bread this week; my new hero

i got two things that i am pumped to share:

1. the 411 on when and where you can get bread this week
2. i met my new hero on friday, and i took tons of photos

so let's get the business outta the way, cuz i know you're hungry -

• tuesday - Bi Rite Market, starting at 3pm
• wednesday - Mission Pie & Bi Rite Market, starting at 10am (come say hi @ Mission Pie!)

the following week i will be back on with the regular Wed, Thurs, Fri schedule as i had before my trip, which you can read about here. but just in case you're scared of clicking links: Wed & Thurs @ Mission Pie and Bi Rite Market @ 5pm, Friday bread by subscription at select locations. (but you keep your eyes peeled cuz i some nice news - bread will most likely be ready earlier in the day on Wed & Thurs! details to come)

but check this - on friday evening i pulled over three times to eat bread out of my trunk. why was bread in my trunk? cuz i put it there. why? cuz i knew that if it was all up with me, i would've made myself sick by eating it all.

back track - thursday afternoon i set off for chico to hang with this dude:

folks, meet dave miller, one of the most righteous guys i've ever met. 

i'd been hearing about mr. miller and his bread for a long time, and i finally decided it was time to see what he was up to. i shot him an e-mail while i was in thailand (cuz let's face it, i was half way around the world and i was getting all excited about the idea of going to visit him when i was back in town) and he was super kind and welcoming, and said he'd be happy to have me come hang. i got to chico about 10:30 at night, checked in to the Safari Inn (cheapest room in town), and five hours later was sucking down hotel coffee driving down back roads, on my way to his bakery. i got lost in a day dream on the way there - i wonder how he slashes his loaves??? - and drove right by his driveway, but i eventually found him.

so what makes this fella so special? it's this:

white birkenstock clogs?!? i'd never seen these. shit, i didn't know they even made these in white. i do have a pair in brown, that i love dearly, i must admit.

but seriously, it's his god damn bread, what do you think it is? 

it's crazy. guys, let me make this clear - i pulled over three times while i was driving in order to get more bread out of my trunk. i put the bread in my trunk in the first place cuz i knew i'd make myself sick by eating too much if i had easy access to it. it's real good bread.

but it's not just some of the best bread i've ever tasted, no no NO. it's the WAY he makes his bread. the vast majority of bakeries buy flour that they use to make bread, myself included. but this isn't the way dave does it, no sir. he buys grains (wheat, spelt, kamut, rye) directly from farmers, exclusively farmers that are very near him, and he mills the grains himself. as if this wasn't enough awesomeness, he uses the flour FRESH. 

this may not sound like a big deal, but it flies in the face of what almost anyone who works in the industry will tell you about flour. in fact, it would've flown in the face of what i would've tried to tell you about flour too, til i saw him do his thing and tasted it with mine own eyes & tastebuds. 

almost all flour you buy in the store is at least a few months old. it gets put through an "aging process," that is said to help it make a better dough that is stronger and more elastic. but there are a few rebels out there who are following their own path, and this path doesn't include waiting for that flour to age one day before it gets baked into amazing bread. aside from dave, alan scott, the late great baker and oven builder, was an outspoken proponent of freshly milled, whole grain bread. there are others out there, and i'm gonna find em.

so what does it all mean? it means that dave has a direct relationship with farmers, uses fresh whole grains in his unbelievably delicious breads, and totally kicks ass. that's what it all means. 

mr. dave miller, i salute you.

here are some shots from my visit:

a well-used, well-made tool is a beautiful thing.

each bread gets its own bed.

just relaxin.

in transition.

my early morning daydreams answered.

at ease.

zen style.

good god.

this makes me absolutely bonkers.

hopefully i see some of you this week. if not, enjoy your holiday and try not to injure yourself with too much food.

<3 josey

see ya in a week

my my my, seems like only yesterday i left that purdy lil bay i call home... and now there's less than a week left of this adventure. holy crap, it has been so so SO amazing in so many ways... here's one (more below):

we got lost in a field on a motor bike, but the sky told us that everything was going to be okay.

and i must say - i am ready to come home. are you ready to have me back?


... what? oh, yeah, of course i am! so ready.

i sensed the hesitation in that response... don't say you didn't miss me... even a little bit???

no, no, no, it's not that i didn't miss you. it's just that, ya know, it's not THAT big a deal that you were gone, that's all. there's plenty of other good bread around, ya know? like, really, really good bread.

well come on, i know, i mean, i didn't miss you that bad either. but, you know, it's just polite and everything to make it seem like a big frikkin deal that i am coming back.

right, right, right... let me try again... MAN, i really missed you josey! i like, cried and stuff, all the time. didn't even leave the house. it was pathetic. i didn't even eat bread, cuz i missed yours so bad. i cannot wait til you get back!

really??? wow, that makes me feel so good! i didn't know i was that important to you!

