A while back when our current space was "under construction" and our electrical was getting rewired for new equipment, we weren't able to use our mixer and so a friend let me use theirs in order to get ready for a market day. We had limited time to get all our dough processed and so he jumped in to lend a hand...when we got done, he couldn't believe how many different types of bread we made for just one day. While I do admit that production does take longer when you make so many batches, there is a reason they say variety is the spice of life. For the baker, it allows for more flavor experimentation and to avoid getting stuck in the rut of routine. For the consumer, it allows for more choices and appreciation of different types of grains, flours, nuts, and seeds. I say it's a win-win.
This week we tried a new formula for our CSB distribution bread - Toasted Sunflower and Flax Seed Whole Wheat sourdoughs. I really liked how it turned out and so I decided to bake it for markets this weekend. It has a rich nutty flavor from the sunflower seeds and soaking the flax seeds prior to mixing them into the dough amps up the nutritional density of this loaf. The flax seed soaker also helps the bread keep longer. On the menu alongside these will be Caraway Rye, Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry Walnut, Country White, Baker & Brewer (made with barley wine spent grains), and Black Sage loaves.
During the month of August, the guys will be taking turns to fit in some last minute vacation days before we head into fall. Marisa, our C&C newbie, will be filling in for Devin and Marc at the upcoming markets so if you see someone new running our booth, that's who it is! She is a very sweet girl and we are happy to have her on board :)
Everything's All Rye ๐
Earlier this week, I was walking out of the kitchen on my way to pick up some missing ingredients and ran into two lovely ladies who were lost in the parking lot looking for the bakery. They wanted to come visit C&C, sit down, and enjoy some goodies. But of course, sadly, I had to explain that our retail shop is not open yet, that I had nothing on hand to serve them with, and that I was so sorry they came all this way just to be disappointed. Soon, I said..."It's coming very soon!" (If you're reading this, HI MARIA!!!!)
This made me realize that it was high time I update you all on what's going on with our future home at the indoor Rockford City Market. Joe, my super awesome architect, and I have recently finalized the interior build-out design and it is now ready to be submitted for all the necessary permits. We are striving to make the space open, inviting, comfortable, and cozy...and I'm really loving the way it's coming together on paper right now. I know the construction folks are working non-stop on the overall building too and I'm so excited to see how everything will turn out.
In the meantime though, bread production for markets has been on the forefront of our minds as we enter the second half of the season. I'm glad to see some cooler weather on the forecast lately because our kitchen has been awfully hot and fermentation activity is in overdrive causing me some panic at times. This is one of the reasons we have yet to announce new baking class dates, for those of you wondering. Cooler weathers also have me envisioning more seasonal flavors for our menu...earthy beet bread or maybe some roasted squash loaves, anyone?
For this weekend, the new flavor on our menu is the Caraway Rye. It's made with organic dark rye flour and toasted caraway seeds...it is basically a "deli rye" bread but we are not calling it that because it's not a soft pan bread as it has all the crusty goodness of a full sourdough loaf. I hope someone will make a fantastic Reuben sandwich with this and sends me a picture (or just go ahead and send the sandwich...that's good too!) We will also have Baker & Brewer, Chocolate Porter, Everything Bagel, Olive Oil Semolina, Country White, Cranberry Walnut, and Seeded Whole Wheat. I think this is the most variety we've ever offered at the markets before so I hope everyone will get to take home their favorite :)
R & R โ
Today marks the tenth week of farmer's markets and that means we are already halfway through the season. Time is really flying by...I can't believe school will be starting back up for the kids soon! I'm beginning to feel a little sadness creeping in at the prospect of summer ending but I'm also determined to make the best of it for the next ten weeks.
We have been watching the weather closely the last few days hoping that the storms and rain will clear away but, unfortunately, Mother Nature is not on our side this time. So we decided that we will sit it out this weekend, complete some non-baking chores around the bakery, and also squeeze some cat naps in while we're at it. Rockford City Market, North End City Market, as well as Beloit Farmer's Market are all still being held and, even though we won't be in attendance, I hope you will go and support the other vendors if you're out and about.
As I'd mentioned last week, we started up stocking bread at Choices Natural Market this past Wednesday (our weekly delivery day). We dropped off fresh loaves that morning and they were all sold out by late afternoon! I just want to say that we are so grateful for all your support as we continue to spread our wings - for allowing us to serve our community and letting us break bread with all of you :)
You Had Me At Bacon ๐ท
Last weekend was one for the books...we sat empty-handed for over half the market hours at all our locations because you guys are so fantastic and you love bread just as much as we do! However, it crushed our hearts to see the disappointment on the faces of all the folks who came over to find us stocked out. Not this time though! We just completed one of our biggest bakes of the season yet to make sure everyone takes a loaf home and I think you'll be happy with the flavor choices on the menu.
