Inspire Me

Doorstep bakers love a challenge. Many years ago I received a monthly news letter written by a midwife/herbalist whose publication was centered upon mothering and home keeping, two pursuits that are near to my heart. One month we readers were challenged to see if we could do without all of the appliances that seem to creep onto counter tops and are advertised to make our cooking lives not only easier but faster as well. By doing without all these time savers we could more mindfully and peacefully begin the work of human hands, cook from a real plan that made a dedicated effort in meal preparation a priority. Recently we took that challenge seriously.

Goodbye toaster, crock pot, microwave, mixer, food processor, coffee maker etc.

Our counter tops were suddenly clean and begging for inspiration. I had to resist the temptation to put a cute kitchen lamp on the counter nearest the kitchen table. Instead we opted for bowls of fresh produce.

 Beautiful and truly inspiring. Seeing the fruits and vegetable displayed in a tableau of possibilities made me eager to create a meal. For supper that evening we enjoyed fresh bread (of course) and ratatouille .

Naturally it won't  take much time before my beautiful tableau of inspiration will be joined by books, pencils, packages, water bottles, notebooks, cookbooks, dolls, cell phones, tote bags and all the items that reflect a busy kitchen and a household of souls. I think that I like that tableau the best.

Bread for All for All Time

Doorstep Bakery likes nothing better than to take advantage of those unique opportunities to research the importance of bread through the ages. Being a family of bakers married to patient men who enjoy the benefits of our baking allows that we are able to indulge our interests when time and inclination collide. Recently our daughter's husband, who is a park ranger by profession was asked to take part in a reenactment at the 2011 Fort Loudon Trade Faire (French and Indian War of 1756-1760) celebrated at Fort Loundon State Park located in Vonore,Tennessee. Of course the event was fabulous but the best part as far as we bakers are concerned, (besides seeing Bart dressed for the event) was tasting the delicious authentic bread of that time period.

Park Ranger Hobart 

The bread eaten during the 1700s was not the fluffy white stuff we may think of as bread for today. It was the hearty, brown sourdough version baked in campfires using a Dutch oven or a communal wood fired oven. We are excited and pleased to tell you that we bakers here at Doorstep are striving to return to this healthier offering of daily bread. Using a tried and true sourdough starter that contains NO artificial yeast or yeast by products and a fresh organic mixture of white and whole wheat flours which we bake in a Dutch oven we feel that we are somehow connected in spirit to our bread baking sisters of ages past. Daily bread is still a pleasing way of life.

The girls enjoying a lunch of bread and cheese.

Recipe Friday!

Each Friday we will post one of our favorite, simple and also delicious recipes.  These recipes are perfect in their taste appeal and compliment rustic bread.  
Today's offering is

Honey infused with Rosemary


Ingredients
1 cup of honey
3 sprigs of rosemary (washed and dried)

Slowly warm the honey in a saucepan over medium to low heat.  After the honey is warm to the touch remove from heat, then place the sprigs of rosemary into the warm honey.  Steep the rosemary and honey for
 5 to 10 minutes, depending upon personal taste, and desired strength.  The longer it steeps the stronger taste of rosemary.  When desired strength is reached remove rosemary sprigs and after the honey has cooled; pour into an appropriate container, store at room temperature.  

We enjoy this on toasted bread in the morning or drizzled over ricotta cheese for dessert. 


 We prefer Hansen's Honey.  Tracey Hansen and her family operate Milk and Honey Farm in Manchester, TN  931-952-1224
Enjoy!

Hansen Family Honey...delicious! 

                                

Granola Day

Thursday is our granola day. We like to make a large batch of this wonderful treat to take with us to the two farmer's markets  that we attend on Thursday evening and Saturday morning. Our customers are loyal and make the granola one of our best selling items.  It is an easy recipe and lends itself to much adaptation and creativity. Naturally, those in our family  away at college or living on their own like to receive a bag or two of Doorstep Granola in a care package sent from home.Watch for our recipe in upcoming posts.

First step is mixing the base of the granola; oats, honey and a little butter.

Baked and ready to add the dried fruits.

Dried apricots always look great and taste wonderful.

Finished with the mixing now ready to bag up...delicious !

Chilly Days and Warming Ways

We bakers of Doorstep Bakery like nothing better than to bake for ourselves as well as for our customers. A cold, rainy day inspires a menu of homemade vegetable soup and fresh French sourdough bread. Our soup recipe is easy and the bread of choice is the perfect compliment. There is something primal in serving a simple meal to family as we gather together for the evening meal. I read about a elderly French baker who at the end of the morning's  baking for his tiny shop, would survey the hearty boules lined up on the tall cooling racks in the shop's storefront. The baker would carefully select the finest boule to take home to his family for the noon day meal. Our motto is 'Fresh bread for supper, then toast for breakfast.' Daily bread is a pleasing lifestyle.

Each Wednesday we will feature a product that is not only unique to our bakery but available for purchase should you so desire. Today's offering is called a French bread bag. Breathable containers are perfect for storing sourdough bread. Sourdough bread needs to breathe in order to maintain its special character. Two women make the bread bags that we use in our bakery. You can purchase the bread bags from their ETSY account. Search on the ETSY sight for Boule Bread Bag.

A view of the rainy day.

One of the warming ways...vegetable soup.

Soup is not complete without bread for dipping.

An old fashioned idea that suits today needs.

Bread bag

Local, Sustainable and Fresh

Recently the 'bakers' from Doorstep took a trip to visit family. It is always of keen interest to us to seek out those opportunities that will inspire our personal efforts as we strive to develop our bakery's mission. Visiting a small independent grocer, touring a community garden tucked away on an empty city lot, or enjoying  fresh produce that is local and seasonal are moments that lift our spirits, making us feel connected to a larger group of kindred souls. You needn't go far from home to find such opportunities, but it is always nice to see them wherever you go.
For us, the best of local and sustainable is our county's farmer's market. Here we can recharge our efforts to celebrate the best our local economy has to offer  through the entire experiences of being both a vendor and a customer.

Getting the van packed for Bean's Creek Farmers Market.

Each plot showed the different personalities of the growers, this plot had cute little 

eggplants.

Two of the bakers looking at all the fresh, delicious produce.

The local grocery we visited, with a little bit of everything.  

We loved the name and the walk we took to get there.

Farmer's Markets

Doorstep Bakery is a family owned business, which strives to revive and celebrate the village bakery tradition.Using the finest organic ingredients and the best produce from our local economy we work each bake day to deliver a quality product that we like to say 'feeds the body and nourishes the soul'.
Because we are working to weave our business in and around the daily activities of our home, we face certain challenges that only serve to make our journey that much more interesting. 
Our small bakery feels that working with vs in a building away from our home allows our work to be a holy witness to our children and grandchildren. We like to say 'someday this  bakery will be yours.'

In addition to building a business we desire to raise awareness of the importance of supporting our local economy. For this reason we support the Slow Food Movement (www.slowfood.com) and we are members of the Real Bread Campaign (www.sustainweb.org/realbread). Our products are featured on the Pick Tennessee website (www.picktnproducts.org)
Because Doorstep Bakery operates from our own kitchen it was necessary that we be liscensed as a Domestic Kitchen under the guidelines set forth by the Tenn. Dept of Agriculture.
We do not maintain a storefront but chose instead to be vendors at our local farmer's markets. And this is where the journey begins....