... none of that is true, that stuff i just said.

you're a jerk. but look at these pictures.

we stayed at a monastery on an island and i stayed in a little hut that was on top of a mountain overlooking the ocean.

we went fishing. for piranhas.

we slept in a frikkin tree house.

cathy is the queen of the fishes.

while hiking in northern thailand, we saw this confused crab (quite literally) hanging out in this little stream.

cathy was so excited to drink coffee in pattaya that she chucked the salt shaker into her cup of coffee.

cathy made a very very good nun.

this was way cooler in my imagination.

oh ya know, just making a cup out of bamboo in the jungle with a machete.

in thailand they make their insects humongous.

the monkey queen with her minions.

nothing you haven't seen before, this time in laos.

this totally awesome woman baked her own delicious whole wheat bread and had her own starter and i liked her so so much.

 catch ya soon darlings.

<3 josey

i'm opening a bakery

YYYYYYAYYYYYY!!!!!!!

a couple months ago, i am just minding my own business, baking my bread, doing my dance, and then i get an email from this guy. he said, "i've got a space and an idea, ya wanna work together?"

who was this guy? it was jeremy from Four Barrel Coffee.

commence Backflip Festival 2011:

 

(okay, okay that isn't a backflip, but one day it will be.)

for ya'll who don't live in sf, 4B is just one of those amazing spots that make me sooo grateful to live there. most people around town know it as a rad cafe in the mission. i'm no barista, but i think they make the best coffee. (not only in san francisco, mind you. i am halfway around the world, and i do deeply miss their brew.) the vibe in there is also just the sweetest - who knew there were so many kind hearted hotties in this world??? but they ain't just a kickass cafe, no no NO. they roast all of their coffee in that very cafe (and they look good while doing it), and they frikkin buy all of the beans they roast and brew directly from farmers. and i will be damned, i never knew that those little brown beauties could make such an intoxicating elixir.

needless to say, Four Barrel has been one of my favorite hangouts, favorite sf business for a while now. so when jeremy inquired, it was a no brainer: YES.

(while i am gushing about this business, i also have to say how proud i am to be a part of the Mission Pie crew. indeed, i could gush about them for hours, but i will save that for another post. in the meantime, you can check out these two sweet mini-documentaries that were just made as part of the 7 Squared Project.)

so do we have a spot? oh, we have a spot. it's on divisadero. the front portion will be a cafe, the back portion will be a bakery. while i am out gallivanting the globe, they are tearing down walls. we'll be building out the space for the next few months, and plan on opening in the spring.

unbelievable, right?

believe it sucka. josey baker bread is comin at ya.

and now for a picturebook about what in the heck i've been up to for the past few weeks!

i totally freaked out at dinner last night cuz i "had something caught in my eye." when we finally got home and took out the Q tips, this is what i fished outta there. very gross, very awesome.

believe it dudes: albino water buffaloes on the banks of the mighty Mekong.

funny enough, tons of places serve pizza around these parts. we finally caved, but were sneaky enough to find a place in Hoi An that had their own wood fired oven.

i'd never seen a praying mantis up close, but they are freaks of nature. while we were rock climbing on an island off the coast of northern Vietnam, this one wouldn't stop staring at us. i finally intimidated it with the threat of a pile driver, and it wobbled away.

all sorts of beautiful sea creatures, jammed into a jar with some super strong alcohol. what do you with it? you drink it silly. we did and while we were proud we were also disgusted.

we'd heard some crappy things about tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos, but we had a supremely awesome time gettin super chilled.

one of my spirit animals, for sure.

bowling is big in Luang Prabang...

especially if you're a drunk middle aged guy.

off to Chiang Mai, sweethearts.

<3 josey

it's been too long, and this is too short

awww man, it's been for frikkin ever since i said yo to you dudes, and this post has to be so short, cuz guess what?

go on, guess.

[insert your guess here]

wrong, but that would be very funny. guess again.

[insert your next guess here]

nope, but you are a creative one, aren't you? guess one last time.

