look sexier

now you too can look like this:

please don't worry mom, that gun may look real and totally bada$s, but it only shoots BBs.

my radical man Wiley over at Bluxome St has carefully crafted some sexy tanks and tees, just for you to prance about town and show what good taste you have.

but josey baker, what if i don't wanna look bada$s, i just wanna look super duper sexy?

no problem:

my god, that girl is so H*O*T !!!

if you practice real hard, you might get to look like this as well...

again - just a BB gun kiddos.

those guns most definitely are as real as they get.

and that cigaratte is most definitely just a prop - nag champa style.

***limited quantities available for purchase at Mission Pie, W & Th, 3-9pm.

$10 tanks

$12 tees

heart hard 4 eva

josey

i love having fun (and playing with fire)

so much has happened since we last spoke, i can't even begin to tell you! like what, josey baker, like effing what?!?

oh, just tons of great ideas, like THIS:

but that is neither here nor there, really, now is it?

no, it's not, that has absolutely nothing to do with bread.

shut up. THIS has also happened - there's a effing hole in the floor at the Divis space!

why oh why is there a hole in the floor? because we have to put the plumbing somewhere, now don't we, silly.

but this past week i had myself some good adventuring, since i couldn't do any baking. i took a jaunt up north with my never-ceases-to-amaze-me lady Cathy and her wonderful parents and we took a break between wine sipping to frolic in the pretty yellow fields:

how adorable are they???

i also spent some extra time with my new friend jerry, and each day i learn how special he is:

i am proud to say that i, along with dear heartbrother rafi, with be the proud temporary parents of that little pooch for 3 weeks.

and oh yeah - bread is back on this week honey babies. come say YO.

and in other very exciting news: i'm going to be starting a bread subscription program at the Google office in SF. holy crap. the ridiculously cool and talented folks at Good Eggs have been busting their a$s on some amazing new stuff that is going to drop soon. get ready people, they's about to make your life (and mine) a lot easier.

just pulled this hottie out the oven:

butterfly kisses,

josey

gone fishin'

Mission Pie is closed for renovations, so i shan't be baking any bread this week. sorry for not telling you sooner, but it's like flossing - if you do it quickly and unexpectedly it's all over before you even know what's going on, and you're all that much stronger for it. what am i going to do instead? obvi, i've gone fishin'.

not really, but that would be very cool of me now wouldn't it?

i would love to hear what other breads you choose to eat instead of mine. it's such a nice little surprise to see comments pop up on this little corner of the world wide web.

in the mean time, feast your eyes on this, sucka.

the other night my roomie brendan made some totally killer bone marrow mousse and we slathered it all over some sourdough sandwich bread and it made life real nice.

we ate the little toasties with some homemade kimchi soup. ain't nothin like a bowl of homemade soup, no there ain't. and don't try to say there is, cuz i will have to prove you wrong.

walnuts are sooo california. one can never have too many walnuts.

get a load of those whole wheat loaves all covered in sesame and poppy seeds! i'd been wanting to do this for a long time, and it finally occurred to me that the only way it was going to happen was if i just went ahead and did it. its my new favorite.

the troops, standing tall and proud, awaiting their triumphant end. to keep myself in line, i've been baking a loaf or two (or seven) at home. it's way easier than baking 100 loaves at a time.

<3 <3 <3

jojo

the magical wizard's lair

for a while now folks have been suggesting that i photograph the new space before it gets built out. this morning i finally took their advice, and this is what happened.

the view down the right side of the space. as you can see by the wooden pieces on the floor, we've utilized the most high-tech technology to ensure maximum bread and coffee efficiency.

these are the doors that were on the coolers in the back of the space when we moved in. we're going to figure out a nice way to display them in the new space as well. the old owners had the right idea - nobody likes it when there's a surprise extra charge at the cash register, right? hell no. we won't be sneaky either.

this is the view from the back of the space, facing towards the street. this is actually going to be turned into office, storage, bathrooms. check out the totally awesome slanted ceiling for water drainage. you cannot fight the forces of nature.

a few months back i went over with Jeremy and Alex (resident wood worker hardman rad papa) to lay out our current plans for the coffee bar and bakery. they broke out glue guns and huge popsicle sticks like these and we had ourselves a craft hour. i was pretty skeptical, but i'll be damned, it frikkin worked, and by the end of it we'd solved all of our problems. (that's bs, but we did have a lot of fun and solve some of the problems.)

one day my friends, this corner will be my little baked goods workshop. picture a humongous oven in the back right corner, with a nice big cool room right next to it, and a radical custom wooden workbench in front, where that metal rack is in the picture. i also wanted to have a lazy boy on top of my cool room, but that plan was recently nixed. i will figure out some other awesome thing instead.

it's a got a ways to go, but i'll tell you what - before you know it you'll be hanging out in the cafe thinking, "remember when we saw those pretty pictures on that silly breadblog of this space? holy crap i can't believe it's the same space! those folks have to be wizards or something."

oh, we're wizards alright... wizards from another dimension where everybody drinks coffee like it was water and eats bread like it was... umm... bread?

okay, so maybe we're not wizards. but we ARE going to make an awesome cafe, just for you.

and it's going to be called "The Magical Wizard's Lair."

