Fruits of Summer...

Rhubarb Custard Bars were a special request from a customer who was putting together a memorial service for her husband. They spent every other week camping at the Driftwood Inn down the street for the last 12 years...walking down to the bakery for their morning sticky bun and coffee. Apparently he really liked Rhubarb, so we picked some from the yard and morphed the lemon bar recipe using orange juice instead of Lemon and stirring in chopped rhubarb. The result was heavenly!

We got our first shipment from Tree Things! Fresh Figs, Blackberries, Blueberries, Cherries and Nectarines.With morning temps below 40 degrees, it will be a while yet before we have local berries... these make the wait a little less long!

Multitasking

This is the scene these days as we all try to fit our fun and work in all at the same time! I was equally inspired by Sharon and Brianna, who, after a grueling day on their feet at the Bakes, went and ran down and up the Diamond Creek trail. ( a very steep 1/2 mile descent to a wild and lovely beach) There is no time to waste as Solstice is here and, lucky for us, so is the Sun!

Love is in the air...

The first wedding cakes of the season went out his weekend. This lovely cake went out to Land's End Resort at the end of the spit for a local (Sterling) couple. The room was dressed to the nines with white and green being the predominate colors...it was a very serene scene.

Cake number two had to be boxed in pieces to be flown on a small (I mean sits four people small) plane and flown over to the village of Port Graham. This always a little stressful (hence, no photos...I was too distracted!) since the cake has to be completely assembled in the bakery, chilled thoroughly overnight and flowers added (in resevoirs, because they need to stay fresh for 24 hours!) then taken apart again and securely boxed to be jammed around by less than careful pilots only to sit around who knows where to be put together by who knows whom. It is an incredible leap of faith on both my part, in that the cake will be handled carefully by all and the bride and groom's, in that they just want it all to be beautiful and delicious!
I sure hope it worked out...

The Gay part of town...

We heard through the grapevine that there is this whole faction of people who live in our little 'Cosmic Hamlet by the Sea' that won't come down into our neighborhood because, gasp, it's where the 'Gays' hang out! Could it be because we like to dress up in super hero costumes? (It must have been the pink spandex suit that Mira wore on her last day!) Or is it because we are always so damn happy?! It reminds me of the time my kids were watching a television show geared toward really young children. The character was singing over and over, "I'm so happy, I'm so Gay!". Middle daughter Jane turns to her more worldly older sister and says, "Maya, I don't understand what they mean." Maya, matter of factly responds, "Jane sometimes when people use the term "Gay" it means they are Happy! Jane just looks at her and goes, "OH, Okay".
This tells me that times are a changing and awareness levels in our children's lives are much higher than when we were kids. The funniest part of the whole thing is that we are three hetero women who run this business, and while we relish the support of ALL of our customers...it's true we especially value those who know how to love...fully and unconditionally, without prejudice.
Now, you look ready ready for a cup of coffee... Can I get you a stcky bun with that? How do you like my cape?!
UPDATE: Commenter Lorrie from read-n-eat.com says "the Gay part of town is the best part of town!" We think so too! Thanks, Lorrie!

Bench Notes...here comes June!

We are hesitantly stepping into summer here with an uncertainty not characteristic to our nature as an organization (or so I like to delude myself, anyway!). Sharon and I (Kate is still home with babays!) have changed up production schedules, paired back summer hours, tried to keep hiring to a minimum. Now all we can do is wait and work and hope the people come! We were light on orders this week, so it gave us a little time to go over processes and make sure everyone is on the same page. This can sometimes be painful... if there is no agreement on what the ultimate outcome should be, then it's tough to work out a consistent method (fotunately, this doesn't happen too often). With that, we're continually messing with the Mayo formula (should it be thick or thin, garlicky or not-so? it's endless...), though I think we're almost there with the help of some new reading material. We also came together on the white cake recipe...Sharon was using only egg whites and finishing it by hand, while I was using whole eggs and using the mixer for the entire process. The whole egg yolk formula (the cake on the left) defintely won out for overall texture and flavor while the all egg white cake was drier with a finer crumb.

