownies, canary bread, croissants and more as she has a significant hand in so many of our products.

 INTERVIEW WITH HEIDI 

Do you remember something funny, interesting or challenging happening in the bakery?

Sharon's bakery is a happy place to work, and one delightful perk is getting to enjoy many treats fresh out of the oven.  I remember in my early days at the bakery I dropped a large pan of beautifully baked baguettes all over the floor, and felt so embarrassed!  Sharon took it in stride and said not to worry, but since baguettes this delicious should not be wasted, we shared a baguette lunch together, eating what we affectionately called our "floor models".

Is there a skill you have learned from the bakery?

I grew up baking with my mother in the kitchen, sometimes making up to 16 loaves of bread at a time for our large family of six kids. But working at the bakery I've grown in knowledge beyond what I ever expected.  Sharon is an incredible mentor, and I love feeling so in sync as we bake side by side.  Some days she pulls me over to her table where she's got a mound of dough waiting to be shaped and says, "Here, you want to try something new?"

What is your favourite thing to do when you are NOT working?

When I'm not working I'm raising my two rambunctious kids (7 and 9) as a single mom, and sometimes I manage to do things like snow skiing, water skiing, running, camping, kayaking, cliff jumping, reading...and yes, sometimes I even like to bake, off the clock.

What is your favourite product we make?

My favourite from Day 1 has always been the

Dill & Onion Bread.

Heidi is a hidden ingredient in the baking you enjoy each week.

RHUBARB

What a treat to have this tasty ingredient available so close to home!  We are extra blessed because our neighbour is a much better gardener than I am and after she has taken what she needs, she allows me to harvest her bounty.  Throughout the spring and summer we are gleaning and baking up our rhubarb pie.  Infused with a few extra secret ingredients, the pies we produce using this beautiful local ingredient are a market favourite.