bake with me?

been wanting to do this for a while now, and finally the day has come - bake with me!

yup, i've decided it's time to share all of the secrets of whole grain bread baking, and i wanna do it with YOU, on Sunday October 5 at 7:30pm. don't be shy, if ya wanna come bake some bread, sign up here. there are only 10 spots for this class, so if'n ya want in, then sign up quick. but fret not, if ya miss this one, i'll be doing more soon.

anyway, enough shameless self-promotion, let's look at some pretty stuff -

me and my sweet lady Cathy went on a superb backpacking trip a few weeks ago, which culminated at that very pretty swimming hole you see right there. it was deeper than we could even see, and you know we jumped right in, hootin and hollerin the whole way down. i would love to share it's location with you, but i've been sworn to secrecy by the very trusting fellow who told me about it. and when someone tells you a secret, you keep your lips sealed. right? right.

but here's a hint - it looked like this on the way there -

ain't cali just the best???

but hold the phone, ya know what else was the best? a couple weeks ago i hauled my butt up to Mt. Vernon, Washington for The Grain Gathering, and it got me so so so excited about what's happening right now with grains, bread, baking - we're in the midst of something very special. it was a gathering of some of the most badass folks in the field these days - bakers, farmers, miller, scientists, maltsters, brewers, you name it. and check this out - i even got to put on Kiko Denzer's hat for just a sec -

it felt really really good.

what else is up? ya know, baking bread, trying oh so hard to make it look like this, which every once in a while it does, and makes me all warm and fuzzy inside -

look out, there may be a pot of gold at the end of that one.

we're continuing to experiment with some new breads, and i'm stoooked to share this next one with ya - 100% einkorn. what is einkorn, you may ponder, oh curious reader? it's the mother of all wheats. when i first started baking i learned about this ancient grain and i was very intrigued, i just said to myself, "one day i'm going to make bread out of that." and friends, we've been making bread with this old grain and i'll tell you what - it may just be my favorite bread. but hey, you don't have to take my word for it, we're trying our best to work it into production, and soon so soon we'll have it for sale at The Mill in very limited quantities, probably 5 loaves a day or so. it ain't a showy loaf, it looks like this -

but good god, that flavor, it's really something remarkable. if'n you're curious come on by in the next few weeks, we should have it sorted out by the beginning of October.

which reminds me - NO BREAD ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 !!!! sorry my dudes, we will miss ya, but i'm taking the whole bakery staff on a retreat to somewhere special up in the woods. not to worry - The Mill will remain open as always, and there'll be plenty of coffee and tea and toast and pastries...

which brings me to another important point - here at JBB we're going to focus all of our energy on bread, starting next week. what does that mean? it means that at The Mill we're going to start working with some of the most badass pastry folks around, and we'll be offering up their goods for your enjoyment at The Mill. we've been making our pastries in house since the beginning, but as time has marched on i've realized that bread is where my heart is, and in order to do the types of things i'm most interested in, we've gotta narrow our focus. don't worry, we're still making pizza -

because pizza is just bread with delicious stuff on it. and obviously we're going to keep doing toast, don't be silly. more to come on those changes, don't wanna bore with it all here and now... but now i'm bored, so i'll check ya later you sexy little bunnies.

<3 j

no pizza this Monday 9/1

just a quick note to make sure ya don't get disappointed this Monday - NO PIZZA!!! but please come and hang with us the next Monday, 9/8, because we'll be slangin again, as per usual.

have a great weekend sweeties

<3 josey

let's keep it simple

have you already eaten like a million tomatoes this year? holy crap, they're here in full force, and here at The Mill we are freaking out about how delicious they are. in particular, just this last week Ryan & Erin roasted up a whole bunch of them and turned them into the best damn pizza sauce we've ever had. we're getting all of our tomatoes, of the dry-farmed early girl variety, from a strapping young farmer named Toby, who looks just like this -

Toby_SF_680_340_85_s_c1

handsome, isn't he?? but hold your horses boys + girls, he's taken.

so hell yeah, we roasted up all those yummy tomatoes and put them on the pizza along with smoked mozzarella and basil and it looked like this -

photo 4

we liked it so much, get this - for at least the next month we're going to celebrate the mighty tomato by letting it shine loud and true - dry farmed early girl tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil. what does it taste like? really frikkin good cheese pizza, that's what. come check it out if'n you're curious.

Monday_Night_Pizza_tomato

and eating this delicious pizza made us feel just like this -

photo 3

which was funny, because there just so happened to be many drawings of this variety all over The Mill this last Monday, since we had very rad Berkeley artist Rob Wilson's art opening, which was a smashing success - he sold almost all of his art that very night. understandable, when it looks like this -

rob water magic

we're also continuing our R&D for a bunch of new breads, here's one that we pulled outta the oven today: stone ground spelt -

photo 5

100% stone ground whole grain spelt sourdough, to be exact. where do we look for inspiration on matters such as these? the man, the myth, the legend: Mr. Dave Miller.

photo 1

was beyond stoked that he came by to visit the other day. he never ceases to inspire, got me all pumped up to keep pushing our bread into new directions.

that's all, check ya soon sweeties.