I have to say, too that these cakes, as are all of our pastries, are made with Morebread Unbleached White Flour from Pendleton Mills in Oregon. I have, at times, subbed in part pastry flour or used all cake flour and neither produces as moist of a cake as the Morebread. This has also helped us keep flour costs in check ,during the big hike in prices we started buying Flour by the pallet, so keeping things simple was the only way we could afford to do it!

One good thing is, I think I have met the mulitgrain challenge...our most popular bread by far, producing an 80# batch each afternoon seems to be enough! My other challenge was getting my Cinnamon Raisin Swirl to...well SWIRL! Looks like I finally got it...

Up Coming Events:
The Dirty Rags(Irene, Ben and Haven) had their first performance of the summer opening for Camp Awsome (Atz Kilcher and Jane Ferman's new band) last night at the Down East Saloon. This was just a warm-up for what we hope to be a fun summer full of music.

Also Greg Brown plays at the Mariner Theater Sat May 30 at 8pm (whoa, that's tonight!)
one more thing to put on the weekend schedule:
The Kachemak Bay Kitefest is this weekend check it out

Watermelon Love...

One of our very favorite parts of summer...juicy, crisp, sweet, it's one of the reasons we cannot be called true localvores because Homer is definitely not Watermelon country! Sure, you can grow them in a green house, or maybe someone has managed it under row covers in an extraodinarily sunny spot, but with temps in the high 50's and low 60's for the past few summers we've been lucky to get flowers to bloom and cold crops to thrive! Still, the bakery does get quite warm and on those summer days when it feels like you'll never cool off, we like to get a watermelon and cut it up for the staff...it wakes up the senses and cools the hot little mind! Last weekend my friend Celeste showed me another way to cool off with my favorite summer fruit...Marguaritas! So brilliant! Just add a healthy handfull of chopped seedless (or seed-ed!) watermelon chunks to your favorite Marguarita mix...it's a summer treat you'll crave again and again!

Now Showing...

Brianna Bryngelson started working for us a year ago this month. From the very beginning she talked about painting and how she wanted to set up her studio and get a show together for the bakery. I would always respond with a positive 'You go girl!' never sure exactly what her style was or what we were getting ourselves into, really. Then, after traveling Europe for 8 weeks, she came back and made good on her promises...and then some! Her paintings are beautiful, ethereal snapshots of life on the northern coast...so familiar, yet not at all 'Alaskan', therefore, no kitsch. You can get lost in the sea and stars and water and suddenly, there's a bird! Thank you, Brianna, for bringing our walls to life!( And for being so wonderful to work with!)

















Natalia Taeschner started working at the bakery last fall about the time that Brianna left for Europe. Her quiet creativity has influenced all of our holiday decorating and her crocheted hats have been a hit in the retail store, but it wasn't until Brianna started talking about hanging a show for real, that Natalia revealed her true talents. Bri did not have enough paintings to fill all the available wall space, so she approached Natalia about bringing in some of hers as well. Turns out there styles are very different, but compliment each other very well! (just like at work, isn't that interesting?) Natalia's paintings reflect a dainty attention to detail with a healthy dose of whimsy...


We think this would make a great label for the Ring of Fire Meadery's Apple Ciser

A Tidy Package...

