Last week’s bake was all but finished when I realized I’d forgotten to make my offering to the goddess of the ovens, Fornax!
Last Thursday, Feb. 17, was the final day of the Festival of Fornacalia, a day when Roman bakers made an offering of spelt grain (they tossed some into their hot ovens) and asked for Fornax’s blessing for the coming year.… Continue reading
I’m hanging up my baker’s peel for a brief respite. Looking forward to some idle time to rest, reflect and rejuvenate.
It’s gratitude I feel when I think over the past year: gratitude for the friendships, kindnesses, support and laughter I’ve shared with members of the Happy Monk community. The customers, the partners, and generous with words of support and substantial assistance.… Continue reading
Mark Bittman, the former New York Times food writer and cookbook author, has just published a fantastic new bread book in the tradition of Jim Lahey’s No-Knead method. It’s a pared-down introduction to baking bread that is practical, accessible, easy … and fun!
I haven’t baked from it yet, but I can tell you it will rope lots of people into the bread baking realm.… Continue reading
She used to be meticulous about not posting her picture anywhere, not on her vast bread baking websites, not on Instagram or Facebook. All we had were shots of her hand holding up a beautiful loaf of bread, with a hint of tattoos on her wrist and fingers.
And yet we felt Francis Olive’s presence through her written word, the bread she baked and photographed for her blogs.… Continue reading
Here’s to the homely loaves, the misshapen ones, the misfits and the troublemakers. The loaves with the blown-out sides, the ones that refuse to rise to the occasion, the ones that go their own way, no matter what you do, to make them pretty and light and colourful.
You can vilify them. You can apologize for them.… Continue reading