The Drunken Hog last week was MIA despite my promises...because it literally was too drunk. We were having so much trouble with the lackluster performance of the dough and frustrated that it just wasn't rising properly. I think I may have been a little heavy-handed on the bourbon there trying to induce as much flavor as possible into the bread that it backfired and negatively affected the wild yeast activity. We've learned from our mistakes, made some adjustments, baked a whole bunch of them and they're looking quite good this week - I can't wait for you to try it!
Accompanying the bacon bread on the menu this weekend will be Roasted Garlic & Cracked Peppercorn, Everything Bagel, Jalapeรฑo Cheddar, Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina and our Country White sourdoughs.
Speaking of choices, I have super exciting news to share with you. C&C is coming to Choices Natural Market starting next Wednesday!!! We have been working on making this happen since spring and I'm so thrilled that our bread will now be available on a local grocery store shelf...and the fact that it's not just a grocery store but one which we deeply share core values with makes it even better. Please help support our new partnership, tell your friends and family about it, and give Choices a visit throughout the week if you can't make it out to the farmer's markets!
Rock The Market Night 2018 ๐
Tonight is the annual Rock The Market Night downtown at Rockford City Market which means we will be open for extended hours till 10pm. Lots of entertainment and musical performances are planned for the night.....I, for one, am super excited to see the students from The Rock 'n' Roll Institute perform on the acoustic stage in front of Revers Marina. Those kids really know how to put on a show - hope you will come out and support them!
We have a big menu planned for the weekend markets and it's a mostly savory one this time. Everything Bagel, Roasted Garlic & Crushed Peppercorn, Jalapeรฑo Cheddar, Oat Porridge, Olive Oil Semolina, and Cranberry Walnut loaves will be aplenty. We will also be bringing our Drunken Hog (bacon bourbon) bread too! Unfortunately, these little piggies will not be present at tonight's shindig as planned since we ran into a bit of a complication while baking this morning's batch. My hope is that tonight's bake will go as planned and you will be able to get them at the North End City Market as well as the Downtown Beloit Farmer's market tomorrow morning. Sorry :(
Also, we wanted to say how grateful we all are at C&C for the incredible turnout at the markets last weekend! It was so hot and crazy humid outside but you were right there for us, and with us, and took home every single loaf that we baked up for you. Thank you so much for all the love and you guys are truly the best!!!!
Let's Beat the Heat ๐
Lately it seems we either have a torrential downpour and it's flooding everywhere OR it's hot as Hades outside...the market hours have luckily always been spared in the last minute from the rain but it sure is going to be a hot one this weekend. The various markets we will be at are all keeping this in mind and setting up misting stations to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for everyone...I hope you will come out to visit all of us vendors and kick off the holiday week(end) stocking up on your favorite goodies.
I've been reviewing all the comments and requests you guys have been leaving at our booth and the two I most frequently came across were "When will you have Everything Bagel?" and "Jalapeรฑo Cheddar, please." Well, I'm stoked to say that these are exactly the loaves we will be bringing to all the locations this weekend. Alongside them will be our Country White Sourdough, Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry Walnut, Seeded Whole Wheat, as well as Baker & Brewer spent grain loaves. There is no Edgebrook Farmers Market and no CSB bread pick-up next Wednesday due to July 4th celebrations, therefore we decided to bring a big variety this week so everyone can get their favorite loaf until the next market day.
All of us at C&C will also get to enjoy a few days off to spend quality time with friends and family during this week so I'm pretty excited about that. When we come back all rested and refreshed from the short break, I'm looking forward to diving right back into the excitement and frenzy of summer baking. We will be restarting our CSB program for the July-September rotation as well as be posting a new schedule of baking classes for these months. Don't forget to sign up for a bread share as the deadline is coming up next week!
I hope all of you have a happy and safe Fourth of July...and enjoy the fireworks too! That's my favorite part :)
Happy (Belated) Solstice! ๐
When I first started selling bread at the City Market back in 2010, I used to make a lot of baguettes. At the time I thought they were pretty great! Looking back though, I have a good chuckle because they weren't great at all. They were very light in color, slightly flat, with no crispy crust in sight, and obviously telling that I was an amateur at baking. But I think what I lacked in skill, I made up for in blind enthusiasm because I just kept doing it. Fast forward to this day and I think I'm finally getting to a point where I'm starting to feel more confident about the baguettes we are putting out from the bakery. Of course, improvement is a never-ending journey.
Over the last couple of weeks we have been bringing them to the Edgebrook Farmers Market on Wednesdays and tweaking the formula a little bit each time to get them just right. With a combination of our sourdough levain as well as a yeast poolish mixed into a medley of strong and weaker organic wheat flours, these baguettes provide the best of both worlds in terms of flavor and consistency. We are debuting them tonight at Rockford City Market and at both the North End and Beloit markets on Saturday...I hope you like them!