[insert your last guess here]

sheesh, you really are a pervert.

we lost our computer charger so we are running out of batteries and uploading photos takes like a bazillion years here so i am trying my best to be so quick quick quick quick QUICK.

so this is what i will tell you - cathy and i got haircuts:

more soon, i promise.

oh one last thing! i got the green light to tell you the secret that i was hinting about a while back. i can't even tell you how unbelievably worked up i am on this one. really really REALLY i say that i get excited about stuff sometimes, but this time, oh boy, you are going to just pee your little pants, right along with me. (don't worry, it won't be weird, cuz we will both have peepee pants, and there are strength in numbers.)

btw - what about those occupy wall st protests, huh? holy shit, what is it like back there in america? tell me tell me!

but about that secret of mine... i aint gonna tell you now, no no no, cuz i can't give it the proper treatment. very soon, you have my word.

til next time my loves,

<3 josey

america's next top poncho (cast your vote HERE)

In fashion, either you're in or you're out. And ponchos are unfortunately in because it's been raining steadily since we arrived here in Hoi An, Vietnam several days ago. So just before we got a case of stir-crazyness, we decided a contest was in order and hit the streets for our very own photo shoot. In true haute couture style we chose inspirational themes for each photo, and then improvised our poses in the moments before the picture was taken. 

But this isn't just for fun - this is for glory. Please cast your vote (very carefully) below after viewing all the photos. In case you can't tell, Josey is wearing the orange poncho, Cathy is in yellow. We'll post the results in a week, and then we will probably have to have a recount. Here goes:

"dawn on the mekong"

 

"flowing white rose"

"entire family on moped"

"close up"

  

please submit your most honest opinions here:

[googleapps domain="docs" dir="spreadsheet/embeddedform" query="formkey=dDNsTXdPMXUxd3pzaXQtbHcxVmc5OEE6MQ" width="650" height="610" /] 

wet temples

we'd heard there were floods in northern thailand, but little did we know that the same thing was happening in cambodia:

in fact, just a stone's throw from here, 200 tourists had to be rescued by helicopter from a flooded temple. did you hear that??? lifted by helicopter! holy crap.

but i'm getting ahead of myself here... just to make things clear, cathy and i have dubbed ourselves the BMs - budget masters. traveling for 2 months on a shoestring budget requires some self control, and we ooze it. no more $15 bus tickets, no way, you ain't highballing the BMs again, i tell you what. this means that even sometimes we have to eat fast food instead of the local cuisine:

cathy is so happy. (truth be told subway was actually relatively pricey but we just wanted it sooo bad we declared a BM value hiatus)

i am so happy because i am getting such a good deal.

so after our amazing BM hiatus, we flew to phnom penh, cambodia. this is the first thing we saw and it kinda grossed us out:

we got high balled by the girl at the bus station, and bought $15 bus tickets to siem reap (where we now reside). later, in talking with a very nice man named mr. keo at a tourist agency, we found out the tix should have been more like $7. so now we are extra determined to get good deals wherever we go.

but we were only in phnom penh for a few hours - we gotta get to siem reap to see them temples of angkor wat! we figured we would sleep on the bus from phnom penh to siem reap... HA! stupid americans! the bus ride was like being on the back of a bucking bronco. we sat there and closed our eyes and slept for about 3% of the 6 hour ride, to arrive in totally flooded siem reap at about 2:30 in the morning.

but it ain't no thang for the BMs sucka, we thrive on discomfort and deals. (i know it wasn't a deal, shut up.)

so we've spent the last couple of days exploring angkor wat, angkor thom, and lots of other temples, and just had our minds blown by the totally radical scenery:

we were perhaps most fascinated by the places where trees decided to co-mingle with the temples. more down below.

such intricate detail, and such grand scale. literally awesome.

these little fellas kept trying to steal bananas from the woman selling bananas to tourists to feed the monkeys.

mother nature ain't nothing to ef with.

i am so tiny.

this morning we got up at 4:30 to see the sunrise, cuz it is supposed to be one of those life changing-ly beautiful experiences. but oh you sneaky little cambodian clouds, you had something else in mind, now didn't you:

"look, there's the sun. isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

it's been raining all day, so we've been lounging, surfing the intrawebs, watching rugby on TV, reading, and now i can say that i've also been blogging. well how about that. actually a ridiculously enjoyable and relaxing day. tomorrow we're back to phnom penh for a night, then it's off to vietnam. BMs locked and loaded.

love to you,

josey

p.s. here are some bonus shots from thailand that might make you wet yourself:

o poseidon, you french kiss so very well...

but don't go getting the wrong idea, cuz im going home with this one:

holy crap, this freakin place is mind boggling.

baker boy, where the hell are you now???