<3 j

#sharetheloaves

guys, i can't even tell you how proud this makes me: my mom is using my cookbook to bake bread. i mean, look at this, this is some of the gorgeous bread she is pulling out of her oven in her home in Vermont!!

this brings a tear to my eye, i mean, my love of the kitchen began with her. (and my gramma, with whom i used to love watching cooking shows, most memorably the Galloping Gourmet, i mean, check him out -)

my mom taught me how to hang in the kitchen, and her cookbook collection was integral to my development as a baker, as an all around lover of cooking, and learning abut cooking and baking through cookbooks... and now she is using MY book!!! too good to be true, really, goodness gracious me.

mama's been taking lots of photos of her baked goods, and every time she sends me a photo my heart sings with joy. so yesterday she sent me a few photos of her sourdough pizza, and i damn near drove off the road (was driving back from week in LA in which i was absolutely floored by the excitement around baking, grains, the "artisan bread revolution", but more to come on that later).

without further ado, i would like to invite all of y'all who are baking from my book to SHARE THE LOAVES. and by that, i mean take a sweet pic of your bread, pizza, pocketbreads, whatever, and post it to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #sharetheloaves. there's already a bunch up there as i started tagging photos a while back, other folks have picked up on it, and it would warm my heart to see what y'all are baking up.

and speaking of baking from the book, check out what these folks have been saying...

David Lebovitz

Lottie & Doof

Root Simple

The New York (frikkin) Times (!!!)

TheKitchn

so have at it people, please keeping sharing the loaves.

<3 j

this whole pizza thing is getting out of control... and we like it that way

hi honey pies i'm gettin ready to jump in my truck and head down to LA for a bunch of book parties, but i just had to share some exciting stuff with y'alls.

we've been peeing our pants with joy at the popularity of Monday Night Pizza... speaking of which, check this ridiculously rad graphic that the handsome + talented RJ Rabe just whipped up out of the bytes floating around in the ether -

(there may or may not be some posters in the works, stay tuned)

but let's quit kissing each other's butts for a second, eh? you've been very patient and understanding when it's taken us a bit too long to get you the goods. we've been making just as much pizza just as fast as we can, but we're in the process of re-imagining some stuff, which is gonna hopefully allow us to feed more people faster...

and in truth i am kinda jumping the gun on telling you all this, but i just can't help myself, because i wanna make sure that y'all keep coming over on Monday nights and that you're not deterred from waiting a half hour for your cheesy goodness... just don't you dare give up on us and start saying stuff like, "oh yeah, Monday Night Pizza at The Mill? it tastes so frikkin good, but i ain't gonna go back cuz i don't like waiting that long for my pizza."

instead, i want you to say stuff like, "oh yeah, Monday Night Pizza at The Mill? it tastes so frikkin good and i go all the time, just cuz i love it so so so much, it's my favorite god damn pizza in the Universe."

speaking of the Universe, when i was out on a river in the foothills the other week, which looked like this -

i was staring at the stars and pondering how they all look so similar to us, but in reality they have so many humongous differences between them. i mean, it's kinda crazy - we look up at the night sky, and we see a sea of stars, and they all just look like variations on a theme... but there's some unbelievably diverse stuff going on out there, we just can't see it with our wimpy little human eyes... check this out -

ummmm, what are you even talking about?

hey now, come on, i was purposefully trying to spice things up because i figured you may be getting bored with all this pizza talk... i was leaving out some of the technical stuff because i figured you actually weren't that interested...

well, i might be interested, if you say it in an interesting way...?

ok, i'll try. just don't be a jerk about it, k?

can't promise you anything. 

wait a sec, hold on - you can't promise me anything? well that's screwed up, you should be able to promise some things... are you an all around untrustworthy person, unable to make promises??

you're off topic baker boy, get to the point. 

right. so - thus far we have incorporated all of the pizza dough mixing into the rest of our dough mixing, but what we're about to do is -

zzzzzzzzzzzz.

i told you it was gonna be boring!!

make it better. 

god, just look at this -

we're gonna start making a special kind of pizza dough, a top secret sourdough pizza dough that we'll be able to make exactly the way we want, no compromises, no if's/and's/but's about it. and we're gonna be able to make more of it. and at some point we'll start serving pizza sooner in the evening. ya feel me??!?

ok, this is kind of interesting... what's the big deal. 

we will imbue our pizza dough with our massive spirit and bless it with rainbow power and it will make you 10% smarter every slice that you eat. so keep it coming sweethearts. because at the end of the day we all just wanna be loved. am i right?

now we're talking.

i'm outta here.

