🔥 L E G A C Y 🔥

Years ago, I got an excited phone call from a friend who said, "Hey Jojo, I got a new oven...come over!!!" It was the summer that Alchemy was going to open at Giovanni's and Al had just installed a beautiful Bongard deck oven back in the kitchen. House made breads, hand-cut pastas, and woodfired pizzas were going to be on the menu. It had been some time since I'd stepped away from baking so I was thrilled to get back into it and lend a hand in setting up the bread portion of it.

It was a really fun summer and just the energy buzzing through the entire place on opening day was unmatched. I imagine Al and his team are feeling the same thing right now with getting ready for the highly anticipated opening of their new steakhouse featuring Argentinian Asado cooking, Legacy. While I may not be there as part of the crew this time around, I'm still feeling that same thrill because Crust & Crumbles will be providing bread for the restaurant! I've been tweaking some of our formulas in preparation of opening day so it can be a perfect addition to the dining experience. Legacy will open doors on October 22nd.

In other news, there are just a handful of market days left till the season is completely done. Tomorrow morning we will be at the North End City Market and the Beloit Farmer's Market with fresh loaves for ya. On the menu, we will have Organic Country White, Seeded Whole Wheat, Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry Walnut, and Baker & Brewer. We look forward to seeing you there :)

Oh and P.S. - Don't forget to sign up for a bread baking class!

Back To (Baking) School 🎓

Last Friday we wrapped up the 9th season of the Rockford City Market...and over the course of 20 weeks, nearly 100,000 visitors came to downtown Rockford. Isn't that just something else?! I think it's really amazing and all of us at C&C are grateful to have been part of another successful season. We can't wait till the indoor market opens up in early 2019 so that our bread can be available to the community year-round. To help the outdoor market keep improving and providing a fabulous experience for all its visitors, please consider filling out the Annual Patron Survey - you can find it HERE.

Through the end of October, we are still setting up at Edgebrook Farmers Market on Wednesday mornings as well as at the North End Market and Beloit Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately though, we will not be at the markets this weekend due to some equipment maintenance work going on at the bakery. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and know that we are very much looking forward to seeing you all next week.

In the meantime, I'm excited to announce that BREAD BAKING CLASSES ARE BACK!!! We have finalized Oct/Nov class dates at this time and registration is now available on our website. The first one is coming up in just 2 weeks and there are 2 dates available next month. I love teaching folks how to bake sourdough at home and am so happy that we are again able to offer classes! If you've taken a class with us in the past, I hope you will recommend the experience to your friends and family by sharing this newsletter with them :)

Last Market of 2018 💔

Today is the last Rockford City Market of the 2018 season. These past 20 weeks honestly just flew by and we are so happy to have had the opportunity to bake for all of you these last few months! There will be a lot of fun activities going on at the market including a scavenger hunt organized by the Rock Valley Pub Trivia group as well as the annual pumpkin contest where patrons get to vote on vendors' pumpkins affording the winner of the contest a sizable discount on next year's booth fees. Last year's final market had spectacular attendance and we hope you all will join in again tonight to close out the season with us.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to decorate the BEST.PUMPKIN.EVER for people to vote on this week....however we do have a special menu for you guys. We decided not to make any of our usual staples in order to make room for all the loaves that aren't offered on a regular basis so that you can stock up on your favorites one last time. We will have Drunken Hog (bacon bourbon bread), Roasted Garlic & Cracked Peppercorn, Blue Cheese Olive, Jalapeño Cheddar, Oktoberfest Laugenbrot, and Everything Bagel Bread at Rockford City Market tonight as well as at North End and Beloit Farmers Market tomorrow.

We are still continuing on with both Saturday morning markets and the Edgebrook Farmers Market on Wednesday mornings through the end of October. You can also purchase our Country White and Cranberry Walnut loaves at Choices Natural Market at any time now and beyond the farmer's market season - we are currently doing our deliveries there on Wednesdays.