railay, sucka. its techincally a peninsula on the west coast of southern thailand, but it might as well be an island, cuz its blocked off from the mainland by an awe-some wall of super steep rock cliffs that are impenetrable by even the mightiest tuk-tuk.

and what o what might i be doing down here in railay, you ask? stuff like this:

oh, and, i dont know, maybe this:

and these cats offered me a beer to come along on their boat ride, so what the hey, i obliged:

and even jumped up on that sexy rock myself:

and then i jumped off it and dont pick on me just cuz im plugging my nose it hurts when water gets up there:

tomorrow we go to phuket, to singapore, to angor wat. we party hard.

ooh ooh OOH, and if'n you're curious, check out what my lady says.

kisses babies,

<3 josey

sorry pal, tights pants are not allowed

at least, not if you wanna get in to see the emerald buddha. (btw - who in the heck looks like that in tight pants?) 

well shit, that rules out just about everyone i know in san francisco. but you can bet your tight ass that it doesn't rule out me, no frikkin way am i wearing tight pants here, no no NO. why? cuz it is hot as a muhfuh! and hot pants don't allow my legs to breathe. and my legs GOT to breathe, otherwise i am just a cranky little booger. and nobody wants that.

but this whole tight pants ordeal doesn't matter a lick, cuz we didn't go in to see the emerald buddha. we deemed it an overpriced 'wat' - temple - and instead opted for wat pho: the temple of the reclining buddha. and good god, this buddha was fully reclining and fully HUMONGOUS.

and being here got me thinkin - how did you get so chill, buddha? so i asked him...

me: damn buddha, how'd you get so chill?

buddha: i had to work hard at that shit j, it didn't come easy. 

me: yea, i hear you sat underneath a tree for a long ass time, pondering life, searching for the truth of the universe, eventually attaining enlightenment. is that true? didn't you get super bored? 

buddha: kinda. but i snuck away to check my twitter feed every now and again. 

me: and you didn't eat the whole time? what the hell man, you got all this awesome grub that your peeps throw down! you didn't sneak a little curry every here and there?

buddha: of course i did, but don't go telling anyone, you'll ef up my steez. and you know i had to get lifted every once in a while with my main man:

me: damn buddha, i dig your style.

buddha: word.

here are some other tidbits from the past few days' adventuring:

kind man feeding a squirrel.

bucket full of snakes for sale.

leftovers.

forgot to do his crunches.

alright honey babies i gotta bounce now - c dog and i are on our way to get our breakfast on. then we's gonna get rubbed down in the proper thai fashion, then meet up with our bud kelly to get into some good ol fashioned trouble. sunday we take off on an overnight train down the coast to go chill style on some islands. 

and don't you go worrying about our breadbond - every day i daydream about slashing bread loaves and the look on your face when you get a brown beauty hot outta the oven. i'll be comin back, i promise.

loving ya from afar,

josey

burnt to a crisp and on my way

holy crap, that there burn mountain festival sure is a hoot. here's some of the things i did and looked at:

the awesomest fire shooting octopus the world has ever known!

the awesomest fire shooting lady the world has ever known!

the awesomest fire shooting baker the world has ever known!

we washed off our boring normal color and this is what we found:

but enough about that - i gotta get ready for south east freakin asia. my sweet lady cathy has dreamed up a ton of awesome plans, and by golly, we's gonna do em! here's the rough itinerary:

• flyin into bangkok (that's in thailand, in case yr a wondrin)
• hang there for about a week, resting up from the flight, ripping around on motorbikes, sneaking around corners finding the yummiest grub we can, until next weekend when we's gonna hit up the Chatuchak market (35 acres, 5-8,000 stalls, around 200,000 people HOLYCRAP) and maybe buy a small fuzzy animal 
• head south for some island hopping beach shenanigans
• back up the coast and over into cambodia where we plan to get our minds fully blown by Angkor Wat
• over into Vietnam where we will find the best food in the whole dang country and share it with you, as well as spend a few hours in, oh, i don't know, maybe, just maybe, THE BIGGEST CAVE ON THE WHOLE FRIKKIN PLANET - BAM -

• up the coast, following our whimsy, sleeping on a boat in Ha Long Bay
• eastward bound into Laos, where we shall find ourselves a jungle adventure like no other 
• into northern Thailand, where we plan on hangin with some folks on a farm who just happen to have a wood fired oven (my lady is a miracle worker, pure and true)

and that is that my dogs. the next time you hear from me i will most likely be over there. wish me luck. oh yeah, and don't get into trouble while i'm gone now, ya hear? actually, i take that back, get into some awesome trouble, just don't end up in jail. rather, just make sure you're out by the time i get back. (yes rafi, i am talking to you.)