<3 j

one can never eat too much pizza (in august)

just a quickie here my dudes - here's the pizza party menu for the next 5 weeks -

love you

<3 j

the woods are calling

well jeezum crow, i feel like i've lived a million years since we last spoke!!

just a few days ago i found my way to a lovely little river about 3 hours northeast of San Francisco. it was my first time out in the California wilderness this summer, and my goodness gracious me, it felt amazing. it really is just one of my favorite things in the world to do, to pack up my bag and just walk up the river and explore and relax for a few days. but holy moly, for this trip it was *H*O*T* - a whopping 100F on Monday! not to worry, we were never more than a few steps from the water, and we just spent all day splish-splashing around.

but i've been on the move a bunch over the last few months, what with a book to promote and a beautiful woman to marry -

but things are calming down now, and that's just fine by me. i am so very excited for the book (a bunch of parties in LA, see below!!) but it's also really nice to be spending time in the bakery day in and day out, making stuff like this happen -

it's not that i wasn't loving what i was doing, don't get me wrong, but when i was coming and going every other week, i would just start to get in the groove and then *POOF*, i'd fly away. but i'm back for a spell now, so i should stop whining.

at least til the end of the month, when i head down to LA for a whole bunch of book parties!! check em out -

• Thurs, July 31, 4-8:30pm - Grist & Toll
• Fri, Aug 1, 7-8:30pm - New School of Cooking
• Sat, Aug 2, 4pm- Book Soup
• Mon, Aug 4, 6pm - Baker to Baker Discussion w Evan Kleinman & Zack Hall (e-mail roxana@cookscountyrestaurant.com to reserve a space), Vibiana 214 South Main Street, LA

do ya wanna come to some of em??!? well i would just love that, so if'n you're in the neighborhood and in the mood, then please swing on by and say hey, ok? OK.

i'll tell ya, it's been kinda nuts, this whole "being a published author" thing. i mean, guys, people are coming up to me in The Mill and asking me to sign the book that i wrote. SIGN THE BOOK THAT I WROTE?!?!? i wrote a book?!?! and people want me to sign it?!?!?!?! i'm not sure any of this is really happening, but i will continue to act like it is, because it is very, very fun. and i get to do stuff like this, act like i'm a famous person on WCAX in Vermont -

i had no idea i was showing off my thigh tat like that, i'm not a floozy, i promise you.

but then i come back from acting like i'm famous, and my amazing bakers show me this -

so i get overwhelmed and eat 4 of them and just immediately pass out. btw - the magical light on this here peanut butter brownie is sunlight that streams into the bakery only for a couple hours in the afternoon, only at certain times of the year, like this time of the year. gotta appreciate the now, now don't we, now?

well, i don't wanna bore you, so i'm just gonna quit while i'm ahead.

but just let me ask you this - do you like bagels? think about it and lemme know.

<3 j

let the pizza fly in july

Monday nights are my favorite nights, and it's because of all your beautiful faces. every Monday The Mill fills up with happy pizza eating people, and it just makes my heart sing.

come out and grab a slice if ya feel like, but please try to come on the early side - we've been running out of pizza by 8pm most of the time.

soon we will offer our pizza starting at 5pm, but ya gotta give us a few weeks to make that happen. til further notice expect it as always, at 6pm.

and here's the menu for the next month -

oh yeah, just a little heads up - we had to increase our prices by 50 cents a slice, so now it's $3/slice, $24/pie. why the price hike? the toast was getting jealous.

love ya

<3 josey

it's okay to feel good

well, i've made it 31 one years on this here planet and this much i know is true: there ain't a better way to end your day than hacky sacking on top of a mountain while drinking champagne and watching the sun dip down into the ocean. am i right, or am i right??? i'm oh so happy to hear if you've got a better idea, so speak up now, ya hear?

okay now, let's get down to business, i've got some veeeeery important stuff to share. let's see now, where was i...?

...

oh sheesh, i thought i had all sorts of funny and entertaining and important things to tell you, but wtf, we all just wanna look at pretty pictures anyway, so let's just do that -

BUT before we dive into pretty picture zone, might i remind all of you folks who live in the northeastern part of our united states of america that maybe just maybe i will be in your neck of the woods for a book release party, and maybe just maybe you can come by and join in on the revelry??? here goes -

• June 12: Brooklyn, NY
  • Marlow & Sons, dinner
• June 18: Amherst, MA
  • Amherst Books, 4-6pm
• June 20: Morrisville, VT (my home town!!!)
  • Bee’s Knees, 4-6pm

and don't you worry Cali folks, once i am back i am driving down to LA for some parties there too!! check em out -

