Two Sisters Bakes!

View from the baking table- 10:30 am 12/29/12

2011-12-30T07:27:00.002-09:00

A moment of sun between the storms!

Sunrises and Sunsets, when we get to see them, are a highlight of these dark days.

Bearing witness from our warm bakery with this view out our window, we feel especially lucky.

And as the sun sets on an old year and rises on a New Year,

We wish everyone a peaceful 2012 that is full of Love and Light!

"In the depth of winter I found within me an invincible summer"

-Albert Camus

Spreading Holiday Joy

2011-12-23T07:58:00.003-09:00

Nothing brightens up these dark winter days so much as the smiles we see everyday when people stumble in out of the wind and cold into our warm and bright bakery with it's amazing smells and colorful array of festive treats. It is one of the times of year we are especially grateful for our job and the satisfaction that it brings. The family of people who have been using our services to round out their celebrations is very loyal, we have been around long enough to become a part of their own family traditions, it is a responsibility we have learned to take very seriously. As in any small town, when things don't go so well, even if folks don't directly call the store to complain, for certain it will come up the next time we are in line at the grocery store! To stem these embarrassing moments, we have become quite good at assessing our limits and working within them at as high a level possible. We count and recount the orders, like Santa checking his list...we must be extra sure we have what we need and then try to make a little extra just in case. That method has seemed to work pretty well in recent years, and as long as I remember to put sugar in the pumpkin pie...we are good to go! Once, about 10 years ago, I had the most amazing homer grown pumpkins for Thanksgiving pies...I roasted them to golden perfection, pulled out the slimy seeds and mixed the golden flesh into a rich spicy filling. the pies were truly beautiful and I sent each and every one of them off with pride. The friday after, I went to work still basking in the glow of a job well done when a man walks in with a bakery box and all but throws it at me across the counter. "This is the worst pie I have ever tasted...you ruined our holiday dinner!" All the blood drained from my face as I'm certain he got the response he was looking for. My head was swimming, what could have gone wrong? I gave him a fast refund with a bewildered, but sincere apology and turned my attention to the pie...the minute it hit my tongue I knew what I had done. In my excitement over the great pumpkin I completely forgot the sugar! It wasn't horrible, like he said...it was spicy and custardy but definitely not sweet. I immediately ran down the list of who had bought those pies and contacted each one apologizing and arranging refunds...I swallowed a huge portion of my pride that day, it took quite a while to digest! Now, I've learned my lesson and I take a little taste of every single thing I make. I think that makes me a better cook, or at least a more consistent one.

Which is very important when your job is spreading joy.

Have a wonderful Holiday!

Holiday Cookies 2011 and the answer to the question: "Mommy, where do cookies come from?"

2011-12-06T09:20:00.001-09:00

After such a traumatic fall we are all ready to focus on something a little more fun and with the winter holiday season upon us, cookie making is just the ticket. It's hard to be sad looking at the smiles of the little kids that come through the shop, pressing their face to the glass display case with all the beautiful cookies lined up.
Most of us have, tucked into that warm cozy place in our minds, a happy memory attached to holiday cookies, whether it's standing on a chair, curling our tongue around the spines of the beater from the mixer as our grandmother bakes them or we are leaving the cookies and milk out for Santa. Cookies gives us that immediate sweet satisfaction while connecting us to a time, a place, an emotion. Little do we realize when we are gathered together making cookies to share for the holidays that we are expanding on a tradition that is more than 600 years old. Cookies themselves have been around as long as people have manipulated their food. Beginning, no doubt, as a type of cracker pressed together, made to travel. And travel they did, on through time, eventually sweetened and refined with more advanced milling technology which produced finer flours and sugars.
The earliest decorated holiday cookie can be traced back to the 1400's. The swiss made 'springerle' was a dry buttery dough that was pressed into molds or rolled with intricately carved rolling pins to produce beautifully detailed imprints on the cookies. These fancy treats moved quickly into the heart of European holiday celebrations, in Latvia in the year 1510 the 1st Christmas tree was believed to have been decorated with cookies. Because cookies traveled so well, they became quite well traveled, stacked in tins, wrapped in brown paper boxes clutched under arms or tucked into baskets, a perfect gift of food from one home to another. Through these edible gifts, they shared a bit of their lives. There were cookies in the duffels of those first immigrants coming across the sea to settle the wild new world. Their recipes for those cookies scribbled into tattered journals or burned on their brains.

gingerbread man!

Holiday cookies hit the shores of north america in the 1600, thanks to the Dutch who called their little treats 'koekje'...which was morphed into 'cookie' by the relatively new americans. And while that innocent little cookie may look like a simple sweet confection, it's production over the years has been fraught with politics and controversy.
On through the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, baking as a profession was very strictly regulated through official guilds. As with any trade, it took long hard years working through the ranks of apprentice, journeyman and master baker, each level documented and recorded by the bakers guild. What they were allowed to make and the supplies they were allotted were also tightly controlled. With the finest ingredients saved for royalty and the rich. Many bakers fled to the new world to escape those rigid laws, bringing with them their rich holiday baking traditions. Still they were hemmed in by available ingredients and had to adapt their formulas to work in the 'new world'.
Another big influence on the American cookie scene came about when importing laws changed in the 1800's, along with more efficient shipping routes this led to a flooding of the US market of, among other things, cookie cutters. German made metal cutters with their fancy designs suddenly transformed the American tradition of holiday cookie making to what has become a national obsession.

green tea shortbread dipped in white chocolate

And obsessed we are! Well, here at the bakery anyway. We clear the top rack of the big display case and line up trays and trays of delicious colorful cookies.

It is a bit overwhelming, both for the purchaser ("Oh I just can't decide! Maybe I should get another pound.") and the producer ("what do you mean we need more coconut macaroons...I just made those yesterday!"), but overall it is a frenzy we are all embracing. The promise of delight that each of these sweet treats provides brightens even the dreariest day. And here there is something for everyone...soft and elegant chocolate-almond kisses, refined lavender or green tea shortbread and, yes coconut macaroons for those with a serious sweet tooth.

Look for some of our favorite holiday cookie recipes over on the recipe blog

If you need even more cookie inspiration, my friend Emilia over at ruhlman.com wrote a great post where she shares some family memories and a couple of special cookie recipes.

the most popular of all: coconut macaroons!

Want to buy some of our cookies? Come on down to the bakery (...sorry, no mail orders)
Cookies are $10 a pound and our selection includes about 20 different kinds. The official list is over at twosistersbakery.net Call (907)235-2280 to order ahead

A time to be thankful for time....

2011-11-22T05:58:00.001-09:00

Abbey and Ryan look so happy in this photo.
RIP Ryan, we wish we had gotten to meet you!

I was 12 on November 10th 1975 when the Edmond Fitzgerald sank in the frigid waters of Lake Superior. When the song came out the following year I became obsessed with the wreck. Living in Michigan and making regular trips 'up north' gave it all such an element of tragic excitement. These were the waters that took those men and standing on the shore as the waves crashed on the rocks, you felt the power and the smallness of yourself all at the same time. Driving by the mariners church in Detroit where they rang the bell 29 times for each of the men on the ship, I remember welling up with tears at the thought of their loved ones listening to those bells. Now that I am grown up, living in a place that rivals the fierce majesty of that great lake and being married to a fisherman who has had to be out in stormy weather, let's just say I don't talk about shipwrecks very much anymore. When the November wind blows, we hunker down. Light the fire a little earlier in the big oven and thank our lucky stars to be working in such a warm cozy place and hope against hope that our friends and loved ones out on the water stay safe.
Dancing around the edges of loss makes you hyper aware of how fragile our time here can be. We go through the days conjuring joy, but always aware that the next tragedy is just around the corner. Such a moment occurred two weeks ago when our dear baker Abbey received the news her little brother was killed suddenly. Rachael and Jill immediately ran to her side, and everyone pitched in to cover shifts making us glad for the tight knit nature of our crew. We put out a jar for donations to help ease her travel. It was full when we poured the crumpled bills and hastily written notes from friends into her pockets and then Jill put her ever so carefully on the plane to her family in New Mexico. They will have a long road of recovery in the days ahead and we wish them all the love in the world to help get through it. As all those who have suffered loss in such a tragic way know, time is the only salve for such deep, deep sorrow. All the while we struggle to find words to sooth, to somehow make it right again. As it would happen, my friend Tom Bodett performed in Burlington, Vermont recently and his excellent personal story sheds a little light on our struggles with family, loss and what it's like to die. (Listen to it here click on the download button...it is the featured on The Moth.)

So we go into this holiday season with wounded hearts but grateful for the tasks at hand to keep us busy. The one constant in our lives is there is always bread to knead, people to feed, and today especially, pies to bake. To our friends and family near and far we encourage you all to celebrate the one thing we should all be thankful for...time.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Scary Treats and good eats!

2011-11-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

Things got a little spooky around here this past week. You could find yourself dipping a severed finger into your tea or sucking on an eyeball along with that chocolate mousse.

Things have settled down a bit and we are getting some spots of sun in along with all the snow that came our way on Halloween. Even a tray of mushrooms is elevated to high art in this light.

Once they are chopped up they are transformed into another work of art.

Rockfish Pasta with roasted mushrooms and kale with capers in a mustard cream sauce tossed with housemade pasta. Now THAT'S what's for dinner.

(Dinners run Wednesday thru Saturday 6-9 pm)

Lucky Peach

2011-10-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

I love it when something comes along that is such a breath of fresh air it completely re-energizes you. I heard about David Chang's magazine Lucky Peach when it first came out earlier this year, but for some reason I resisted. All I can think of is I was wicked busy, or high on crack...because this is best thing I've seen in a long time....Chocked full of your favorite swear words, rich with the voice of Chang along with a smattering of Bourdain and a thoughtful explanation on noodles by Harold McGee, it even has recipes. I must warn you, though...the alkaline noodle formula has a fatal flaw...so be sure to go online and get the correction before trying them for the first time. And certainly don't try to make them the first time right before service...I was less than happy with mr chang when my first attempt came out like a risen pile of mini funnel cakes before they are fried. Good times! If only I hadn't already put them on the menu...(yeah I'm smart like that) A quick internet search found the correction posted by McSweeny's on their website and the second batch came out perfect, just in the nick of time. This is a magazine for people 'in the biz' if the civilians want to play along, that's fine, but be warned...it's not for the faint at heart.

A whale of a Fish Sauce Story...

2011-10-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, you enter a vortex. A place where things seem to hover together in ways seemingly random, yet oddly contrived. There is this force in your life that will not go away, refuses to say the long goodbye. It can be a thing, a person...sometimes even a radio station. In one of our prep cook's case this past winter, it was fish sauce. Shay had been working for us since the spring before, we watched as he and his love got married (she worked at the bakery as well, so as you can imagine we were all quite involved) and tried to teach him what we could about cooking and life. Alas, part of that education was dished out by practical joker chef Ryan, who one day watched while Shay caught a whiff of fish sauce and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Seeing the chink in his armor, Ryan went in for the kill. When Shay got to work every day, Ryan would take a little fish sauce onto his fingers and pat Shay on the shoulder, "Hey, How you doin' man? Having a good day?" rubbing the sauce into his shirt. He would smell that smell all day and wonder where the hell it came from. We all got a good laugh and eventually Shay figured it out. Could it be why he took his girl and moved away? We'll never know for certain, but I couldn't help being reminded of that joke when fish sauce reentered my world recently in just about the oddest way possible. Nothing at all to do with asian cooking sadly, because it truly is one great condiment. No this time it was as the punch line to a joke played on me. My old friend Tom Bodett and his lively, lovely family came up to Homer for a visit this summer. The radio show Tom is involved in, Wait, Wait, Don't tell me, was in Alaska to record a show in Fairbanks, so they came down here to say hey to their Homer homies and romp around on the beach for a few days. We got a bunch of Tom's old gang together, had a party and just generally yucked it up. It was a short couple of days, barely enough time to catch up. Lucky for us, it turns out my daughter is going to a little college very close to where the Bodett's live, giving us even more of a reason to keep in touch. In that light, it wasn't unusual to see an email from Tom in my inbox when I got home from work a few weeks back. What was a surprise was the subject line which read: "I hope your not mad!"
Then Tom goes on to say;
"I had an opportunity to use you and John in my bluff for this week's show. I needed someone I knew were good sports, and that would be you. Of course now 4 million people will they know something about your love life. Sorry about that part!"

Intrigued, I read the bluff:

When Carri Thurman first met her husband of 20 years, commercial fisherman John Rohr, it was love at first smell. "he'd just returned from a 10 day cod trip. His fingernails were jammed with bait fish, his hair was crusted in slime and, I don't know, it made me so hot. I grew up in an observant, almost orthodox, Norwegian family where there was a lot of love and a LOT of fish - lutefisk, pickled herring, smoked cod. Seriously, the phrase "something smells fishy around here" is a Scandanavian pick-up line". Carrie and John's happy long marriage was rekindled every time John returned from another fishing trip. So it"s no surprise that John's recent retirement from fishing took some of the bloom off that old marital rose. "we were starting to wonder what to do about it when we stumbled on the answer at a Thai Restaurant in Anchorage -- fish sauce. I swear, John dipped his spring roll and I almost took him down right there at the table". It turns out that Thai Fish Sauce has exactly the right pheromonal chemistry to simulate a mixture of cod slime, bait herring and bilge water. "It's like catnip for a Norwegian or a Swede" says a beaming John who's Internet sales of fish sauce repackaged as Return to Port, Cologne for Men have topped ten thousand units.

Suffice it to say, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, but what didn't really hit me until later was that, as Tom said, a million other people were going to hear this! Little did I know the vortex I was entering. Unknown to Tom, my NPR momentum had begun weeks before when the news picked up on a local story about the Homer Chamber of Commerce giving up their affiliation with the national organization due, in part to a conversation I had with the new director of the chamber. We had stopped being members a few years back because Sharon and I felt that the national chamber had gone too far with it's lobbying for big business and Homer's association with them made us uncomfortable. I had the opportunity to share my thoughts at an informal meeting with incoming director Monte Davis, having no idea they would have any effect at all, let alone the desired result. Well, the story was picked up by the Associated Press, they came and took my picture and interviewed me and the article ran in papers across the country...I was amazed at the interest...a lengthy exchange in the comments section of the Anchorage Daily News had me wondering if this was all such a good idea. A week went by in relative quiet and then just about the time I thought the whole silly thing had gone away, I received a call from NPR. Actually, the call came from our local KBBI news guy saying he'd been asked by NPR to do an interview for a news story to air on their program Morning Edition. He came down and talked to me, recording busy bakery sounds along the way. We were still kind of busy, so I put the interview in the back of my mind and when it didn't air that week, I assumed it had really truly died for good. I couldn't have been more wrong. The morning after getting the email from Tom, I awoke to texts and emails from friends and family on the east coast who had heard the NPR story. I quickly cued it up on the their website and sure enough, there we were, the bakery and I on national radio. I got to work just after it hit the air here and we all laughed at what a crazy small world it is. Then I shared the news of the Wait, Wait 'appearance'. The world just got even smaller! That show aired two days later and I can't help but wonder if that contestant they were trying to bluff hadn't been wondering in the back of his mind; "Now wait, wait... Carri Thurman, where have I heard that name before?"

1st Pint!!!

2011-10-04T14:26:00.002-08:00

Finally, the keg cooler is in! Poor little appliance had to spend the summer in storage on the porch and then when we finally got it in place, the sucker didn't want to work. Snap. A call to our refer man (go Andy) and a leak discovered and repaired...we are finally in business! Our local Homer Brewing Company already sells all the beer they can make (boy do we understand how that feels...we've turned down more wholesale accounts than you could shake a rolling pin at). So we decided to get the next best thing. Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, besides being one of my personal favorite dining places in town, also has one of the best IPAs in the state. That, along with their Blonde Ale (pictured above) make up our humble, yet pretty darn fabulous tap beer selection (that we have tap beer at all is pretty fabulous...don't you think?) A big thanks to Darren and The Odom Corp for giving us the cooler to use and setting us up so nicely...they ROCK.

A little reminder, we are closed for dinners this week as the chef has run off for a quick vacation.

(those chefs can be soo demanding... Oh wait, that's me!)

We'll be back next week with our fall menu in full swing and some awesome specials inspired by my travels. Expect something a little tropical...mmm.

And on another, completely unrelated note:

Some people put pictures of their kids or inspiring quotes up at their work station.

Me, I like to gaze up at vegetables that look human.

Cooking with fire

2011-08-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

steamer clams open in 7 minutes at 700 degrees!

