Category: Bluebird Community

On a foggy day last February after skiing the Echo Ridge Loppett, my kids and I stopped at the Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery (LCAB) to fuel ourselves up for the drive home. My friend, the owner and chief baker of LCAB, Lindsay Evans, was not at the bakery that day and I didn’t know the employee on duty. As we selected pastries, the employee began–entirely unprompted–singing the praises of the flours and whole grains used by LCAB. “It’s a small family farm up in the Methow Valley,” he told me. “They’re organic, which is enough reason to use their products, but the main reason is that their flours and grains actually taste so good! They’re just so delicious.”

I listened and smiled, and reminded myself to later tell Lindsay about the excellent service and salesmanship of the employee and to tell Brooke and Sam Lucy of Bluebird Grain Farms about this unsolicited endorsement. The employee had no way of knowing that I wrote for Bluebird; nor did he know that I’m a friend of Lindsay. He was simply an employee proud of the quality of products he was selling and eager to share ingredient sourcing information.

The thing is, the employee was spot-on with his endorsement of Bluebird’s freshly-milled organic flours and whole grain emmer farro and einka berries; they really do taste great. That’s why Lindsay uses Bluebird’s products to make LCAB’s daily supply of buttermilk wheat sandwich bread, whole wheat sourdough loaves, multi-grain breads, and farro salads. “I love to use as many local ingredients as possible at the bakery and when I knew I was opening my own bakery I was very excited to use Bluebird products,” says Lindsay. “Not only are Sam and Brooke my Methow Valley neighbors and friends, they product some of the most nutritious and delicious whole grain products available anywhere.”

Lindsay emphasizes the importance of quality, freshness, and nutrition in baking. “Bluebird products are superstars on all fronts,” she says, citing LCAB’s use of Bluebird’s hard red wheat flour and dark northern rye flour. She also uses the whole Einka Farro in her fresh grain and vegetable salads.

Bluebird is just the tip of Lindsay’s efforts to source local ingredients. Local and regional growers and farmers provide her with seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables. Her own parents’ home garden in Chelan sends fresh herbs, kale, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, raspberries, and other produce straight into the bakery. Blueberries for pies and pastries come from Blueberry Hills Farms in Manson, and she serves coffee and espresso from Blue Star Coffee Roasters in Twisp. “The fact that my business gets to help support my friends’ businesses is amazing,” says Lindsay, who sees the economic impact that buying locally and regionally has on her hometown, as well as on the community where she lives in the Methow Valley. “Buying local is important to me to support my local economy and reduce excess shipping energy.”

Lindsay enjoys baking seasonal delicacies year-round, but it’s hard to compete with the bounty of summer. “My favorite things to make at the bakery are things that feature fresh, locally-grown, in-season fruit,” Lindsay says. “This includes our fruit Danish [nectarines, peaches, or raspberries], fruit pies [cherry and strawberry-rhubarb are particular favorites], and our cherry almond tart.”

Since she opened the bakery, Lindsay has balanced the menu with familiar items and new offerings. The response has been positive. “I have received tremendous positive feedback about our salads that feature Bluebird’s whole einka farro,” she says. “Einka was a very new thing to our customers but once the salads caught on we heard many customers express their love for the chewy heartiness of the grain, especially paired with crunchy veggies and our homemade dressings.” Apparently farmer Sam recently suggested to Lindsay that she try the einka in her homemade soups, so stay tuned on variations on old favorites when winter comes.


Lindsay grew up in Chelan and understands the important role a small bakery plays in community life. Quiches and sandwiches nourish the body, while time spent lingering with friends and family over a cup of coffee nourishes the soul. Lindsay calls the bakery “a casual and inviting space to gather with friends,” but it’s more than that. First, it’s a business that was a team effort from the start, with Lindsay’s family, her staff, and even local community members pitching in to help launch the bakery and make it a success. “I’m so proud of my staff and so thankful to the local community and my family for helping me every step of the way,” says Lindsay.

The bakery is also a place where Lindsay’s love of baking is evident in every product in the cases. Lindsay says, “I’ve always loved to bake for my family and baking for my community members is an extension of that.  I get satisfaction knowing that my treats are part of an enjoyable experience for locals and visitors alike.”

For more information about Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery, visit their website or stop by the bakery, located at 246 West Manson Hwy, along the Chelan-Manson highway in Chelan Plaza, between Safeway and the Lakeview Drive-In.

Fewer work days start earlier than those of a baker, and the bakers at Winthrop’s Rocking Horse Bakery are no exception. In order to stack the cases with yeasted loaves like the Stehekin Seeded bread or the Sawtooth Sourdough, those working the ovens need to begin by dawn. By the time the bakery doors open at 7am, the air is rich with the scent of the breads, pastries, bagels, pizza, and other savory items that will soon be devoured by Methow Valley residents and visitors. Coffee is brewed, the counters gleam, and the Rocking Horse Bakery is ready for another day serving as a hub for sustenance, summits, and socializing.

Rocking Horse Bakery was already a popular downtown institution when Steve and Teresa Mitchell bought it in 2010. At the time, the Mitchells were living in Vermont, but were exploring options for moving back west. When the Rocking Horse Bakery went up for sale, the Mitchells knew it was a good fit. Both had spent time in the Methow Valley throughout the 1980s-1990s and loved the outdoor recreation possibilities in the valley. The bakery was already viable and had good growth potential. Equally compelling were the demographic makeup of the valley and the opportunity for the Mitchells’ children, Kavi and Neela, to attend the Methow Valley Community School.

The Mitchells’ yin/yang skill set enabled them to hit the ground running when they took over the bakery. “We just dived right in,” says Teresa. Although Teresa’s background is in education, she was no stranger to the culinary world, and even owned a small business selling her own spice blends. In contrast, Steve has experience at every level of business, from manufacturing to retail sales. Their diverse but complementary backgrounds led them to the division of responsibility they currently enjoy at the bakery. Teresa manages the ordering, the baking, the books, the menu creation, and human resources, while Steve takes care of the front of the house, the equipment, and the building infrastructure.

In the seven years since the Mitchells bought Rocking Horse Bakery, they’ve intuited which aspects of the bakery’s former life were important to retain, and which could be enhanced. One of the key relics from the previous owners is the sourdough starter, now 17 years old; it’s a component of many of Rocking Horse’s products. Another holdover is the use of Bluebird Grain Farms products. The bakery’s previous owners had used Bluebird’s freshly milled flours in several of their breads, and at the time Bluebird was the only locally-sourced ingredient in the bakery. Teresa preserved that tradition and has worked to incorporate Bluebird products into many of the bakery’s other mainstay menu items: pizza crust, bagels, and breads. “It has improved the quality of our products significantly,” says Teresa.