• July 31: Pasadena, CA
  • Grist & Toll, 4-8pm
• Aug 1: Culver City, CA
  • New School of Cooking, 7-8:30pm
• Aug 2: Los Angeles, CA
  • Book Soup, 4pm

ok ok ok enough with all these WORDS, let's get into some yummy stuff -

that is our workingman's bread. (do you get it? if you do, you'll also appreciate that what some people call their "office days" i refer to as my "dancing bear days." what a long, strange trip...) we love workingman's bread. it's half rye flour, half wheat flour (all whole and stone ground at The Mill), and then we also sprout a bunch of rye berries and grind em up and work em in to the dough. aside from tasting real nice, i like to think that it's a purty one as well... don't you think?

holy moly, the pizza last week really blew my mind. and i can say that, because to be totally honest, the topping combo was wholeheartedly not even my idea. ya see, at Josey Baker Bread we subscribe to a philosophy that can be summed up thusly: best idea wins. and sometimes i don't have the best ideas, sometimes the wonderful folks that i am fortunate enough to employ have the best ideas. and this was one of em: snap pea, radish + mint. and tonight: summer squash, rosemary + spinach. next week 6/16: corn, chard, + ricotta. and the following Monday 6/23: tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella. please enjoy the next couple pies for me, i will be away on book tour, and missing all of you and all of this pizza.

speaking of the very talented folks whom i have the joy of employing, ms. rachel anne duffy decided to do that with the berries in our galette the other day, and i thought it rather marvelous. i hope it tickles your eyes the way it does mine.

we're always tweaking how we make the bread, and sometimes things go just right and it goes BOOM in the oven. the other day that happened, and it looked like that. it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

now i am VEEEERY pumped about that guy right there. ya see that is an experiment that i've been wanting to do for a long while, and i'll tell you why. we are making some changes at The Mill, and one of the things we are going to start doing is making more breads with ancient grains, such as einkorn, spelt, and khorasan (same grain as Kamut, with a non-trademarked name). these grains behave differently in the dough than common wheat, and so present some fun and interesting challenges. we took a stab at it the other day, and this little beauty is what came of it. it's a blend of einkorn, spelt and khorasan, with a weeeee bit of rye from the starter culture. all of the flour is whole grain, milled moments before being mixed into the dough. there's no common wheat in it, nor is there any store bought yeast. we're gonna start making it regularly soon, and we're not quite sure what we are going to call it... got any good ideas?

my brother came over last night, and i know how much he likes it when i make him snacks, so i made him this. it's our stone ground griddle cake, with some cutesy little strips of bacon, rosemary, maple syrup and szechuan peppercorn. i'm a bit outside of my comfort zone making stuff like this, but what the hell, ya gotta do that kinda stuff sometimes, yeah?

ok that is all peace out sweethearts hope to see some of ya on the east coast

<3 j

the universe has a way

hidy ho my adorable little dudes well, since we last spoke i've gone and got hitched, and i'm feeling pretty great about that. check out me and my sweet sweet lady Cathy at City Hall, moments before we officially became husband and wife:

and then we spent 3 days on a river in the Sierra Foothills with 100 of our closest friends and good god, that was about as good as it gets. lots of this kinda stuff:

followed by this kinda stuff:

and then a whooole lotta this kinda stuff:

(above 3 pics courtesy of the handsome + talented Dylan Chandler)

yup, very very happy about it indeed, being married is the raddest.

on another note, goodness me, it's been so so lovely to hear from all of y'all about how you're digging on the book!! thanks times a zillion for all of your sweet sweet e-love letters, they make me blush, every single one of them. i've even been getting some good ol' fashioned letters of the handwritten variety as well, and that makes me smile reeeal big, so if you're feelin like breakin out the ol feather pen, please do and send it to me at The Mill, 736 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117. i may even write ya one back w my new watercolor set, which i am actively looking for excuses to uses [sic].

ok ok, i wanna tell you a story, so quit yappin and just listen up - i was up in Portland, Oregon a few weeks back, absolutely loooooving it, when i got a text from my sweet lady Cathy, "what's the license plate number of your truck?" my stomach immediately sunk - somehow i knew that somebody stole my truck. a bunch of texts back and forth and a few phonecalls later and it was confirmed - some total a-hole had stolen my truck. i was flying back to SF that day anyway, so we went straight to the police station, filed that report, and then i prayed to the almighty god that i don't even believe in that my dear truck would find its way back to me.

minutes, hours, days went by...........

then this happened:

yup, some friggin jerk had gone and tossed a couple wine bottles through our skylights at The Mill. i wondered - was i doing something wrong? was the Universe trying to show me something? was it the toast??? WHY O WHY WHAT DID I DO??!?!?

but then i got a call, and an hour later i was going like this:

THE POLICE FOUND MY TRUCK YAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!! and yes, i felt as awesomely crazy as i appear in this photo, if any of you have had a car stolen and then returned, you understand what i'm talkin about. and the thieves had been pretty sweet, as far as thieves go - the truck was totally fine, with stereo in place and trailmix still in the glovebox.

so now i am feeling okay again - i got a sweet truck, a sweet wife, a sweet bakery, a sweet life.

what else is up? i've been surfing a good bit, sometimes if i am lucky with the likes of this fellow:

and we've got some changes afoot in the bakery!! basically we are gonna pull back our pastry program so that we can make a little bit more bread. what kinda bread, you ask? TOP SECRET. jk sweetheart, we are considering all sorts of stuff, but currently these are the winners:

• baguettes. these will be baguettes of the sort you've never seen. why? because we are gonna make them completely out of ancient grain. yeah that's right - ancient baguettes. get ready San Francisco, we're gonna hit you right where it counts.
• ancient wonder bread. remember when you were a kid and your mom used to make you sandwiches on that delicious sliced multi grain bread??? we're gonna make that. but we're not going to slice it for you, don't be silly. and it's not gonna be made to last for weeks on a supermarket shelf either, even though this aging process lent a certain charm, for sure. ours will probably be a blend of khorasan and einkorn and who knows what else, stay tuned. i've known for years that i needed to make bread with einkorn, and we've been experimenting in the bakery, and we can't even believe how delicious it tastes. it's hard to work with, but we're gonna try our best to figure it out. what's einkorn? oh, it's only like the oldest frikkin variety of wheat on the planet earth, no big deal. BIG DEAL. read more here.
• more adventure bread, more rye bread. people been freeeakin on the adventure bread, and we have been struggling to keep up. rest assured, we are going to start making more of it so that you don't have to be here first thing in the morning to get your adventure bread fix. what's adventure bread? check this out. whoops, not that, this. (it's our gluten-free bread) also, we can't make enough rye bread right now, but we will soon!!
• yummy pastries from a baker buddy. we will still make some of our yummy sweets, such as our cookies and granola, but for the most part we are gonna hand over the pastry reigns to a very talented baker buddy of ours. stay tuned, you'll know when it happens.

and OH MAN, if you're free this Friday ya gotta come to Penrose + party with us!!!

no reservations, just come on in and eat some delicious dinner and drink some delicious drink and leave with a signed copy of my book.

speaking of book release parties - i'm headed to the northeast in just a couple weeks - so if you're in New York or Amherst, MA or Vermont, or LA, i better see you at one of these:

• June 12: Brooklyn, NY
  • Marlow & Sons, dinner
• June 18: Amherst, MA
  • Amherst Books, 4-6pm
• June 20: Morrisville, VT (my home town!!!)
  • Bee's Knees, 4-6pm
• Aug 1: Culver City, CA
  • New School of Cooking, 7-8:30pm
• Aug 2: Los Angeles, CA
  • Book Soup, 4pm

ok that is all i loves yous

<3 josey

the parties rage on in East + West: Nopa on 5/26 - Penrose on 6/6

what up my sweet + beautiful friends!!

great news - we got a couple more book release parties coming up in the next few weeks - one in San Francisco, one in Oakland. these are gonna be a freakin blast, can't wait to hang with all y'all. i mean, who doesn't like to eat delicious food and drink delicious drink and just generally celebrate life and be merry... and end the night with a hot off the presses copy of my new cookbook in your hands?!?!?

i'll tell you who doesn't like to do that: a-holes. and ya know what - NO A HOLES ALLOWED at these parties.

Nopa - Monday 5/26, 5-6pm - happy hour w/ *free* savory toast bites

one of my favorite places to eat in SF, hell, one of many, many people's favorite places to eat in SF, is Nopa. if you've been here then you know exactly what i mean. and if you haven't been here, now's your chance. they started using our bread on the daily a couple months after we opened, and i am so so so happy about it. they're going to be whipping up some special savory toast bites that we'll be serving *on the house,* so come through and have a munch, get yourself a cocktail, buy a book for your dad, and celebrate Memorial Day in style.

and if SF is not your side of the bay, don't you worry your pretty little self, i got you covered -

Penrose - Friday 6/6, all night long - a whole menu of dishes made with JBB bread + our whole grain flours

have you been to Penrose??? holy moly, you're going to freak out. Mr. Charlie Hallowell + team have outdone themselves, goodness gracious. i met Charlie back in the fall of 2010, just a few months after i started baking, and we really hit it off... within a week we were having sleepovers, prancing about in our (matching) undies and baking bread together early in the morning out of his wood fired oven at Pizzaiolo. and look at us now - he just opened his third ridiculously delicious restaurant, and i'm blabbing about this book i just wrote. supremely stoked about this evening, it's sure to be very fun and very delicious.

please note - while it's great if you wanna come to these to a buy a book, you are also more than welcome to just come and party with us, and leave book-free. we just like having fun, and we want you to do it with us. (and by 'it' i mean 'have fun,' you little perv.) 