The oven's day begins when the morning bakers take off the door at 3 am. Smoldering coals spark to life any remnants of wood left from the night before. If the temp reads too cool, it is necessary throw on a couple of logs...looking to top out at about 650 degrees. As the fire dies down, the bakers are mixing their bread doughs and prepping pastries to proof and bake for the morning rush. As soon as the coals are spent, they will clean the oven with the long stick that has a wire brush attached to one end. They pull the debris forward and it falls into the ash drop at the front of the oven. The brick is swabbed with a wet cloth and is ready for baking. The temp is 500 degrees or so when the first breads go in and as it cools, we can roast veggies for sandwiches, bake off cookies and even cakes and cupcakes. At about 3 in the afternoon, the oven is re-fired for dinner. We load it with birch and alder and ignite it using up empty flour bags and other paper trash from around the bakery. As it burns, the wood has an almost perfume-like aroma. The kitchen starts to heat up, I open the window and hope for an offshore breeze to cool down my station. In writing the dinner menu I try to make things to utilize the oven as much as possible (you would think that has to include pizza, but there are already two other places to get wood fired pies in our neighborhood, if you can believe that!), though that means that The Fire must be just right. Too hot and every thing burns and too cool, it takes too long and the line bogs down. The perfect temperature is an eyebrow singeing...650-700 degrees. The fire gets pushed 2/3 of the way back and if I've got it right, there is just enough wood to maintain the temp without heating things up too much. It's a fine line to face while the heat sears my face and the sizzle pans occasionally graze my forearms which are now criss-crossed with long thin scars. (who needs tattoos...I'm into branding) The collaboration of Anthony Bourdain and Morcheeba on the song 'Lisa' always makes me feel a little better about them. It's a small price to pay to do what you love in a place with such amazing abundance. Burning a quick growing, locally harvested wood in an oven we made ourselves, cooking food grown and gathered here and serving it to the most entertaining and appreciative guests...when people ask me if I enjoy cooking dinners, I think about my kitchen window looking out over the ocean, the salty smell of the sea mingling with the wood smoke and savory smells and tell them I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

This week we'll be roasting clams and mussels from Prince William Sound, Oysters from Kachemak Bay, Rockfish, Scallops and Salmon from Kodiak...go on over to the menu page for the full rundown. Then call and make your reservations (907-235-2280), 'cause baby...I'm on fire!'

Photo of the day: June 29, 2011

2011-06-29T22:38:00.002-08:00

When I got to work today to cook the new menu,

I found a sign of the divine next to my stash in the freezer.

I knew right then, it was going to be a good day.

Sweet Summer!

2011-06-28T23:55:00.000-08:00

It's a sunny summer morning as I park my car and make my way up the driveway. I can hear the waves crashing on the beach, a leftover from the winds that blew the day before. The air smells like the sea and I breathe deep as I slip in the back door. I'm overtaken by warmth tinged with the scent of fresh bread and roasting garlic. It must be Thursday, garlic ciabatta day.

Soon people will be coming around to the oven side, peering over the wall that separates us and them. "Is the bread out, yet?" Sharon turns from the brick oven and gives them a satisfied smile, her apron, smudged with a mix of flour and soot, shows the signs of her busy morning. "It's just coming out of the oven." and she turns, wraps a loaf in paper and hands it over. "Be careful it's wicked hot...no, you can pay the gal at the register, Thanks, have a great day." She turns to greet me as I wash my hands and put on my apron. "Red had to go shopping three times yesterday and we are already out of everything!" Time to get rolling, turn Natalia on to the shopping list, write up the Country Foods order and get cracking on magically producing some soup from our limited pantry. Sharon has gone from bread to cakes while Ben whips out the sandwiches...3 dozen turkey focaccia, 2 dozen veg. and as many BLT's as he can make. I'll follow up with cupcakes and more goodies for the case and he'll move onto cookies after that. The baristas dance around us passing out sticky buns and basically putting a bright spin on everything they serve. The prep bakers, Annie and Sabrina... bless their dough rolling hearts, are the unsung heroes of this operation hand rolling ham danishes by the hundreds. "Another tray of Hammies, please!" Jill yells, and I am startled as I look up from my table to see the lines of customers are winding their way out both doors. Oh, it's summer all right...time to chop a little faster!

Spring and now solstice have come and gone in a whirlwind of new staff, broken equipment, wild retail days and dinners going 4 days a week. As you have guessed, we have barely been able to catch our breath, let alone update our blog. My apologies for the longtime gone...but, hey here we are with a new July menu for you to drool over. Click here to check out the new menu blog, which puts them all up in one place, even allowing for comments. (be nice, people!) I'll be working over the summer to get it linked together from all the sites, so be patient...it's gonna be great, you'll see! Speaking of great, our new porch enclosure has given us a whole new lease on life in the dining area. The big beautiful windows and welcoming colors and artwork are a total delight. I get goosebumps when I check on customers sitting out there, basking in the evening sun, enjoying the very best our kitchen has to offer. It is a dream spot and we are all working hard to do it justice. With our expanded hours, we have had to say no a lot, unfortunately. Cooking dinners has cut out my time to work on wedding cakes, so we are no longer offering that service except in a very limited capacity. It was hard choice after 18 years of bride whispering, but I was ready to pass the torch. (good luck, Amy!) So it also goes with offsite catering, a big thanks to Maura's Catering and Vagabond Cafe for picking up our slack.
I suppose that means if you want to enjoy our food, you'll have to come join us here...the porch is waiting for you!
So are the snacks:

Sweet Potato Falafel lettuce wraps are a crunchy addition to the new July menu!

Road Tripping...NYC

2011-05-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

I had always heard that spring is one of the best seasons to visit New York City. The flowers are abundant and the tourists not so much. This spring with daughter #1 graduating from high school and looking at colleges on the east coast, the girls and I decided it was time. And we were right on, the flowers were amazing.

In fact everything we saw was amazing.

even the do not disturb sign from our hotel.

(Speaking of our hotel, their Cafe Gitane completely stole my heart)

We checked out a few places we had only read about in books:

what a delicious storfront Amy's has!

Took in a concert, Cake, at Terminal 5, then grabbed a cab across town to Momofuku Milk Bar for late night steamed pork buns and birthday cake truffles...(That David Chang totally has it going on) Scored tickets to Robin Williams' play 'Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo' on Broadway and all of us were moved to tears and laughter all at the same time.

We even managed to get side tracked in a bookstore or two...The Strand has had more than one lost literary casualty who never wants to leave, I was certain my girl would not be the first. I purchased a copy of Patti Smith's 'Just Kids' not knowing her last 'regular' job was at the legendary bookstore. Reading it brought NYC alive again on the trip home...

But wait, my personal favorite was Easter Sunday Brunch at Balthazar

Which also happened to be my birthday...best. present. ever.

Thanks to Moni, the most fabulous sister in law in the world for joining us and her daughter Kayte for coming along and keeping things lively...we had so much fun!

Next Stop: Burlington Vermont and Marlboro College...put your epic boots on!

No Dinners Until May!

2011-04-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

We are taking a quick break from dinners while Carri goes on vacation with Maya to the East Coast. We are all living vicariously through her, as her trip will doubtless inspire some great food journeys for us all when she returns. When we begin dinners again on May 6th, we also hope to have our beer and wine license completed and be ready to serve you! We will keep you posted.
Thank you, everyone who has already joined us for dinner, and if you haven't yet, we hope to see you here soon!

Drinking at my station: Pernod

2011-04-07T20:36:00.002-08:00

Every cook has their consumate culinary experience. The time they can remember not only tasting their food, but absorbing it, being completely raptured in a way that you will never forget that one moment. For me it happened 26 years ago this spring, I came to Homer that year. A wayfaring soul, not sure where I belonged, I had bought a ride up the Alcan with a gold miner heading to his stake north of fairbanks. I was living in Driggs, Idaho at the time, trying to be a ski bum. One of my coworkers heard me lament that I had no direction to head the following summer. He looked at me and said; "You should go to Homer, Alaska...You can camp on the spit, get a job at Land's End. It's perfect for you, you will love it!" I secured my passage and off I went. We ended up caravanning with a group of climber friends headed to summit Mt. Lucania in the Kluane Range of the Canadian Rockies. We celebrated my 22nd birthday with marguaritas at a mexican restaurant in Banf, Alberta, where the mountains soar to the sky right from the roadside. Completely enraptured by the changing scenery, I slept outside as often as I could, only jumping in the back of the truck under cover when the weather turned cold as we approached Whitehorse, Canada. There we left our climbers, my ride got me to Fairbanks and I caught a flight south. I landed at Homer's tiny airport and found a cab to take me to the spit. On the way out I asked the driver where to camp and he dropped me off right across the road from the Salty Dawg Saloon, pointed out the newly built public bathrooms and wished me luck. I'm quite sure he took one look at my gear and thought, oh yeah, she'll last a week. It was early May in Homer and for those who know, it's a little early to be camping on the beach in Alaska. My first morning I awoke to fresh snow on the rocks surrounding my tent and thinking to myself, what the hell have I done? I had $50 to my name and here I was, in the middle of the ocean... Literally speaking, as the spit is a 5 mile long stretch of land, just wide enough for a road in most places, that jets out from the town of Homer. My tent was parked almost at the end. One thing arriving so early afforded me was street cred amongst my fellow spit-rats (as we were so affectionately called). Many of them returned from previous seasons, but none as early as me. They were mostly cannery workers or charter boat deckhands. I was still trying to get that job at Land's End, but being here so early, they didn't need me (yet) I scavenged work as I could, cocktailing at the Dawg and where ever else I could get in. The evenings were spent around the campfire, sharing whatever we each had scavenged for food along the way that day. One night, one of the charter deckhands showed up with fresh oysters along with his nightly haul of halibut cheeks. I was a little reluctant at first, but being so eager to show these people that I belonged made me slurp that first one down. I don't know if I was just super hungry, or if it was the fact that I was on this amazing beach with the waves curling around my toes and snow capped mountains glowing in the evening sunset, but that was the best thing I had ever eaten up to that moment in my life. It was as though the waves at my feet were crashing in my mouth. I knew right then it was going to be very hard to leave this place. Thankfully, the job I was hoping for finally came through, and it was there I was introduced to the dish that would forever change how I looked at restaurant food. Oysters Rockefeller was one of the most popular appetizers we served in those days, and the kitchen under the hardworking and talented Sean Maryott turned out a very upscale version, topped off with a real hollandaise that just made the whole dish sing. I ate a lot of Rockies that summer. Eventually I learned to 'rock' them out myself as a prep cook in Sean's kitchen. In my mind they have become that dish that represents all that I love about good food. Quality ingredients, deceptively simple preparation and luxurious results. An important thing I figured out was when you don't have a lot of ingredients in a dish, those you do have need to be the best they can be. One of the keys to authentic oysters rockefeller is the addition of Pernod. This anise based liquor has been around since the days they outlawed absynthe, which is about the time this dish was created in New Orleans by the chef at Antoine's. Apparently even the random Homerite knows that. When I was in line at my favorite local liquor store, the guy behind me looked at my bottle and said, "Hey, Pernod...you making Rockies?" I proudly answered... Why yes, Sir, yes I am!

Lavender Cured Pancetta

2011-03-27T09:26:00.002-08:00

I was inspired to begin making my own bacon a couple of summers ago. Since then I have cured at least a dozen pork bellies, handing out little slabs of cured goodness to anyone who seemed even remotely interested, all the while extolling the virtues of preserving your own meat. (One of my friends recently told me I was her go to 'meat girl'...I blushed with pride and handed her a little slab of delicious) As a little girl, my family would buy an entire cow or pig and split it amongst everyone. We'd spend a weekend with uncles, aunts and cousins at the grandparents farm processing the meat into a variety of sausages and packaging special cuts. I learned to not look into large pots on the stove during this time if I wanted to avoid the horror of a pig face staring up at me as it was rendered down for head cheese. (seriously? head cheese?) A full larder, I knew even then, was a very, very good thing. (can you guess I was a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan?)

The family that makes sausage together...well, you know the rest.

When I left home I toyed for a while with vegetarianism, but my heart wasn't truly in it. I think now that I was rejecting the mass production of it all, no longer did I know where my meat was coming from. Plus buying it in the grocery store is expensive. I longed for those familiar packages wrapped in white butcher paper with the contents scrawled in black magic marker. (I never did open that one that said head cheese) Once I moved to Alaska, being a vegetarian was no longer an option for me. There was too much fresh fish and excellent wild game available to not embrace my new home, culinarily speaking. I love the hunter-gatherer culture that exists here. Way before it was fashionable to eat locally these people have done so because they have to. Getting goods from 'outside', while easier now, is still costly and problematic and all for an inferior product. You can definitely tell how many miles that grocery store tomato has traveled. This especially applies to meats and specifically cured meats. There is a strong culture of drying and storing proteins for long term. This area is still host to many native communities and their traditions of putting food by have seeped into the transplanted local population, helping us make the most of this life in the north. Smoked salmon is a mainstay at any party and everyone has their special version or technique. I have so many friends that smoke fish that I don't. Smoking has always freaked me out a little. However, I do love my bacon. (in my period impersonating a vegetarian, if I cheated it was with bacon) So that summer when I read this post about curing bacon at home, that you could make pancetta and not have to smoke it at all, as you can guess I was completely enamored. And as I said earlier, I have been making it for my family and friends ever since. This year I also had a big lavender plant that thrived on my porch all summer and brought into my kitchen to winter over, is still sending out little shoots. When it came time to cure my next round of belly I was out of thyme, literally. No fresh to be had in town, either. (Ah, grocery stores in winter in alaska...) I looked over and saw that lavender plant and genius struck like a bald eagle on a chihuahua. I clipped a big handful of lavender and tucked it into the bag with the cure. I did add a little more sugar as well, but that was it. When I opened the bags after a week, the smell of lavender was still very strong. I rinsed the meat and dried it as usual. John and I could hardly wait to cook it up. We both wondered if the lavender, which tastes like it smells, would transfer to the flesh. As we fried those first pieces, the room filled with the familiar flowery scent, only baconized. Then we tasted it and while not full frontal in lavender flavor itself, the essence of it was present in every crisp, sweet and juicy bite.

What the Pho?

2011-03-21T21:41:00.001-08:00

I hate people with tans. It's not a malicious hate, more of an envious one. I know, I know...who can blame them, these people escaping the cold and dark. I forgive them, they do it because THEY CAN. I've been one of those people. My first 5 years of calling Homer 'home' I worked at a local resort hotel that closed in the winter. It was a natural thing to go to the warmth of Hawaii and work the high season there, get some sun and return to town when things started to get fired up again. The first time I came back, all tan and fit and enthusiastic, I was met with a little animosity, even hostility, from some of the longtime locals. (Oh, is it that time of year already?, the snowbirds are returning, they'd say with a wry smile) The next time I learned to hang back a little, let the tan fade before rubbing it in these poor people's faces. The cold and the dark are great and all, but everyone of us wishes we could get on a plane and go collect our fair share of vitamin D in a sunny place closer to the equator than here. Those times when the stars don't align in our favor to go south, (read: Alaska Airlines permanent fund deals did not include Hawaii or Mexico) we'll do almost anything to make the best of it. I remember one winter when my kids were quite small and we weren't going anywhere, there was a tropical themed fundraiser in town. The decorations, made by local artists, included a palm tree made out of paper mache and crepe paper. We put that tree in the corner of our tiny bakery and it lifted our spirits all winter long. Other years we travel through food. This winter I became obsessed with Pho (fuh). A vietnamese broth and noodle dish that is traditionally made with beef (pho bo). Having the need to make one that could serve both meat eaters and veggie heads alike drove me to create this mushroom version (pho chay) that can be poured over beef or mushrooms. The spicy ginger infused broth with the crunchy fresh condiments make you feel like you've just taken a quick trip somewhere exotic, and I don't mean visiting your grandma in Kansas.

Yes, Aunt Sherry, I corned my own beef.

2011-02-27T14:49:00.003-09:00

When I was a kid, our family regularly went to visit my aunt Sherry and I remember her often making corned beef and cabbage. Luckily, she threw some potatoes in there, or I would've starved. It was not my favorite dish. Even as a grown up, it's not put high on the list of foods I like to eat. However, I love a challenge. Who else opens a bakery one month before she gives birth, because she thought it could be a good learning experience? Crazy to think that that happened almost 18 years ago. While it continues to challenge me in ways that always suprise, it has also made me a little addicted to trying new things. You know, stretching my boundaries to the point of 'what the heck was I thinking?'. Now that my kids and the bakery are both bigger and seem to need me less and less, I have enjoyed exploring different culinary challenges whenever they come my way. Many of those I have fallen into online.
The world of food has exploded on the internet in the last 5 years since I first logged on. I am continually amazed by the wealth of information and great people sharing it right there on the computer screen in front of me. Living as we do in a remote corner of the northern hemisphere, sometimes, it is as though we aren't a part of american culture. Alaska is often not included on maps of the US on television and in books. If it is, it's small and in a box on the side, floating...attached to nothing. But we are here and, yes, thanks to the internet, we are becoming more and more connected to what we like to refer to as the 'Outside'. I happened upon the Charcutepalooza challenge through my friend Michael Ruhlman's blog. He is the one who inspired me to cure my own bacon (I have now cured at least a half dozen whole pork bellies, we never buy bacon at my house anymore) and has overall gotten me to stretch my boundaries, both in cooking and writing. And while it sounded fun, I hesitated because thought it would just be more than I could do, with the summer coming on, I'm sure to fall apart. But then all of a sudden, I figured, why not at least try. (Aunt Sherry would like that.) I realize I'm a little late to the game, but I'll do my best to catch up.
So what does all this have to do with corned beef? It's the march challenge for Charcutepalooza (i love/hate typing that word) that's why! Well, brining meat is and I am very grateful to both Mrs. Wheelbarrow and Yummy Mummy for putting this on, and to Punk Domestics for providing a place to share our posts. Not much of a chance for me to attend any of the events (unless there are any other alaskans out there who want to join me in one here!) but I can share my experience and see how everyone else did too.