<3 josey

p.s. it's not going to be called that, are you kidding me???

josey baker bread needs you

this party train is bound for glory, and i'm looking for some folks to jump on board to help out. can you party hard? oh i bet you can. bread slinger

i'm looking for some friendly folks to sell my bread at Mission Pie (25th & Mission). the job entails hanging out with a rack full of warm bread, offering up samples to walk-in customers, explaining the various daily breads and what Josey Baker Bread is all about, and handling the cash transactions. you'll show up when i'm finishing the bake (2:00pm), and commence the bread slinging. will continue said bread slinging until 9:00pm, at which point you'll break down the sales rack. easy stuff.

you should be: friendly and playful, excited to talk with strangers, and of course, a deep deep DEEP lover of bread.

shifts: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 2-9:15pm. okay if you can only work one shift per week, but bonus if you can work both.

compensation: all the bread you can eat (up to 4 loaves per shift). if you so desire, i can teach you what i know about bread. sporadically helping out with bread production is a good possibility.

please e-mail me with a one paragraph tale of why you are perfect for the job.

josey@joseybakerbread.com

may the best bread slinger win.

<3 josey

a bread for every occasion?

i am so totally in love with the bread that i've been making for the past year or so. but i'm also ready for a change. ready for something a bit heartier, a bit more robust, a bit more able to stand up to being tossed in the backpack and hauled around the woods for a week. know what i mean?

uhhh, no, i don't know what you mean. "hauled around the woods for a week" ??? yeah, sure, i was just thinking i needed a bread that could do that.

allow me to explain, will you?

i don't really have a choice, now do i?

well, yes, you do, you could stop reading this breadblog and go back to Facebook or watching TV or whatever it is you're farting around with when you're not here.

oh yeah? watching TV, huh? who even has a TV anymore???

anyway, as i was saying... fresh bread is one of my most favorite things. i love to stare at it, smell it, touch it and squeeze and just be around it.

and several day old bread can be brought back to its sexy youthful self if you warm it up. oh it warms up reeeeeeeeal nice like. but after that you've gotta do something else with it - french toast, bread crumbs, croutons, bread pudding, whatever your freaky imagination can cook up.

but what about bread that can stay unadulteratedly super delicious even longer than the bread that is so gorgeous when hot outta the oven, but loses its sheen after just a few days? what about it huh huh HUH???

alright, alright, i'm with you now... what have you done? did you figure out some magical potion that you feed your starter so that the bread stays fresh forever? a fountain of youth for wild yeast? you bread wizard you!

hold your horses, i did not figure that out, but i'm working on it. and here are a few hints about what i've been playing with:

• it won't have much, if any, wheat in it.
• it will have plenty of scrumptious little seeds.
• it will be dense and delicious as shit.

"delicious as shit" ??? that is totally disgusting.

you know what i mean! can you guess???

umm, some hippie bread?

maybe. you're just gonna have to keep guessin ya hear, cuz i ain't tellin!

but it might be rye bread.

love you.

<3 josey

p.s. cathy and i just went camping and climbing down at Castle Rock and i was being a bad mood butthead til i climbed this tree and felt like a million bucks.

and this photo demonstrates a very nice balance of old and new technology, don't you think?

bread porn, vol. 7, issue 2

*don't view this at work of your boss will have you written up for being a perv. (just sneak away to the bathroom, top secret ninja style.)

black pepper parmesan you are a very naughty little loaf.

whole wheat rye you are so dark and mysterious and are making me feel funny.

walnut those slashes are so sharp i'm scared you're going to hurt me.

that hard pavement must be sooo uncomfortable, can't we go somewhere a little softer?

oh so big country bread outta the wood fire you are like a wild phoenix on the verge of flight.

"countrystyle" ?!? are you friggin kidding me??? how in the ef did you get in here???

<3 josey

east bay crew, i'm gonna miss you

hidy ho goodness gracious, seems like every time i post these days i'm apologizing about how "its been too long," or "oh i've missed you so bad," or what the heck ever. seems like i'm just doing it a little bit less these days, and i can't keep saying i'm sorry.

so i ain't sorry.

but i have missed you so hard.

what in the ef was i doing? well...

i had a really wonderful time in Vermont with my fam:

(silly brother and mother there)

baked a bunch:

(those are cookies, shut up)

and took a few romps around the woods:

(that's my dapper papa)

but anyway, on to the next topic of the day... changes are afoot friends! what changes? friday bread.

i am sorry to say that beginning in February i will no longer be baking Friday mornings at Pizzaiolo. it has been a totally awesome run there, during which i've made some amazing relationships and baked some pretty darn good bread, but the time has come for it to end. i'd like to sincerely thank all of my East Bay peeps who have supported me over the past year.