Bluebird products are also retailed in the bakery, along with 20 other local vendors. “Bluebird was our first,” says Teresa, “and it remains at the heart of our resale business.”

Teresa addresses the decision to fully commit to using Bluebird and other locally-sourced products. “It reflects our personal values,” she says, “using resources that are close by.” Teresa also recognizes that the local clientele–who sustain the bakery even when 2 out of 3 roads into the valley are closed–values local ingredients. “A lot of our menu development is specifically for the locals,” says Teresa, noting the adventuresome eating habits of local customers. “They’re very food savvy.”

Noticing what locals like has led to further development of the bakery’s savory menu. A number of the bakery’s savory recipes use Teresa’s custom spice blends, and she’s always looking for new ways to make the bakery’s popular soups and sandwiches. She has also developed new recipes around Bluebird’s whole grains, such as the bakery’s emmer biryani, a South Asian-inspired grain dish using Bluebird’s whole emmer-farro instead of the traditional rice.

Although Teresa is the chief baker in the family, Steve’s influence on the menu is apparent in the whoopie pies, whose origins, like Steve’s, are in New England. “We even import the fluff filling from New England,” Teresa says.

Longtime visitors to the Methow Valley may recall Rocking Horse Bakery in its former location, one door north of its current venue. “We used to look through the window of the current space when it was a real estate office,” says Teresa, “and covet it.” Serendipitously, that space became available in 2013 and the Mitchells built it out and moved in. “We only closed for 2 days for that move,” says Teresa.

With its high ceilings and fun, funky decor, the “new” bakery space is not just a place to fill your stomach, but it’s also the site of countless meetings, planning sessions, impromtu reunions, board recruitment functions, and even job interviews. On slower days, some locals are known to park themselves at the bakery and work remotely all day. “We love all the different ways our customers use the bakery,” says Teresa (although secretly I wonder what she thinks of the occasional visitors who plant themselves at a table and stream movies for hours, taking up bakery bandwith). It’s a comfortable space, with great light and good acoustics; it’s no wonder Rocking Horse is one of the valley’s preferred gathering spots.

The bakery has been somewhat of a family venture over the years, with the Mitchell’s oldest, Kavi, working at the bakery counter since he was 14 and his younger sister, Neela, helping with big events and some of the artistic aesthetic of the space. Still, despite the year-round demands of the bakery, the Mitchells get out on fantastic trips with their kids. “We prioritize travel,” says Teresa. “Our kids [both adopted from India] are products of the world, and we want to expose them to the great wide world and different ways of living.” Teresa expresses gratitude that through international travel, her kids have cultivated a passion for art and culture.

Along with travel, the Mitchells somehow carve out time for other passions, such as Steve’s photography business, Mitchell Image.  Kavi graduated from high school in early June, so they’re taking him to start college in Colorado in the fall. Oh, and their head baker is on leave. “It’s crazy times,” says Teresa. “Luckily we both have good endurance.”


Visit the Rocking Horse Bakery next time you’re in Winthrop, at 265 Riverside Ave.

 

When I call Bob Bird and introduce myself he commands me to “Say it like an Italian!” Startled, I introduce myself again, this time with the proper accents and flourish, “Mi chiamo Ashley Lo-DAH-to!” My name is Ashley Lodato. Then he starts rattling away to me in rapid-fire Italian. All I can do is repeat myself, “Ho dimenticato quasi tutto,” I have forgotten almost everything.”

I may have lost most of my Italian, but Bob Bird most certainly has not. The product of a wartime romance between his Italian mother and his Wisconsin father in the 1940s, Bob Bird remains decidedly connected to his Italian heritage. Which seems a bit unusual, when you consider the fact that he was raised in the Midwest and has resided in southern Alaska for decades; neither place is exactly a hotbed of Mediterranean culture. But most of Bird’s family back in Italy never learned English, he says, “So if I wanted to talk to my saintly beautiful grandmother I had to learn Italian.”

The Italian language was not the only gift Bird’s grandmother gave him; she also imparted to him a love of baking bread. “My grandmother made bread every day,” says Bird. “It was white bread, Tuscan style. I wanted to do that.” Tuscan bread is unique, and often requires a knowing palate to be fully appreciated. It’s dense and unsalted, and is typically used to accompany the main meal as a vehicle for mopping up sauces. The bread has little flavor of its own, instead absorbing the flavors of whatever food it complements. (When it’s fresh from the oven, however, Bird’s wife, Rosemary, comments that it’s “as good as dessert!”).

Bird had been baking Tuscan bread for years, along with homemade pasta and gnocchi (dumplings), when he had a stroke and was told to give up grains from his diet. “My health advisor [Rolfer Mark Hutton] told me that I had to scratch some things permanently from my diet–grains, potatoes, rice–I told him ‘You can’t possibly tell me that bread is off the list!'” That is indeed what Hutton was advising, however. But he threw Bird a lifeline, telling him, “When I really want to make pancakes or waffles, I get grains from this place that does not have the growth hormones and other additives they’re putting in grains these days.” And that was Bob Bird’s introduction to Bluebird Grain Farms.

Bird placed an order immediately and a few days later made a batch of bread with Bluebird grains–the first of the hundreds of loaves he has made since. “I like to bake six loaves at a time,” he says. “I make small loaves and freeze them, so they don’t get moldy.” The neighbors, it seems, can’t get enough of Bird’s twice-risen bread, so Bird supplies not only his own household but also those around him who are clever enough to just happen to drop by on baking day.

Despite a military background, Bird doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to stick rigidly to routine, and his Tuscan bread reflects this free spirit. “I put salt in my Tuscan bread,” he says unapologetically.” Poppy seeds and sesame seeds on occasion, as well. He also experiments with different blends of flour. “I get the best compliments when I use the Red Wheat and the Emmer for the flavors,” he says, “but I also love the Pasayten Hard White.” Bird also uses Bluebird’s farro pasta flour to make gnocchi (with white sauce and shrimp) and acknowledges that he sees the value of using Bluebird’s pancake and waffle mix, but prefers making his own from scratch using that beloved Pasayten Hard White.

Pizza, too, is a staple in the Bird household. “I’m constantly improving my technique,” says Bird, referring to the process of letting his crust (that Pasayten Hard White flour again!) age in the refrigerator for 2 days without rising before pre-baking the crust at 500 degrees (“I wish my oven went above 500!” he laments), adding toppings and pesto, and returning it to the oven for 5 more minutes. “I take college kids in the Alaska League Baseball program into my house every summer,” says Bird, “and they love this pizza.”