I decided to go to my butcher to see what he had before I choose what cut to brine. I found a couple of nice pieces of Angus beef brisket raised a ways up north of here in the town of Delta. The spices for the pickling liquid were a little more of a challenge with my somewhat limited local resources. Since this was an impulse move, there was no time to order from my peeps at The Spice House. The pickling spice available had no weird ingredients and contained everything I was looking for. I bumped it up by adding some of my own brown mustard seed and more black peppercorns.

Stirred and cooked together, the brine is set outside to chill...the cold, snowy weather making it a quick process. I then put the brine into into a plastic container and submerged the brisket, weighing it down with a small plate.

it looks like a beautiful abstract painting

I covered the container loosely and put in the back of the fridge.

For 5 days...ok maybe it was 6, but I got busy.

On my next day off I finally pulled it from the brine and rinsed of the beef. I put it into a pot, covered it with water, added a handful of my enhanced pickling spice and cooked on medium low heat for bout 2 hours, until it was fork tender, but not falling apart. I wanted to be able to chill and slice it for sandwiches. I had guests for dinner that night, so the brisket had to head right outside to cool and get out of the way. I wasn't until two days later that I came back to it, pulled it out of the cooking liquid and wrapped it up, tucking it into my bag as I ran off to work, hoping there would be some good light for photographing my little slabs of corned goodness.

Lucky for me, it was a friday and Sharon had some of her fantastic rye loaves in the case and Ryan's chipotle slaw was already made to go with the pulled pork sandwich special of the day. Even luckier still, part way through the afternoon, the bakery quieted down and the sun came out, so I set up shop to make and photograph my very first, from scratch, corned beef sandwich.

this definitely ain't my aunts corned beef and cabbage!

The big flavor of the dark rye bread and the spicy sweet of the slaw were perfect with the beef. I just added a little dijon mustard for moisture and a little extra bite. In the middle of a busy bakery day, it was a perfect lunch, though most of my break was spent taking photos, I actually ate it slowly, snatching bites between cake baking and all the other things that filled up my work day. The process of making the beef was so easy, I started to fantasize about brining our own at the bakery...and then I looked into our already packed refrigerators. Reality sucks sometimes...maybe someday we'll get a walk-in.

Why Natalia may be employee of the year....

2011-02-26T08:54:00.000-09:00

fresh from Sharon's iphone...

Nothing says love like Angel Brownies

2011-02-07T07:16:00.000-09:00

Valentines Day is coming but you don't have to wait to give that special someone a gift that will tell them exactly how you feel. Such as how much you like their pants!

Angel Brownies available now and through Feb 14th. a deal at $2.50 each.

(not exactly free speech, but very tasty)

Let the wild rumpus begin!

2011-02-05T09:15:00.001-09:00

We quietly opened for real last night to a few reservations on the books and my kids as the first table. It was a poignant scene for me as I had left the restaurant world and began the bakery when I started having kids. Now that they are so big, I get to revisit that dream. With such a talented and fun staff to help me and an amazing place like this to work in, it is all I could have ever asked for!
Last friday we had a practice night where we invited friends and a few loyal customers to help us 'play restaurant'. It allowed us to try out the menu and figure out how to transform the bakery into a bistro for the evenings. Sharon brought her family in and Irene's came, too. Even my husband John joined friends for a lovely evening of amazing food and dreams come true. It was such a huge success we decided to open in earnest this weekend. To keep it from getting too crazy, we let it go 'round by word of mouth for this week, so as to not be overwhelmed. It was a perfect mix of walk-ins and reservations giving everyone a little practice with time to breathe in between. We'll do it again tonight and, with luck, be ready when the ads hit the papers and the radio this week...let the wild rumpus begin!
I'll post a pic of the menu when I get to work today. This week it's beef shanks and fresh cod. Next week cuban style ribs that'll spice up your February!
Hours are Friday and Saturday 6 - 9 pm. Reservations encouraged. phone (907)235-2280.

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in...

2011-01-25T07:25:00.003-09:00

This quote by Arlo Guthrie always inspires me (I got to make Mr. Guthrie a latte and watch him enjoy it in the bakery yard a few years back, truly a highlight of bakery life!), especially now as the light is slowly returning to our cosmic hamlet by the sea but the grip of winter is still firm. Which can mean anything, really. We have had snow and rain, cold temps and warm ones, high winds and icy roads. Baker Abbey had to take a cab to work in the wee morning hours yesterday and even with their four wheel drive and studded tires ended up in the ditch in front of the bakery. She went on with her morning to make these amazing jalapeno cheddar buns, though....Go Abbey!

one of these will spice up your day!

This is the time of year that tests the hardiest of souls. The dark is waning, but it is still pretty dark. Winter will not be gone for 4 more months... there is no fresh produce at the grocery store and people walk around with pale faces and blank stares. (though a new tanning salon just opened up in town, woo-hoo!) When there's no snow, you have to work pretty hard at staying entertained, especially difficult to do without stretching your vices, or pocketbook to the limit. When we opened the bakery 18 years ago, it was in response to the need that Homer had, or so I thought, for a little bright spot that was open during those dark times, not just for the summer when things are bright and bustling. Turns out I was right and we have carved out a merry and loyal following who keep us opening the doors every day no matter what the weather. If we do close it's because we are concerned for our employees safety in getting home, or to take a few days to scrub the walls and slap on a fresh coat of paint. I'l admit, last winter we actually closed on sundays for a while to give our staff (and me!) a little breather. Not this year, though, instead of cutting back, we are adding on...in more ways than one! The new enclosed porch is done and to celebrate all this new space we are opening for dinners starting in February. It will just be friday and saturday nights for now as we collect signatures (only 600 more to go!) for a beer and wine license and get this whole dinner thing figured out. By spring we hope to be open 5 nights a week and to be able to serve you a refreshing locally brewed beverage with that. It will be a bright and busy couple of months for us, so if things start looking a little too dark in your neck of the woods, come by and see what's up, or, as my friend Tom Bodett likes to say: "We'll leave the light on for ya..."

LoopyCups

2011-01-20T17:06:00.011-09:00

We've received many favorable comments as well as questions about our new cups featuring our logo. Homer coffee connoisseurs have probably seen custom logo cups all over town and the peninsula as they flit from watering hole to watering hole. We have the inside story about these cups and thought it would be appropriate to write about it here.
About 12 years ago, we first inquired about what it would take to get our logo on our paper cups from our new paper products distributor (and future husband to Sharon) Dale Banks, with Loopy Lupine Recycled Products. At the time, two really large corporations controlled most of the production of coffee cups, and we would have had to buy about 100,000 cups at a time in order to get our name in lights, like the big coffee shops. Our tiny supply closet barely held any backstock, requiring us to constantly call Dale to heroically rescue us from our suddenly running out of cups in the middle of a lunch rush ("oh, Da-ale!!"); actually buying a gazillion cups in advance AND finding a place to store them was obviously out of the question (and may have proven detrimental to a budding romance...).
Fast forward 12 years and a lot of research: Loopy Lupine Distribution is all about the LOOPYCUP! Available in 12, 16 and 20 oz., Dale prints and forms thousand of cups for local coffee shops. The paper is sourced from Forest Stewardship Council certified paper stock, which is coated in a biodegradable plant-based plastic. The printing utilizes water-based inks, and the waste is recycled after being played in by our children.
In case you think this is just child's play, we should mention that the production space is solar heated, and is a straw bale design utilizing local wood and recycled materials.
We are sorry that not everyone has time to sit in our shop and drink coffee out of a nice mug. But if ever you forget your travel cup and you still want to make a better environmental choice while drinking coffee or soup on the go, have no fear - LoopyCups are here!

Baker boys rolling in the sunshine!

2011-01-20T16:52:00.000-09:00

This time of year, the sun shines in low below the roof, giving us amazing light to work by...

Ben Gerhards rolls the pastry dough.

and Shea Babich is all up in the ham danishes...(or ham jobs as we like to call them)

Oh, Yeah...the new enclosed porch opened for seating this week...look for dinners on the weekend by the beginning of February! (and better pics as soon as the sun comes out again)

Ski Dinner 2011...Go Mariners!

2011-01-19T14:17:00.002-09:00

Irene and Jill dish and dress the Cioppino

The lack of snow on the ground this year is proving that winter weather in what is essentially a northern rain forest, is not to be counted upon. When it is here, the snow provides endless entertainment for virtually every kind of person. You can ski (downhill too!) or snowmachine on the vast and varied trails. You can go sledding or snowshoeing, build snow forts (Ryans are amazing) or just enjoy the moonlight sparkle across the yard on a full moon solstice night. When the snow is not here, what you have is a whole town full of crabby people. Winter is almost 9 months long and for many of us, it's a whole lot more fun if it's really winter. They have more of the fluffy white stuff in NYC. Makes me jealous, nothing quiets people down more than a snow storm and following the snowbound Ruth Reichl's tweets tempered with the mischievous echoes of Ruth Bourdain has me wishing I could take the forced break in my life that only a good snowstorm can bring. My friend, author Daniel Coyle addresses the necessity of solitude to our creative success on his Talent Code blog. He definitely makes a good case for getting away from it all on regular basis. I wonder how to do that.
There was no solitude this past weekend for sure as I got my chef on and, along with some friends (Thanks, Barb, Irene, Jill and Maya...you all were awesome, as usual!) made some fine food for the annual Homer High School Nordic Ski Team Dinner. The theme this year was 'Nuts for skiing' , but if this weather keeps up, they'll have to start calling it 'nuts for not skiing'! Here was the menu:
Starters-
anti pasti...spiced nuts...melon and proscuitto
Appetizer trio-
Rockfish Crudo...alaskan charcuterie...fresh oyster with pommegranate and champagne
Pasta & Salad-
Cappelini carbonara with smoked salmon roe and home cured pancetta
arugula and tangerine salad with red onion vinagrette
Main Courses-
Cioppino with crab, rockfish and shrimp
or
Flank steak and crab roulade with oven roasted polenta and red wine reduction
Dessert trio-
Tiramisu...raspberry napolean...chocolate bombe

Moose summer sausage, Reindeer salami and house made lavender cured delta pork belly

Rockfish crudo on deck

Cioppino awaits the servers

Service went great with lots of help from all the parents and students on the team. Thanks also to Pauli and Harmon Hall for their amazing space. It is one great place for a party.

Word is they raised $10,000...Great Job everyone!

Our Ciabatta hits the big time....

2011-01-07T07:00:00.003-09:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm a little late on my greetings this year, but you'll have to excuse me, we have had a lot going on. We battled through the first weekend of 2011, staying open even on New Years Day. Then Monday saw the delivery of our new 3 door lowboy refridgerator and all the furniture for the new porch. Also, Sharon put out the petition to collect signatures for our beer and wine license. A huge project that we think will give a whole new meaning to hanging out on the porch. (Dinners coming soon, too!) Then, on Tues my friend and mentor Michael Ruhlman asked if I could pull together a guest post for his excellent blog. The top of my head almost blew off. Thank goodness I had the next day away from the bakery so I could get myself together. (read my post on ciabatta here) When I went back on Thursday, this is just a taste of what I found:

This is going to be great. More to come...

Here is a sample of what Brianna has been up to!

View from the baking table 12/28/10

2010-12-28T21:36:00.000-09:00

We were feeding everyone today!

Happy Solstice!

2010-12-22T11:43:00.002-09:00

In Latin solstice means sun standing still. In Homer right now, that's exactly how it feels. The sun seems to move so slowly in it's short arc across the sky. Celebrating Solstice by the lighting of lights, the gathering of people for feasting and celebration are all really just ways to get through the long days with very little light from the sun and, in the northern hemisphere, cold temps which limits outdoor movement and gives way to 'cabin fever'. We are no strangers to cabin fever here in southcentral Alaska, though we have nothing to complain about compared to Barrow in the far north, which lost it's sun about a month ago and will not see it again for another month! All over the state, solstice celebrations go back as far as the indigenous peoples who populated our shores. When the russian's brought orthodox christianity, the roman's had already decided that christ's birth should also be celebrated at this time of year, weaving a colorful tapestry of tradition through our festivities. This year we were all brought together by a common thread in the occurrence of a lunar eclipse during the full moon on solstice. They say it hasn't happened since Galileo's time. With clear skies holding strong all week, everyone in town was buzzing about it. The weatherman called for cloudy skies that night, but for once we were glad they were wrong!

I could not get a good shot of the actual eclipse to save my life, but my friend Michael Armstrong has some great pictures up on the Homer News website. Everyone I talked to the day after had seen it. It was an amazing shared experience and I remember as I sat by the fire that night, surrounded by all our great neighbors, it felt like we stepped back in time and were celebrating the beginning of the holiday season by focusing on what really matters, the marvels of the world around us, good people to share that world with, and oh yeah...staying warm. It was one chilly night.

Here are some snowflakes that won't make you chilly! In fact they are nice and spicy so they warm you from the inside out...perfect accompaniment to hot chocolate on a cold evening of celestial wonder.

Thanks to Ben and Irene and Shea, Abbey and Ryan and Stephanie for pumping out the most amazing cookie display we've ever had. You are all awesome! And to the Barista's who keep the cookie train running: Bri and Jill, Rachel and Hailey and Beth, Maya and the amazing Natalia. We are so grateful to you all!

We are taking orders just until the end of the day today, though our elves will be baking away to make sure there are enough holiday treats for everyone.

We'll be open Christmas eve until 4pm. Closed Christmas Day.

Back to our regular schedule after that, yes we will be open New Years Day with lot's of biscuits and gravy to soak up the last of the holiday cheer.

Northern Lights

2010-12-09T08:28:00.003-09:00

The clear cold weather we've been having is the perfect time to look for the northern lights. Local photographer Dennis Anderson has been shooting the aurora all over Alaska, but his images from the Homer area are my favorite (find more of his fantastic work at auroradude.com). We get less of the red colors than they see in the far north, but the greens and yellows and blues that wind their way through the sky here perfectly reflect the sea and snow of the landscape below. At the Homer Nutcracker faire this past weekend, my husband and I stopped to chat with him at his booth (see Dennis' response at the end of this post, let's just say he clears up a few things!) and his photographs reminded me of something we had been working on at the bakery.

Stained glass cookies are a beautiful way to dress up cut out sugar cookies. Just smash up any hard candy and sprinkle in the holes of your favorite shape. Bake as usual.

We love these maple butter cookies, so good they'll make you see stars.

(or if your lucky, the northern lights!)

Aurora Update:

Dennis just sent me a note after reading over my post to correct me on my aurora facts. I have always seen mostly green and yellow lights here and was told by someone long ago that it was because we were so far south and that the lights were related to the cold, but he tells me:

"Even though the auroras are visible more frequently further north, the percentage of colorful shows is lower. we actually get more colorful shows down here. They are still quite rare, but one reason is that the colorful events are related to powerful solar flares.The strong geomagnetic storms resulting from these flares, and there coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, drive the auroras further south so even though we don't get auroras as often, when we do they are more likely to "count". Another reason has to do with the angle of the charged particles entering the atmosphere. Further north the angle is more direct and further south the angle becomes less direct so the the particles end up taking more time to penetrate the thin air. This also contributes to more red emission. Most all of my colorful shots are taken right here on the Kenai rather than further north with very little exception.

Another mis-conception is that the auroras are in some way is related to the cold. In reality, there is no direct relation as auroras occur all year. We just are not able to see them during the brightest summer months but I have seen them from late July to late May from Homer. Clear skies and darkness are all that is required (and a little solar activity). Of course, in the winter clear skies usually mean cold so that is how people come to relate the two."

That's two urban, er, I mean rural, myths debunked for me...thanks, Dennis!

Aurora Update #2

An anonymous commenter left me a link to an interesting site where you can view the northern lights while they are happening! Here it is: The Aurora Max Project.

Thanks to you, Anon...but one question...where did your comment go? First it was there, then it wasn't! Regardless, I appreciate the link, very cool website.

Cookie Nirvana 2010

2010-12-01T00:18:00.000-09:00

So Thankful!

2010-11-25T07:04:00.000-09:00

1 beautiful sunrise. check.
40 pies, check.
50 dozen rolls. check.
1 bottle champagne. check (Thanks, Red!)
1 crew of awesome people to work with. CHECK.
100's of happy customers. check and check.
I think we're done here.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...so Thankful for All of You!

Tartine Bread and other delights.

2010-11-18T10:44:00.000-09:00

One of our favorite baking books of 2010 is Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. Chad, along with his wife Elisabeth Prueitt owns Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. They have been a huge inspiration to us, and this bread book is just the icing on the cake. Sharon met Chad and Elisabeth back in 1998 at the same bread conference she met Alan Scott. It was a turning point for our bakery, to find these people living the life we were, with the same passion and insane work ethic. When we finally built our own oven with Alan in 2004 it was an amazingly humbling experience. We thought we had worked hard before, now there was wood to wrangle, a fire to build and an oven to clean, besides mixing, and forming and baking the bread. It has been worth it though, and reading Chads great stories and following his detailed and excellent recipes brings us right back to why we do this in the first place...because we are crazy! Oh, and there's nothing like making people happy with our food.

