A cold winter's night in Vancouver and a day off. Relaxing on the couch in front of the fireplace and yet again there is snow stuck to our patio table. Christmas is coming and the preparations are underway. I am knitting up a storm, planning the food and figuring out where to put the tree.

Vancouver is not usually this cold and the house was not made for these temperatures. So, curled up on the couch we are working on our new café menu. I actually love the cold crisp air and being next to the warm fire. However it's cold enough out there that all I want to do is roast and bake.

I still think turning the oven on is the best way to keep warm on a cold winter day. Not surprising that I became a Baker.

Christmas baking

When I was a kid, I use to do Christmas baking with my mom and even as an adult, we would often get together and do a bunch of baking and have it all ready for the holiday season. This year, we are inviting our customers to do Christmas baking with me. I am so looking forward to it. Attached is the poster for our Christmas baking workshop.

French bread

As someone who reacts to wheat and being the spelt baker, every time I travel I take my flour and ingredients with me to make spelt bread.

In 2008, Christine and I went to France. I took our organic spelt flour from the bakery as well as a few other key ingredients to make bread while we were away. As much as I love eating all sorts of other foods. 2 weeks without bread is just too long for me and so usually when I travel I bake bread. Maybe it's just loving baking as much as I do, I can't quite imagine spending two weeks without making a loaf or 600.

When we were in the North of France staying with Christine's family, I baked a large loaf of bread in the convection oven at her parents place in the photo above. I made a sponge one day with yeast and then made the bread in a similar way to Janet's Country Bread that we sell at the Spelt Bakery. And yes, that bread is named after me.

I was so amazed by the flavour and texture of the bread. It was different than what I usually have in Vancouver, but it was exactly the same ingredients EXCEPT for the water. Finally I figured it out. The reason that bread is different in France compared to North America is the water. It was the only difference.


Having made bread for as many years as I have, I can tell by texture what a dough should be like to make a good loaf of bread. At the most recent workshop on bread and buns, I was able to show people the texture that the dough should be and everyone was amazed at the height of their bread. I also showed them how to correct a dough if it is too stiff or too soft.

I made a beautiful dough in France, soft and pliable. I baked it the way I would here in Vancouver and I ended up with a loaf of bread with a nice hard chewy crust and a porous crumb on the inside. The picture above was the loaf that I ended up with.

That was a fantastic trip of a lifetime, family, adventure and a great loaf of bread.
That is what I call living the high life.