December 9th, 2008 - Bread, wonderful, wonderful bread (and the Winter Market)
I very, very rarely rave about things I buy except those I really, really, really love. I will commence raving now (actually, I haven’t stopped since Saturday!): I have discovered an artisan bread maker from the other side of the lake, RealBread. I love bread. I make a few loaves a week at home. And I would buy his bread a few times a week if it were sold in Oshkosh. I have been raving about it since I tried it Saturday and bought a loaf at the indoor Winter Farmer’s Market up in Appleton. Mostly, just to Eric and Maggie since they are the ones around when I eat it LOL, but I just can’t say enough about how fantastic it is–it’s dense and flavorful and savory and complex. I never understood what that meant in terms of bread but I’ve seen/read it. Now I understand. This is complex bread.
And the coolest thing is that he is starting a bread share–like a CSA but with bread. And he’s going to deliver to Oshkosh (I think the NDC downtown but that’s not confirmed) starting in January. He’s willing to deliver for just a few of us this first time, but needs 10 to keep it going beyond that, so I’m trying to drum up business for him with the few folks I know around town. Right now, I wish I were more connected, especially with green folks who might be into this sort of thing like me. I’m a bit stuck with a few folks on campus and my Covenant Group from church. And this is the last week of classes, so I’m not sure how much interest I’ll get here. But I’m going to try. Already told Peter about it, and maybe he’ll share it with others over there. Especially if I get some bread to hand out. (The baker hopes to get some to me, but with the weather, I’m not sure he’ll get to Oshkosh this week.)
So, I tried his honey whole wheat and something else. And then I didn’t even buy either one of those, I got a 40% rye instead. See, he always makes the flaxseed ones, and the honey one will be around until he runs out of the barrel of honey he traded for a bread share, but the 40% rye was a first-run trial and it might never appear again. It was yummy, however, so I hope it does. And it just goes to show how great a bread maker he is if he can make up something and it’s completely yummy and he can sell it without even having tried it himself! I was tempted by the sourdough baguette as well. Actually, everything is sourdough, but not a strong sourdough, just like the ones I was making. (The only similarity–not a strong sour taste.) I ate the bread for lunch Saturday; breakfast, lunch, and a snack Sunday; lunch Monday; and lunch again today. That will be the end of it. ::sigh:: It only lasted this long because of the diet. Otherwise, I could have eaten the whole thing on the weekend.
And the Winter Market! I’ve known about it for a year, but never went. Almost didn’t go this year, with the whole cutting down on driving we’ve been doing. I found out Stephen goes, and made vague plans to go with him some time. Then I mentioned it to Eric and he reminded me he needed to make an exchange at the mall. So we did both errands on Saturday morning. The market took far more time–and money–than I’d expected! There’s meat [bison, Cattleana farms, elk, sausage guy], goat cheese and milk, caramel corn, a whole grains baker, crafts, cheese, canned goods (from pickles to syrups to sauerkraut) and farmers (mainly root crops plus at least one person with eggs). It was far more than I was expecting from it and I so wish it were down here in Oshkosh! But this bread alone (and the feta cheese from the goat farm is fantastic with it) is worth the trip to the Market, frankly.
We bought: a bison chuck roast (made yesterday in the crockpot), Cattleana meats (that’s the place where we’ve regularly bought meat), feta cheese, fresh cheese curds (they squeeked!), jalapeno pickles (since Eric didn’t like mine, we’re trying someone else’s), a whole grain chocolate chip cookie (when Maggie got hungry and I didn’t think of the curds), tomato sausage and brats (had them Saturday night; good, but not organic), Jerusalem artichokes (I wanted to grow them last summer, but only found them at my usual places in 5# bags which is far more than I needed), and eggs (green ones! and speckled brown ones! They are so pretty. I have to show them to Maggie.)
Darn, writing down that list has just made me even more eager to go back again…except it’s a long drive just to get eggs, bread, and cheese each week. Maybe once a month.
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