
At one point in last week’s mix, the Metchosin Wheat bread was two hours into its proof. I was busy mixing the second loaf and wasn’t thinking about the wheat bread until I happened to catch a glance.
Whoosh! The dough mass was pushing up the lid on the bin and was about to spill over at the edges. Bubbles were popping out the sides; it looked like a sourdough monster rising out of the container. I had counted on a four-hour proof! It was more than ready for the next stage!
The kitchen was unusually warm, 27ºC! It was sunny and summer-like outside and even more summer-like inside. It’s typically 20ºC in the kitchen! If I didn’t act fast, that 93 lbs of dough would be unusable!
A magician in the kitchen?
But I was past the point of no return for the second loaf — too far along to delay the mix further! I’d have to finish it before trying to rescue the wheat! I would have to be a magician in the kitchen to get through this—time for some baking sleight of hand.
Even after a lightning round of shaping and mixing, both doughs were way over-proofed. Moreover, the following day, the bake took too long in the oven. I was still pulling loaves out of Mildrith when the bread was supposed to go out for deliveries. And those of you who stood waiting for her could not have known the whole sad story of my morning!
These were circumstances beyond my control, granted, but I spent the rest of the day thinking I should have known the kitchen was hotter than usual. Should have mixed cold water instead of warm with the flour, added salt earlier to slow down the proof. I should have realized there were too many cold bread pans in the oven, and I might not have enough heat toward the end of the bake.
They were sorry-looking loaves, I thought. The bread had to go out, but I wanted to just crawl back into bed and hide.
The sun also rises
Well, it wasn’t quite that bad. One thing I have learned in baking and life is that the sun also rises. And armed with new knowledge, you’re less likely to make the same mistake until you make it again and then again.

Perfect bakes are rare. There’s always something wrong: the tops might be burned; the bottoms or sides might be too light. The loaves that go into Mildrith looking pillowy and perfect might emerge with their sides blown out. There are so many possible mistakes, a new one for every day and every bake.
Vain as it may be, I do chase the perfect loaf — an ideal of perfect colour, shape, crumb … any number of factors. I suppose it is an excellent guide to follow, but rarely, if ever, achievable. A proof that you can overlook true perfection if you’re aiming for a set of criteria that have nothing to do with the loaf in your hand.
Overlooking perfection
At the beginning of the Happy Monk Baking Company, I felt shame at the mistakes, the ugly loaves. They were a mark of inexperience, my foolish pretensions to be a baker.
Over the weeks and months, the loaves became more consistent. Either the baker learned from his mistakes, his sourdough starter got better, or some kind of magic happened.
What is the perfect colour or shape, anyway? A lighter coloured loaf might indicate there wasn’t enough heat in the oven. A slightly burned one might suggest too much heat, as there often is when the first loaves are loaded into Mildrith.
Some “imperfections” might be the result of lack of experience or inattention, true. Still, all the loaves are made by human hands. They are full of attention and intention. And most, not all, reflect the spirit of the baker. I know this to be true because there ain’t nobody else mixing or baking, most days.
The paysans boulangers

I take great inspiration from the YouTube videos of Nicolas Supiot, a baker/farmer/miller who lives in the Brittany region of France. He’s known as a paysan boulanger (peasant baker), a movement of bakers who make traditional bread with locally-grown heritage grains, mostly in wood-fired ovens. 1
You don’t have to know French to understand the passion he brings to his bread-making, which borders on the ‘spiritual.’
The videos show him walking his grain fields, examining wheat berries and sowing seed by hand. He mills his own grain the night before mixing. He says a prayer before his wooden mixing trough, then gradually swirls flour into the water, adds salt and levain, building up an enormous dough mass by hand. No mixers, automated dough shapers or deck ovens.
The loaves that come out of his wood-fired oven aren’t unlike Happy Monk loaves, wild and uneven, rustic, made by rough hands. No artful scores, no beautiful patterns or subtle flavourings.
Bread unadorned
It is bread unadorned, made for subsistence, not for a fancy table. It comes from a wood-fired oven with heat inconsistencies – hot spots and cool spots — created by multiple opening and closing of oven doors.
I’m no Nicolas Supiot. I don’t grow my own wheat or follow the socio-gastronomic tenets of les paysans boulangers, of which he is a leading voice. But I’m happy to discover that my inspiration for bread making aligns with this group of European baker.
And in that, the perfect loaf is something much more approachable and human than I have imagined. And that the “imperfections” may actually be perfections. There’s lots of room for improvement, but I feel increasingly on solid ground.
Happy Monk Tidings - June 29, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Rustic Peasant Bread; Blog: A Pinch of Salt, A Pinch of Life [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - June 22, 2022 🍞 - Bakers Choice: Sprouted Rye and Seed Bread; BLOG: Henry Miller and the Staff of Life — [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - June 15, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Cranberry-Pecan Sourdough Bread; Blog: Breakfast on Bloomsday https://mailchi.mp/4c924688ed54/happy_monk_tidings_june15
Fun at 4 in the morning … first load of bread in the oven, first light, first birdsong, making the treacherous walk back inside with a tower of bannetons. In the rain.