This is the last weekend for Black Sage bread to appear on the menu alongside the Baguettes and Pain d'Epis (pictured above). Cranberry Walnut, Olive Oil Semolina, and Baker & Brewer spent grain loaves will be offered as well. We're looking forward to the cooler weather for a change this weekend and, of course, looking forward to seeing all of you.
T. G. I. F. โ
As I was planning out our bread production for this weekend, it hit me that we are already in the fifth week of our summer market season. It seems time has just flown by and sometimes you don't realize just how much has happened while you've been in the zone of work. I took a look back through our previous year's newsletters and found out that on this very day last year, we were receiving and installing our new bakery oven.
I remember my very first test batch that I peeled onto the hearth and sitting in front of the deck looking through the viewing glass for the following hour just staring at it in awe. Thousands of loaves have been baked in this oven since then and the decks have developed a beautiful patina and many rugged stains. It was a great reminder that these small moments need to be savored and that taking the time to appreciate the journey is what it's all about.
Starting at Rockford City Market tonight, we will be rolling out Roasted Garlic & Crushed Peppercorn breads and rolling in Black Sage ones as our specials for the weekend. Other menu offerings include Olive Oil Semolina, Cranberry & Walnut, Seeded Whole Wheat, and Country White. Up at Beloit Farmer's Market, we are getting highlighted as vendor of the week on Saturday - so we're looking forward to meeting new people who haven't tried us before and getting to talk to them about what we do!
To all our CSB members, next Wednesday is the last pick-up day for the Spring/Summer rotation. We have made it available on the website to renew your existing bread share or sign up for a new one for the July - September period.
Rain or Shine โก
Our first day at Edgebrook Farmers Market this past Wednesday was such a great experience! We got to meet so many new folks as well as catch up with old friends of C&C.....from die-hard breadheads that were there with us from the beginning to the extended family of our CSB members to those who have gone through our baking classes in the past. Lately I have not been able to hang out at the markets as much as past seasons because I'm usually at the kitchen preparing the next day's loaves so the little bits of time that I do get to connect and chat with some of you in person really energizes me. I sincerely thank you for that and for continuing to support us as we enter our third year of business.
The most heartwarming thing to happen this week was meeting a sweet lady whose friend took a class with us back in January and then passed on some of our sourdough starter to her. Since then she has been diligently taking care of it, baking with it, and never letting it go to waste. She showed me the breads she has been baking at home (pictured above) and they were just gorgeous. I've been flying high all week thanks to this encounter because moments like this remind me that we are not just making a product...we are building a community of passionate people who love good food and who love to create. To date, we have had over 55+ people come through our baking classes from all over - from Rockford and its surrounding areas; from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and the suburbs; even as far as Canada and Belgium who passed through town on their US visit just to take the class. I'm really looking forward to meeting a new set of bakers in our class this Sunday...if you don't have plans, consider joining us as we have just a couple openings left.
Now onto our menu for this weekend! As customary, we will do a second and last round of Rosemary Olive Oil Semolina which was the special for last week. The new bread for this week is Roasted Garlic & Crushed Peppercorn. Our CSB folks already know of this one but this is the first time we are ever bringing it to the market. We hope you love the flavors as much as we do! Accompanying these two will be Cranberry Walnut and our Country Brown Sourdough. All our markets are rain or shine so we will be there waiting for you regardless...but let's cross fingers that it clears up by the time we set up so we can all get together!
Hello, E D G E B R O O K ๐
Today at the Rockford City Market, we are helping to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Rockford Peaches as part of a four-day State Bicentennial event from May 30 until June 3rd. The Rockford Peaches were made famous in the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own" and stars from the movie as well as original Peaches players will be at the market greeting people at the main stage. We are expecting a larger crowd than usual tonight and we hope you will also come out to celebrate these awesome ladies - the more the merrier!
We're also very excited to announce that starting next Wednesday, June 6th, C&C will be joining the Edgebrook Farmers Market. This is the longest running farmer's market in Rockford and it's held every Wednesday from 9am - 1pm from May through October in the parking lot of Edgebrook Shops at the intersection of N. Alpine and Highcrest. We're looking forward to making new friends there and getting to share our love of good bread with more folks. Our tent will be located next to Anderson Organics.
On the menu this weekend, we will be bringing Jalapeรฑo Cheddar loaves for one more round. Rosemary Olive Oil Semolina bread is our special for the week...this is one of our favorites because the entire bakery smells just heavenly from all the fresh rosemary whenever we make a batch of it. We will also have Country Brown, Baker & Brewer as well as Seeded Whole Wheat at all three markets this weekend.
Our booth may be moving around a bit up at the Downtown Beloit Farmer's Market weekly, so please check our Instagram or Facebook page on Saturday mornings for a location update.