love love LOVE

josey

p.s. i couldn't help but show off this pretty baby i made the other day... o me o my!

gone til november, i’ll be gone til november (overdue like a muhfuh)

o me o my, the internet really effed me on this one, and this note that i meant to post the morning of my last bake didn't go through! internet i love you so, but sometimes you are a finicky butthole. alas, here's that one:

i pulled those last purdy loaves outta the pizzaiolo oventhis morn, with the helpful hands of my boy josh, and then promptly shed atear… then i started prancing around the place singing lady gaga, cuz holy crap,the adventure begins now. YESYESYES.

i’m leaving SF in a few hours, and i am rip roarin and readyto partay like there isn’t a tomorrow. oh but there’s a tomorrow alright… about75 of em, spent wandering all over this awesome world. i’m outros doggies.

sooo, this is the last post that will have anything to dowith bread for a while (and this one is barely about bread). but this is thefirst post of the rest of my life. (what?) i don’t know, shut up.

so if you like, you should check in here once in a while,cuz i plan on sharing lots of tidbits of my journeys over the next couplamonths. and you can maybe shoot me an email once in a while to say, “yo bakerboy, i miss your bread, and i am happy you’re having fun, and my life is like(here’s where YOU fill in the blank)… check ya on that day of thanks, my dog.”

i won’t see ya for a while (AKA i will be back and in action by Thanksgiving at the latest) but i’ll be thinking of you, andbringing you along with me.

GOD does this have to be so dramatic? i mean, you’recoming back in a little while, why don’t you just shut up and go already?!?

okay, okay, okay i’m going, don't get all meanface on me! til we are in each other’s arms,once again and forever, frolicking in rainbows and moonbeams,

<3 josey

smell the frikkin roses

i love landmarks. i mean, what the hell, we're only wandering around this lovely little planet for the blink of an eye, so why not stop and take note of things as much as possible, right? RIGHT. speaking of landmarks, me and my stupendous partner in crime cathy celebrate our 10 month boyfriend girlfriend anniversary today! YESYESYESYES. look at her here, the perfect balance of urban chic and rugged country, chopping wood for a pizza party:

why all this talk about landmarks? cuz this is my last week of baking til i'm back from the radical life adventure that is my southeast asia explorations, preceded by the fire induced hysteria that is burning man!!! and furthermore, this is the last wednesday bake at Mission Pie (not forever, just til i'm back). ahhhh, Mission Pie, i really do love you. you are just always filled with such kind, genuine, generous people. i am so grateful that i've been able to become a part of the family there.

come friday, i'll be doing my last bake at pizzaiolo for a good while. i'll probably say a bit more about that come friday morning, while the loaves are in the oven doing the magicthing.

anywayyy, come say hi today or tomorrow at Mission Pie, 5-9pm, before i take off for a coupla months. otherwise, i'll see ya when i see ya dudes.

oh, and btw, i am going to be posting to this blog during my travels, so if ya wanna come along with me on my travels, just check in every once in a while. i promise to make you giggle.

<3 josey

ain't nothin wrong with a little bit of q & a

<<< keep your eyes peeled dudes, there's another free loaf quiz in this one >>>

people been a-ing some q's, so i'm just gonna answer em all right here and now.

Q: you were a bit vague about when you were actually leaving... when's the last day you're baking? and when are you coming back??

A: a ha! you've passed my are-you-paying-attention test! i'm baking up til August 26 - less than two weeks from today. i'll be back in time for Thanksgiving. get your bread while you can homies.

Q: baker boy, you say you're going to southeast asia, but where in the heck are you actually going?

A: well, i'm flattered you're that interested. our plan is to fly into bangkok, and travel around thailand, vietnam, cambodia, and laos. no super solid plans, we're just looking for a nice mix of adventure - wild nature, urban culture, peaceful temple, sweaty farming... if you've got any tips, i'd love to hear em.

Q: what in the frik am i going to do while you're gone?

A: you really are the sweetest. if you really like, you can buy a couple extra loaves and just freeze them in ziplock bags. freezing bread stops it right in its tracks, and then you can take it out whenever you like, let it thaw for a few hrs, toss it in a 350F oven for 10 min, and have a jbb party. take a pic of it and send it to me and make me happy.

Q: what's your sign?

A: i'm not into that kinda stuff, but i value different perspectives, and i love how curious you are.

Q: you're going to burning man, aren't you? i don't like burning man, even though i've never been... are you a burner?