Speaking of making people happy...Ben made fudge.

It's just one of the many treats coming out of our kitchen for the holidays. The season kicks off in earnest next week as we get our pie on for thursday, then starting friday we introduce our 2010 Holiday Cookie List. We have already made thumbjams and cranberry orange cookies as well as lavender and green tea shortbread. The rest of the list is still working itself out, stay tuned! Until then we will be prepping pies and rolling rolls in anticipation of a busy day before Thanksgiving. It is exciting to have such an amazing staff to help us pull it all together. We remember many a tuesday and wednesday before making it happen ourselves, working long, long days only to collapse on Thanksgiving day after the requisite plate of turkey.

Which reminds me:

Don't forget to put in your Thanksgiving orders in by 6 pm on Tuesday!

New Blog Design

2010-11-15T23:28:00.000-09:00

Shaking things up....Let us know if things aren't loading right for you, or if you have a hard time reading the content. I hope you like the new look!

View from the baking table: 11/08/10

2010-11-11T08:55:00.000-09:00

An early winter snowstorm struck last weekend, forcing us to close the bakery on Sunday. Though we didn't get so much in town, the upper elevations got dumped on! My house, at 500 feet got over 18" and Sharon, who is more like 1000 feet up, was digging out of 30"! What did I say about getting all the stuff picked up out of the yard? Too Late!

Bacon Truffles

2010-11-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

The days are much shorter now, the darkness enfolding our days as the chill moves in and we surrender uneasily into the throes of winter. Snow is starting to stick and people are rushing to finish winter preparations like getting the snow tires on the car and splitting a good supply of wood, oh, and don't forget picking up all that stuff in the yard that will be lost until spring once the snow really falls. The cool weather and impending holiday season make me think of sweet treats...it's time to make candy! Ever since trying bacon truffles out for the first time almost 2 years ago I have made them periodically and they are always an interesting conversation starter, and yes, actually quite popular as well. This year I tweeked it a bit, deglazing the fried bacon with brandy and then making a brittle with some of the bacon for the topping. The brittle sprinkled on top before the chocolate hardens gives them a crunch that really enhances the bacon experience. It is so fun watching people's faces when they encounter something so unusual here in this funky little bakery on the beach at the end of the road. Of course, we weren't the first to think of pairing chocolate and cured pork products. While the blog I heart bacon has references to chocolate covered bacon as far back as 2005, Homer Simpson is credited with being one of the first to herald the virtue of this unusual food pairing. The Minnesota state fair started selling chocolate bacon under the fetching name of 'pig lickers', and before you know it, specialty chocolate shops on both coasts were pedaling their own versions. Then luxury chocolate maker Vosges introduced a bacon chocolate bar, the now famous 'Mo's Bacon bar' and Zingerman's, the big deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan began serving a bacon and chocolate gravy over biscuits, a dish with roots firmly planted in Appalachia (apparently when cocoa powder became readily available in the late 1800's they added it to their milk gravy as a way of jazzing up this simple low country favorite). These days you can even order chocolate covered bacon from almost any foodie catalogue or try a bacon infused chocolate from one of those fancy shops in the mall. With or without bacon, chocolate is enjoying a very real and sustained surge as a versatile, nay even 'healthful' food. I, for one, am and always have been a big fan.

Carmel Apples.

2010-10-24T19:50:00.002-08:00

I promised you she would make them.

We remember apple picking every fall. (Sharon is from Pensylvania, I'm a Michigander)

The cider. The doughnuts.

But most of all...the carmel apples.

Sharon recently perfected her carmel sauce and she was so excited to use it to make carmel apples this fall.

She let the carmel cook just a little longer to reduce the water content, and washed and dried organic apples. a skewer, appropriately placed and a dip in the slightly cooled carmel.

It really isn't fall until you've had one of these:

All wrapped up for your favorite ghoul:

and while your at it...why not stock up on some spider cupcakes.

or ghoulish merengue mummies...

or ghastly ghosts!

mmmm...fall!

2010-10-19T21:29:00.001-08:00

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year here at the bakery. Business has slowed, but not so quiet we're worried. It's more like, ahh...we can breathe. Create. Experiment. I read a lot about food and cooking and it's nice to be able to implement fun ideas when they come your way. This ciabatta is just that. When I read on writer Michael Ruhlman's excellent food blog about his Chipotle Corn Ciabatta, I couldn't wait to adapt this to our own ciabatta bread. I don't generally make the bread here at the bakery, Abbey and Sharon do the brunt of the bread baking during their early morning shifts. One bread I still get to do is the ciabatta on tuesdays. I have to make a plain version because we have such a following for it, but the last few weeks, I've been making a kalamata olive flavor also. Then I read Ruhlman's post. It sounded so good I had to try it out today. Oh, I made plain and k.olive loaves, too, by dividing my double batch of starter into thirds. I placed the very wet dough into bowls. Little slips of paper on the top of each cloth covered bowl reminded me of the timed intervals at which I had to 'turn' each batch. I was a veritable ciabatta factory, so fun! It came out beautiful and was a total hit. One thing I changed is, sadly, I had no corn...so I used cheddar cheese instead. Yeah.

When I wasn't in bread-land I realized that it was time to make some scary treats. A little carrot cake jelly roll turned into creepy goblins and the ever popular 'Boo Brownies' made their first appearance of the season. Bite Me, indeed.

Coming soon...Sharon's carmel apples. You know you want one.

View from my house 10/9/10

2010-10-09T20:10:00.003-08:00

The sun is setting long and slow on the volcanoes out my window at home. This was a spectacular fall day that reminds us how fantastic it is to live here. We are glad to have the weather lighten up as we celebrate the marriage of one of the three couples we had working for us this summer. We have always been a family affair here at Two Sisters, but never has it been more apparent than the fact that two of our former bakery lovelies had babies this year (go Corina and Melissa!) and we have gotten to witness the 'so perfect for each other' attraction of Brianna and Ryan and stood by as Chase and Hayley navigated the waters of new commitment. In that spirit, Beth and Shea share their wedding vows with us tomorrow at a beautiful spot on the beach. We wish them the best and can't wait to party like the rockstars we are. Til then, let's enjoy a parting shot from the my dinner table. I made berry pies for the rehearsal dinner and had one left over...which, as you can see, made my family really happy their mama is a baker. :)

The bittersweet end of berry season

2010-09-22T22:10:00.002-08:00

As I pulled away from the bakery this evening, a couple of girls from my son Charles' class were in the garden gigging and laughing, then I saw them spy the red raspberries still clinging to life. They picked and ate and kept on laughing. This scene made me so happy. I love berry season, when mother nature puts out her finest gems for us. Here in Homer, the best patches are wild and discovery of one gives you license to forgo most common courtesies to protect your source. We have a tiny patch of raspberries that have seeded themselves around the bakery, there isn't enough to make stuff to sell, but there are plenty for Katy and Nonah to pick and eat and giggle over.

One of the local russian farmers brought us potatoes and carrots last week and his wife handed me this cup of highbush cranberries. They are tart and very seedy, I think they will make an amazing sauce for the delta grown pork chops my husband brought home.

Blueberries have been over for a little bit now, but while they were happening we enjoyed them every way we could. And while they were a hit on these cheesecake squares, they were also very popular on granola, too! These lovelies were delivered to us by Tree Things in our last delivery of the season.

Earlier in the week I scored some well priced, big, beautiful raspberries. Set on top of cheesecake tarts and brushed with a little malbec glaze, they are the perfect parting shot.

ummm...I think there has been a mistake.

2010-09-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

Who uses this stuff? I mean, seriously!

A sea of cupcakes

2010-09-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

Wedding season is not quite over yet and still one of our most popular ways to interpret the classic celebration dessert is through cupcakes! These little gems are chocolate cake with a dark chocolate truffle filling and a vanilla buttercream on top and decorated, as requested, with a fresh raspberry...simply perfect.

Iron Chef!

2010-09-08T20:50:00.002-08:00

Fot the past several years, our local family planning clinic has held an iron chef competition on the porch of The Saltry restaurant in Halibut Cove. As a past board president for KBFPC, I have always wanted to compete, but between wedding cakes and my husband's halibut fishing schedule I could never pull it off. This year, when the call came, I realized there was nothing holding me back. Lucky for me, the talented and hard working Irene was also up for just such a challenge!

We boarded the boat at noon on Sunday. 6 teams with all of our gear, we were told to bring everything we needed except the food. They provided a two burner propane stove and a very comprehensive condiment table/pantry which we did get to peruse for an hour or so before the competition began. What we did not yet know was the secret ingredient and the contents of our mystery box, which we would get 5 extra points for using all of.

the view from our station

What we didn't know is you could bring table linens... in the station next to us, the Tutka Bay Lodge folks had placemats and chargers and their own plates. We brought lemons, so we put them in a line down the center of table and called it good

For the competition we were to compose a main course for 12 in one hour with the people we were about to feed looking on just inches away from our station...it was scary and nerve-wracking and very exciting. The pressure was on as our table was loaded with long time bakery customers and devoted fans...we really wanted to give them a delicious plate of food...but wait, The secret ingredient?

MAKO SHARK! (with some side stripe shrimp on the side :)

What to do?

We trimmed the dark meat off the shark and wrapped the firm white filets in thinly sliced purple potato, searing them to brown the potato and then finishing in the oven while we sauteed the side striped shrimp in tomatoes, fennel, onions and garlic, all from the box. We reduced red wine with figs and fennel and shallots, added cream and herbs to make a buerre rouge sauce for the fish. For a starch we steamed couscous with the chard from the box and served it all with a little shredded beet and carrot salad on the side. The plates we borrowed from the Saltry were the perfect compliment.

While we didn't win, our table was very pleased, all of them licking their plates clean and pleasantly suprised that the shark could taste so good.

This guy, Harley won with his cooking partner, Beka from the Still Point Lodge. They made shark enchiladas in a mole sauce with a mango salsa and wild rice...I heard it really packed the flavor.

All in all it was a spirited, but friendly competition and the folks at the Saltry took mighty fine care of us!

A special Thanks goes out to Maura Brenin and the board of the clinic for their hard work putting this all together.

Best of all, everyone had a good time, a lot of money was raised for a good cause and the ride home at the end of the night was spectacular

A big shout-out to the other chefs in the house, Michael Hiller of Mermaid Cafe along with his lovely daughter Jess took 2nd and 3rd went to Mikal and Mike of the afore-mentioned Tutka Bay Lodge, in the losers bracket with us was the effervescent Teri Robl, who, along with writing a great food column for the Homer News, is a damn fine cook in her own right. She partnered with Amy from the local favorite, Cosmic Kitchen. Also, Nancy and Roland from the always yummy Sweetberries Cafe brought their best to the chefs table...Thanks again to everyone for competing, it was an honor to cook alongside y'all.

A Love Extravaganza!

2010-08-19T13:46:00.002-08:00

After 11 years and two children, 'sister' Sharon and her partner Dale finally got hitched for reals. It's been a productive union involving negotiating early morning bakers hours and, oddly enough, the procurement of recycled paper products. We are glad they finally decided to tie the knot, because it was, truly, the party of the summer!

Salmon and kabobs on the grill

Many Thanks go out to Ryan and Brianna, Natalia, Irene, and Red for helping to wrangle the food and to Maggie and Rachel for setting up the bar and serving the signature cocktail of lemon syrup, small batch vodka and soda water with a little mint...very refreshing for what turned out to be one of the most pleasant afternoons we've had in this very rainy summer! We closed the bakery on Sunday for the wedding, but were back at it the next morning...Yay for Abbey, Ben, Shea and the whole Monday crew for toughing it out with me through the busy day, no matter how tired or hungover we all were...good times!
Update 8/26/10: A few very important Thank You's i forgot to include above: Hayley and Chase for taking care of the coffee and to the wonderful Corina for spending the morning of the wedding with us at the bakery putting together beautiful trays for the appetizer table while my awesome daughters filled and frosted 300 cupcakes...Thank You also to all the friends and relatives who helped Sharon and Dale pull this off...we love you!

Summer is beautiful AND delicious...

2010-06-28T23:06:00.002-08:00

Yes, summer is here, and yes, we are getting our butts kicked, thank you very much! For those of you who know what the term 'in the weeds' means, we have been in the weeds for about 2 weeks now. Constant, dawn til dusk, 'oh my god, there's no way I'm gonna get this done' sort of weeds. people say, why don't you get more help? I say, you have a spare baker/ prep cook in your pocket? It's tough because the season lasts only 3 months, tops. Training and getting used to someone takes that long and then what...you know? We are used to just bucking up and that is just what we are doing right now. See how we can be slammed and still make beautiful things!

these fresh blackberry parfaits are a great portable way to enjoy the fruits of the season.

This chocolate wedding cake was one my favorite wedding cakes ever...so pretty!

and Matt, former bakery dude and presently 3 legged mule drummer got hitched this weekend to the lovely Jessica...such a sweet cake for a sweet couple! They got married at the beach near the bakery and as we were leaving to deliver yet another of our weddings, they stopped in their white limo (do they even have those in Homer? I never knew!) and got a wedding photo with the Two Sisters Bakery sign. sigh...isn't love grand?

Stonefruits and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

2010-06-10T11:55:00.009-08:00

Our first delivery of Tree Things means the fruits of summer have arrived! The peaches, nectarines and cherries are ripe and ready, so we are putting them to use in the very best of ways. Irene is pratcising a little culinary therapy (we are so glad to have her here with us right now) and made some beautiful tarts:
These jewels flew out the door just like everything is these days. The summer is shaping up to a busy one with people visiting from all over. So far we've had a cruise ship full of Dutch tourists, a bike touring group from the lower 48 (or 'outside' as we like to call it) and a whole bunch of Kitesurfers from everywhere! This weekend brings the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference with keynote speaker, Michael Cunningham and a whole host of other great presenters ( here is the complete list).

Now that we are having a literary moment, I'd like to share an intriguing new novel

by Aimee Bender:

I heard the interview with her on NPR this past sunday while baking away in the wee hours. It is a story of a little girl who discovers after eating a bite of birthday cake baked by her intensely dissatisifed mother, that she can taste the emotions of the people preparing the food she eats. The novel follows her into adulthood and her discoveries along the way as she deals with her 'gift'. After reading the excerpt, I ordered it right away. The magical realism reminds me of 'Like Water for Chocolate' and the modern setting makes for an interesting platform on which to take our discussions about what we eat and where it comes from and how it affects us.

Spring Planting

2010-05-20T20:29:00.004-08:00

Its truly spring now...no denying it. Memeorial Day is just around the corner and so is the planting deadline for those of us here in the northern climes. This has always been the weekend that you could be sure the danger of frost has passed. Every once in while we have an amazing spring and are lulled into that false sense of security that inevitably has us running out with the remay in the middle of the night due to a late spring chill. The local greenhouses are brimming over with bedding plants and even though it's a bit early to plant in the ground, its time to buy, because the reality of a small town is there is only so much to go around, if you want the best selection, this means shopping early. Which also means nursing along a bunch of plants until they are hardened off and ready to go in the ground. This isn't so hard at the bakery with it's sea-level elevation, trees are starting to leaf out in the yard and things are well on their way. It's a different story up at Sharon's house, however...1500 ft elevation, I believe there is still some snow on the ground even now! What's with all this planting nonsense you ask? Well, while we know we will never be a Blue Hill at Stone Barns, we do like to grow as many things as we can to use in the kitchen. Herbs planted in the window boxes by the baking tables serve as savory additions to soups and salads. The flowers in the yard are used like crazy to decorate cupcakes, catering trays and even whole wedding cakes. We also have a couple of vigorous rhubarb plants that provide homegrown goodness for rustic tarts all summer long. The local flora is also just about ready to give over it's goodness. Nettles are almost ready to harvest for pesto and the fiddleheads are just popping through, in a week they will be ao ready. On this note, I'd like to tell you about our new favorite food blogger, Hank Shaw takes the role of hunter gatherer to extreme and chronicles it all at his blog: Hunter Angler Gardener Cook . I have a feeling he would be right at home up here!
Lavender and Calendula...both so healing, and delicious!

...except when it doesn't.

2010-05-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

We spent alot of time this past winter plotting the upcoming summer. Especially at the end when the blizzards were raging and business unpredictable. The roster of workers started to come together nicely. We have a great group of people who all get along, alot of challenging catering events and the whole crazyness of summer to look forward to. And while every summer has it's curveballs, we were still basking in the hopefulness of spring.
But now, the title of my last post seems oddly out of place, a little more than a week later and life is not springing eternal as we had hoped, in fact just the opposite. Our baker and Bakery BFF, Irene, arrived last thursday from Portland and visited us friday to work out the summer schedule and give hugs all around. A few hours later she called breathless and shaky to say she was flying back to Portland that night to be with her husband, Jake. (who stayed behind to finish school) He was in an accident and they were performing emergency brain surgery. By Saturday afternoon, His family was told he would not recover and just like that, he was gone. We all are stunned and, for Irene, completely confused and devastated. Jake had been in our lives just a few short years, but he won us all over immediately with his love for Irene and a sincere interest in all that she cared about. My kids took to him right away, which says alot, just ask anyone around here who's tried to strike up a casual conversation with Charles, hard to get that boy to talk. But Jake could. He was a teacher and good at it, he was a musician and mighty good at that, too. We all danced in the wind and rain at their wedding last summer and thought to ourselves: These two are perfect for each other!
Well, the universe apparently had other plans.
I know this post doesn't seem to have that much to do with baking or food, but if you look at it closely it does. All the preparation and watchfulness in the world does not insulate us from the occasional reminder that we have no real control over the outcome, all we can do, is our best along the way.