If you’re thinking that all this time for baking means that Bird is a retiree, think again. True, he is retired from 40 years of teaching public school. But he still teaches at Kenai Peninsula College as an adjunct faculty member, instructs a local homeschool program, coaches youth hockey, hosts a radio program with KSRM, and, if internet photos are any indication, enjoys hunting and fishing trips. (“I have a cornucopia of activities,” says Bird.) Oh, and he also ran twice for the US Senate, in 1990 and 2008. “I don’t flinch from being in the hot seat,” Bird says.

It was while he was on a radio talk show discussing political issues that Bird was offered his own program. “After one of my political appearances they said to me, ‘We’d like you to create your own show.'” A homeschool student came up with the name–The Bird’s Eye View–and Bird comes up with the content. Characteristically, he does not limit himself to one genre. “I talk about politics, art, religion, and all things Alaska–plane crashes, bear attacks,” says Bird. The Bird’s Eye View, which has a listening audience of 50,000 airs from 3-5pm Alaska Time, Monday through Friday.

In February 2017, Bird interviewed farmer Sam Lucy on The Bird’s Eye View and shared with Sam his own health successes with Bluebird’s grains, despite advice to quit bread. In March, Bird says, another listener called in saying, “I heard your show about that grain farm and ordered some.” The caller was very appreciative, notes Bird.

It’s conversations like these that intrigue Bird, for they help him forge connections with listeners from around the state and across the country, and which help determine his path forward with The Bird’s Eye View. ”

I’m still learning,” Bird says, “but it’s a lot of fun.”

Bremerton is abuzz about Saboteur Bakery, as evidenced by social media posts singing the praises of Saboteur’s brioche sucré, swooning over its ham and cheese croissants, and driving two hours to procure some of its panettone. “I can’t believe it,” says owner and baker Matt Tinder. “People are driving from Bellingham to buy scones.”

Saboteur may be a relative newcomer to the Bremerton area, but its products have taken root in the community’s palate. No matter what sweet or savory bundles of baked goodness Tinder puts on the display shelves, supply at both Saboteur locations is reduced to crumbs by closing time at 1pm, sometimes earlier.

So what’s Saboteur’s secret? Nothing, says Tinder, who has been known to share his recipes. “I just want to make food that people want to eat.”

Tinder was raised in Hawaii and developed a palate for fresh and natural foods. “It wasn’t deliberate, we weren’t strict,” he says, “but there was a lot of tropical fruit, an avocado tree in the back yard. It’s just how we ate.” Although he grew up eating carob instead of chocolate and dried fruit instead of candy, Tinder’s approach now is balanced. “I like really good ingredients,” he says. “And I want foods that are supposed to be treats–that are supposed to be a bit sinful–to taste great and be well-made.”

It’s this acceptance of the appropriateness of “sin” in food that makes Saboteur’s cafes such welcoming places. “I don’t preach about ingredients,” Tinder says. “I present the food the way I believe it should be presented, and then we treat people with respect and let them make their own decisions.”

Self-taught through jobs ranging from burger joints on Kauai to Michelin-starred restaurants in northern California, Tinder moved to Bremerton to start a bakery business with his fiancé, Kate Guiggio. Two years later, Saboteur operates in two locations: a full bake shop in Manette and a retail location downtown.

Tinder does all the baking himself. “I like working alone,” he says. For some, a baker’s punishingly early hours are a necessary evil of the job; for Tinder, they’re one of the benefits. “It’s quiet,” he says, “I like the focus.” This preference for professional independence supports the online reputation that Tinder is developing as a “restless perfectionist.” He laughs when I tell him about it. “If you do anything for a living that’s redundant, you’re inevitably going to end up with some things you’re not happy about,” he says. “What I like is being able to go back into the bakery again the next morning and do it all again, and make it better.”

There is redundancy in baking, certainly, when one has customers lined up outside the bakery door at opening time, all seeking a twice-baked almond croissant. Tinder must bake a lot of croissants, dozens of bagels, and mountains of bostock. But Tinder also thrives on doing what few others do, so he has verged into meat pies, and is quietly becoming one of an elite cadre of artisan panettone bakers in the world (read more about panettone–considered “the Everest of pastry”–here). “If it isn’t widely available,” Tinder says of infrequently-baked pastries, “I want to make it.”

Tinder learned of Bluebird Grain Farms when he was working at Coi and The Restaurant at Meadowood in northern California, but it wasn’t until he moved up to Washington that he was able to test it. “When I moved to Washington I got every local flour I could get my hands on,” he says. “I wanted the best performing flours. I wasn’t going to use a local flour just because it was local–it also had to be great. Out of all the stuff I tested, I liked Bluebird the most.”

Saboteur offers whole grain breads using Bluebird’s emmer, Einka, and rye flours. “I like to offer whole wheat as whole,” Tinder says, “I don’t cut it with white flour.” He continues, referring to the cost of some of his loaves, which can run as high as $10 or $11. “If I’m buying the best ingredients,” Tinder says, “I have to charge what I charge. And if customers care about what they’re putting in their body, they’re going to realize why the cost is higher than they’re used to.”

Owning and operating his own bakery, as well as being the sole baker, does not come without challenges. But Tinder faces them philosophically. “The more organized I get, the more product I can make,” he says. “The demand for Saboteur to grow is there, but I don’t want to grow too fast. It takes time to put all the pieces together.” Pieces such as connecting with farmers and identifying sources for his products, developing new products, and–his most recent project–getting Saboteur’s sandwich program off the ground.

Some of the time to figure out new programs and next moves comes during the biannual bakery closures–once in the summer and once in the winter. They travel a bit, visit old friends in California, and then head back to Bremerton to work. “I do a lot of brainstorming in my head and on paper,” Tinder says. “Saboteur is a small business and I can’t afford to just buy a bunch of expensive ingredients and experiment. But I do pretty well with the preliminary stages happening on paper.”

Once the bakery has been closed for a while, it takes a few days to get it up and running again, says Tinder; he has to order in fresh supplies and get his leavening active again. Customers have usually been forewarned to stock up in anticipation of a bakery closure, but for many customers Tinder’s brief breaks represent a time of simply enduring until the next fix of fresh currant scone or almond torte. And then Saboteur’s doors open again and Tinder goes back to the business of doing the same thing over and over, making it better and better each time.

Learn more about Saboteur Bakery on Facebook or by visiting their website.

by Bluebird Grain Farms writer Ashley Lodato

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to visit Reykjavík, Iceland, Sandholt Bakery is the answer. It might seem like a long way to travel for a crusty sourdough loaf or a flaky Danish, but add in the bakery’s nearly 100-year history and you’ve got an educational opportunity on your hands.

The recipes may have changed since the original Sandholt Bakery opened its doors in 1920, but the philosophy remains the same: use the best ingredients and avoid taking shortcuts in order to produce the best-quality breads and pastries for Sandholt customers. These principles have guided four generations of master bakers at Sandholt, as they seek to straddle the line between innovation and tradition.