A: yes, i'm going. no, i'm not a "burner." and i'm also not a hater. you shouldn't be either. as one of the greatest singer songwriters of my generation once said, "before you knock it, try it first." free loaf (!!!) to whoever names this trailblazer and acknowledges that i'm jking your a$s.

Q: what is this "big news" you keep hinting at? what the heck is your problem just tell me what you're talking about!

A: i'm glad i've piqued your interest and i'm going to drop the bomb soon, i promise you. you cannot rush a good loaf of bread.

Q: when is this funny q & a going to stop?

A: now.

<3 josey

good news and bad news

look what i found the other day - a little recipe card i made last thanksgiving to figure out how to make the most bread i'd ever made:

(a free loaf for the first person who knows what "FGR" means! e-mail me the answer, you greedy little breadmonster!)

i'm showing you that for a reason, but before i tell you why, i've got some news to tell you. some good news, and some bad news. but first i want you to sit down, and i'll sit down too. good, now we're comfy and sitting, and we can have a heart to heart...

so, i'm just going to come out and say it...

wait! do you want the good news or the bad news first? hmm...?

okay, bad news, of course you want the bad news, i want the bad news first too. so here goes...

i'm leaving.

but now quickly for the good news before you get too sad or pissed - i'm going on an awesome adventure, and then i'm coming back!

yup, the rumors are true - me and my most radical lady friend cathy are going to travel around Southeast Asia for two whole months, for September and October. i thought about maybe trying to twist things a little bit and say that this trip was somehow about bread or baking or something related to what i've been doing for the past year here, but honestly that would be dishonest, and i wanna just be honest with you. so this trip is not about bread.

it's about meeting rad people, and eating amazing food, and jumping off big rocks into clear water, and riding buses all night long, and working on tiny farms in the mountains, and climbing on ancient temples, and learning new languages, and waking up in the jungle, and scuba diving in underwater caves, and doing all sorts of other wonderful things that i can't even imagine, all with my most spectacular girl cathy. i might just be the luckiest guy in the whole wide world.

but i have a favor to ask - don't you go forgetting about me while i'm gone. i touch down back in the great U S of A on November 12, just in time to have Thanksgiving bread for you all. holy crap! that'll be one year since i first sold bread to a bunch of strangers for the first time! (remember that pic at the beginning of this post?) DailyCandy published a little article about me, and a bunch of strangers emailed me asking for bread, so i set up shop at my door, and folks came by all morning, buying up 60 loaves of bread that i baked in my dinky little home oven. wow. this is what i looked like, all happy and shit:

so anyway, once i'm back from adventuring, oh baby baby BABY i am BACK and will be continuing to do my bread thing, just for you.

i've also got a few big pieces of news that i want to share oh so bad, but it's just a bit too early. but don't you worry, as soon as i get the green light, i'm going to be freakin out over here, and you will hear alllll about it.

but in the mean time, look at this effing loaf of bread:

it is 100% whole wheat. one hundred per freaking cent dude! i can't even believe it. if you don't think this is a big deal, then poop on you, cuz it makes me extraordinarily pumped.

check ya real soon doggies

<3 josey

back in the saddle

someone had a pizza party this weekend... but that's not what i'm writing about.

a glimpse into my mind last Tuesday: i need to mix in how many pounds of flour to make 70 loaves? wait... 70 loaves, or 75 loaves? what kind of bread? how in the ef do i figure this out again???

i really knew that i'd been on vacation when thoughts like these and the very simple math (we ain't talkin calculus here peoples) were totally perplexing to me. Wednesday was a challenging day (ended up baking 140 loaves + 80 pocketbreads, which i didnt even realize til they were all in the oven), but Thursday was much smoother, and by Friday morning i was feeling incredibly grateful and pumped up to be back in the saddle, pulling a bunch of perfectly baked loaves out of that wood fired oven at pizzaiolo.

