Holiday bakes and vacation breaks For Labor Day, we're typically doing one of two things: Traveling on one last vacation before school Cooking, grilling, and eating outside This year it's #2. And while I love traveling, I'm okay with skipping the hustle and bustle and to have any excuse to bake burger buns, hot dog buns, or something sweet. This week's newsletter has you covered whether you're a #1 or a #2. Let's get to it! In this week's newsletter: Guides: How to store your sourdough...
8 days ago • 3 min read
New baguette recipe... but twisted! With a thin, slightly soft crust and a salty, briny kick, these sourdough filoncini are hard to resist. What are filoncini, you ask? They may look like twisted baguettes, but instead, I like to think of them as low-pressure baguettes—fun to twist, roll, and shape without worrying about perfection. The dough is mixed and prepped very much like baguette dough, save for the added olive oil and green olives—which are delicious—except instead of a super...
15 days ago • 3 min read
Back to school lunches. Packed and ready! Some mornings, you want to take that alarm clock and toss it in the garbage. I know my kids felt it yesterday. It was their first day back to school after a summer of staying up late and sleeping in. It was a rude awakening, but hey, we warned 'em. As a kid, I didn't always mind the start of school. It meant a culinary change up. Packed lunches from home and, if I could find the change in my fanny pack, a $1.00 ice cream sandwich to finish. (Can you...
22 days ago • 3 min read
New starter discard clafoutis, and baking guide! Last week, I was in a panic. A massive windstorm blew through Albuquerque. During the storm, I ran outside and attempted to collect as many fallen peaches from my tree as possible. You tend to obsess just a bit when you love peaches like I do. I mean, you see them growing for months, just waiting for the perfect moment to pick those juicy spheres. Thankfully, only a few fell, and my tree is still almost overflowing. Even more thankfully, this...
30 days ago • 4 min read
Summer sandwich bread (and waffles!) Oh gosh, it's hot out there, you guys. But where there's heat, there's tomatoes. Where there are tomatoes, there are amazing BLTs. Provided you have the right bread, of course. But wait, don't like tomatoes? (Say what?) Chances are you still like toast, or a sandwich, or bread for French toast. My fav sourdough sandwich bread—pain de mie—has you covered (sandwiched?) on all fronts. The old saying is if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
An ode to tomatoes, pizza, and more I've been checking on my tomato plants just about daily, waiting for that first one to finally turn ripe. It's been hot here, maybe a little too hot, but the plants are laden with fruit, and I can't wait any longer. Our tomato plants a little earlier in the season. My plan for friselle, calzone, and pizza is already set, with weeks of dough planned out and ready for baking. I'm not sure there's any better season during the year, and it makes prepping the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
What's the best way to mix bread dough? Is mixing bread dough simply combining the ingredients in a bowl? Well, yes and no, there's a bit more to the story. And often, the mixing step, along with the common misconceptions about it, is often overlooked. We think we're just combining the ingredients and mixing a bit until they smooth out, then move to bulk fermentation. But there's more happening here than just combining. Most importantly, the dough is gaining strength as the gluten develops....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
My trip to Italy—eating all the pizza, bread, and gelato! A slightly different newsletter today, and off schedule—it's all about my recent trip to Italy 🇮🇹 Warning: lots of details and photos! Sitting down and writing about traveling to Italy before lunch is so hard. As you probably guessed, every other photo is food—I'm a bread baker and pizza maker, after all—and just one look at pizza, gelato, or bread sends me spiraling into reminiscing about all the aromas, flavors, and overindulgence....
2 months ago • 12 min read
The best July 4th holiday bakes If I'm being honest, the real draw for me during the nation's birthday has always been a flag cake, an ice cream sundae, or even better, a red-white-and-blue berry trifle. I know. It's like I was destined to work with food when I got older or something. But this year, I thought my kids would have fun picking out some fireworks, so I snagged my youngest and we headed to the temporary white tent in the parking lot plastered with TNT 🧨 all over it. As we entered...
2 months ago • 3 min read