Besides it being the last City Market day, it is also the last day to sign up for Fall/Winter CSB shares for weekly bread deliveries from October through December! HERE is the link where you can sign up. And finally, I'm happy to say that we will be restarting our baking classes shortly now that markets are winding down and we have more availability...I anticipate posting a class schedule by this time next week.

Prost! 🍻

We will be celebrating Oktoberfest at the markets this weekend by bringing a batch of our full size lye-dipped pretzel loaves...otherwise known as Laugenbrots. Around this time last year, we were up to our eyeballs rolling pretzels for some Oktoberfest celebrations that our friends around town were putting on. But when we had extra dough left over, we thought, well we can't make pretzels and we can't make pretzel buns for the market since we are "the bread people"...so we rolled the extra dough into boules, dunked them into the lye solution, baked them off, and the rest is history.

I also paid a visit to the brewery earlier this week to pick up a couple different batches of spent grain for our Oktoberfest menu. Alongside the Laugenbrots, we will have our regular Baker & Brewer loaves as well as the Chocolate Porter variety made with mash that has crushed coffee beans in it. We mix and ferment our dough with coffee water and then add the grains as well as non-dairy chocolate chips later on to complement the flavors of this bread. Country White, Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina, and Castelvetrano Olive loaves will be available this weekend at all three markets as well.

A note to our current and future share members: This coming Wednesday is the last CSB distribution for the Summer/Fall rotation! We will be starting a new round in the first week of October. This one goes till the end of the year, so I encourage you to sign up for a weekly bread share now as there are very few days left in the farmer's market season. The deadline is next Friday, September 28th, and HERE is the link where you can sign up.

Livin' For The Weekend ❤

The weather this weekend looks beautiful...with it being cooler in the evenings and early mornings, our markets are held at a perfect time of day for strolling outside and stocking up on weekly groceries. I also love this time of year at the farmer's market in general because many of my favorite vegetables and fruits come into season in late summer/early fall.

One downfall though has been that the indoor temperature has not let up inside our space. It is still running hot in the kitchen...way too hot for me to hold a baking class for the public. I know some of you have been asking and waiting for class dates to be released and I am getting anxious to get back to teaching as well. As soon as we post a schedule, I promise you'll be the first to know.

There are only a handful of market days left in the season. We will be starting a new round of CSB distributions in just a couple of weeks. Since we do not accept sign-ups for the longer term bread shares once the rotation starts, now is the time to get your orders in for weekly bread deliveries from October through the end of December. The deadline is September 28th and HERE is the link where you can sign up.

On the menu today and tomorrow - we will have Country White, Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina, Everything Bagel, Black Sage, Seeded Whole Wheat, and a small batch of Honey Rye sourdough baguettes that I decided to try out last minute. The baguettes are made with organic dark rye flour and pure clover honey...the bread is versatile with any topping and there is a subtle sweetness to it imparted by its main ingredients. I'm still working out this formula to achieve more volume like in a traditional baguette...but despite its slight flatness, I think the flavor is on point. Hope you like it!

Hello, F A L L 👋

Hello friends,

Just a reminder that fall hours begin at the Rockford City Market tonight - we'll be there for ya from 3:30-7:30pm. Only four more Friday markets left till we close out the 2018 season so I hope you'll be coming downtown to enjoy the rest of it with us. For the folks that normally patron Edgebrook, North End, or Beloit, we will still be at those markets through the end of October.

Our Fall/Winter CSB bread share sign ups are starting to pick up steam...this Sunday is the deadline to purchase shares at a discount. Registration is still open through the end of the month for the distributions starting in October, though it'll go back to regular pricing after this weekend.

On the menu today and tomorrow - we will have Country White, Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina, Baker & Brewer, Roasted Garlic & Cracked Peppercorn as well as some Caraway Rye.

The Last Hurrah 🍂

At long last, Labor Day weekend is here...and most everyone associates this holiday with the official end of summer marked by its last out-of-town getaways, family gatherings, cookouts, parades, and, yes, even shopping sprees too.