Life springs eternal

2010-05-03T21:16:00.004-08:00

The snow is gone...at the lower elevations, anyway and nothing says spring like the sprouts of a Rhubarb in our own yard, these will be pie soon...just you watch. We are busy beyond our capacity...hence my lack of recent posts. I think we are starting to see the summer, and as our staff creates itself, we can begin to compose the roster and get our schedules figured out. Like the rhubarb emerging, we have people making their way to us, it's an organic process, with alot of faith in the universe thrown in! It's looking like a fun crew and a busy summer with the famers market, weddings scheduled almost every weekend (not to mention Sharon and Dale's on the 15th of August, it's going to be the party of the summer, I assure you!) and the never ending cookbook project to keep us occupied. If anyone wants to test recipes for us, check in over at the recipe blog and we'll send some stuff your way! Spring is also big for birthdays around here with Sharon at the end of March, Kate at the beginning of April, then Mel in mid-month and me towards the end. One of the highlights of my day (besides all the fantastic people who came to celebrate at our bonfire!) was Hayley and her burning poi balls, which she used to put on an amazing show once the sun finally went down.

Springtime in Alaska and it's forty below!

2010-04-22T20:25:00.003-08:00

Johnny Horton said it best I guess, or at least that's how it's felt here lately. Like winter will never loosen her icy grip. It's one of the things that make working in a nice warm congenial place like the bakery so appealing. The sun streams in, we don't know how cold it is outside (until we have to go get wood for the fire, right Mel? Ryan, your tough, you can handle it!) The Bakes has been bustling away with visitors old and new (so great to see YOU, Caitlin!) and it's all we can do to keep up most days. We are ready to bring on more staff and with the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival coming up, it means summer is just around the corner. So. Not. Ready!

A quick update on Meatless Mondays...they are a huge success, each busier than the last. I recieved a nice comment from the folks over there and they are glad to have us on board...We will continue to inspire throughout the summer, I'm looking forward to much feedback, so far it's been all good!

our first meatless monday a big success!

2010-04-08T12:53:00.002-08:00

The Mediterranean Focaccia was a hit:

We opened the morning meatless and with little fanfare...monday mornings in early spring are usually a little quiet as everyone jumps back into the week, so it is the perfect time to introduce something new. We put a sign up on the deli case and announced it on the menu board, and that was about it. The case was stocked with an attractive array of meat-free treats and looked very inviting, it would have been difficult for anyone to not find something that appealed to them. I admit i was a little concerned about how people would react, given that some of our regular clientele can be very idiosyncratic and resistant to change. They come in day after day, ordering basically the same thing each time they visit, for some these habits have been in place for many years. These relationships are very important to us, so we do not enter into big changes lightly, if we didn't really believe with all our hearts we are doing something good for everyone, we surely wouldn't do it. So it was with that spirit we presented the facts and to my glee, we received very few negative responses... my favorite came from an old friend who comes in often with his family; "Carri, first you close in Sundays, and now no meat on mondays...what are you trying to do to me?" It was a good natured ribbing and I'm guessing he'll be back next week.
Making the shift to no meat was fairly painless, we don't have an extremely meat-centric menu but there are a few customer favorites that that we make everyday, replacing those was our biggest challenge. Biscuits and gravy are a breakfast staple so Mel made a savory mushroom herb gravy instead. It was rich with sauteed mushrooms and looked meaty and delicious. The ever popular ham and cheddar savories were replaced by a variety of vegggie and cheese danishes, some with spinach and mozzarella, some with tomatoes and brie. The hot seller of the day was the mediterranean focaccia, which stood in for our standard made with roasted vegetables and smoked turkey. We made it by lightly roasting thin slices of eggplant, red peppers and tomatoes and layering them with pesto, fresh spinach and melted mozzarella cheese. Up next week: Egg Salad baguette sandwiches made with local eggs (thanks Peg and Samantha!) and roasted red and sweet potatoes with melted cheddar cheese with homemade salsa on the side. We'll see you here!

Burn, Baby Burn!

2010-03-29T20:54:00.005-08:00

The fire has been pretty sweet lately...after spending most of the winter skimping by on wet alder and a bit of birch we finally got a good wood groove goin'! My husband found a batch of white birch from the valley which showed up about the same time as the spruce being sold by my kids school as a fundraiser, along with some nice alder poles from our woodsmith, Sandy Stuart, we are back on track...and then some! We are now firing only once a day, starting around 3 pm and hitting the 750 degree mark around 6 pm when we close it up. by the next morning, it's hot enough for bagels and breads and whatever Abbey or Sharon throw it's way...by afternoon it's still hot enough for cookies, cakes or whatever else is on the baking list...that is, until it's time to start the process all over again!

A Midweek Cater

2010-03-25T21:21:00.007-08:00

This week Homer Council on the Arts is hosting their statewide meeting. We were honored to be asked to feed them on their first night. We began with and an antipasti collection including: oven roasted crimini mushrooms marinated in rice vinegar, soy sauce and honey, oven roasted artichoke hearts with lemon and olive oil, smoked oysters on a bed of pickled red cabbage and a savory white bean puree.

Also a simple Caprese Bruschetta, it doesn't get any better this far north than fresh basil, tomato and mozzarella...all on toasted ciabatta.

a fresh green salad dressed with a slightly sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

As a main course we served a very rich Eggplant Rolantini...the thinly sliced egglplant is dredged in flour and a seasoned egg mixture and then roasted on sheetpans. They are then rolled up with mushrooms, leeks, spinach and mozzarella and laced with housemade marinara.

And for those meat lovers, a pork tenderloin, braised in red wine and dried cherries...oh yeah!
That was so fun, how 'bout breakfast? See you at 8 am!

Meatless Mondays...a movement for the future with roots in the past

2010-03-24T17:12:00.013-08:00

Yoko Ono does it (and tweets about it), Dovetail Restaurant in NYC does it, even Oxford University in England does it. The 2009 documentary 'Food inc.' listed it as on of the 10 things you can do to change our food system. Meatless Mondays isn't a new idea, originating during WWI as a conservation measure (they also practiced 'wheatless wednesday') and reintroduced during WWII by Herbert Hoover. Actually, according to Frederick Kaufman in his entertaining and informative book "A Short History of the American Stomach' our nation has been fasting regularly since the very beginning for both religious and conservation purposes. As late as the mid 1800's it was a practice sanctioned by the government in the form of communal fasting days. Given all that, just going without meat one day a week seems hardly a sacrifice!

The Meatless Monday Movement began again in 2003 as a nonprofit initiative of 'The Monday Campaigns, inc.' in association with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Center for a Livable Future. It was then endorsed by 20 schools of public health and spread to schools and organizations across the country.
The idea is to use the first day of the week to set healthy patterns and intentions for the week ahead. If you miss one Monday, there's always next week. See healthymonday.org for more on this theory.
Why Meatless? The John's Hopkins initiative was orginally introduced to reduce consumption of saturated fats in the american diet, but the benefits also have a global effect. The Observer wrote in 2008 about the United Nations sanctioning the consumtion of less meat citing these statistics: The meat industry generates nearly 1/5 of the man made greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change. Current large scale meat farming methods contribute half of the pollutants in our rivers and streams. Production of 1# of meat takes 2500 gallons of water (compared to 220 gallons for 1# of soybeans)
This movement is not without it's enemies, the Atlantic Monthly wrote in 2009 about the reaction of the meat industry to public schools declaring meatfree mondays. With their stronghold on goverment subsidies and powerful lobbists, they prove formiddable opponents to the winds of change.

So, for the health of our planet and the health of our people, we want to show our support and join in the movement.
Starting April 5th the bakery will be going meatless on mondays. It's biscuits and mushroom gravy and spinach & cheese danishes for everyone...trust us, this won't hurt a bit.
For more information go to meatlessmondays.com
As an added measure, I know lots of people have adopted a 'fish on friday' tradition. So if you had a vegetarian meal on monday and fish on friday, that would be two days a week of no meat consumtion, think of the difference it would make if we all made the commitment. Not to mention supporting those fisheries working hard to put quality 'sustainable' protein on our collective tables.

Spring Break...scenes from a busy bakery!

2010-03-20T22:10:00.006-08:00

I returned from a week of fun with my family to find the bakery busy as can be for mid March in the middle of a recession. The fire was nice and hot, the oven and Sharon pumping out some beautiful baked goods: bread, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, savory danishes...Mel and I could barely keep up (I think I frosted 5 cakes today, not to mention cupcakes by the dozen!) What with the Homer Winter King Salmon Tourny in full swing today and lovely weather getting everyone else out, it sort of felt like summer for a minute there...

This is killing me!

2010-03-16T21:43:00.004-08:00

I am getting rid of the pictures from this post, cause...well, they grossed everyone out. But if you think you can take it, click on the link...go ahead, I dare ya!
Bread Head Bakery
I love it when something just is so amazing that you have that: "Why didn't I think of that?" moment. This is the best thing I've seen since, well, 'sliced bread'! So, Irene, do you think they take externs? I found this via my lil bro' William. thanks, buddy...you made my day!

View from the baking table...snowed in!

2010-03-16T08:56:00.005-08:00

The blizzard of 2010 wreaked havoc on Homer last week, causing schools to close not once, but twice in a weeks time (it's been 8 years or so since they closed just once for snow!) and even the bakery had to close last Tuesday because everyone was drifted in and the wind was still blowing 40 mph! By Thursday, though the sun was peaking through and all of Homer rejoiced in a winter renewed. Even our moose friends. The deep snows drive them down to the lowlands, so they are everywhere around the bakery right now!

Feeling the love...

2010-03-03T21:10:00.012-09:00

The Homer music scene has always been an eclectic, varied offering. Here at the Bakes we've been big supporters over the years hosting the likes of Michelle Shocked and Dar Williams and feeding many more like John Prine and, my favorite, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (Their recording "Graceland" with Paul Simon is one great kitchen CD) The hug I got from Bruce Cockburn on my back porch as he was waiting for his cab is also a huge highlight. (I've been a fan of his since my early days ski bumming in the Tetons...all I can say is "Goosebumps!") Now that I really think about it, though, my biggest musical moment came when Ritchie Havens moved into our B&B rooms for 3 days. (once, a bunch of years ago, I went through a huge ordeal to get one of his CD's for my husband's birthday) Normally, performers who stay with us are in and out overnight. We're happy if we get to greet them at the door when they check in and hopefully serve them a latte and sticky bun in the morning before they jet off to the next show. Well, Ritchie was able to dig in and enjoy the scene. He spent his mornings sitting at the counter, just a knee wall away from where I was cooking. On his 2nd morning in town, I had a quiet chuckle as he was being chatted up by my neighbor and local rogue, Billy Sullivan. But then, as I caught on to the conversation, I realized that Ritchie was relating his Woodstock experience to Billy. How he had to keep playing because the band that was scheduled to follow him was late (I believe it was the Who) He improvised this song that became an anti-war cry for an entire era. There I was...chopping mushrooms for soup, afraid of walking away from my station & missing anything he had to say. I could've burned a million pans of whatever, I was gonna stand there until he stopped talking. The next morning he sat in his spot and the line went out the door with people wanting a signed anything from him- talk about feeling the love.
Tomorrow, Thursday, March 4th (7 pm Down East Saloon), another old friend is coming to visit:

The Peter Rowan Trio has graced the Homer stage before. My favorite memory if his first visit: We were in the space the bakery occupied in the Old Inlet Trading Post and he was staying in the rooms above. 'Sister' Kate was fairly new to the bakery and Homer but was a huge fan of Peter Rowan. She hung around all day hoping to meet him. It wasn't until after she left he made his way down the slanted stairs next to the bakery. We were able to exchange a warm greeting and as he was leaving Sharon stuck a flower in the lapel of his mustard yellow jacket, "This is for Kate, she's a really big fan"

Coming this spring: Erin McKeown!

February is over...

2010-03-01T08:54:00.001-09:00

Whew. That's all I have to say...oh and: "Happy birthday, John!" You make 53 look pretty darn good.

Inspriration does come from everywhere!

2010-02-23T23:00:00.004-09:00

These paintings by Jeanne Young capture bakery life at it's most realistic...

interestingly enough, we had NO idea!

a little cocktail from my valentine

2010-02-15T22:17:00.007-09:00

I just have to share my valentine gift from my husband, who just so happens to know what I like.
Behold, the Valentine Martini:
2 parts gin (in this case a small batch called 'Dry Fly' from Washington)
1 part kalamata olive juice
pour over ice in shaker and shake until outside of shaker feels ice cold
strain into a VERY COLD martini glass (these are from our good friend Barb Scalzi at North Wind Home Collection)
garnish with as many olives as will fit on the cocktail skewer...then sit across from your favorite valentine and enjoy.
make sure your close enough to play footsie, that's the best.

Ski Dinner wrap up

2010-02-14T15:55:00.007-09:00

Appetizer trio:
Ginger Beet Soup with seared scallop, Pickled Salmon on cucumber with wasabe, roasted vegetable spring roll with sweet chili

The Homer High School Nordic Ski Team holds a fancy dinner fundraiser every season. In the past few years it has been headed up by my friend and mentor Sean Maryott and Diana Carbonell. It's always been a very well put together event with a reputation for really fine food. Last year I was honored when they asked me to help out, but the jig was up by the end of the night. As we were packing up and basking in the glow of a job well done, Diana, with a playful twinkle in her pale blue eyes, taps me on the shoulder and says "Tag, You're it!" I knew it, I was being chosen. To say I was flattered is an understatement. I was also scared to death! I know they were really ready to pass this one along, Sean's daughter Gillian had graduated the year before and my kids were just coming up in the program, so picking a new crew made sense...and when I thought about it, I realized it was just the challenge we were looking for. I say we because right after being given the job, I shared it with my colleague, Ryan Lee. Ryan and I had been talking about pulling together a dinner almost ever since he came to work at the bakery. He is the kind of creative and capable cook who can make you believe anything is possible. (I really like that in a person) While his 10 gauge earrings and mulitiple tattoos may take some folks time to get used to, the minute he starts cooking for you with deft hands and kind demeanor, even the most critical warm up and relax. (I really like that in a person, too) When the time came, the committee contacted me this past fall to say they wanted to do a valentine dinner this time. We went to work on the menu right away...though it took a while to finally come together, we came up with a set of flavorful, seasonal dishes that could be produced within the constraints of our budget and the space. We also recruited Melinda Zox-Rubino who has been helping us at the Bakery this winter (she runs Silver Fox Lodge in her copious spare time!), and the ever efficient Brianna Bryngelson, painter extraordinaire, to help with the cooking and plating. Held at our friends Pauli and Harmon Hall's beautiful post and beam 'barn' (they are also owners of the Quiet Place Lodge in Hailibut Cove...such a lovely spot!) it has a wonderful kitchen and an amazing view, one of my favorite venues ever. The food came together beautifully...it was so much fun, we look forward to doing it again next year...right guys?
The Salad:
Spinach with blood orange, candied almonds and warm balsalmic vinaigrette and sesame rice cracker

(my son charles saw the picture of this and said it looked too messy, I agreed, but I do think he's been reading the Alinea cookbook too much!)
Unfortunately, it was too busy at entree time to get a shot of the main course...my bad. I was too proccuppied over saucing the first plates, so we had to scramble for enough sauce for the last plates, the one glitch in the night for me.
It was a play on 'surf and turf':
Pan roasted Cod with honey mustard crust, with a skirt steak skewer over a wild mushroom risotto all dressed with a miso-herb buerre blanc....again, sorry no photo!
I did manage to capture dessert, though:
Baby Boca Negra with creme angalise (thanks Ruhlman) and pomegranate jelly

Raspberry Pomegranate Jellies

2010-02-08T21:06:00.008-09:00

I've been wanting to make Jellies for quite some time, but for whatever reason, never quite got around to it. But now, as valentines day approaches, I finally got that 'round to it' (thanks, GC)...and decided this is the year. We are doing a special dinner for the high school ski team on saturday, i thought this would be the perfect thing to add to the dessert course. As is par for me when doing something I've never tried, it took a few attempts before I got it right. First off, I had to find a formula. In looking through my cookbook library, jellies were way underrepresented. So, I go to my computer...a google search brings up a recipe by fellow Alaskan, Kirsten Dixon...who's work I admire and who also happened to be staying upstairs in our B&B! She and her husband are the new owners of Tutka Bay Lodge and they were down for some midwinter chores. I knew then that I had found my recipe. At home that evening I pulled some berries out of the freezer and followed Kirstens directions. I took the pan off the heat with 5 minutes of cooking time to spare, not being completely sure how thick the mixture should really get. I left them to set overnight and the next morning, they were almost right. I could cut and sugar them, but they were still a little on the soft side. The next batch I decided to use the pomegranate juice you can buy at the store in bottles. I really wanted that jewel red color. Knowing there wouldn't be much naturally occurring pectin in the juice, I upped the amount called for and cooked the mixture until it came close to being as thick as the last batch. The only problem was it took almost an hour of stirring on the stove and in the end, they were even softer than the first ones. So, that means I need more pectin...maybe adding some cranberries, I happened to have a bag of fresh in fridge, so I mixed it with the rest of the jarred juice and went at it again. This time, it thickened up nicely and the next day I was able to cut and sugar them with ease...the only thing was the cranberry completely overwhelmed the pomegranate (of course). So, I turned to my old friend, the raspberry...just the right complement. It turned out to be a perfect pairing.

moments of bakery nirvana...