catch ya soon lovelies

<3 j

dear portland, have breakfast w me tmrw...?

tomorrow, Saturday May 3 @ 11AM at The Cleaners at Ace Hotel

let me buy you breakfast - free JBB granola + biscotti + coffee

i'll show some embarassing photos + blab about my book + then maybe you will buy one for yourself + your mom

me: goodness gracious, i'm kinda overwhelmed.

portland: oh really? i couldn't tell... what's up?

me: i mean, i know that we just met, that this is our first date, but it's just, you're so... i don't know... you're so... sweet.

portland: oh stop it, you're rad too. and come on, i'm not perfect you know.

me: i'm sure, nowhere is, but everything i've seen so far has just been so... nice.

portland: well that's sweet of you... you're pretty nice yourself.

me: all of your streets are so serene, and you've got that wonderful river right in the middle, and the food, and the coffee, and the cocktails, and all the pretty people...

portland: well, you do have a point, i've got very good versions of all of those things.

me: i just rode my bike all over you today, and at every frikkin turn i was met with such rad stuff. i mean, you even inspired me to buy new shoes!

portland: well aren't those cute!!

me: anyway, i have something i've been wanting to ask you...

portland: and what's that?

me: ummmm, well, i was thinking that maybe we could, i don't know, ya know, ummmm...

portland: yes......?

me: oh no, i can't ask, now i'm embarassed.

portland: oh come on! don't be a weenie, just ask me! would it help if i told you that i had a really nice day with you, and that i think that you're a very cute young man...?

me: <blushes> ...wanna have breakfast together?

portland: ...i thought you'd never ask.

hope to see some of you sweet portland folk tomorrow morning.

<3 j

hittin the road - Seattle + Portland here i come!

come out + say yo

• Wednesday, 4/30, 6:30pm - Book Larder, Seattle

• Thursday, 5/1, 7pm - Powell's Books Beaverton

• Saturday, 5/3, 11am - The Ace Hotel/The Cleaners, Portland

• Sunday, 5/4, 3pm - Omnivore Books, San Francisco

yo dogs

so so so very stoked to hit the road and share the loaves... still can't really believe it, but that's not gonna stop me.

next Tuesday i am flying up to Seattle to hang with the dudes who make photos like this:

and this:

crazy right? they're full of magic tricks. stay tuned.

after that i'm supremely stoked to say that i'll head up to The Bread Lab up at Washington State University to hang with Mr. Stephen Jones & crew and geek out about grains and baking and what have you. then an evening at Book Larder. see you there?

then a hop skip & jump down to Portland, a place i've only been to once, but am hearing from everyone how much i am going to love. will prob spend most of my time doing this:

very stoked to spend a few days here, will start out at Powell's Books Beaverton Thursday eve, and end up at The Ace Hotel for a Saturday morning presentation & book signing. i'm gonna bring some granola from the bakery, so swing through and have breakfast with me.

ok - i've gotta ride my bike to the Presidio Branch of the SF Public Library right now, have an event to do! hope to catch ya at one of these events sweethearts.

<3 j

tomorrow night (4/22) dinner @ State Bird Provisions

the stars align this Tuesday night my friends!! for one night only these two beautiful and supremely talented folks are hosting a book release + bake sale complete with a whole bunch of special dishes that they've dreamt up using our bread and stone ground whole grains: say hello to Nicole & Stuart, the totally badass couple behind State Bird Provisions.

tomorrow night they've done away with reservations and will fill our mouths and bellies with some of the most incredible food this fine world's ever known. just spoke with Stuart, they'll be cooking up some JBB griddle cakes, State Bird style... I CANNOT WAIT.

i'll be there all night long with a pile of my books, fresh baked bread, and a whole bunch of stone ground whole grains for you to take home. come hungry, leave happy.

hope to see ya there sweetie pies

<3 josey

in a week...

party starts at 6pm at The Mill my dogs, hope to see ya. and don't forget we got pizza tonight too! tonight's pie: garlicky kale.

<3 josey

book parties across the country + pizza party on

holy crap, so much to share! so much to get stoked about! so many backflips to do! don't worry, i know you're squeezing in reading this while your boss is "in a meeting" and you're supposed to be "compiling that data," so i will keep it brief -

1. i'm hitting the road to pump up my book
2. pizza parties are on full steam ahead

alright, first things first, let's tackle #1, which i still am having a hard time believing -

my book is coming out in less than 2 weeks. will someone please pinch me.

you: hah, sure i'll pinch you, i've been wanting to do that for a while now... <p*i*n*c*h>

me: OWE STOP THAT.

we'll be celebrating the release in many ways, most notably with a totally rad evening in collaboration with State Bird Provisions.