Iceland has a long and complicated history with grain productions. When the Vikings settled in Iceland in the middle of the 9th Century, a warm period allowed them to harvest rye, barley, and wheat, which were staples of their diet for nearly 500 years. But a cold spell set in during the 14th century and for another 500 years grain farming was not viable and grain consumption was minimal. During the modern era, says Sandholt apprentice baker Aðalheiður Reynisdottir, people in Iceland became accustomed to eating processed flours in bag mixes. Perfectly serviceable, certainly, but lacking both the nutrition and the taste of the freshly-milled flours that Sandholt Bakery uses. This commitment to whole grains and ancient varieties is what has set Sandholt Bakery apart from other, more conventional, bakeries for almost a century. Says Reynisdottir, “We put a lot of effort and thought into our products and I believe the customer can see and appreciate that.”

Sourcing flour in Iceland is, as you might imagine, difficult. Many suppliers are simply unwilling to ship to the country. In Bluebird Grain Farms, however, Sandholt Bakery found not only a willing supplier, but also one who shares Sandholt’s passion for grains that are as packed with nutrition as possible. Bluebird was willing to ship ancient grain flours, yes, says Reynisdottir, but “what interested us even more about Bluebird Grain Mills is the flour is stoneground meaning the flour from the mill is more nutritious.”

Sandholt Bakery features several sourdough breads daily, including einkorn and emmer loaves using Bluebird flours. “We couldn’t be happier,” says Reynisdottir of the flours. “The flour makes the bread rise brilliantly and we have also been experimenting with Einka natural yeast and the results are fascinating. It ferments quicker than yeast from white flour, making it ideal to use.”

Sandholt is on a bit of a mission, according to Reynisdottir, as Icelandic customers are “realizing that bread isn’t just bread.” As more nutritious (and infinitely more delicious) products are appearing in Icelandic bakeries, says Reynisdottir, Icelandic customers are “opening their minds to new and healthier options that for so long have been unavailable in Iceland.” Breads made from as kamut, quinoa, barley, spelt, and bulgar, as well as einkorn and emmer, are mainstays on the Sandholt menu, and are cultivating the Icelandic palate. “This makes me as a baker very happy because that means all our work bringing in new flour is paying off,” says Reynisdottir.

In the future, global climate change may well prove a boon to the grains market in Iceland. Temperatures in Iceland have been steadily rising, allowing farmers to begin growing grains again in earnest for the first time since Viking days. Since the mid 1990s, grain production in Iceland has increased 1000% and the government has begun to offer support to grain farmers. For now, however, Sandholt relies on imported grains.

Sandholt’s current master baker,  Ásgeir Sandholt, holds degrees in art and graphic design, and his artistry is evident in the aesthetics of Sandholt’s breads, pastries, and confections.  While for showy chefs the physical presentation of delicacies seems to take precedence over taste and quality, an impressive list of accolades and awards is testament to the fact that Ásgeir Sandholt remains committed to quality artisanal products. Under Ásgeir’s direction, the bakery staff seek inspiration from old traditional recipes but constantly experiment to find new ways to surprise and delight customers. They enjoy “treading new paths in bakery and food culture,” and this means working with a wide range of “raw, honest materials” to create the tastiest offerings baked offerings possible.

Perhaps due to the scarcity of flour for so many generations in Iceland, baked goods don’t feature as prominently on the holiday menu as they do in North American and European households. Still, Christmas cookies like gingerbread and syrup cookies are popular around the holidays, as are a signature cookie called Lakkrístoppar: a type of meringue cookie filled with licorice and chocolate–a unique Icelandic combination, says Reynisdottir. And for the past few years Sandholt as been experimenting with a spicy Christmas bread, in which “people seem very interested,” says Reynisdottir.

And how could people not be interested in such a Sandholt product, one might well ask? Like everything else at Sandholt, the bread is fresh and made from scratch, using traditional baking methods built on four generations of craftsmanship. And quality, like Sandholt Bakery itself, always endures.

For more information about Sandholt Bakery, visit their website.

 

By Ashley Lodato, Bluebird Grain Farms staff writer

When he was in high school, Edouardo Jordan decided he would one day write his own cookbook. Now, nearly 20 years later, Jordan still hasn’t written that book but it’s not for lack of material; it’s for lack of time. A seemingly whirling dervish of culinary arts and fine dining, Jordan has hardly come up for air since graduating from culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando in 2005. 

No stranger to cooking, Jordan entered culinary school with a substantial background in cooking for the people he loved. As a child, Jordan’s mother, Velda, and his grandmother, Maggie, “forced him into the kitchen,” telling him that cooking would make him a better man and a more artistic person. During what Jordan calls his “involuntary presence in the kitchen,” Jordan learned the lessons and recipes that would form the foundation for his later success as a chef and restauranteur. Mother, apparently, did know best. 

Later, while a student of Business Administration and Sports Management at the University of Florida, Jordan nurtured his minor in nutrition by feeding his friends and fraternity brothers in Alpha Phi Alpha. When he returned to his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, following graduation in 2003, Jordan became an entrepreneur by successfully starting his own online restaurant guide.

After culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, Edouardo both worked and apprenticed (as is customary for culinary school graduates) in Michelin-starred restaurants such as The French Laundry and Per Se, in Florida, California, Washington, and New York. Around this time Jordan became interested in meat curing and spent time studying under a sixth-generation salumist in Parma, Italy. Pursuing this interest turns out to have been a formative experience for Jordan, and ultimately later influenced the name of the restaurant he opened in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 2015–Salare.

Salare. Say it in Italian–“sah-LAH-ray”–and roll that “r.” The word is almost liquid. It means “to salt” or “to preserve” in Italian, and it so cleverly captures the most critical aspects of Jordan’s philosophy. First, it’s a testament to Jordan’s interest in primal techniques and ancient methods for preserving foods and to his restaurant’s signature charcuterie. Second, the Latinate word is a nod to Jordan’s investment in a diverse food culture, as the restaurant features dishes from the American South, to Africa, to Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. And third, the word embraces the very experience that Jordan wants diners at Salare to have: one that is memorable–“preserved,” in a sense.

Salare is both studiously unpretentious and subtly elegant. “A modern mom-and-pop restaurant,” Jordan calls it. The menu is inventive, but somehow familiar. Items like meatballs and cornbread ground the menu, but diners can find surprises in Pacific octopus, honeycomb tripe, and einkorn.

Einkorn? Did someone say einkorn? Jordan is among a growing number of chefs featuring Bluebird Grain Farms’ Einka einkorn on menus. Jordan is no stranger to Bluebird Grain Farms, having served both emmer farro and Bluebird’s hot cereals at Salare. He even features einkorn ice cream on his dessert menu.