May 1st caught us a little unawares as summer starts to roar like a freight train at our heels. Normally, we like to have our summer schedule wrapped up by now in our efforts to prepare for the onslaught. The month of July will bring in as much business as October, November and December combined! For the next 4 months bakery staff will double in size and our output will easily triple. It makes for some very anxious moments as we sift through applicants and returning employees, do we have enough people to stay open late on Shorebird weekend? Sadly, not at this point...by Memorial Day, we hope! We do have Irene and Ben already back with us as Ryan had to head back to Spitfire Grill for the summer. This a very exciting turn of events as Ben made his way from New York and 'Rene from Portland. We also have Haven (I do anticipate a reunion of the Dirty Rags...oh YEAH!) and Emily and Jenny AND Miss Red will be here to help us keep it all together. Maggie Wyatt, daughter of Barb, will be here next week to join us as well. Looks like there'll be room for a couple more, which is always something to look forward to! The female staff would like a few more guys to round out the, um, odds.( I do love seeing how it all comes together!) Sharon has been working hard to wrap up those schedules and get our retail supplies in order...thanks to her, we actually have new T-shirts for this weekend, the very start of our tourist season...way to go girl! Me, I'm trying to get my new bread schedule down and in particular trying to keep this town stocked in loaves of Multigrain! While your waiting for your bread, would you care to have a sandwich?!


Coming Events: Brianna and Natalia have hung their paintings at the bakery and they are amazing! Look forward to Photos...!
Also, Louden Wainright coming to stay with us on Thurday, Hot Tuna on Friday(!) and then Mason Jennings on Saturday (!!!) It's going to be a FUN weekend!

Quite a week...'literally' speaking!

This has been a big week for our little town of Homer in the Literary World...Yesterday, two of our good friends had book releases...Daniel Coyles 'The Talent Code' finally hit the bookstores...on it's way to changing the world of teaching forever! And Miranda Weiss' book 'Tide, Feather, Snow' a memoir of adjusting to a new life in Alaska, will sure to be in everyone's beach bag this summer! I got a call Monday from Miranda's husband asking for a cake to celebrate...so I channelled my inner Duf Goldman and whipped out a book so good you could eat it! Of course, this was not without it's drama...as I was dismounting the chair I stood on to take this picture, I slipped (you know it had to happen, didn't you?) and drove the heel of my hand into the corner of the cake! Luckily, I had already gotten the photo, right?! Some quick cake repair (after I finished swearing) and all was well once again...



After all the cake excitement was out of the way and my blood pressure returned to normal, we got a sweet e-mail from the author of this book:

He said he lived in our neighborhood a few years ago and would walk his little girl to the beach, stopping by the bakery for snacks. Then he moved back to N Carolina and decided to write a childrens book about it! You just never know when you are going to be someone's muse!
Maybelle, Bunny of the Northis available Here


Related Events: Dan will be doing a reading at the Homer Public Libraryon Friday, May 1st... (Don't worry, buddy, I've got a cake for you, too!) and Miranda will be reading on Thursday May 14th at The Bunnell Street Art Center

Planting Moon...

The volcano still looms in our presence with it's 'lava dome' and 'discreet earthquakes'...enough to make us wary of settling into normal life. Luckily, Mother Nature marches on with or without us, so when Natalia said that this weekend will be a good planting moon, we decided to get together after work and dig in the dirt! We saved tomato cans all week and got some bags of soil and seeds and stuff (I plantd Dahlia corms in # 10 cans). Natalia had bunch of 4 paks and she was very organized, carefully labeling everything. Ryan brought in a pair of waders that he planted Sunflowers in, propping up the boots with alder sticks. Irene brought some lovely little Basil starts and, along with Brianna, helped Kate juggle Calvin and Henry and still get something accomplished! We had to do it inside because the weather kicked up some wind and rain...(what's a planting party without a little of that!) Spring is slowly but steadliy having her way with us, teasing us with snippets of sun and warmth, but at the moment all is still very grey with ash and it's hard to believe things will be green ever again!

...a few weeks ago I was so desperate I planted me some grass, man!

Fresh Bread for Dinner, Toast for Breakfast!

We are borrowing a page from the Tartine playbook and adjusting our baking schedule to fit a little more closely with both the needs of our customers and ourselves. Instead of trying to put out a bunch of beautiful pastries and breakfast and lunch items AND make bread AT THE SAME Time, we are moving the bread bake to mid-day, so as to free up our oven space and give folks a hot loaf just in time for dinner! It is taking a little time to figure out the oven firing schedule and it will take even longer to fully train our customer base, but in the end, It could be well woth the effort...so Thanks, Chad! (I think)

Old is New again...