you: but baker boy, i don't live in SF and i wanna hang out and get a book and what have you and what not, what the heck am i supposed to do???

me: i got your back, i'm headed out on the road to spread the good word:

• April 29, 30: Seattle
  • Book Larder, 4/30  6:30pm
• May 1-3: Portland/Beaverton
  • Powell's Books in Beaverton, 5/1  7pm
  • The Ace Hotel/The Cleaners, 5/3  11am-1pm
• June 12: New York
  • Marlow & Sons, dinner
• June 17: Boston
• June 19: Vermont
• sometime soon: LA

mark your calendars, details to come.

as for all you Bay Area peeps, here's a bunch of events we got planned:

• 4/14: The Mill, 6-9pm
• 4/22: State Bird Provisions, 5:30-10pm, walk in only, no reservations!
• 4/24: SF Public Library, Main Branch, 6pm
• 4/26: SF Public Library, Presidio Branch, 2pm
• 5/4: Omnivore Books, 3pm
• 5/29: Nopa, 5-6pm happy hour party
• 6/6: Penrose, 5:30-11pm
• 6/8: SF Cooking School, 11am-1pm

and for #2 -

many folks have said this -

you: hey, these Monday Night Pizza parties are supremely rad, i'm bummed that they're only for the month of March... 

me: be bummed no more my friends, Monday Night Pizza is continuing on forever!!!

yup, now you know where to find us on Monday night in perpetuity, scarfing slices of pizza and doing silly dances. we are working on an online pre-order system so that you can place your order beforehand and just come pick up your pie, hold tight.

and to tie everything together, check this out - we'll be having a book launch party at The Mill in 2 weeks, on Monday April 14, where you can buy a copy of the book, eat as much pizza as your heart desires, and toast life. then you can do stuff like this whenever you want:

and yes, that is a bread bra. Colleen is a badass.

check ya soon sweeties

<3 j

a book release + bake sale

i seriously cannot believe what i'm about to tell you, so please, slap me if i start to faint...

a book release & bake sale

brought to you by josey baker bread & state bird provisions

i’m teaming up with the folks from State Bird Provisions for a very special one-night-only event –Tuesday, April 22 - in which we celebrate the release of my cookbook, Josey Baker Bread (sneak peak below!!!). i've been working on this book for the last 2 1/2 years, and i could not be more pumped to release it out into the world. it's a beginner's bread baking cookbook, the book that i wish i had when i first fell in love with baking just a few years ago.

and don't you worry, it's got plenty of recipes and techniques for you experienced bakers as well.

as for this very special evening, i know what y’all are thinking, “but State Bird takes reservations 60 days in advance, and they always fill up immediately… why are you even telling me about this if i can’t even go???” don’t worry dudes, we got your back – there will be no reservations on this night, it’s walk-in only. 

Stuart & Nicole and the rest of the State Bird crew are going to be dreaming up some special dishes just for this evening, in which they use stone ground whole grains from The Mill, and of course plenty of our bread (which they use in their menu everyday). and that's not it - we'll have plenty of loaves of bread for sale as well, so you can fill yourself up with delicious dinner, take home a loaf for tomorrow's toast, and get to work on your baking from then on out.

sound like a good time?

you can bet your ass that i’ll be there, selling and signing copies of the book, with a pile of bread loaves for sale, eating more than I should, expressing extreme gratitude for what a wonder-full world it is.

that is all, hope to see you there.

<3 j

**josey baker bread book sneak peak**

so many folks have been writing to me saying something along the lines of this -

you: hey baker!!! yes you! gimme a copy of your book, i wanna get it before it's out and take a good hard look and maybe even review it.

me: ummm, i'm not sure i can do that, the book's not out yet, i can't just go around giving everyone a copy who asks for one, ya know? but i've got an idea - just order the book now, and it'll get to you as soon as possible!

you: but i want it NOW!! come ooooooooooon i want a sneak peak of that sucker. 

me: hmm, okay, here ya go...

me: hah hah, no way!! but nick & kyle can take a look at it. aren't they so cute? i gave them a copy to look at, and next thing you know they were doing stuff like this.

you: oh come on, don't be such a jerk, i want that book NOW.

me: ya know what my ol' buddy Mick used to always say?? i can't give you what you want, but i will most definitely give you what you need, so long as you are willing to try. sometimes.

how was that for a sneak peak?

wait, what's that? ohhhh, you wanted to see INSIDE the book??!? well, quit lollygaggin' and order your copy!