Bluebird Grain Farms‘ products, along with the other Northwest-sourced items on Salare’s menu, are a fine fit for Jordan’s philosophy, as well as for Salare’s clientele. “People in the Northwest want to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced,” says Jordan. “It’s about seasonality, sustainability, locality, and preserving the ingredients’ integrity.” Jordan notes that the area he grew up in was surrounded by franchise businesses. “A lot of them had no soul.” People in Seattle like good food, says Jordan, “and that’s the most important thing I am trying to provide. Beyond flavor and taste, people are interested in trying something different, something just a little unfamiliar to them.”

Salare’s staff seems to be almost deliberately international, but that’s just a happy coincidence, says Jordan. “I love everyone and think everyone can bring something different to the party. I have an open door with resumes and I base my hiring on skill, desire to do the job, ability to do the job, and passion for the industry.” This focus on desire, ability, and passion has served Jordan well, not only from a hiring perspective but even more importantly as elements that have driven the trajectory of his own career.

Growing up as a child in an underserved neighborhood in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jordan says that he didn’t always make great decisions. “My friends were doing stupid things, skipping school, stealing. Some even died,” he says. But a middle school teacher told Jordan “You have potential, but you’ve got to make better life decisions.”

So Jordan did. He started playing sports, took AP classes. In college, he says, “I surrounded myself with people different from me, people who made me feel uncomfortable, in a good way. People who made me push.” He passes this strategy on to kids when he participates as a guest speaker with the DreamFaith Foundation, which is aimed at empowering the country’s underprivileged youth by equipping them with the necessary tools to overcome life’s challenges. “You have to have a dream,” he tells them, “you have to have a goal.”

Jordan has been focused on his culinary goals for nearly three decades now, but that doesn’t mean that he spends all of his time in the kitchen. “The restaurant is a moving force,” says Jordan. “One day I’m the chef, the next day I’m a life coach, the next day I’m a plumber.” Add that to electrician, painter, carpenter, window-washer–not to mention father and husband–and you begin to see that Salare is more than just a job or a project for Jordan, it’s a way of life. Still, Jordan seems to be weathering the challenges of restaurant ownership, perhaps by his channeling of Forest Gump’s philosophy. “Life is like a box of chocolates,” Jordan says, quoting Gump. “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Salare’s customers, however, know exactly what they’re going to get when they make a reservation: an eclectic menu laced with superb dishes, an elegantly comfortable dining area, and thoughtful, attentive service. Jordan’s stamp is on every aspect of the dining experience–his commitment to the quality of all things Salare. And what Jordan pours into his customers, his customers pour right back. “Seattle and the Ravenna neighborhood have shown a lot of love,” he says.

You can learn more about Salare by visiting their website or Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

by Ashley Lodato, Bluebird Grain Farms staff writer

Like many a good foodie, Avery Ruzicka fell in love with food in France. “I come from a family that enjoyed cooking and respected food,” the North Carolina native explains,” but when I lived abroad I learned how much amazing food there is in the world. In France I got to eat at a few multi-Michelin-Star restaurants and it opened my eyes. The refinement, the focus–the meal was sustenance, but it was also such a full experience.”

When Ruzicka returned to the States, it was with the intention of being a food writer, so she got a job in a restaurant at the “back of the house” (in restaurant lingo, this refers to the kitchen and all the areas of the restaurant that customers do not typically see), figuring that if she was to be a food writer, she needed to understand how the kitchen worked. It was in the back of the house that Ruzicka realized that she loved working in the kitchen. “It was clear that I wanted to pursue a cooking career,” says Ruzicka. So after finishing her undergraduate degree (in politics, international studies, and creative writing) in North Carolina, Ruzicka headed north, attending New York’s renowned French Culinary Institute, including its bread baking program. The program led to work in the kitchen in one of New York’s most celebrated restaurants, Per Se, where Ruzicka learned from master baker Ben Hershberger.

When Ruzicka crossed paths with Chef David Kinch of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Manresa Restaurant (which was recently awarded its third Michelin star), she felt compelled to work in his restaurant. But there was a hitch–the only job available at that time was in the “front of the house” (the entry, dining room, bar, and all other parts of the restaurant that customers occupy). So Ruzicka took the job and for six months worked happily as a food runner. Still, she yearned to be in the kitchen. Soon, Ruzicka found herself spending her time off–which was mornings–back in the kitchen with the bakers, learning their methods. After a while, Ruzicka says, “I thought that I could help make a better product. I reevaluated how the breads were created and made changes to result in better quality breads.” Six months after she started food running, a job opened up in the kitchen and I had to decide whether or not to take it. “When I thought about someone else making the bread,” Ruzicka says, “I got a pit in my stomach.” The decision was simple; Ruzicka moved to the back of the house.

Fast forward a few years; now, under Ruzicka’s leadership, the breads formerly found only on Manresa Restaurant tables can now be acquired at four additional locations: either of two Manresa Bread bakery locations in Los Gatos and Los Altos, as well as at the Campbell and Palo Alto farmers’ markets every Sunday. The markets are open until 1pm and the bakeries until 3pm, but Manresa’s breads and pastries typically sell out long before the markets close; their products are just that popular. And the more Ruzicka and her team bake, the more the customers clamor for. Whether it’s the weekly staples like Manresa’s levain, sourdough baguette, and monkey bread or the seasonal items such as the pumpernickel buckwheat rye and the tartines, demand is consistent.

Does Ruzicka have a secret? Not really, she says, other than her own curiosity. “We’re not doing anything groundbreaking here,” Ruzicka says, “but I am just constantly trying out new things to improve our products.” Like other innovative bakers, Ruzicka is consumed with the quality of her ingredients. “Big batch commodity flour just does not taste as good,” says Ruzicka. “That was one of the first things I changed at Manresa–where we were buying our flours. We stopped buying bigger brand flour and started buying smaller production flour.” That purchasing decision eventually led Ruzicka to begin milling some of her own grains, most notably rye. “Commercial rye just doesn’t move off the shelf as quickly as wheat,” says Ruzicka, so rye often sits on supplier shelves getting old and dry, resulting in a lackluster bread. Now, Ruzicka can mill just the flour she needs on a regular basis in small batches.

 

Ruzicka is a huge fan of Bluebird Grain Farms’ Einka™ einkorn flour, which she learned about when a Methow Valley customer visited Manresa Restaurant and brought in some sample bags of flour. “I’m always interested in trying different milled products,” Ruzicka says, “and when I tested the einkorn it was really clear that the flavor would come through, even if I was only using 30% einkorn with 70% of another flour. That nuttiness, the subtle sweetness–that’s not true of all grains.” Ruzicka is partial to Bluebird’s Emmer Flour as well, and enjoys mixing both flours with others in order to achieve depth and texture in her loaves.

