Wood-fired, wild-yeasted, whole grain
When Jennifer and I started the Happy Monk Baking Company, the world seemed larger — too big, it seemed, for a small fish like me. I set my sights on selling bread to anyone who wanted it up or down Gowlland Point Road, South Pender. There was a neighbourhood email list, and that was my market.… Continue reading
A group of neighbours and their houses sit atop the rock cliffs above Craddock Beach, South Pender Island. Generous land spaces separate them, each looking out across Boundary Pass to the northern San Juans. A few more down the road get glimpses of the beach, but none get the panorama of the bent bay the way we do.… Continue reading
I often hear it in my voice, talking about bread. The proselytizing tone when I evangelize about its value to civilization, its symbolic meaning (“I am the bread of life,” quoth Jesus in John 6:35. “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger …”), its ability to create connections and community (“Let us break bread!”), its elemental simplicity (“Flour, water, salt!… Continue reading
The Stanley Park Causeway, a narrow ribbon connecting the Lions Gate Bridge and the City of Vancouver, curves through a thick forest of cedar, fir and hemlock trees. It’s the only way into and out of the city for people who live on the North Shore. A narrow three-lane road that carries 60 – 70,000 cars each day.… Continue reading
Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.
– William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2
Hello again, and Happy New Year!
We’re now into 2024 and just starting the sixth year of The Happy Monk Baking Company.… Continue reading