There is something to be said though about celebrating the worker and the importance of contribution. On some mornings when I walk into the bakery, the last thing on earth I want to do is bake! I think we all have days like this... Without those, I wouldn't have ones where I feel so fortunate to even have work to do and where the end result of our entire team's effort does make a lot of people happy. How lucky are we to end most days then with a sense of accomplishment, purpose, and contribution to our community!? Pretty damn lucky, I'd say...and that's something really worth celebrating.

The sun is starting to set earlier and with that comes an earlier closing time for the market as well. Starting next Friday, Rockford City Market will close down an hour earlier at 7:30pm. While all our other markets (Edgebrook, North End, and Beloit) will continue at their regular hours through the end of October, we will finish the downtown market season at the end of September. Moving into fall, the weather can be touch and go...so please check out our Facebook / Instagram pages to keep updated on our market status in cases of severe weather where we might have to cancel.

On the menu today and tomorrow, we will have Country White, Cranberry Walnut, Baker & Brewer, Seeded Whole Wheat, Olive Oil Semolina, Jalapeño Cheddar, and Blue Olive. We are also dropping off a fresh batch of mini spent grain boules at the brewery today so if you haven't yet tried the bread board on their seasonal menu, visit Prairie Street Brewing Co. soon and check it out.

And lastly, not to sound like a broken record but our anniversary special is still going on through September 9th on all Fall/Winter CSB bread shares :)  Don't forget to sign up! 
 

Birds Of A Feather 🍞 + 🍻

For the past three seasons, we've had the pleasure of collaborating with our friends from Prairie Street Brewing Co. to bring you all the Baker & Brewer bread at the markets...from the first year to now, it remains one of the customers' favorites. When the guys brew, they call me over to pick up the spent grain which is a byproduct of the beer brewing process. Then we take it over to the bakery and incorporate it into a dough mixed with organic white wheat, whole wheat, and dark rye flours. The end result is a hearty grain-filled, malty flavored, fiber-rich loaf. 

I'm stoked to say that now you can get a mini B&B loaf on the seasonal menu at the brewery! Chef Jonathan (pictured above) just made it available earlier this week and paired it with olive oil and roasted heads of garlic recently harvested by Harrison Market Gardens, an organic farm located just west of us in Winnebago. I hope you will pop on over there for lunch or dinner and try it out!

On the market menu this weekend, we will have Rosemary & Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry Walnut, Country White, Baker & Brewer, Roasted Garlic & Cracked Peppercorn, as well as a repeat of the Blue Olive sourdoughs from last week. The weather is starting to cool down now so I wanted to put together some warmer flavors for you. Although the skies don't look the best as I'm writing this, it should hopefully clear by this afternoon and we will be at Rockford City Market rain or shine. If you don't make it out tonight though, please come visit us at Beloit Farmer's Market or North End City Market. tomorrow morning.

Also, a reminder that our anniversary special is still going on through September 9th on all Fall/Winter CSB bread shares. Don't forget to sign up! 

Happy Birthday, CSB! 🍰🎈🎉

This week was a special treat for me to have my daughter out of summer camp and in the kitchen helping with market prep. She has been my little helper since the very beginning days of C&C...I think she was about 3 or 4 years old when this picture above was taken. Tonight when we finish up all our work, we are looking forward to taking the rest of the weekend off to celebrate her 11th birthday and to get ready for a new school year. I know everyone says this - but SERIOUSLY - my goodness, they grow up fast!!!

This got me thinking that our Community Supported Bakery (CSB) program, "Blind Date With A Baker", is also coming up on a birthday. When we finish up the current rotation at the end of September, it would officially be a year that we've been running it. To the past and current bread share members, I want to say thank you so much for keeping it going! I love planning out the weekly bread flavor for you guys and look forward to coming up with new ones.