2010-02-06T12:36:00.006-09:00

February brings fabulous light when the sun does shine and because it's so low in the sky this far north, it does so quite brightly on my baking table. As the fire crackles to life in the oven behind me and mouthwatering smells fill the air from Mels soup pots all lined up like soldiers on the stove, the front of the house hums away... the tables full of people chattering and laughing. It's a good mix of familiar faces and out of towners (you can so tell) everyone enjoying this one little moment where the sun is shining in and the food and coversation satisfying. Three legged mule, their old timey bluegrass, playing away on the ipod keeps the tempo of the room perfectly. I love moments like this, live for them, actually. Working as hard as we do, it's difficult to remember to stop and take a moment to appreciate the fact that we get to spend our days in such a lively and creative environment. When I look around the room and reflect back on the nearly 17 years of bakery life lived, I feel very happy to be right here right now.

Some days you just want to eat everything...

2010-02-01T06:34:00.006-09:00

Talk about suggestive selling...Irene's cupcakes literally flew out of the case!

These were filled with raspberry truffle. Others were filled with carmel:

personally, I like my carmel on a spoon...which is an very good dessert,

but then there's always a raspberry and cream parfait...ooooh, wait, what are those?

mmm...it's cheese bread for Ryan's amazing french onion soup:

Hungry yet?

embracing the cupcake and crazy people

2010-01-24T15:44:00.002-09:00

Wouldn't you know it...once the cupcake caper went down, Irene decided to whip out a batch or two of cupcakes. Well, they are selling like hotcakes! Some are filled with carmel, some with chocolate. The ones I made today are filled with whipped cream and a few of those I topped with chocolate ganache, channeling the days of eating hostess cupcakes for lunch every day in 7th grade. It's crazy how people go crazy over cupcakes. It's a phenomenon that's been scorned by many. I understand....I, too have resisted the hype of the cupcake. But they sell...and now that I think about it, they have a pretty good shelf life, especially if they are filled AND I don't have to cut them. So, there you have it, cupcakes it is!
Now crazy people, that's a whole 'nother form of acceptance that we came to pretty early on here at the bakery. Every year has it's cast of characters and for some reason they really come into their own around the end of January. A big part of opening a place like this is that, while you fantasize about those cool customers your going to attract...and don't get me wrong, alot of them are WAY cool, there is still going to be the little assortment of truly wacky people who decide you are they're new best friend. No, we're just trying to be nice, but, oh..it's too late. They're hooked and it's gonna take awhile to wrestle them free. Take the paranoid schitzophrenic dude with narcisistic tendencies. He's writing a book called the 'Illiad and the id' ...can't wait for that one. His Dad used to send me money, to go on an account for him, I'm sure it was so that the money would get spent on food and not drugs, but when the guy started asking me for cash advances against his credit, I had to stop. Last winter it was a fellow we dubbed Andy Warhol because of his thick head of grey hair. He was married and his kids went to school with mine. We would watch with concern as he sat for hours talking to himself, and wondered how his frazzled wife kept him and them all together. Turns out she couldn't and they eventually sent him off. For the most part these folks are fairly harmless, mostly we feel a responsibllity to be there for them, as long as it doesn't interfere with our regular customers. This winter it has been a little less of the really crazy and more of the just annoyingly clueless. One particularly frustrating group of folks is from the local chapter of the Church of the Rock. It's headed up by a couple of guys (I call them the Bible Boyz) in their late 20's or early 30's who come in the afternoons and take up our only four top to swill vanilla white chocolate lattes (um...I'm sorry, but those are some pansy-ass coffee drinks) and grill their younger guests on how much they are sinning. It makes me want to walk up their table and in my most pissed off tone, say calmly "Could you please take that shit somewhere else?" Oh well, I hear they have just embarked on a mission to india, maybe I will be over it by the time they are back, but I doubt it.

Rising Tide of Hunger...

2010-01-20T20:10:00.012-09:00

Just as Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech told of the people of color in America getting a check drawn on insufficiant funds to deliver them equal rights, so have the poor and unfortunate of this country gotten a bad check written by the legislators and big agro-business and leaving their bellies and pocketbooks and dreams empty. The USDA released it's data for hunger and it shows 49 million people in America as being 'food insecure' in 2008. (that's up from 39 million in 2007, we can only imagine what the 2009 numbers will be) Women and children suffer the most in these statistics and overall the numbers should be a wakeup call to get very serious about food security and hunger issues that plague every corner of this country. Hunger is everywhere, and many of our neighbors are suffering so quietly, we may not even know...
As a very young adult I landed on the beach in Homer. Someone I trusted told me I could live cheaply and get work here. It was a long way to go on what were really just flimsy assurances, but lucky for me, it was a good suggestion. Since I spent that whole summer living in a tent on the beach or on couches, it was a huge learning experience in humilty and perseverence. At the time I told myself I was an 'adventurer' but in reality I was homeless. Going back to the Detroit area to live with my very messed up family was an unbearable step backwards, I needed to start over. When I lived on the beach, I got up every morning and made my way to the public bathroom to huddle underneath the hand drying blowers. It took me a little longer than I expected to get a job, money was running out. I ate simply...crackers and cheese, cured meats and an occasional piece of fruit. I hitchhiked the five miles to town for basic services and affordable groceries. When I finally did land a paying job, I had just enough money to buy a shower at the laundromat so I could report for duty not smelling of campfire. It was as a part time cocktail waitress at the Salty Dawg Saloon (thanks gals, I'm ever grateful!). I made $60 bucks that night, more than I'd landed in Homer with originally. Things turned around for me after that. Word got around that I was a good waitress and I eventually scored the job I originally came to town for. Though, through my my time here I have learned to become a part of a community, I am also aware that any unfortunate accident could put me back into that tent. People that cared enough to trust me taught me to pass those same values along to others as I made my way in this tightly knit little town. That, I believe is the secret to solving the hunger problem that looms, both in our nation and globally. Realizing that we are all a part of a community, and we have a responsibilty to maintain the health and wellbeing of all involved. Today I came across a trailer for a new movie being made called Hungry in America. It is a documentary film by Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobsen. ( also being produced by some heavy hitters: Mario Batali and Tom Collichio) Focusing on the many problems of feeding ALL the people in our current society, the film is only 20 percent completed and already there is a media buzz. (You can watch some of the clips here on youtube)
On the local scene, The Kenai Peninsula Foodbank serves a growing number of children and families struggling to make ends meet here at the end of road. Many people come here trying to live the dream and are quickly overwhelmed by high prices and difficult living conditions. We also applaude the Homer Food Pantry their efforts and support them every chance we get.
Covering global hunger issues, I recently discovered Frederick Kaufman, a freelance writer who publishes in Harper's, the New Yorker and Gastronimica. He recently published an editorial called 'A Reasonable Proposal' that appeared in the British Medical Journal that uses commodity markets to explain why so much of the world is going hungry. It appears here on his blog where I also discovered he is the author of "A Short History of the American Stomach" a book called 'a Bourdain meets Pollan tour of the American gut' by Gastronomers Bookshelf. (That was enough for me, I'm ordering it tonight.)
Here are some other resources for joining in the fight and staying informed:
Share Our Strength
Feeding America
US Food Policy
The Ethicurean

p.s. Thx to @kitchenmonki and @ruhlman for giving me the heads up on the Hungry in America documentary...I love twitter!

The Cupcake Caper

2010-01-14T16:13:00.006-09:00

January is usually a slow month...due to this, Sharon scheduled a three week trip to China (!) Sadly, I found out too late about the food blogger camp in Ixtapa, Mexico or I would have been out of here, too! To ease my disappointment, I decided to close for a couple of days to clean and get ready for the busy season ahead. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as Sharon got on the plane, I got this email:
"I will like you to bake me chocolate and Vanilla cake of 5 tier that can serve approximately 300 guest or more , and I want the cake to be decorated with pink roses and the cake should be covered in fondant or in butter cream, and there will be an inscription writing on the side of one of the tier as “HAPPY MARRIED LIFE” and i want you to pack them in different boxes to be ready for pick up at the said time and date.. 14th of Jan 2010, 3 O'clock PM. Reply me back and let me know if you can fill in the date for me....??? then i can forward all the details and the picture sample of what i will like you to bake for me.
Thanks and God bless."
S. N.*
(*names have been changed to protect the investigation)
I don't know if many of you have visited our cakes page on the website, but there isn't a fondant cake among them. We prefer to conspire with mother nature to make our cakes special, growing many of the flowers we use in our own gardens. A fondant wedding cake with frosting flowers was the last thing I wanted to take on right after we closed for two days of deep cleaning. So I responded thusly:
"I'm sorry, we are not taking wedding cake
orders for the month of January. 2010.
Our wedding cake baker is on Holiday.
Best, "
The next day, this e-mail greeted me:
"Can you make me 350 cupcakes for the date instead.
Some chocolate and som strawberry. let me know what it will cost me.
I shall be very grateful if you consider this done, for me.
I have already told most of my special guest that you are baking for my wedding.
So please do not let me down."
S.N.
Reluctantly....VERY reluctantly, I responded:
"That we can do....they will be $3.50 each. Decorated with pink rose on top.
($3.00 w/out rose) Same amount of each? What flavor frosting?
Thanks!"
He got right back to me:
"Thanks for the update. I want pink rose design on each cupcake.
And I want chocolate frosting.. So let me know what will be the
total cost for the 350 cupcake.
Await your soonest reply to proceed with the order.
Thanks and God bless."
S.N.
Okay, I think...1225 bucks for a bunch of cupcakes? I have Ryan, the master, and Irene fresh from a pastry certification class...we can do it, right? So I give him the totals:
"That will be $1225.00...Dark Chocolate Frosting? Sounds good...let us know!"
His swift response:
"Hello , thanks for the swift re Iply to my order request, and for your concern as well, i want you to know that am very grateful, and am really inspired ever since the first time I tasted your cake, that is why I will prefer you bake for me..or i rather not bake a cake for my wedding.

They should be ready for pick up by 3 O'clock PM on the 14th of Jan 2010...and a private shipper will be coming to pick them up....to delivery to my wedding reception in Canada and i dont want you to be worried about the safety delivery of the cake. Regarding the shipping ,I have a private shipping agent that will take good care of pick up and the delivery consignments.. The Shipper will come for the pickup arrangement of the Cake at your place, at the pick up date and time.

And as I have told you previously, you don’t have anything to be worry about on the shipping of the cake it will be well secure and in a good condition on arriving the location of my wedding reception in Toronto Canada, the shipper will be coming with there refrigerator Van for the pick up and it will be ship under the fragile shipping insurance scheme, a friend of mine has use them before for a shipping consignment of this such and they are well reliable, dependable and secure…..

So I want you to calculate for me what will be the total cost of the cake order plus tax if included, and also I want you to add $780 for the cost of the pick up and the shipping, so once I have your reply for the total I will remit my credit card for you to charge for the total cost…so that you can have the order book right away. And once you have the order secured, I will have the shipper contact you for the pick up schedule arrangement, also i will instruct you further on how you will pay the shipping fee to the shipper as to confirm the pickup arrangement of the cake. Willingly Am also offering you an extra $100 for taking care of my order properly and for any less stress you will go through for completing the transaction for me due to my absence.

So please do calculate altogether the total cost of the cake + tax + $780 for shipping charges, including the $100 am offering you, then get back to me with the total for all, so once i have your reply for the total cost i will remit my credit card for you to run for the charges, also let me know is you accept Visa or Master card.
I will be waiting to have your reply for the total cost then we can proceed from there, hope to hear from you soonest."

It was at this point that I really started to wonder...a wedding in Toronto? Are you serious? WTF? So, I brought in my peeps, asked them to read the e-mails...should we go through with this or what? The opinion all around was that, hey, if the card numbers go through it must be legit, right? So we make the cupcakes, and as long as we get paid, what difference does it make how it goes down, right? Sure enough that night an email came with credit card numbers (it was to be divided onto two cards...not that unusual for a high ticket item, but still, another red flag!) so Sunday morning I ran them through the processing machine without a hitch. Or so I thought. On Monday morning the phone rang as we were getting ready for school. It was the Homer Police Department, letting me know I'd been involved in a credit card scam. One of the frauded card owners had caught the transaction and alerted the authorities. (All I can really think at this point is how relieved I am I don't have to make the cupcakes!) I cooperated with the officers gave them the e-mails I had and aksed them what to do next. They requested that I lead the guy on and try to get more info out of him. So I sent along this note:
"I will make 1/2 choc and 1/2 strawbeerry and all with chocolate frosting with a pink frosting rose on top. They will be ready by Thursday at 3pm. Can you give me details on the shipper? I would like to check on size of boxes, etc. Also, I will need your phone number and address, to further process this order...it's not everyday we make 350 cupcakes for a wedding in Toronto!"
He Responded ever so promptly...
"Am using E. L. ..a private shipper for the consignment...You are not to arrange any special packing for the cakes... just have them ready for pick up..in your regular packing. Once everything is set, I will update you with the pick up schedule, and I will have the shipper contact you for the pick. Below are my details you request for me...133 East Bunnell Avenue,Homer, AK 99603, Tel xxx-xxx-xxxx.
I just wish to monitor the pick up arrangement myself, so as to avoid any error. And once the cake leaves your store, its off your responsibility, so you have nothing to worry about.
So make sure you check email on the 14th Morning for the details. Thanks and God bless."
S.N.
Between all this we have the bakery ripped apart painting and scrubbing away, I'm calling the bank, who doesn't really know what to think. They finally tell me it's okay to refund the transactions, so at least the money is out of my account. I stress about the coming e-mail and possible sting operation going down. Finally Thursday morning brings this communication:
"Hello good morning!.
How are you today and business. Sorry for the late respond, hope all is well ?, I really appreciate all your effort and concern toward the success of my wedding. And also thank you for your prayer support through my surgery, may the good God bless you. More also I want to notify you of the shipping arrangement, the shipper has advise payment for the delivery charges should be made via the western union to enable the the processing for the pick up schedule immediately, so as to proceed with shipment, to avoid any disappointment or delay for the delivery of my wedding cake. So now please I want you to proceed to any Western union outlet with the $780 for the delivery charges in cash and send it to the shipper below information as advise:

E. L.
387 N Wright St Champaign, IL 61820

I believe you should know how to get this done. All you need to do is go to any western union outlet with the amount in cash, on getting there , you will fill a form for the transfer, your name and address to the senders info column. And the above details in the receiver column. You will be giving a western union receipt for confirmation after the transfer. The receipt or the information on the receipt is what you will write out and email to me, and I will forward it to the shipper, and once they confirm the fee, then shipment follow immediately. I want you to know that I have once use the shipper and I don't have problem using them again, because they are well reliable and dependable, as you are, so you don't have anything to be worried about, and once the cake leaves your store, it's off your responsibility and you will not be liable for any error that turn up for you following my instruction.

Please get this done as soon as you can, and after you have send the fee to the shipper as I have instructed you, write out the below details and email it to me, to proceed:

(1) SENDER'S NAME:
(2) SENT AMOUNT:
(3) YOUR FULL ADDRESS WITH ZIP-CODE :
(4) MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER:

You can as as well email me the western union receipt, the information's is what I will provide the shipper, and once payment is confirmed , shipment follow without any delay or disappointment. Please kindly get this done as soon as you can, and email me back with the details of the western. I shall look forward to your email for the western union details soonest as the shipper are waiting on me.
Thanks and God bless."
So, that's alot of trouble to go through to get me to cough up $780! I forwarded this note to the police and we agreed that no one was probably going to pick up any cupcakes. They recommended that I tell them I have alerted the police and so far we are off the hook. I'm ever so grateful for the guy who dilligently checked his credit card balance, because if those transactions had not been found out until they got their bill, I would be out not only the $780 paid to shipping, but the other $2200 would have had to be returned also...costing us almost $3000, not to mention making the f-ing cupcakes!
Wow, we are still reeling as to why, better yet, why US?

Jam Today...food news from the front lines.

2010-01-05T21:24:00.006-09:00

Rosemary Fitzpatrick, the garden writer for the Homer News, and most excellent friend, brought me a little gift today. This book by Tod Davies...Jam Today. I was so intrigued by the publisher, I had to look them up online. Exterminating Angel Press, and they seem to be on to something. Also, Michael Pollan was on Jon Stewart the other night, here it is in case you missed it. While we're at it, my buddy Michael Ruhlman woke up on the wrong side of the bed the other day...check out his rant on why America no longer bothers to cook. We think that there is a revolution afoot...what say you?