perhaps most of all, i'm grateful for the ridiculously cool and generous people of Pizzaiolo. in particular, i am indebted to Mr. Charlie Hallowell, who has let me learn to bake bread in his wood-fired oven, and given me a place to rest my head many a thursday night. you are a hell of a guy, Mr. Hallowell.

in fact, why don't we take a trip down memory lane to the very first time i baked in that oven, in the fall of 2010:

(i burnt them all.)

but these days i get to pull beauties like these outta the oven:

why the friday bread hiatus? cuz this baker boy only has so much energy, and opening the new space is where i've gotta focus. however, i will keep baking on Wednesday and Thursday at Mission Pie, and sending bread to Bi Rite Market as well. and pretty soon you will be able to buy bread at the new space (yes, before we've officially opened) so that my new neighbors can get their Josey Baker Bread on. this will likely be up and running by the end of January. will keep ya posted.

that all being said, i'm open to suggestions about how to get some of my bread to my East Bay crew. so if you have an idea, you know where to find me. (send me an email sucka.)

all for now. love hard kiddos.

<3 josey

it's cold in nyc (no more bread til 2012)

yo cats and dogs

it's cold in nyc. so cold that cathy and i just had to drop in to a lil noodle bar to pick up some of this:

(free loaf to first person who can identify said noodle bar)

good lord, this $hit is just SO GOOD. and aside from making me drool all over myself, this trip got me so so super excited because i picked up a dandy lil cookbook that is giving me some totally righteous new ideas for the cafe... when the times comes i am going to hit you right where it counts.

but how in the heck am i talking about how cold it is in nyc? cuz i'm hangin in nyc, and i've grown so used to that spoiled cali sunshine that it feels so bitterly cold here it makes me wonder if there's any warmth left in the world.

but then i drink this and everything feels ok:

i'm kidding. but only halfway. dunkin donuts hazelnut coffee is one of the crappier things, but it has a special place in my heart. i spent many teenage nights slurping it down with a half dozen disgusting donuts, driving around on Vermont back roads, occasionally coaxing a buddy to take the wheel while i climbed onto the roof to enjoy the evening in a more intimate manner.

what in the heck are you talking about josey??

don't yuck my yum, i'm just reminiscing. anyway, that's neither here nor there. i'm back east, so no bread for the next two weeks. i'm back up and at em in 2012.

another word to the wise - sometimes you burn things:

it's okay, it's part of the learning process. if you really care about what you're doing, it's going to piss you off, but don't go letting it ruin your day. just put it on the front of your bicycle and giggle about it. or maybe try to hide it as a "rock sculpture" in the neighborhood garden.

just don't do it again, or you're a total as$hole.

special thanks to everyone involved in the coffee + toast bar + talent show that went down a couple weeks ago at 736 Divis:

the talent show was organized by the Wigg Party, a righteous crew of folks who are fighting the good fight. keep your eyes peeled for more from them in the coming days, weeks, months.

also keep your eyes peeled for a coffee + toast bar in the new space in the very near future. like, as in january.

what?!? i thought the new spot wasn't opening til the spring?!?

you are oh so very right. but that ain't gonna stop us from getting you coffee + toast in the meantime. why? cuz we think you're cute, that's why. more to come lovelies.

<3 josey

ef baking, now i'm a metal worker

i was just over at the new space helping the FourBarrel crew bring in a mobile coffee cart:

(i wasn't really helping in this way, i was mostly lifting things and eating pizza [and maybe farting], but Dave was sweet enough to let me use the angle grinder so i could look cool. but look how cool he looks:)

why are we bringing in a mobile coffee cart???

cuz this Thursday night we're gonna be partying in the new space during the Divisadero Art Walk. FourBarrel will be slangin they radical coffee, and i shall be toasting some mighty fine toast, if i do say so myself. food and drink from 6-8pm, so don't lollygag or you'll go to bed hungry and thirsty. and if you're feeling talented, get this - we're going to have a talent show as well. the awesome cats known as the Wigg Party are behind this, and we are all jazzed up about it.

what else?

i have been test baking up a little storm in my home kitchen, trying out new recipes for the cafe. like what, you wonder? oh wouldn't you like to know! this is some top secret shit, so don't go yabbering, ya hear? here's a sneak peak...

that may or may not be coffee cake.

that may or may not be banana bread.

i may or not have had a totally awesome day baking with my baker buddy zoe who knows way more than i do.

the fire department may or may not have came to my house the other day because we were burning a very damp brush pile in our fire pit that was putting off an unbelievable amount of smoke.

i've gotten a bunch of e-mails lately asking about the bread. sorry that things keep getting tweaked! here's the current situation: Wed & Thurs, 2:30pm @ Mission Pie and Bi Rite Market; Friday by subscription only. 

so much more to tell, but this blogpost is too long already. 

love you honey pies.

<3 josey

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