Bread has been given a bad rap lately, what with all the low-carb diet propaganda circulating. What does Ruzicka have to say in defense of bread? Like a growing number of grains revolutionaries, Ruzicka believes that the problem lies with the quality of the breads that are most readily available. “It’s a good bread versus bad bread question,” says Ruzicka. “Processed white flour grocery store bread is just not that good for you. There’s no fiber in it. All the vitamins have been processed out of it.” Ruzicka, on the other hand, uses freshly milled flours from small batch producers. Her bread has a long, slow fermentation process (36 hours minimum), which breaks down the gluten, and much of it is leavened with sourdough starter, not commercial yeasts. “All those things aid in the digestion process,” Ruzicka says. She adds, “All of my team is around these baked products and testing them all day long. We all feel great and I don’t think anyone has gained an ounce.”

Of course, that might be simply because they are working so hard. A self-professed night owl, Ruzicka copes well with both the early hours required of bakers and the long days necessary for farmers market sales. Still, the schedule seems punishing. “This is my life!” Ruzicka laughs. “I wouldn’t recommend this job to anyone in the culinary world who isn’t incredibly passionate about it. It’s so much fun, but so much hard work.”

Ruzicka doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, however. “I want to be a part of the food world AND fine dining AND bake bread,” she says. “My time at Manresa Restaurant taught me to pay attention to the small details,” Ruzicka notes, “and that helps set the tone for the bakery.” Although the bakery creates artisan-style bread and pastries and wouldn’t “throw away a baguette that was 1/2″ longer than intended” (implying that this actually happens in some bakeries!), Ruzicka and her team want to understand WHY that particular baguette didn’t conform. “We want to know why one grain or process is better suited for a particular need,” says Ruzicka, “we don’t want to force something to be what it isn’t.” Which sounds a bit like Ruzicka’s own process, figuring out through exploration and discovery what suits her best.

If you find yourself in the south San Francisco Bay Area, stop by one of the Manresa Bread locations.

 

Are you looking for a place to buy a loaf of Einka bread? Or Emmer shortbread cookies? If so, you need to check out Cereal Box Bakery, a new micro-bakery in Seattle.  Started by Rob Salvino, Cereal Box features many of our flours in its bread and baked goods. Rob has a long history with Bluebird Grain Farms: for years, he helped us sell our products to grocery stores, restaurants, and bakeries. Now, he’s decided to bake with them himself.

Rob sources flour made from locally grown varietal grains like ours and reinterprets favorite recipes to highlight their unique qualities. He specializes in fresh-baked breads and pastries, crisp crackers, breakfast cereals and granola, and many more tasty delights. Cereal Box Bakery doesn’t have a retail space and you won’t find their products in grocery stores. Instead, the bakery operates like a CSA. Subscribers receive a box of fresh-baked goods on their doorstep every week in the morning before work or school. They deliver to most Seattle neighborhoods north of downtown. Right now they are offering a great trial offer—three weeks of deliveries for the price of two. You can also find Cereal Box Bakery at the Magnolia Farmers Market on Saturdays from 10am-2pm.

Visit www.cerealboxbakery.com to sign up. Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cerealboxbakery to see pictures of their baked goods and read customer comments.

 

 

by Ashley Lodato

“Mine is a family of food lovers,” says Carlton, Washington baker Sarah Brown. “We love to cook and enjoy meals together.” When Sarah visited her grandparents, she remembers several different types of sourdough breads, stinky cheeses, and homemade jams sitting on their counters. As her grandfather put her on the bus for the two-hour ride home, he pressed into her hand a warm sourdough roll stuffed with butter or peanut butter to tide her over.

Sarah followed in her bread-baking family’s footsteps in middle school, when she discovered how simple it was (“add yeast to some sweet dough, roll it up with cinnamon, and—voila!—sticky buns”). The skill served her well when she became a strict vegetarian and her parents handed her the responsibility of cooking for herself.

Sarah confesses that in retrospect, her first loaves of bread were probably not very good. “I started with tasteless flour and lots of yeast,” she says,  “and I ate hundreds, maybe thousands of loaves of over risen over-yeasted bread while I refined my ability and learned about the ingredients and process.” Sarah’s grandmother (bless her!) was willing to sample any of Sarah’s loaves, however, and that gave Sarah the confidence to keep experimenting with ingredients and proportions. And eventually that goal that had seemed so elusive—“a crusty tangy loaf that aged well and begged to be eaten,” says Sarah—became something that she could replicate time and again in her own oven.

Now, says Sarah, “Food is the stable element in my family’s life. We break bread together every day.” As a wife and mother of two young children, Sarah is the most prolific baker in the family, but she shares her love of baking with her kids. “I love it when my kids are making pancakes on a Saturday morning they ask me which kind of flour they should use and why,” she says.

You can probably guess which kinds of flours are stocked in the Brown family pantry. Sarah feeds her sourdough starter with Methow Hard Red and Pasayten Hard White flours. “I enjoy the flavor of my sourdough fed with Bluebird flours,” she says, “It smells like sweet apple cider.” Sarah has been using Bluebird’s wheat flours long enough that she can tell the difference between the different years and the batches of grain as the season progresses. “I really like the nutty quality of the wheat flours,” she says. “I also think the grind on the hard white is ideal for all kinds of baking; it makes it really versatile and adds flavor without adding the weightiness of a whole wheat bread flour.”

For variety, Sarah finds herself reaching for Bluebird’s hard red flour because “it adds such a great punch of flavor to whatever I’m cooking.” She quite frequently uses a blend of hard red and hard white “to get the best of both worlds.” And she loves Bluebird’s Dark Northern Rye flour for cookies —“especially ones with cocoa, yum!” (Such as Dori Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies.)

It’s not just Bluebird’s flours, though, that Sarah is fond of. “We love everything that I make with Bluebird products,” she says. The family eats Bluebird’s Old World Cereal Blend, takes Bluebird’s pancake mix on canoe trips, and Sarah frequently cooks up whole grain emmer farro with chicken stock or herbs for various dishes. And if she has extra emmer that hasn’t been strongly flavored, Sarah says, “I’ll toss the leftovers in my next batch of bread.” She adds, in case it isn’t obvious, “Wheat and cereal grains are a central part of our diet.”

It’s also important to Sarah that “my kids can see Sam and Brooke and know that they are growing a staple food for our family.” Sarah knows food production from many angles, commenting that “When I was farming for a living there was a short time when everyone in my family was working in the food industry.” Sustainable farming and producing food with integrity are important to her. “The quality of the ingredients really does make a critical difference in how the food tastes,” she says.

