Bread & Justice holiday gift guide
a gift guide & update on our November donation
Good morning bread friends!
I hope your December is starting off well. As a kid, I recall this time of year just being full of excitement and anticipation. I used to spend much of this month looking forward to getting a break from school, crafting wishlists for gifts, and making elaborate plans to balance my time playing in the snow and playing video games.
As an adult, the vibes of December are still nice but not the same. It turns out that having responsibilities is different than not having responsibilities. π€
Iβm still delighting in the Christmas spirit though. Recently Iβve been delightfully surprised by the DMs and emails that Iβve gotten from some folks asking for gift ideas related to making bread or pizza. These have inspired me today to share some of my suggestions for anyone in your life who might share a love for making either of these two exceptional foods.
Bread & Justice holiday gift guide
Books
Baking with Rosehill Sourdough - There is no recipe book that Iβve turned to more in the past couple of years of breadmaking than Mikeβs. And his isnβt even a physical book, it is an ebook. I canβt recommend this one enough as an easy and approachable place for beginner sourdough bakers.
Tartine Bread - this book by Chad Robertson is a through-line for almost all of the sourdough bakers that I know. I was gifted this book 4 years ago when I made my first attempt to learn sourdough bread making. When I picked it up again two years ago I was finally ready to dive deep into these couple hundred pages on sourdough breadmaking techniques. Itβs an excellent book and a lovely thing to sit with and admire someoneβs mastery of their craft.
New World Sourdough - I started following Bryan Ford on Instagram just a couple of months before seemingly everyone in the world turned to bread-making during the pandemic. What a fun time it has been to watch this black baker rise to prominence in the culinary world. In this book, he shares baking recipes that are close to his heart and inspired by his Honduran heritage.
Southern Ground - Iβm sure Iβve mentioned this book before. In this book, Jennifer Lapidus does a beautiful job sharing the beauty of wheat, and highlighting the diverse ways that bakers across the south are using her locally grown & milled grains.
Mastering Pizza - This book by Marc Vetri has a special place on my shelf. This was the first book that I was given when I was really βgetting into pizzaβ several years ago. I learned a lot of foundational techniques from this book.
The Pizza Bible - Tony Gemignani is one of the few chefs who has the credentials and experience to write a recipe book with expert recipes for a dozen different styles of pizza. As the title suggests, this is really the source of truth for many pizza makers.
The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide - I donβt need any convincingβ¦ but I really think Steve Dolinksy does an excellent job showing off why Chicago is the best city in America for pizza. This is a great coffee table book for a midwesterner, a Chicagoian, and anyone who would appreciate reading about the history of pizza.
The Joy of Pizza - This is the one book on this list that I donβt already have. But just recently heard an interview by the author Dan Richer, and I was so impressed with how he described his approach to writing this book that I put it on my list. This book just came out recently and Iβve already seen several of my friends in the pizza world singing its praises. I expect that youβll be delighted by this book.
Equipment
baking steel - I think this is the secret weapon to my Pizza Friday ritual. You can make pizza successfully on a sheet pan. You can make really good pizza on a baking stone. But since purchasing my Nerd Chef baking steel, I have really loved the way that my pizza crust has been turning out. This is a cool gift for someone whoβs been making pizza for a while and would appreciate a new tool.
bread lame - If youβre making sourdough bread, you are likely scoring your bread somehow to control the shape of the bake. Iβve used knives, scissors, and razor blades held by cheap bread lames. I wouldnβt have guessed how much I appreciate this thoughtfully crafted lame from wire monkey. Every bread maker that I know who has one really enjoys using it.
digital food scale - I actually canβt recommend you have a food scale enough. If youβre at all interested in making pizza or bread at homeβ¦ the very first step to improving your game is getting a food scale. Iβve linked to a local shop that sells them because I donβt have a strong recommendation of which brand scale to useβ¦ you just really need one.
food thermometer - If a food scale is the number one tool that you need, having a trusty food thermometer is soon behind that on the list. Between testing the temperatures of water, dough that is proofing, and bread or other products that are done baking⦠I use this at least a dozen times every week. Keeping track of the temperature of things is especially key for sourdough, where time and temperature are the two variables that are going to impact the fermentation process the most.
Ingredients
Meadowlark flour - Fresh flour tastes better. Most of the flour that I use in my bread is from Meadowlark. Weβve switched to using them predominantly for all of our household baking. We also buy cornmeal from them and our cornbread has never tasted so good. I canβt recommend this local company enough.
Umami Salt - made in Madisonβ¦ this salt is my favorite way to take a slice of toast to a whole different level. My toast technique is unsalted butter on the bread, and then a pinch of this salt that has a punch of umami flavor to it from the shiitake mushrooms. Writing about this salt, Iβm now salivating a little just thinking about the next time Iβll use this saltβ¦ which is honestly probably in about an hour. I consider this the best stocking stuffer gift Iβve ever been given.
Donating Profits from November
As you likely know, each month we donate 100% of our profits to a different nonprofit whose work is furthering justice and combating racism. For the month of November, we agreed to donate all of our profits to Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA). With all of the bread that you all purchased, we are able to donate $520 to this great nonprofit that was created to advocate for and support all levels of food security and food sovereignty in local, tribal, regional, national, and international arenas. Weβre excited to support NAFSAβs ongoing advocacy, education, and networking of grassroots practitioners, communities, and tribal governments as they revitalize their indigenous food systems. If you decided to contribute to them also, as always please do let me know - as I love sharing about the collective impact that this community makes.
Thank you all for being a part of this community. I look forward to sharing bread with you soon. On that noteβ¦ this weeksβ bread is available for pre-order right now π As soon as you order it, youβll get instructions for how youβll pickup your loaf on Thursday.
Cheers!
Mo Cheeks