WWD has a great article about the time Julia Child came and cooked lunch for them in 1972. Julia stressed thrift as being not just about boring food...she was all about transforming the most humble of ingredients into flavorful meals that would satisfy both the senses and the pocketbook. A couple of years ago I found an old copy of 'Mastering the Art of French Cuisine' at a goodwill store on the island of Molokai, of all places! This article makes me want to pull it out and read it again!
I love looking back to our past for inspiration and am always on the lookout for a good thrift store or flea market. When I was a kid we would drive a few miles north from our town in Michigan up to the Armada Flea Market. It was (and I think still is!) the quintessential outdoor market where you park under the trees and shop the local farmers fruits and veggies as well as antique vendors from all over the area. It's one of the things I miss the most about the midwest...here in Alaska, the outdoor markets are just catching on and they are mostly farmers markets...this state is still so young, antiques are hard to come by!
In the spirit of marrying the old and the new, amazing and innovative chef Grant Achatz (who also happened to grow up in the Armada area...strange coicindence,no?) has written an interesting piece for the Atlantic about that very subject.

On a 'scale' of 1 to 10...

Our two new favorite cooking books around the bakery both score a '10' as far as we are concerned!
Michael Ruhlman's new book 'Ratio' is a great way to understand the dynamics of cooking and especially baking.He breaks the formulas down to simple ratios and then provids the methods with which to implement them, giving the reader the power to unlock the code of great technique. It is a very comprehensive and well written foray into cooking like you've never seen before. Mr. Ruhlman has been an important mentor to me in the world of food writing and I'm convinced this new book of his is sure to be an instant kitchen standard! (you might want to invest in a scale, though!)
Tartine is not so new...published in 2006...I'm not sure why it took us so long to get it! It is a lovely book written by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson about their very popular Bakery/Cafe in San Fransisco. Sharon and Kate met Chad back in 1999 at a bread bakers conference in Sausilto...the same time they met Alan Scott, the legendary oven builder who changed how we looked at baking bread forever! When we finally built our wood fired oven, Chad was gracious enough to council us on some of the finer points of using the oven more effectively. It is exciting to see Chad and Elisabeth and their beautiful bakery doing so well... and it gives us the inspration to stick to our dream, no matter what!

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Here, at the Bakery, around lunch time the phone calls will often be centered around what soups we have to offer. Sometimes I picture the person on the other end of the line has all the cafes in town on speed dial to make it easier to decide what to have for lunch that day. I tried to keep up by posting the soups of the day on this blog, but I didn't get the word out very well and ended up kinda sucking at it anyway, so, still the calls come. The one that has the most fans is the Hungarian Mushroom Soup. It's hearty and meaty (without having meat...which is very big around here!)...and a little spice to warm a body on a cool spring day!
The full recipe is here at Two Sisters: The Recipes
My favorite question customers ask about this soup: "What makes it Hungarian?"
My favorite answer: "Because of all the Hungarians we put in there...only you have to chop them up real fine,
'cause they are really chewy!"

Hot Stuff!

Just like I promised, Here is something hot for you! Only it's not coming out of my oven ..OR a volcano...this one is hot off the Presses! My good friend Dan Coyle (author of Lance Armstrong's War and Hardball...among others!) has a new book coming out that has already changed my life and I haven't even read it yet! I was lucky enough to watch his first presentation of the book's premise and, with that alone, have put some of his 'practices' in place when teaching both my bakers or my children! Whether you are coaching t-ball or teaching someone how to roll pie crust, the stuff Dan lays out in this book will make you a more effective teacher and learner...I can't recommend it highly enough! I pre-ordered mine from Amazon...you can,too!
It hits bookstores April 28th!
Update: You can read the first chapter here...!
Check out the web site, too! talentcode.com