Certainly the satisfaction of providing her family with delicious, nutritious meals is gratifying, but Sarah also finds the act of making bread to be therapeutic. “When we have had dark times in our family I did turn to baking and cooking as a balm for my heartache. I knew I was seeking out my kitchen, my center of warmth, for healing and to help my family gain perspective and the baked goods did help lift us up and push us through the hardest days,” she says.

Baking is also grounding for Sarah. Coming from generations of bakers, Sarah says that “Baking bread keeps me grounded to this place, it brings me back again and again.” Other bread is okay, says Sarah, who has favorite bakeries everywhere she visits, “but I love coming home and feeding my sourdough and watching the bread darken my oven.”

Another thing you might find in Sarah’s oven is a pie, a pizza, or a croissant, especially around the holidays. About a decade ago, Sarah embarked on a quest to bake the perfect pie crust, so she made a pie a day for a month. “I have never forgotten how to make a good pie crust,” she says, adding ruefully “and I will always remember how much spring hiking I did to manage the ‘other’ results of my newly perfected pie making skills.”

Sarah encourages new bakers to just throw themselves into it and get their hands in the dough. “Try something new!” she urges. “Try your favorite cookie recipe with a ¼ cup whole grain flour and see if you notice a difference. For most of us the worst-case scenario is a batch of mediocre bread or pastries- which at least in my house will still get eaten with great pleasure! The best case scenario is a discovery of a new flavor or combination that you love.”

In this age of cooking shows and internet recipe videos, Sarah reminds us that “My great great grandmother didn’t have food blogs or TV cooking shows. She just had to figure out how to make her food taste as great as she could in the time she had.” That’s Sarah—making her food as delicious as possible in the time she has with the best ingredients she can get.

by Ashley Lodato

When Heather Ostenson won the Douglas County Wheat Wives’ Junior Baking Queen award at the county fair as a 10-year-old, little did she suspect that one day she would be the owner and chief baker at her own bakery.

It’s not surprising, however, that despite a first career in industrial design and civil engineering, Heather eventually ended up pursuing baking as a livelihood. An early childhood spent on a farm in Arroyo Grande, CA, gave Heather daily lessons in food sources. The family raised poultry, pigs, and sheep for their own consumption, and grew a garden. Heather watched her mother (“and probably wasn’t much help,” she says) growing sprouts on the counter, preserving home-grown food, and grinding wheat for bread. “These are my first memories of knowing where our food comes from,” she says.

Heather’s family moved to the Wenatchee area when she was six, and this is about when Heather finally found her stride in the kitchen and joined the local 4-H, which was led by her mother. Although she had long helped bake Christmas cookies, through 4-H Heather learned to prepare meals, put up food, sew, and bake; her baking skills led to her eventual coronation as Junior Baking Queen in 1984.

Fast forward to Wenatchee, WA, 1997. Heather and her husband Jeff had recently moved back to Wenatchee, and craved some of the ethnic foods they had developed a taste for during college and living in bigger urban centers. They began “taking turns hosting ethnic dinners” with friends–many of whom were high school friends who had also recently moved back to the Wenatchee area–preparing “things we couldn’t get in Wenatchee at the time,” says Heather. During that period Heather, who was working as a civil engineering technician, began to rekindle her interest in cooking. “I would spend weekend mornings watching Great Chefs on PBS, and I had a subscription to Martha Stewart!” she says.

As Jeff was managing his family’s organic tree-fruit packing shed out in the Basin, the Ostensons were closely tied to what was happening in the organic fruit markets and programs. “We were also being exposed to food and wine culture,” says Heather. “I guess you could say we became foodies.” Heather began cooking in earnest on the weekends, “partly out of the joy I derived from [the process of cooking] as well as from sharing good food with others.”

balsamroot carrot cake

Whole grain cake? Yes please!

 

Although she didn’t bake consistently during those years, Heather did pick up a copy of Jim Lahey’s book My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method, and that re-ignited her passion for baking, both traditionally as well as with gluten-free flours. Two years ago she started baking cakes for friends and family birthdays, and she hasn’t stopped since.

In the fall of 2014 Heather attended the San Francisco Baking Institute. In December of that year she using borrowed space in Lulu’s commercial kitchen in East Wenatchee to bake cakes and breads. Demand, however, quickly outpaced Heather’s borrowed space and she began searching for a place of her own, which she found in unlikely locale–at the LINK Transit‘s Columbia Station. And thus Balsamroot Baking expanded into Balsamroot Bakery & Cafe.

Columbia Station is not your average bus station. Bright and modern, the station is the hub for dozens of routes that connect the Wenatchee area with 17 communities in Chelan and Douglas counties. And Balsamroot Bakery & Cafe is not your average bus station coffee house. Situated on a corner, the cafe has windows on three sides of the building, with eastern exposure frontage on Columbia Street that allows for outdoor seating. Serving breakfast, lunch, and Saturday brunch, the cafe links the menu to the seasons, with pastries, desserts, and Blue Star Coffee available all day long. For Heather, the underserved neighborhood of Columbia Station also appealed; she likes bringing business into that area of Wenatchee.

Balsamroot’s menu speaks to a wide audience. For some customers, gluten-free is essential, and even some of the most decadent baked goods are available as gluten-free. For others, organic and locally-sourced ingredients are important, which is just one of many reasons why Heather uses Bluebird Grain Farms exclusively for her flours (except for gluten-free).

What Heather is doing at Balsamroot Bakery is pretty unique. Although there are other commercial bakers using whole grain flours exclusively for their breads, Heather hasn’t run across anyone else making only whole grain pastries. Gluten-free and whole-grain products at Balsamroot provide more than just sustenance for customers, says Heather, they serve as “a platform for conversations about food integrity and nutrition. People might come in thinking they need or want gluten-free. While we don’t try to talk them out of that, for people who don’t have a medically-necessary reason for eating that way, they often ultimately choose the whole grain items we have.” Ultimately, Heather is interested in cultivating greater awareness about food integrity through the food the cafe and bakery offers.

balsamroot pastries

Many customers get their first taste of whole grain pastries at Balsamroot.

 

For many customers, Balsamroot is their first experience with whole grain baked goods, especially whole grain pastry and desserts, and their enlightenment begins the moment they taste their first scone or piece of toast. Since Balsamroot does only whole grain baking, “we don’t really have any ‘transitional’ or ‘gateway’ products,” says Heather. “While we love the flavor, texture, and nutrition of whole grain baked goods, for someone whose exposure is predominantly highly processed white breads – what we do is going to be very different from their past experience. We try to let every customer know that they’re eating whole grains.”