To celebrate the anniversary, every CSB membership level is on sale from now through September 9th for the fall/winter rotation. We will be wrapping up the farmer's market season pretty soon so I hope you will sign up and continue to get your weekly bread through our share program!

On the menu this weekend: we will be bringing Country White, Baker & Brewer, Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina, Seeded Whole Wheat, Roasted Garlic & Cracked Peppercorn, and Black Sage loaves to all the markets. The special this week is the Blue Olive - a sourdough loaded with blue cheese crumbles and castelvetrano olives. I tried baking it for the first time last week for our CSB folks and a few things I realized were 1) Oh my, it's tasty; 2) The blue cheese flavor is very subtle at first but really settles into the bread as it ages; and 3) It didn't have nearly as enough olives as I would've liked the first time so I really piled them in there this time. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Friends + Family + Food 🙏

A couple of months ago, I was having a particularly long day and that long day was turning into a long night as I settled into another graveyard shift of baking. All of a sudden, I get a text from Marc letting me know that he had a plate of dinner for me that he's going to drop off at the kitchen. Sure enough a little while later I was handed a delicious homemade meal and a cold can of beer!

Another time, I had worked so late the previous night that I didn't hear my alarm and overslept when I was supposed to meet Devin at the bakery for market the next morning. When I didn't pick up his phone calls or reply to messages, the guys discussed amongst themselves that they had better check on me and Devin drove all the way to my house to get me.

To say that we all just work together is a gross understatement...I feel incredibly lucky to have such an amazing team who take care of me and of each other. I feel even luckier to call these fellas, my friends. I know it's a little early as we haven't put together any specific job details about the position but we will be looking to add to our C&C family soon. If you or someone you know is passionate about baking bread and wants to join us on this crazy adventure, forward them this email and tell them to contact me!

Also below you'll find the recipe for the super delicious Chorizo Strata that Marc made for dinner that night. I asked him to share it here because we will have Jalapeno Cheddar bread at the markets this weekend (alongside Caraway Rye, Country White, Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry Walnut, Everything Bagel, and Baker & Brewer).

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Marc's Chorizo Strata

12 oz. Mexican chorizo
1 bunch green onions, white and pale green parts finely chopped, dark green parts sliced
1 2.25 oz can sliced black olives, drained
2C finely shredded sharp cheddar or Mexican cheese blend
2C milk
10 large eggs
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp chipotle-flavored Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
1 loaf of Crust & Crumbles Jalapeno Cheddar bread

Queso fresco
Avocado
Pico de gallo or fresh tomato, cored and finely chopped, and cilantro

1. Preheat large skillet over medium heat and add chorizo, breaking up into small pieces. After about 5 minutes of cooking, add white and pale green parts of green onion and continue to cook the mixture until the green onion has softened, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

2. Cut the bread into small cubes, filling a 9" x 13" baking dish until about 3/4 of the way full (a couple slices short of a whole loaf). Remove cubes to a large mixing bowl, then grease the baking dish. (If you're planning on eating the strata tomorrow, toast the bread cubes in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Crack eggs into another large mixing bowl, add salt, and whisk, breaking up the yolks (it will otherwise be difficult to see the yolks if you wait until after adding the milk to whisk if you're using an opaque mixing bowl). Add the milk, pepper, and hot sauce, and whisk mixture together.

4. Toss together the bread cubes, cooled chorizo-green onion mixture, the rest of the green onions, black olives, and 1 1/2 C of the cheese together until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared baking dish, spreading out the mixture to a uniform height throughout the dish. 

5. Pour the egg-milk mixture slowly and evenly over the bread cube mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest, at least a half an hour, before baking. Alternatively, cover and place in refrigerator overnight, allowing dish to sit at room temperature a half an hour before baking the next day.

6. Bake the strata for 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven, remove aluminum foil, and sprinkle evenly with remaining shredded cheese. Return to oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Top with pico de gallo (or finely diced tomato and cilantro), diced avocado, and crumbled queso fresco.