(btw check out this bread honeycomb i made at pizzaiolo! these are the loaves resting before i shape them into their final shape)

so i'm feeling pumped because i've been having a lot of hand and arm pain recently, but i picked up some rad tips from baker buddies in vermont, and i'm real optimistic that i'm going to be able to bake even better bread now, without . a lil background...

up until january, my job was primarily done on the computer. while i valued the work (writing teacher's guides and children's books) and loved my colleagues (some of the raddest, smartest, creative people i know), i fell out of love with what i was doing. (and holy crap, i'd grown real tired of spending all day staring at a screen, moving my fingers.) i caught the bread bug, and couldn't stop baking, blah blah blah, fast forward to now, where i'm baking about 300 loaves a week.

needless to say, going from a desk job to a bread baker is a big change in how i spend my days, and what i do with my body. i've always been active in my free time, but kneading 200 lbs of dough is a new activity, requiring the use of new muscles. so, when my hand and arm started to ache like a muh fuh a few months ago, i started to wonder, "am i cut out to be a baker?" this was a bit a of a shocker - never had i considered that my body wouldn't be able to handle baking bread. so i started taking care of this new problem, going to acupuncture, going to a chiropractor, stretching my new muscles. and i started looking at how i was using my body, the muscles i was using and over-working, and what i could change to make things easier on me.

and things became a lot clearer while i was home, visiting other small scale baking operations. all of the sudden it dawned on me - i was still doing some things the way i'd done them when i was a home baker. and shit, i'm not a home baker anymore. specifically, i was mixing and kneading my dough all by hand in 40 lb batches, in a way that was way more difficult than it needed to be. i had this humongous mixer at my disposal at Mission Pie, but i was refusing to use it because i didn't like the idea of machine mixing, and i thought that i could bake better bread if i did every single step by hand. however, i liked the idea of baking bread without super sore hands and arms a lot more, and i found out that i can get the same quality bread by using the mixer for just the first part of the mixing, then doing the rest of it by hand in even smaller batches than before. (think doing 100 curls with 20 lb dumb bells vs. doing 20 curls with 100 lb dumb bells... which one would you choose?)

sooo, i've tweaked my methods just a little bit, and my arms are feeling awesome, and i think the bread this week is going to be the best bread i've ever made.

the moral of the story - from time to time step back and look at what you're doing, get rid of the stuff that no longer makes sense, and adopt new practices that fit the present. it's easy to keep doing what you've always done, but you ain't never gonna grow with an attitude like that, sucker.

anyway, enough of this emo mumbo jumbo. i've discovered some radical secrets of whole wheat bread, and i'm going to pump them out for you come Thursday at Mission Pie. if you know what's good for you, you'll come get crunchy with me.

<3 josey

oh my goodness me... I'M BACK

my rad buddies at Elmore Mtn Bread said it best:

BUT ANYWAY UGH OH OH OH IF I COULD JUMP RIGHT THROUGH THIS SCREEN AND HUG YOU I WOULD IT'S BEEN TOO LONG I'VE MISSED YOU LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEEEEEEVE!!!

did you miss me? (just say you did even if you didn't, otherwise things'll get real awkward real fast)

Vermont was amazing. super relaxing, tons of wonderful time with my family and old friends, and i got to hang with some very rad bakers along the way. bakers... they are consistently so frikkin cool. what's the deal with that???

check it dogs...

the 3 seed bread at Bread & Butter Farm is out of control:

as is their dark rye:

and the fellas at Red Hen bake THOUSANDS of loaves every single day of the year, and they are all TOTALLY AMAZING:

and i just think this is pretty:

and i love climbing things:

hope to see you so soon honey pies.

<3 josey

aw mannn i've fully breaded myself out (IMPOSSIBLE)

look what i pulled out of the oven this morning i nearly crapped my pants!!!

twas a big ol loaf of cinnamon raisin, made at the request of my dearest brother jed. yup, that one and a (shhh) rye sandwich loaf, made at the request of my superhumanly wise stepfather mike. no pictures of that one, sorry dudes. people been askin me bout making rye bread for a while now, so i maybe, just maybe, will start whipping it up for all ya'll once i'm back in the wild west. stay tuned.

but any frikkin way, i ate too much of that bread, and now i just ate too much of this AWESOME bread:

i truly cannot help myself. (and i don't want to so don't try to talk me out of it cuz people only change when they want) i bought three loaves of Elmore Mountain Bread, cuz these cats are the baddest cats on the block. but what the heck, lord knows i didn't need to buy 3 loaves of bread...

BUT I DID AND DO NEED TO BUY THREE LOAVES OF BREAD CUZ I WANTED TO TRY THEM ALL AND THEY'RE ALL DIFFERENT AND ALL SO GOD DAMN DELICIOUS.

and it's research, right? i'm a bread detective, you must remember.

so WHAT were the loaves inspector gadget?!?

well, i was just sitting here waiting for you to ask... BUT I'M NOT TELLING! HA! TAKE THAT!

don't be a $hithead baker boy.

fine. maple cinnamon & raisin (YES!!! only in vermont), country french (exquisitely done), and brewer's bread (what the ef is that?!?): a sourdough bread made with locally brewed beer and spent barley. i know, fully rad. this is what it looked like:

and this is what it did to me:

and, well, that about does it dogs. i got beer to drink. i'm on vacation after all.

