
The house is silent. My head is fuzzy. Too early to make coffee. It takes half an hour before my eyes feel properly open.
The first task is to revive the fire in Mildrith, to get the oven ready for the morning bake. It takes at least two hours before the first load of bread goes in. I compile a spreadsheet of orders for the day, stamp bags with the Happy Monk logo … take selfies of myself waiting for the oven to reach baking temperature (See above — pathetic, I know!)
Why subject myself to this zombie-like start to the day? You might well ask.
The Happy Monk experience
Friday is the day it all comes together: the bread, the customers, the chatter and good will … the Happy Monk Experience.
Since the previous weekend, I’ve been planning bread production, amassing ingredients, milling flour, feeding the starter and preparing the leaven. Thursday is a 12-hour marathon of mixing dough, shaping the loaves and squeezing them into coolers to proof overnight.
Mildrith, too, gets a lot of attention on Wednesday/Thursday, with long hours of firing. That means chopping firewood into smaller pieces and making sure there is enough for two days. The more heat Mildrith gets, the more longevity she has on baking day. I need her to bake 40 to 45 loaves to perfection without having to make another fire.
So when the bread comes out early Friday morning — the beautiful aroma, the shapely loaves, the gorgeous colours — it’s a high moment! The work is almost done, and the best is yet to come.
The best is yet to come
By 9 a.m. the loaves are cooled, bagged, labelled. Soon the first of the South Pender customers start walking down the driveway to pick up their bread. We stand and chat and I watch the them hold their packages close to their chest to feel the warmth and weight of their daily bread.
One neighbour this week stood outside the front door, surveying the outdoor oven, the cooling racks and trays. “Friday morning must be a great feeling for you!” he said. “It’s the end of all this hard work and now you get to hand out the bread. It must feel great!”
A very perceptive fellow!
He sees all the work as a labour of love and not a slog. Understands the rewards it produces: the bread, the happy customers, the feeling that you’ve made a small difference in the day. He feels the joy.
After 11 a.m., Jennifer and I drive up to the North Pender pick-up points: Corbett House for the Port Washington area customers, then to the Medicine Beach shops for Magic Lake people. It’s a day of friendly chatter. I’m tired, but happy! By three p.m., we’re driving home for a short nap, then a satisfying G&T in the hot tub.
The great feeling of satisfaction when the work is done
This is the “Happy Monk Experience.” Warmth, friendly conversation, neighbourliness, all centred around loaves of bread. The great feeling of satisfaction when the work is done and the bread is where it belongs: in the homes of customers.
Could I structure things so that the bread comes out of the oven in the afternoon, instead of the morning? Is there a way of getting around the bleary-eyed mornings?
Yes, but it would change the experience, I think. Changes to the business may be on the horizon, but nothing will affect the warmth and good will that has developed over the past several months.
Bread in hand, a foundation is laid
This is what I believe: If you’re making bread for people, it must be fresh and it must at least be ready in the morning. That way a customer has a loaf in his/her hands for the remainder of the day. A foundation has been laid. Bread is in hand. One less thing to worry about.
I’m touched by the customers who say they want me to get more sleep. “We don’t want you to burn out,” they say. “We want you to be making bread for us for a long time.”
Some have even said they think I should charge more for my bread.
I’m touched by these sentiments, but my satisfaction is making the bread and making a difference. And I have no trouble remembering this when I lift myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of two a.m.
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Hi David. Keep up the good work … we all appreciate the effort you put into this venture.
I know it’s hard to “feel the joy” at 02:00 hrs, but at least your apron is on right-way-around. Your neighbour, Ken.
David – You’ve got Ian and me hooked on your amazing bread and that says alot as we are not bread ‘foodies’! However, after tasting 3 loaves of your bread we have now discovered that we don’t need butter on bread if we’re enjoying yours! We’ve discovered a taste for bread that we did not have before………. 🙂
Not so sure about the sleep deprivation to create your masterpieces but if it works for you – please continue! 🙂 And take many naps…. 🙂
We LOVE your bread!
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