Recent happenings and
experiments in sourdough-ing
Fall 2024 -
The warm weather this fall has resulted in more ripe Fresno peppers, tomatoes and cukes than I’ve ever had this late in the season! And some tasty sweet-hot pepper jam. I also took a small foray into pumpkin breads for a private order, using an old recipe that won a blue ribbon at the Half Moon Bay pumpkin festival more than 20 years ago.
As the holidays approach I’ll be taking some time off for family and rest, and as always, I appreciate the support and understanding of my community as I navigate my schedule!
Oct 31, 2014 - spooky Halloween pumpkins
Just a little color experiment I did recently with activated charcoal in a fun pumpkin shape!
It’s heeeeeeeeere!
My Simply Bread oven arrived last week and I did my first test bake on Tuesday. I absolutely love the sleek design and the fact that it bakes 12-15 loaves at a times with no shuffling around hot Dutch ovens, and simultaneously frees up my home oven for scones and sweet breads. This is such an exciting development for me; I hope it will allow me to increase my capacity and keep the bread flowing in Piedmont!
Coming Aug 2024…
A much anticipated upgrade to my baking capacity! After nearly a year of contemplation, I’ve decided to make the leap to a commercial oven to make more bread in less time. Delivery date on my Simply Bread Oven is slated for mid August. Stay tuned!
June 27, 2024 - Local with Lisa
This past weekend I also had the pleasure of meeting local real estate agent Lisa Chan Carnazzo who did a short video feature on my business in her blog “Local with Lisa”. Check out the video!
May 2024 - bread stand is live!
A blog update is long overdue and there has been so much happening! Notably, in order to increase capacity I’ve moved from a mostly-delivery model to a mostly-pick up model at my house in the form of a bread stand. This has been such a fun way to connect with the community and meet my neighbors and I’m so grateful for all the warmth and support I’ve gotten there. Piedmont is truly a wonderful place!
Updates, updates
You’ll see some new offerings on the menu these days! I have been making some new brioche based items such as babka and cardamom knots, some sandwich loaves, sourdough doughnuts, and other fun treats. And of course I continue to offer stand-by flavors such as roasted garlic, double chocolate and ube with vanilla. Send me a message to request something specially made for you!
Oct 30, 2023 - couronne bordelaise
I’ve had this beautiful traditional French bread on my list to try since I first laid eyes on it about a year ago. It requires a special bread form to create the shape and an extra large Dutch oven for baking. I’ve finally got my ducks in a row, equipment-wise, and gave it a go. I love the way it turned out and I hope to be able to offer it on my holiday menu!
Oct 15, 2023 - a shout out from a local paper!
This has been an exciting week for me. On Wednesday I was interviewed by a writer for the Piedmont Exedra about my bread business, and a feature was published in Friday’s edition. I thought she summed up the points of our hour-long discussion very nicely and succinctly and put a wonderfully positive tone on my budding venture and the path that led me to take this leap. The friendly emphasis on residents and local happenings is just one more reason why I love this community!
Oct 2, 2023 - for the love of ube
I’m experimenting with ube purple sweet potato liquid this month, and the addition of black sesame seeds. Ube itself has a slightly vanilla flavor, which is very subtle at this concentration, but the crunchy seeds and dramatic color make a fun, unique dinner accompaniment!
Sept 24, 2023 - Harvest Festival Day!
The 2023 Piedmont Harvest Festival was a success for Saturday Sourdough! I’m named in the edibles contest winner as having won 11 ribbons for bread, jams, sauce and pickles, including 4 blue ribbons, which earned me the Bill Drum award for most winning entries. And a photo of one of my loaves ended up in the Piedmont Exedra.
Sept 16, 2023 - farm stand day
Tried a little thing today with some scalded whole wheat bread, plum cakes, challah, and biscotti. Really loves the way the little plum cakes turned out!
Sept 15, 2023 - all things Harvest Festival
If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of our local Harvest Festival and edibles contest! This week I’m gearing up with jams, roasted veggies, and pickles of all kinds, not to mention bread. Just the colors make me swoon.
Sept 5, 2023 - on learning about challah
Never having made a challah before, I’ve started playing around a sourdough version. The first couple tasted weirdly sour. The next iteration using a stiff starter instead of traditional levain, tasted good but the shaping fell apart. Third, where I switched to raisin yeast water was promising, but again didn’t shape well. Next was a stiff starter with RYW, getting somewhere! And my final iterations (after 12??? loaves) were finally satisfactory, after using a RYW levain to create a stiff starter and after some practice with basket weaving. There is still room for a fluffier crumb, but it’s been a fun process of learning!
Sept 1, 2023 - it’s time!
The start of fall is special to bakers as it marks the end of the hot season where bread rises too fast and acid builds up in the dough very easily, which makes sourdough especially tricky. Fall means you can relax around the rise a little and trust the oven spring to be there when you bake. And it means the return of cute little pumpkin breads! A cinnamon stick makes a cute stem.
Aug 12, 2023 - baking for Maui
Update: I'm sending $300 to the Maui United Way today. Sincerely, thank you all for supporting. And a huge extra shout out to Michelle for going the extra mile for this vital cause!
Hello friends, in light of the urgent need following the disastrous fires on the island of Maui, I've decided to dedicate my baking this weekend to a fund for support of its displaced residents and rebuilding efforts. Maui Strong provides assistance directly to the County of Maui specifically for this purpose. ALL of the proceeds from my bakes today and tomorrow will be donated there. If you would like to support them directly, please visit https://www.mauinuistrong.info/ for information about donating. And THANK YOU for your support!
Mmmm wheat
Nom nom nom
© 2023 Saturday Sourdough