<3 josey

i didn't know how bad i missed you til i was back in your arms...

VERMONT!!! holy friggin crap Vermont you are so so SO sexy in all your sweaty sunny summer time glory. it feels real real good to be in your big green arms once again.

i'm totally loving my time here, hangin with fam, sweating at night (remember that?), and loving up the loaves real good for my loved ones. it's so super nice to be baking one loaf at a time... it's been a while since i did that, and it feels awesome.

but don't you go worryin yr pretty lil heart san francisco, i miss you too, and i will be floating right back on to ya next friday.

check this totally rad dude who i met at my family reunion yesterday:

ohhh yeahhh.

<3 josey

california summer river trip i love you so hard

my goodness gracious me, this past weekend knocked my little flour covered socks off!

here's a quick photographic summary of the trip...

{on friday i ate an incredible sandwich from Pal's Takeaway (made on my walnut levain) that had frikkin pulled pork and egg salad on it (i $hit you not)}

along with my sweet heartbrothers rafi and nat, i drove out to the south fork of the yuba river:

during our drive we decided that we wanted to not deal with bottles or cans so we got a small keg of beer and carried it in a backpack to our camping spot and kept it cool in the raging river:

where we took all our clothes off and drank the beer:

and then harnessed the sun's power and had ourselves a bright lil blaze on which we cooked chicken on sticks:

the next day we continued our festivities, finishing the brew (don't worry mom, that's just a bb gun):

and then began the hard work of breaking big logs into firewood:

being men of tradition, we chose to use the force of gravity along with the strength of the stone to do our dirty work:

we had our fire, slept soundly under the stars, and returned to our fair city and set the first fire in our wood fired oven:

all is well.

<3 josey

hot as a mothafrikkin wood fired oven

YO this weather is making a baker boy sweat like a pig. you holdin up okay? i hope so.

i'm spending as much time as possible drinking iced coffee and wearing as little clothing as possible. you should do the same, it's awesome.

and i'm super jazzed about this simple fact: we're building a wood fired oven out of mud in my backyard.

what?!? out of mud?!? in your backyard?!?!? how in the HECK are you doing that???

with some sunshiney days, some elbow grease, and some sweet sweet bob marley jamz, that's how my dogs.

check it out...

the other weekend i made a little pen to hold urbanite and bricks for the base. then my main man rafi jumped in the mix with his sick masonry and photography skillz (his careful touch is beyond the camera for all these pics). we laid down some mud and bottles for insulation, then laid the hearth and i smiled for the camera:

wearing a tape measure on my belt makes me feel very good cuz then i can do things like this:

and this part is called "shaping the void." totally frikkin awesome, right? it's just a big pile of sand on top of which you build the oven walls.

then my boy rafi built a very tasteful arch out of old bricks and foraged cement, and we covered the void in newspaper (so that when you dig it out, you know when you've reached the next layer of mud, which is the actual oven wall):

and on to the oven wall, which is just mud and sand, which you mix up on a tarp with your feet while easy skanking to sick reggae jamzzz:

then you smile and can't help yourself from just rubbing it all over and staring at in disbelief that you just created an oven out of mud with your bare hands:

we're gonna fire this sucker up real soon, and you can bet your sweet sweet a$$ that i'm gonna tell you alllll about it.

<3 josey

p.s. i'm going back to vermont (the homeland) for the first two weeks of july. hence - NO BREAD FIRST TWO WEEKS OF JULY. will remind you as the days go by.

oh i party hard... do you?

yo yo YO my dogs

you like to party? yea you do, of course you do, cuz you're a bread lovin party animal, just like me:

(yea, i'm eating sand, so what??? that's what the serious party beasts do, don't ya know.)

well, i wanna party together, you and me, mano a mano.

ohhh yeah baker man? and how in the heck would you propose we do that? huh huh HUH?

(not like this, unless you're SERIOUSLY OUT OF CONTROL)

you just sign up for a emmer effing josey baker bread party, that's how.

what in the heck is that supposed to mean?

it means that i come to your house with dough in tow, a bunch of flour, sourdough starter, knowhow, and excitement... and we bake bread together and you leave with loaves ready for the baking and the know-how to make some bombass bread.

well $hit my pants and call me sylvester! that sounds like a ton of fun!

... uhhh, that's weird that you said that thing about your pants and sylvester, but i'm gonna act like i didn't hear that one.

let's party.

<3 josey