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#bakerslife #bakersofinstagram #baking #baker #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #coboven #earthoven #earthenoven #bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #bbga #realbread #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #artisanbreadbaker #rusticbread #breadhead #breadlove #breadhour #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbakers #southerngulfislandsbakeries
Synchronicity! Happy to see our beloved Nootka Rose bush in fine fettle, thriving beside Mildrith, the wood-fired oven for the Happy Monk Baking Company. Which reminds me of our number one provisioner of grain goodness and organic flour, Nootka Rose Milling of Metchosin B.C. They keep us hooked in with the best locally sourced grain, and expertly milled flour, not to mention great advice and customer care! Thanks, Nootka Rose, from the Happy Monk and all of us on Pender Island.
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#bread #breadbaking #artisanbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #coboven #earthoven #metchosinbc #stonegroundflour #stonemilled #stonemilledflour #stonemilledbread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadmaking #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbakers #southerngulfislandsbakeries
Inspiration at 3 a.m. on bake day. A customer had announced there was a 40th birthday in her family this weekend. She was looking forward to some good bread with which to celebrate. Found my precision X-Acto blade and cut out the letters. Laid it over the nicely domed top of a panned loaf (Salish Sourdough) and sprinkled a light dusting of bread flour. I ain't no crafty artiste, but the thought was there. A half-baked idea, but the loaf … it was perfectly baked. 😇 (Thanks for the picture, Laura!)
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #bakinginspiration #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #breadbaker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadart #stencil #stencilart #breadlovers #breadofinstagram #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking
Happy Monk Tidings - June 1, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: The Golden City [ LinkTree in Profile ]
Post to The Happy Monk Baking Company
Happy Monk Tidings - May 25, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice this week: Sprouted Kamut Bread; Blog: A Paean to Rye Bread: Deeply Felt and Honest [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - May 18, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Olive Bread; UPDATE: Canal Bridge project postponed; Assume normal delivery schedule; BLOG: The Breadman's Quest for the Stanley Cup - [See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - May 11, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Rye-Spelt Sourdough; Blog: Road/Bridge Closure: Be Here Now - [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Fun visit from @thiswolfeislandlife on bread day Friday. Laura Buckley and partner Peter from Wolfe Island near Kingston, ON to compare notes and share a few laughs. So great when bakers get together! Thanks for the photos, Laura! See you next on Wolfe Island!
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#bakers #bakery #bakerslife #woodfiredovens #woodfired #woodfiredbakery #woodfiredbakerylife #southpenderisland #southpender #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - May 4, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Bread ☀︎ Blog: An Artisan Bread Manifesto ☀︎ [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
This guy, Davy Rippner, @leathersmithe, our neighbourhood sandal-maker, wood-chopper and story teller extraordinaire, is one of my best buddies. He comes every Friday morning to help me bag each loaf of bread and get ‘em out the door in time for delivery. He turns the whole process into a heck of a lotta fun, laughs and great conversation. Lucky to have him as a friend and Happy Monk helper. These are Spelt-Honey Sourdough loaves, by the way. Adapted from Michael James’ Tivoli Road Baker.
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#bread #breadbaking #bakery #bakeries #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #breadhead #breadmaking #sourdough #spelt #speltbread #michaeljames #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbakers #southerngulfislandsbakeries
Happy Monk Tidings - April 27, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt Honey Sourdough; Blog: A Podcast for Pender Island [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - April 20, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Mountain Rye ; Blog: Walking with My Father [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - April 13, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns; Blog: Who's to Blame for the Hot Cross Buns Song? [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - April 6, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Whole-Wheat Flax Bread; Blog: The Baker's Arms [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 30, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Oat Porridge Bread; Blog: Thanne Longen Folk ...; We're Donating to Ukraine! [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Mooning for the camera, first light on bake day, with the first load of Salish Sourdough singing at the table..
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#breadsinging #breadsong #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbakery #woodfiredbread #bread #breadlove #baker #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #bakersofsoutherngulfislands #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #sourdoughlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southpenderisland #penderisland
Billowy Spelt-Honey Sourdough, burnished (after) and raw (before).
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#spelt #speltbread #honeybread #breadhead #breadporn #breadlove #wildyeast #honey #honeyhoney #honeybread #michaeljamesbakes #tivolirdbakery #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - March 16, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt and Honey Sourdough; Blog: Wheat Connections to Ukraine [ See LinkTree in Bio ]
These corn kernels are headed to the mill to make cornmeal for Anadama Bread this week. It’s a bread with origins on the east coast, but that shouldn’t stop us west coasters from enjoying it, too, godanadamit! This is organic field corn from @fieldstoneorganics of Armstrong, B.C. … and the hard red whole wheat from Metchosin, B.C. make this Happy Monk take on Anadama a bona fide west coast phenomenon! Just sayin’!
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#anadama #anadamabread #cornmeal #cornmealbread #metchosinbc #armstrongbc #stoneground #stonegroundflour #stonemilled #stonemilledflour #stonemilledbread #woodfiredovenbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadmaking #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbakers #southerngulfislandsbakeries
Happy Monk Tidings - March 9, 2022 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Anadama Bread; Blog: Salvador Dali and the Art of Bread - [ See LinkTree in Profile ]
Also see the earlier blog post, “The Paysans Boulangers”, which includes a video of Supiot baking his bread peasant-style.↩