Menage aux...carrots?

2010-01-04T19:30:00.005-09:00

These carrots have some serious entanglement issues...

Don't they make you blush?
We are using up the last of the locally grown root veggies that our neighborhood farmer has been storing up...can you imagine why he saved these for last? Just in time, a new CSA is starting up and this one is in state, Glacier Valley CSA , which obviously makes it more local. It's the first year round CSA in the state, they are trying to expand to the Homer area and are looking for drop locations, so let them know if you can help. We are still acting as a drop location for Full Circle Farm. Either way, good fresh veggies for your family and support small farming at the same time!

Musical interlude:
Vampire Weekend, one of our favorite new bands has a new album out...you can hear a sample on NPR

Snow Angels, a Blue Moon and a Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T08:53:00.006-09:00

We are wrapping up holiday week as we continue to juggle schedules to give everyone a break and do some of our own celebrating. I'm excited to be having fun with my little snow angels over the new year, skiing at Alyeska Resort. They have a torch light ski and fireworks tonight and then party with the half of Homer that is up here,too! The Bakery is winding down cookie madness and preparing for the last of the holiday catering. (thanks again for letting me get away, guys!) When I return, Sharon sets off to China for a couple of weeks, sans children, for a big adventure...look out Shanghai, you may never be the same! Many in our staff are coming and going right now, everyone trying to get in their holiday fun while they can! We are very grateful for Irene coming in from Portland to help us out (Haven also came and pulled some barista shifts...so awesome) and for Brianna, Ryan, Abbey, Natalia and Rachel for being here throughout the crunchtime. Now, with Jill back from Belize, Natalia gets to leave for Kona for a couple of weeks, by then Hayley will be back from Austin and we will be a full crew once again! Aren't we a well traveled bunch? One thing about living up here is, to be happy and adjusted, you really have to get out once in a while. It's usually just enough to remind one that the world down there is a madhouse! I always find it a huge relief to come back to out little hamlet by the sea, where the worst traffic jam is getting out of West Homer Elementary School parking lot at 8:10am on a school day.
As an added bonus, the weather is clear so we have a beautiful view of the Blue Moon brightening our oh so dark skies.
It makes the snow sparkle and casts a hopeful glow on the coming new year.

T'was the morning before Christmas...

2009-12-23T16:39:00.010-09:00

Twas the morning before Christmas and all through the kitchen
Sharon was baking bread that came out totally bitchin.
The stockings were not hung by the oven with care,
because we were to busy to put them up there!
The cookies were nestled all snug on their trays,
With hopes that they're headed to someone's partay.
Thanks to Irene in her apron and Ryan in his cap,
we were loaded for bear with holiday smack.
When out by the espresso machine there rose such a clatter,
We sprung into action to see what was the matter.
Away to the back Brianna did dash,
"There's a lady here to pick up her meal and she wants it real fast!"
We tore through the orders, looked through the trash,
but there was none to be had, so Bri thought in a flash,
"She's is at the wrong place to pick up!"
Whew...crisis avoided, now back to the rush.
As we packed up more cookies and busily wrapped trays,
The sun made a showing to brighten our day.
It was then Carri remembered we had something else to lighten our pain,
A present from Red, her signature cocktail of juice and Champagne!
We were able to finished the day in typical style,
making quick work of all the orders left in the pile.
Then what to our wondering eyes did appear,
but the clock had struck four and we were all outta there!
We heard Rachel and Natalia exclaim, as they disappeared out of sight::
"Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!"

Happy Holiday Everyone!!

We will be closed Christmas Day, open again on Saturday!

Cookie of the Year...

2009-12-22T20:04:00.004-09:00

and the winner is...

Lavender Shortbread! Few sweets can treat all your senses in the way this cookie can. The buttery texture, the smooth white chocolate flavor, the scent of lavender rising from the back of your mouth and up through your nose...(my daughter Jane likes to describe this as smelling backwards.) It satisfies from the inside out, and if you don't believe me, you can ask all those people who are buying these delights as fast as we can make them! By special request, I've put the formula up on the recipe blog...just in case you come by the Bakery and we're out!
Also, a Happy Solstice to everyone!!!

May each of you enjoy a Holiday Season filled with Love and Light!!!

Cookie Train has left the station!

2009-12-18T22:02:00.007-09:00

Years ago...when we decided to do Holiday Cookies in earnest. We got the idea to sell them by the pound...averaging out the effort and ingredients to give an easy way to encourage people to think of us when their holiday baking ran out of control.Now 10 years later, everywhere we go...the post office, in line at the grocery store... all we hear about is the cookies. We are pumping them out at a frantic pace! Our customers say it helps take the pressure off when they want something festive, but don't have the time or space to do it for themselves. We enjoy everyones delight in our beautiful array of handmade treats. It's funny though, at my own house as we set up the tree and decorate the house, my kids beg: Mom, we need to make some christmas cookies! I look at them a little askew and try to say calmly "dears, I don't know if you've noticed, but all I've been doing is making cookies for days and days"... that's when they roll their eyes and say..."we mean at HOME, mom!" so you see, even I don't fully get off the hook.
For the rest of you, the bakery has lots available for the upcoming week.
Prices are $10.00 per pound (a pound gets you about 2 dozen cookies)
We can wrap them in a pretty box and ship them too! (e-mail us at baked@xyz.net)
Here's what we are making right now:

Lavender Shortbread
Coconut macaroons
Cantuccini
Lemon Poppy Muhns
Raspberry Thumjams
Toffee Bars
Lemon Melt-aways
Cranberry-Orange Drops
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Maple Butter Cookies
Chocolate Gingerbread
Gingerbread Cutouts
Merengue Snowmen

There will be more to come as the holidays unfold...if you're in town, stop by for a chai-nog and a little holiday cheer!
A big welcome home to all our visiting college kids, y'all are making my Maya very jealous!

If you happen to want to do some holiday baking here's a link to a new food site administrated by Amanda Hesser I've found called Food52...lots of great recipes and inspration!
Here's their cookie page

The darkest days of the year...

2009-12-14T06:08:00.003-09:00

This week before the winter solstice brings the darkest of days to our little outpost in the north. We have done our best to brighten things up, both inside and out....(thank you Natalia!) Decorating for this season has brought on a more urgent and neccessary meaning living this far up on the globe. All the lights and sparkly things help to make those grey days when the sun seems to never come up, brighter, somehow more bearable. All the added holiday tasks, though, make this an intense time of year. Though now having stated it, really they all are! Every day here at the bakery is marked, a race to the finish...though, as in all kitchens, it's a finish that's never finished...there is always pastry dough to be mixed and rolled, breads to be made, orders to be filled, orders to be placed, groceries to put away, broken drains, frozen pipes, happy customers, needy customers, pissy customers, music to be agreed on and of course dishes to be washed! It's a loop that runs endlessly day in and day out.Sometimes an extra rif get's added...double door lowboy is down (again) Refer guy is out of town. Roseanna Roseannadama said it best "It's always something!" Sometimes that something turns out to be quite entertaining. A few days ago we had a group of old local guys sitting around talking loudly and watching us gals working away as the sunshine streamed in. I always tune these guys out because their diatribes usually end up pissing me off. But since their weren't many other folks in there, I let them ramble on. As they left, one of the baristas asked me if I heard what they were talking about. Turns out they were discussing how we should do a bakery calender, with an provocative photo of one of us for each day of the month. My initial reaction was that if I had heard them talking about it I would have thrown their asses right on out of there...but then, with Red's encouragement...it began to see how it could just work! So, inspiration does come from everywhere and usually when your not looking, or rather listening.

It's crazy season!

2009-12-08T23:47:00.007-09:00

Things have been a little crazy around here as the holiday season starts to take on a life of it's own. This past weekend, the Nutcracker performance and fair filled up the town. (and with having two children in the show, the husband working the pinrail and me coordinating food to feed 100 people backstage daily...it filled up our lives as well!)
Good thing we have holiday cookies to spare!

I am loving the afternoon light and couldn't resist some pictures of hot bread just coming out of the oven...so beautiful and delicious!

Sunday morning brought an amazing sunrise...

View from the baking table...12/02/09

2009-12-02T11:57:00.004-09:00

You want snow? We got SNOW!

Commenter Bill Hayes wanted to see two feet of snow in our view from the baking table...well, here you go!
And when your done playing out in the cold, come on in for a cup of hot chocolate and some lavender shortbread...or maybe a gingerbread man, or an apricot thumbjam...there's so many it's hard to decide!

Breaking News:

2009-11-30T07:01:00.004-09:00

We just recieved the news that Michael Cunningham is coming to Homer in June to be the keynote speaker at the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference (June 11-15)! Sign up now for an amazing weekend of writing, readings, and informative and entertaining panel discussions...all in a jewel of a setting at the end of the Homer spit surrounded by wild ocean and snow covered mountains. Come join us!

and so it begins...cookie madness!

2009-11-29T04:22:00.006-09:00

mmmm...peanut butter kisses, just like grandma used to make!

The working list:

Production began in earnest on friday...a bit of an abrupt way to shake off the excess off Thanksgiving, but our customers are asking everyday, when will cookie season begin? Well I'm here to tell you...it starts right now!

Our favorite fruitcakes are back, too...call to reserve yours today!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

2009-11-27T20:28:00.001-09:00

The morning of the day before Thanksgiving...

2009-11-26T09:41:00.004-09:00

After wrapping pies until about 10:30 the night before, daughter Jane and I crawled into our beds in the cozy B&B rooms (Jane loves Kate's toom) upstairs, we awoke early to find Sharon rolling in dough...

and Abbey kicking it on breakfast...

nice buns, eh?

And now, after a busy week of baking, packaging and hugging people, we are ready to relax, cook in our own kitchens and celebrate this wonderful life we have. We are so grateful for our awesome employees, customers and purveyors and the many friends we have made along the way...(especially you, Red...Thanks for the champagne!)
Have a delicious holiday everyone!

The night before the day before Thanksgiving...

2009-11-24T22:47:00.002-09:00

Pies are wrapped, as are the fruitcakes...Sharon will be in early to start the bread...here we go!

'tis the season...for pumkin pie!

2009-11-18T13:57:00.013-09:00

Pies, Rolls, candy, croutons...it's all about production and next week at this time we'll be practising it in earnest as we pump out the Thanksgiving treats. This time of year is all about preserving both our traditions as well as our food. We've all been canning and pickling to be ready for the long winter to come. And as we descend into the dark we are all about carrying on our favored traditions both through the process we use to 'put up' our pantry, but also as to how those items fit into our celebrations. I love sharing those special jems, like my grandmothers bread and butter pickles, or Kates cranberry orange relish, which has to be on my table right next to the turkey. As always we have a fun and interesting mix of people working here at the bakery, some are spending their first holiday in Alaska...others, like me, are celebrating their twentieth! Everyone has a special part of the holiday they hold dear and want to continue and then there are also those we are more than happy to leave behind. The beauty of moving to a new place. Especially one as remote and wild as this (if your living in a cabin with no running water at the end of the road, you are alot less likely to get those pesky relatives visiting on a moments notice) You can leave not just your tradtions, but your whole identity behind- a fresh start. That's one of the things we think this season is truly all about, rebirth...getting through the dark to come out on the other side...refreshed and renewed.
Oh and pie...it's REALLY all about pie!
Speaking of pie...we hear there is a shortage of canned pumpkin going on and we wanted to share one of our secrets with you:
As a substitute for canned pumpkin, you can use cooked butternut squash or sweet potato (the orange ones most often referred to as Yams) in place of the pumpkin. I made one at home today, just to show you how:

Orange Vegetable Pie:
makes 2 8" pies
2 cups pureed cooked orange vegetable (good to puree to remove any stringyness)
1 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk or heavy cream
1 t cinnamon
1 t clove
1 t ginger
1/4 t finely ground black pepper (optional)
Whisk all ingredients together, pour into two chilled unbaked pie shells and bake in preheated 350 degree oven
For 40 minutes until center jiggles only slightly when shaken.

View from the baking table...

2009-11-12T09:19:00.004-09:00

A sunrise worth waiting for...8:55 am.

Inspration comes from everywhere!

2009-11-10T21:54:00.005-09:00

My Son's class is exploring roots in his class right now...I'm pretty sure they weren't exactly thinking the way this gal was...

My friend Dan, told me of this amazing and creative woman he saw at the pop tech conference recently in Camden, Maine...truly, all I wanted to hear about was Michael Pollan, but he insisted Marje is the real deal, and I believe him! And it just so happens she has a studio in Amsterdam...

where they do some pretty amazing things!

SNOW!

2009-11-07T13:58:00.003-09:00

We have our first snowfall of the winter today...Yay! Everyone was excited. The general consensus has been that we had a nice long autumn with moderate temperatures and more than a few sunny days, but now that November is well under way, it was time for snow. My own kids were fantasizing about Halloweens of years past when we could trick or treat AND sled. Not this year...todays snowfall was just enough to get our appetites whet for more. I love how it brightens everything up and covers up the unsightly mud (and junk in the yard-uh-oh!). Homer is lucky to have a very varied, but enthusiastic winter scene...you can ski, snowshoe, snowmachine...many hockey and broomball teams all flourish here. Some of my girlfriends have become hockey fanatics and are playing on a womens team (go Diva's! BTW, Who won the Armwrestling competition at the fundraiser last night?) It's nice to take a warm weather vacation, but then after a bit, I find myself wishing I could be cold...I guess it's true, we are all here a northern people, we love our summers, but we really love our winters. (which is a good thing because they last a long time) It's also what makes it such a great place to run a bakery. People stop by before, after and during their adventures...one long time customer uses the bathroom to change into his drysuit before heading out to kayak the wild winter waves on Nearby Bishops beach (Americano to go, no room) It makes for interesting days and adds inspiration to our own adventures...though I don't think you'll see me sea kayaking in 20 degree weather anytime soon!
Hot Chocolate, anyone?

it's 3 am...

2009-11-05T03:30:00.003-09:00

and all I want to do is stare into the fire and drink my coffee as the gales of November rage on the beach outside.
But there is bread to be made and sticky buns to be attended to...so off I go!
Have a great morning!

The last Gourmet...

2009-11-02T20:34:00.005-09:00

Like many people, both in and out of the food industry, I have been reading Gourmet Magazine for a very long time. As a kid it showed up in the stacks of magazines my family had in their office. And as an adult, especially one who loves food, it has been in my regular reading pile for as long as I can remember. I have not always been a subscriber, choosing to rotate my food publications every year or so...but I never threw any of the ones I did get, away. I still have the November 1991 issue, along with a whole stack of others, arranged by month, so I can check into seasons past at a glance. This year, thanks to the Homer Middle School magazine sales fundraiser, I have (had) a current subscription to Gourmet. When I heard that this November issue would be the last, I realized that we must indeed be living in a new world.

To further inspire my fall menus and help me through these next months of darkness I went book shopping. There are two ways I reconcile this, one is that it's part research for my bakery cookbook project and the second is after I carefully peruse them myself, many become holiday gifts for my friends (It's like two gifts in one!) The books by Ruth Reichl (Garlic and Saphires and Comfort me with apples) are destined for my sister-in-laws birthday box, which actually needs to be mailed, stat! (I love both of these books and have just discovered her blog...I'm sad she's out of job, but glad she is still writing! David Lebovitz's 'The sweet life in Paris' I have been loving and I think I will send this to my daughter in the Netherlands, she will be able relate to his funny observations of European life. 'The Kitchen Diaries' by Nigel Slater is laid out in an interesting way. It's literally a daily diary of his food adventures. (people have suggested we go with a seasonal format for our project, but I don't imagine us pulling it off this well) The photos are beautiful and printed on matte paper, one aspect I would like to consider for the bakery book. The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook by Michelle and Philip Wojtowicz was irresistable to me because of the fact it is about beginning a bakery on a whim and a prayer, a situation we can entirely relate to! I love the puveyor proflies, something I think would be great in our book as well. (This one's going to Sharon...shhh, don't tell!) 'The Fat Duck Cookbook' by Heston Blumenthal is just one of those books I know I will keep and pick up over and over, just for the shear whimsy and creative energy in his cooking and his words. (not to forget the awesome illustrations) and last, but definitely not least is Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller and his impeccable team including Susie Heller and Michael Ruhlman. I have all of their books, the first being 'The French Laundry Cookbook' and I am excited to have all winter to devour this new release.

Pumpkin Carving is fun!

2009-10-25T17:17:00.006-08:00

Little kids, sharp objects, lots of goo...what could be more fun than that?
I have to give myself the prize for best adult interpretation of a child's drawing...it only took me 15 years to get that one down!

Now some folks really know how to scare people...check out Chris Cosentino's interpretations here (the god of all things offal, though I still want to know if he's ever cooked a placenta!) Thanks to Ruhlman for the link via twitter

giving good weight and the art of being here now

2009-10-24T09:46:00.013-08:00

Giving Good Weight is a short story by John McPhee originally published in The New Yorker in 1979. It is about a green market in NYC and focuses on the duality of the challenges faced by vendor and customer and how their lives collide amidst the produce. McPhee's colorful descriptions and careful prose transport you right to that moment in time.