Heather’s commitment offering local, organic, and nutritious foods has led her to source ingredients from a variety of small Central Washington producers in addition to Bluebird Grain Farms: goat cheese from Sunny Pine Farm in Twisp, meats from Crown S Ranch in Winthrop, meats and cheeses from local businesses in Pybus Market, coffee from Blue Star Coffee Roasters in Twisp, tea is from Cha Fine Teas in Pybus Market, produce from Rhubarb Market in Wenatchee, as well as chocolate from Theo Chocolate in Seattle. “We work hard to provide delicious, healthful whole foods that showcase what our region has to offer,” she says. She continues, “What we’re doing with the bakery cafe is a little ‘fringe’ or risky. It’s sad, frustrating, and surprising that in such an agriculturally rich region, eating locally and caring about how your food is grown and raised would be something of a ‘fringe’ idea. We take risks everyday in what we put on the menus and in the case.”

These risks include constant experimentation with new offerings. “Because we are baking exclusively with whole grain flours, we have to adjust nearly every formula we use,” says Heather. “Sometimes it takes a few test batches to get it right–and this takes time, so squeezing everything in to a day can be a challenge, or makes for long days. Consistency is a challenge for certain items; for example, how do we achieve a consistent form in our scones when we are changing the add-ins daily or weekly?”

With other items, Heather says, “we are constantly trying to evolve–like our pain a l’ancienne baguettes,” in which she uses Bluebird’s Pasayten Hard White Flour. Much of baking is chemistry, Heather reminds us, and she loves “the dichotomy of baking: intuition and science.” When she ferments bread overnight, for example, she is “shepherding” the product for a day or more. If something doesn’t turn out as she anticipated, Heather says, “I’ll retrace my steps and give it another go (or two or four) until I get it figured out. I tinker constantly with formulas and procedures, after the best product I can produce with the tools I’ve got.” The end products are a result of numerous trials, copious notes, and serendipitous hunches.

balsamroot baguette

Balsamroot’s baguettes are made with Pasayten Hard White , cold fermented overnight, and formed wet.

 

While all this experimentation doesn’t lead to efficient mass production, it does lead to products that Heather can stand behind, both nutritionally and philosophically. “We have become a society that expects instant gratification,” she says, “but we don’t think about the full magnitude of satisfying our appetites for goods.” Heather hopes that Balsamroot will aid people’s understanding of the food economy, our environment, and our health.

With winter right around the corner and Heather’s interest in seasonal cooking, German and Scandinavian breads are next up in the mixing bowl. And while the recipe will differ from those breads she has been baking all summer and fall, the message that these breads, like everything that comes out of the Balsamroot kitchen, communicate will be the same: ingredients matter.

by Ashley Lodato

On a crisp Labor Day evening that foretold autumn, 300 guests gathered at TwispWorks to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Bluebird Grain Farms. With catering provided by Cameron Green and guest chef John Sundstrom of Seattle’s lark restaurant, the paella dinner was as stunning a visual anchor for the event as it was a tasty, almost entirely locally produced meal.

Fires were laid in the four Hotspot Fire Pits earlier in the afternoon in order to provide the hardwood coals needed to cook the three paella dishes made with Bluebird’s organic whole grain emmer farro as a base: one vegetarian using local squash, onions, and peppers, one meat using locally raised chorizo, and one seafood, with clams and other shellfish (not local, of course!).

As young servers passed appetizers, guests mingled on the TwispWorks campus near the North Warehouse, sampling Methow wine, beer, and hard cider while listening to the lively tunes of local fiddlers and banjo players.

When the food was ready, Brooke and Sam thanked the gathered guests for supporting Bluebird’s vision over the years. Then, seated at three long rows of tables, guests ate paeala, salads, and bread, shared stories of their own joys, hardships, and adventures from the summer, and toasted the success of a thriving, small-scale family-owned organic farm.

As Brooke wandered through the crowd greeting friends old and new, she met two women who had traveled from Alaska for the dinner! The pair receive Bluebird products in their CSA at home, are crazy about Bluebird’s organic emmer pancake and waffle mix, and decided to use the dinner as the focal point of a vacation in Washington State.

The celebration also served to showcase TwispWorks’ Methow Made project, which connects a wider consumer audience with Methow farmers, producers, and artisans.

The best part of the evening for Brooke and Sam was the opportunity to gather Bluebird’s staunchest supporters in one place; to share a meal with those who have purchased products, created recipes, leased farmland, spread the word about little-known heirloom grains, and in other ways helped sustain Bluebird Grain Farms. We at Bluebird Grain Farms are delighted to mark our 10th anniversary and we look forward to many more such milestones in our future.

by Ashley Lodato

The Abs & Glutes class on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Meredith Matthews YMCA East Madison is, perhaps, your typical weekday morning exercise class. Comprised mostly of well-educated, cultured, retired professional women, the class gives seniors an opportunity to strengthen and tone. On the other hand, it’s anything but predictable. Taught by a sixty-something Bostonian, Jerry, the Abs & Glutes class is, says class member (and Bluebird Grain Farms mom) Sis Woodside, “more than a class, it’s a community.”

The retired teachers, authors, public radio reporters, and other women in the class gather to work on their core strength, yes, but they also gather for the personal connections fostered by the class and in particular by the instructor, Jerry. “It’s so different from classes I’ve taken at other gyms,” says Sis. You see, Jerry doesn’t just instruct them in crunches and squats, he also peppers them with Brain Quest problems, tells jokes, and during cool-down plays a different, specially-selected piece of music designed to evoke a certain emotion. “He really makes us think,” adds Sis. (Indeed, it seems to be Jerry himself as much as an interest in staying fit that motivates the women to arrive as much as 45 minutes early to get a spot in the class.)

Before cool-down, however, comes the “announcements and sharing” period, where the women chat freely about the details of their lives. And they really share. Not in the Facebook “see how great my life is” kind of way, but honestly and openly. “You feel very safe in this group,” says Sis, “even though most of you don’t see each other outside of the class. You know you can say anything. You know the others care about you.”

“These women are amazing,” continues Sis. “They are so grounded. They’re well-traveled, well-read; they represent so many interests.” One of these interests is a common commitment to eating delicious, satisfying, and nutritious foods. Enter Bluebird’s grains. “They’re really interested in trying new things,” says Sis of her fellow workout ladies, “and they appreciate good and organic food.” It was natural, then, for Sis–who functions as an ad-hoc sales rep for Bluebird–to introduce Bluebird to the other women. “I bring bags of emmer farro and Old World Cereal as gifts and prizes,” says Sis, “and now I have many customers in the class. Everyone is impressed by how many different ways there are to prepare the emmer.”

After class, some of the women depart for volunteer work, others head to a local cafe together to celebrate a birthday or other milestone, while still others continue on to a painting class, also taught by Jerry. They’re fueled by an after-workout glow and the fulfillment that comes from spending quality time with people who matter.