<3 josey

how to love your loaf

i've been having a lot of folks ask about how to care for their loaves, so here i am to tell you what i like to do to take care of mine.

but lets be clear here my dudes - i'm not the boss of you, nor am i any sort of all knowing bread authority, so please do whatever makes you feel the most special. because you are the most special. and you deserve to feel like it.

and your loaf is also very special, so start off by telling your loaf that it looks good today, that you notice that it's doing something a little different with it's crust, and you think it's sexy. your loaf may not act like it appreciates it, but trust me, it does.

next up - as much as you want to eat our bread when it's still hot from the oven, patience is a virtue and it's best to let it cool. i know, i know, I KNOW, i'm such a party pooper, but hear me out. our breads all have a lot of whole grains in them (most of them are actually ALL whole grain), and whole grain bread is not done baking until it is cool. in fact, rye bread really needs to sit overnight, some people would even say it should sit for a couple of days before it's ready to be devoured by you beautiful people. luckily we bake the rye bread in the evening so that it is ready for the eating in the morning. but just take it easy on the other breads, they're hot outta the oven every morning, and they like to chiiiiiiiill before partying with you.

whatever baker boy, i'ma eat my bread hot, and you can just shut your piehole!! you're not the boss of me!!!

be my guest.

... this bread is a little weird, it's kind of... gooey... WTF??!?!?

told you.

ok, now that you've let your loaf cool down, just eat the whole thing. the end.

no, for real though, once i've let my loaf cool, i like to heat that sucker back up! this way the bread's fully baked, AND it's warm and delicious. i usually do this in a toaster, but you should do yours with a flame thrower or something else just as awesome. short of a flame thrower or toaster, a very wonderful way to eat your slice of bread is to fry it sunny side up style in a skillet with a bunch of butter. very very VERY good.

***as a small aside - we like our breads to be nice and moist on the inside, nice and crunchy on the outside. but for some people, our bread is actually too moist. and to these fine folks i apologize and say that there's plenty of bread in this world that is less moist and perhaps will achieve a higher score on your perfect-bread-moisture scale.

back to how to love your loaf!! once my loaf has cooled and it's eating time, i just cut myself a slice or four and leave my loaf cut side down on my cutting board, slicing away additional slices as needed. by leaving it cut side down, you are protecting the vulnerable insides from getting all dried out, while the crust maintains it's integrity. it should be fine for several days, just like this.

but let's also respect that loaf and it's needs and desires. i mean, sometimes a loaf doesn't want to get sliced, and that is FINE. you should only toast up a slice when it's ready for it. anything else would be disrespectful, and we ain't in to disrespectin' no bread, ya feel me?

some things that i typically DO NOT do with my bread:

• put it in a plastic bag
• put it in the refrigerator
• let it sit on my counter WITHOUT the cut side down
• eat it while still hot from the oven (i do make exceptions for our black pepper parmesan bread, but shhh don't tell anybody)

i have been known to take a loaf and cut it into slices and then wrap the whole thing in plastic and put it in a freezer so that it can be enjoyed one slice at a time over several months. this is what i sometimes do for my parents when i go home to visit them and find myself baking a few loaves that i want them to be able to eat once i've up and gone back to california.

i hope that helps and answers some folks' questions about how to best love their loaves. feel free to chime in below with any more tips you have for your fellow bread lovers out there.

and remember, even if you don't love your loaf, it will always love you.

<3 josey

don't worry, you're invited

ever heard about a party after the fact and thought to yourself, “sheesh, i really wish those jerks had invited me, that sounded like SO MUCH fun, and i really am very bummed that i did not get to attend… maybe they don’t like me as much as i thought they did…” yup, we’ve all felt that way. but check this out - this Saturday February 22 from 6-9pm we are having a big frikkin party at The Mill, and YOU are invited! we’ve teamed up with the rad rad rad folks from Nopa (the restaurant) who are working on a new project – Nopalize – and to celebrate the launch we’re throwing a shindig, complete w some ridiculously delicious sausages from the talented (and gorgeous) Mr. David Golovin. there will be some very delicious drinks for the drinking, and there will even be a debut screening of a film made by the oh so gifted folks over at Werehaus about some jerk who works in the neighborhood. (it’s about me!!) so if’n you’re free please do come by for some dinner, drinks, and movie watching, i’m very excited about all of it.

aaand, in other very good news, i have this to share with you -

this time it’s for real my dudes – starting in March we’re gonna be slangin pizza every Monday night 6-9pm @ The Mill. that’s right, Monday Night Pizza is here.

and don’t you worry, all you folks that wanna just grab that pizza and then eat it at home in front of the entire season 2 of House of Cards (or Monday Night Football/Wrestling/Whatever), we will have both slices ($2.50) and whole pies ($20) to go. we’ll change it up every week, here’s where we’re at for now, since i know y’all like to know what we got going on:

3/3: roasted garlic + chicories

a very special night - art opening for Lana Williams’ very rad art that is currently gracing our big white walls!!!

3/10: peppers + onions

3/17: shrooms + gras (cremini + asparagus)

3/24: spicy broccoli

3/31: leek + potato

that is all my friends, check ya soon i hope.

<3 josey