In the story, 'giving good weight' means giving a little something extra. Here at the bakery the metaphor takes on a life of it's own. Giving good weight can mean a variety of things, whether going the extra mile for a customer, weighing (and therefore WORKING) accurately and speedily. It also, as I've recently realized, means giving proper attention to the moment at hand. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you are more likely to succeed if you give that moment, that task...good weight- ALL of your attention. One of the things I love about cooking and baking is that while, of course, there is a certain amount of planning and reflection, to execute a successful dish, it is completely necessary to stay present. Whether you are peeling 25 lbs of onions or rolling out 50 baguettes...you must take the time to smell and taste and feel. It's true, good cooking does require some waiting time, but it is an anxious, fully participatory wait. Your heart and soul are in the pan or in the bowl, watching over the sear, fretting over the rise. The reward is as much in the doing as in the end result.
It is that way with small children also, a matter that has challenged all 3 of us (Sharon and Kate and I) over the years, trying to be present in our jobs and in our families. At times the two worlds enmesh with alarmingly heartwarming results as the kids grow to become helpful and contributing members of the bakery team. It makes me proud and grateful and I hope that above all they learn the ablility to appreciate the moments they have to learn in such a warm and creative environment and with that, be capable to fully participate in the moment, because here, it makes no difference where you came from or where you are going, it's what you can contribute right now!
Isn't that right, Blaise?

The new deli case is here!

2009-10-15T08:01:00.005-08:00

finally, two full months after we ordered it...here it is! We took delivery on Tuesday and Sharon spent all day Wednesday filling it up...it's everything we wanted. lots of shelves, sliding glass doors and that beautiful curved glass front. It matches up perfectly with our dry display case and will make the Holiday dessert crush a piece of cake! Because we occupy some strange equipment vortex, when the old one broke in the middle of August, we decided to bite the bullet and spend the money on a new case that was exactly what we wanted instead of making do. (which is how we normally roll) It helped that we had taken on an unusually involved cater gig in July that just happened to bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of the new case. We paid for it up front (goodbye $6000!) and the company we bought from said it would arrive in two weeks. After the third week and no deli case (it was September by this time, still busy, we couldn't stock any desserts, had to store the bars in the back and don't even get me started on the lack of chocolate mousse...very frustrating) We called and e-mailed and finally got word it was on it's way down from Anchorage. Then a few days later the driver calls, he's headed over. I wait patiently for him on the loading dock...my heart pounding as he almost backs into the ditch (!) eventually just stopping his truck in the middle of the road. He hopped down and before I could direct him, he looked up at me gloomily and said "You might want to take a look at this thing before we unload...I think it might be broken." My heart dropped right down to the gravely ground. I jumped on his lift and he silently raised the platform. The door opened and there it was, this beautiful, most perfect and looked forward to piece of equipment in Bakery history with the curved front glass completely shattered. Now it had been a hard summer already, so seeing this disaster, I started to cry right there in the back of the truck. The poor driver, led me back out and got his paperwork for us to refuse delivery. I pulled myself together (silly girl!) and called the company, starting a whole new slew of phone tag and e-mail updates. It took an entire month more, and much frustration on our part as we watched our revenue lower due to lack of dessert sales. I think in the end it was a good purchase and will be a good story to laugh about...someday.
Oh, and yes, Kathy, I'm incredibly pleased to report we DO have Boca Negra today!

View from the baking table...

2009-10-13T06:34:00.003-08:00

We are experiencing some lovely fall days that have been unsettlingly warm. This time last year we had already had two snowfalls! We will enjoy it while we can...but, honey, could you still put the studs on my car, please?

it's all a blur...!

2009-10-10T11:48:00.013-08:00

I returned from my travels this week to find the Bakery humming right along. Sharon pulled it out with the help of chef Ryan Lee, our new bakers Mel and Abbey kickin it in the early mornings and our most amazing barista staff- led by the lovely and delightful Brianna... Jill, Hayley, Rachel and Maggie. (a little redhead with your coffee, sir?) We are all enjoying the more relaxed pace that fall brings. A conversation overheard between old and new barista: "You'll love this time of year, it's mostly locals, and they know just what they want!"

Multigrain Bread is top on the list of local favorites...we're still working on getting it out earlier!
That and roasted vegetable focaccia sandwiches...nothing says fall like roasted sweet potatoes and smoked turkey on fresh whole grain bread. Get em while they're hot!

We are also conjuring up some pretty scary treats...
I may be a little overly obsessed with Halloween, but I think these cookies are watching me!

Field Trip...Cleveland!

2009-10-05T22:13:00.010-08:00

photo above by Lou Muenz
Doesn't this look like a city in Europe? I have to say, when I told my Alaskan friends that I was taking my daughter on holiday to Cleveland, they looked at me a little strangely. Ultimately, I ended up saying that we were going to visit relatives. It's true that we were, in a way. Our adopted family Coyle had moved there for a year and after promising I would visit, it felt a little like a family obligation. (one we were so glad to live up to!) What we found when we got there was a beautiful, diverse and very cultural vacation destination!
Our first morning in town Jenny whisked us off to the West Side Market, where our small town alaska minds were blown by the array of meats, cheeses, vegetables...if it was edible, it was housed in that huge indoor marketplace. I bought a pomegranite the size of Jane's head.

We did as much as we could in our short time in C-town, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, hanging out for coffee in the university district, walking around Tremont. Even picking apples at Patterson's Farm. There wasn't enough time for everything and daughter Jane just kept saying "Mom, we are going to have to come back for longer next time!"

One of my favorite parts about traveling is to visit other bakeries and see their kitchens, perhaps even chat with the baker. My friend, food writer Micheal Ruhlman also lives in Cleveland and told me to check out On The Rise Bakery and talk to Adam. He and his 10,000 pound 4 deck steam injected oven produce the best baguette I have ever tasted! He handed me a fresh one after I had watched him pull them all out of that ginormous oven ( I felt a little like a groupie), I almost devoured it all at once in the car on the way back! Which would have been bad because that baguette was destined for a very special lunch.

We capped off the week with drinks at the Velvet Tango Room and Dinner at Lola's....both amazing! I'm ready to make my reservations for next year...

Live Blogging Sunday morning...

2009-09-27T04:48:00.021-08:00

I'm not a big fan of working Sundays. Lucky for me I had them off all summer. But now that fall is here and we have experienced 'the great leaving' We are faced with having to all give a little where we hadn't before and my contribution is Sunday...(oh, all right!) Here we are only open from 9 am to 2pm, but can pull in as much as we do on a full 11 hour day. (hopefully this answers the obvious question of "why in the hell are we even doing this!)
It's 4:54 am- first things first...Coffee americano. short. with a little steamed 1/2 and 1/2...ok, and a splash of Carolans if we have some (it is...may I remind you, Sunday!)
Time to mix the white Trash for sticky buns and chocolate bread...back in a minute!
on the radio- (quietly, cause we have B&B guests upstairs!)...BBC on NPR is always a whole different view on the world!
5:10 am-Sourdough mixed for bagels and a few baguettes, sipping my coffee and making my list for the day...room 1 needs turning over, the planter boxes pullled, mats washed and kitchen floor scrubbed, suddenly the ice falling in the ice machine startles me. Last week at this time I had a banged up, very drunk dude knocking on my door desperately seeking his girlfriend...I called the poor guy a cab and made him a strong cup of coffee...hoping today the only drunk here is me! (just kidding, we are totally out of Carolans!)
5:42 am- Dry mix for Scones and Biscuits done, sticky goo made and poured into prepped pans...still waiting on rising dough so I check notes from yesterday. Oh Yeah, Sharon and crew had a crazy day. Wind storm blew down our Farmers Market Booth, so Sharon had to run out and take it down in the middle of the busy retail day...boy, it's always something! There was also a big gathering at the beach next door...something about a bunch of people lying on the sand at low tide to form the shape of a salmon in order to bring attention to climate change...(really, you gotta love this town!) All the cars and people walking around just added to the frantic atmosphere. No big functions in the area this morning, so hopefully they will all sleep in a little!
Time for one more cup of coffee...found some brandy...maybe just a little...and a little music, enough about the G20 summit and flooding in the phillipines, How about some Wild Colonials?
6:10- uncover the oven door...the coals, once they are spread out, shimmer with orange and red...I could stare into it all morning! The temp is just right at about 500 degrees. Time to mix muffins and quiche filling.
7:25 am- Bagels are boiling, sticky's rolled and proofing, 7 dozen white trash rolls rolled (16 minutes, in case you were wondering!) Ready for new music...Vampire Weekend anyone?
8:05 am-Scones, Biscuits, muffins all mixed and in the oven, Chocolate bread and bagels just came out...starting to smell really good in here! Danishes are all proofing, waiting their turn in the oven. Quiche is in, as are the sticky buns! (better have those ready by opening time or there will be hell to pay!) Put the IPod on Shuffle...
8:29 am - Barista's are here - Rachel and Natalia...yay! Big oven is cleaned out and all those white trash rolls are safely inside. We are ready to get the day started, doors open in 30...so I should probably go! Thanks for spending the morning with me! Next week I'm off to Clevelandia (as my friend Dan calls it) with daughter Jane to visit the family Coyle (I promised Jenny I would come have a drink with her at the Velvet Tango Room...rumor has it the Ruhlmans are joining us!) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, here we come!

Linda Smogor, the photographer of our lives...

2009-09-23T18:55:00.027-08:00

She's been here for almost everything, capturing images of bakery life for the past 17 years with beautiful and thoughtful photos of:
Lucious Bread...

The 'Sisters'!

Her own daughter on the cover of the Sun Magazine

This photo below was part of a series Linda shot on my last day of work before giving birth to my daughter Jane (who just gracefully turned 13!!!). When she asked if she could submit the image to a magazine, I said yes and completely forgot all about it. Two years later I recieved a large envelope in the mail from her. In it was the current issue of a new publication called Hope. I opened the cover and there it was.

Another year or so went by and Linda called again asking permission to use the photo. I said yes, and again, forgot all about it. Then one day I get a call from a good friend in Portland who says she just got an ad in the mail to subscribe to this magazine and it had my picture on it...my mind swirled at the thought of my naked pregnant belly landing in all those random people's mailboxes. My sister Tarri put it all into appropriate perspective, she says to me; "Hey, big deal, you're on junk mail, it's flying around on the street and people are walking all over you!" I laughed and realized that maybe some of those people would love the photo and be inspired.. over the years we have watched Linda's work crop up in Mothering Magazine and even LIFE...
These images, from her Mars Cove collection, are some of my favorites:

I found this image os Spalding Gray that Linda took in 1988 at the McDowell retreat:

We have a whole new show of Linda's current work up in the Bakery throughout the fall.

Ahhhh...Fall

2009-09-13T16:54:00.010-08:00

my sweet peas are basking in the long slow sunsets:

You can tell it's fall when...
-you start to recognize the faces in the line...the locals are back because they know they can get a seat!
-the food delivery shows up before 6pm...fewer places in town to deliver to!
-you can find a parking place on the spit
-the flowers on my porch are finally in full bloom:

-and you start to see other people 'in the biz' out and about...and they are smiling!
...on that last note: we had a lovely visit from the new owners of the Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop...Janis Fleishman and Jerry Lewanski opened their bakery earlier this year and are a rousing success. They are a hardworking couple enlisting the help of their whole family to make wholesome organic baked goods out of a cute little house near downtown Anchorage. It's always so inspiring to talk to people with such passion for what they do..and truly an honor for me that they love our place so much! We wish them a successful winter, and I can't wait to get up the road to check them out.
One more such source of constant inspration is the duo of Michael and Donna Ruhlman. Donna has gotten such great feedback from her classic and elegant photos on her husbands site, that she has started a blog of her own where she answers questions and talks technique about how she approaches a certain photograph. It is full of valuable information for beginners (like me) and pros alike and a visual treat to boot.

She has also launched a lovely website at ruhlmanphotography.com where you can view her gallery of work, purchase high res images and even get medium res photos to use for free.

Parting shot:

These strawberry plants refuse to give up...I like that.

Guilty Pleasure blog of the week:
Adrian Moore...he's the concierge at the Four Seasons George V in Paris and according to Women's Wear Daily, the hottest food blogger in the city of light. Don't you wish he were your best friend?

Raspberries are in!

2009-09-04T20:18:00.024-08:00

It's a little like waiting for a lover to return from a long trip out to sea, (a feeling us fishwives find all too familiar!) It's a time filled with breathless excitement and more than a little aniexty. This year, my perfect day to pick raspberries was Saturday. What I assumed would be the busiest picking day of the week. Now I know that every year I feel this way and every year there is always plenty for everyone...it still doesn't help. I don't know what i would do without our annual stash of summer in a jar. It is also the wonderful by-product of living in a small town for so long that my family has had access to the most amazing and awesome patch of raspberries for a dozen years or more. That patch has given us many a small but bright spot in the middle of those cold dark winter mornings...after all who can be crabby after being presented with toasted bakery bread with that brilliant red smeared all over and glistening like a jewel! Lucky for me, on this day, there was not a soul around. The morning had rained some, but as we pulled down the driveway to my friend Jane's (the funny and generous keeper of the patch) the sun came out and blessed us with perfect picking weather!

When my kids were small, we had picking parties... the little ones would play for hours on the tire and buoy swing while I and the other moms chatted and picked. Now that the kids are older they can pick faster than me! This year, it was my friend Celeste and I. I was picking for jam and her berries provided for our evening refreshment...raspberry marguaritas!

...So, with 4 quarts of raspberries picked (with one left behind for our wonderful hostess) and a case of jam done and cooling...you can bet we were ready for a little refreshment.
And just in time for sunset!

A little local inside tip: people here guard their favorite picking locations very closely, if you don't have one (or haven't befriended someone who does) there is always Mossy Kilcher's Seaside Farms. Mossy has herself a little slice of heaven there on the bench above Kachemak Bay. She also rents cabins and runs a hostel along with a great pick your own raspberry patch...it is a lovely spot!

Wedding season is winding down...

2009-08-30T08:02:00.004-08:00

We are down to our last few weekends of wedding cake madness. This cake started out on paper as a much more elaborate creation breathlessly related to me by the bride just a couple of weeks ago. While setting up, I casually mentioned to the mother of said bride that it seemed like a last minute affair. In a quiet voice she assured me that it had been planned for quite some time, they were all just secretly hoping the bride would change her mind! Well, she did change her mind on the elaborate detail of her cake when I told her what it would cost. Once we got a grip on how much she could actually spend, we were able to come up with a nice simple design and along with some late blooming flowers right from my garden...I think it reflects the moment and the setting perfectly!

Upcoming Events:
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic is having their annual Iron Chef Competiton at the Saltry Restaurant in Halibut Cove on Sunday, September 6th. It is their biggest fundaraiser of the year and a truly great event where chefs from around the peninsula compete and everybody wins!

Waking up with the cranes

2009-08-29T16:18:00.006-08:00

A morning at home brings a special treat this time of year...

A few groups of Sandhill cranes have adopted our yard as a way station as they gather to fly south...we'll see them again next spring when they come back up to nest. The lighter one is a chick born this summer...and I thought my kids were growing fast!

The Golden Glove Awards and the week from hell...

2009-08-23T17:19:00.005-08:00

The week before last was definitely one to remember...and not necessarily in a good way. It began on Monday, coming in to find the esspresso machine was only working at half power, the credit card machine was not sending, the oven door had broken and the deli case had gone down in the night packed to the gills with chocolate mousse, lemon bars, brownies and lots of other desserts. All of it had to be thrown away (the case had been a relic from our old days and we hoped to get one more summer out of it, but sadly, no.). To top it all off we were cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner each day (delivered and set-up) for 38 people as a special catering project we had decided to take on months before (when things were kinda slow). As the old saying goes, when it rains it pours and the week continued to offer a few more awful suprises...The sweet little preschool run by our own 'Miss Red' was displaced by a terrible fire and one of our own young friends (and off and on employee) was diagnosed with a life threatening illness...it really felt like it wasn't going to stop. We had one thing to look forward to, though, and that was last sunday's Golden Glove Awards. To help cheer us all up 'Sister' Kate masterminded the event and with much help from Red put on an award show to beat them all. They set up the yard with tables covered in cloths and flowers and laid out a fireweed red carpet...we even had podium and a microphone! Brianna showed up in a platimun wig and everyone donned their finest duds. Natalia brought us a beautiful spread of wood fired pizza from Finn's and we toasted each other with Vouve Cliquot (Thanks Michael!!!!). The presentation was hilarious as we were each honored for our summer performances matched up to appropriate movie titles. I'll publish the list as soon as I can find it...but the most important thing I hope everyone got out of it (besides a hangover), is that no matter how many times the grease trap blows up in the middle of lunch, or the toilet backs up on a busy sunday...We ARE ALL WINNERS!

...a little baking music, please!

2009-08-19T08:24:00.006-08:00

I said to my friend Rosemary Fitzpatrick as she rosined up her bow "You don't mind if I roll my buns while you play, do you?" She smiled back with playfull wickedness "Why, no, Carri, not at all!" and with that exchange the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra Summer Concert Series was underway on the porch of the Bakery, right outside my baking table window. Rosemary played along with violinist Kaari Bouma and were enjoyed by a whole yard full of music lovers. This is one of my favorite events of the summer season!