An end to this chapter...

After much deliberation, the bakers of F & D have come together and decided that the end of this summer's bread share will mark the conclusion of Fancy & Delicious Bakery.  We are grateful for the opportunity to gain skills, experience, and the love of baking, and look forward to how our shared passion for bread will manifest in future projects.  Thank you to all who have supported us, our bread, and our mission.

Signing off, with love and gratitude
f&d

Whew! back from the Kneading Conference 2012

We're well into the summer share, and I took a week off to journey to the wild interior of Maine for a bread conference and fair.  I didn't really know what to expect other than the possibility that I could bring back some useful skills and info that F&D could use.

Babysitting a starter: best part of work study

From the first class on baking with sprouted grain flour to the last panel on the business of baking, it was a wild ride of knowledge acquisition.  By the end of each day my brain felt like a sponge that couldn't absorb any more water.

And aside from the useful baking techniques and know-how I brought back, there were the human connections.  The best part was that everyone there was crazy about bread, and I went into each casual conversation with no inkling whether the person I was talking to was a home enthusiast or a celebrated instructor and professional baker (hey, I could have done a little preliminary stalking, but where's the fun in that?)  I went in thinking that our little bakery would be nothing special compared to the bread world stars I'd meet, but then met people who had heard of F&D, people who thought the bread share model was awesome and aspired to one day run a bakery like ours (!!!), and people whose illustrious baking careers inspired me even more.

The sprouted flour workshop resulted in some of the best bread I have EVER tried.  The local butter didn't hurt it either

Skowhegan ME is the center of a local movement that involves millers, farmers, bakers, and myriad other local producers (can we talk about the local cheese?)   Their vacated county jail building has been transformed into a grist mill by members of the Main Grain Alliance, which was an ambitious and logistically daunting undertaking.  I am blown away by all of the good stuff happening up there and inspired to dive more into Buffalo's local food movement.

Jailhouse no more!

I also have a mean case of oven envy.  Most of the workshops were run out of mobile wood-fired ovens, and the smells were reminiscent of baking days of yore at our clay oven on the East Side.  There is no bread like bread from a wood-fired oven.  The gas ovens we work with now just can't compare (sorry Ol' Wondermoth.)  Maybe someday we can once again run production out of a clay or brick oven.  Who knows what the future holds?

How to wash the MGA's oven: "like a car." Photo shamelessly borrowed from newfound comrade Katie at Slowfire

Anyway, lots of food for thought.  The Kneading Conference is recommended for any baking enthusiast who wants to take it to the next level, whatever that level might be.  Especially if you get accepted to the work study program.  And want to carpool from Buffalo.

A.

p.s. Fancy and Delicious is hosting a film screening on Thursday as part of the Infringement Festival.  Check it out.  A few details:

The Take is an incredible film about organizing, worker cooperatives, and globalization!

Unemployed Argentinian factory workers seize the shut down factories from their previous owners in the wake of the 2001 economic meltdown, putting them under worker self- management. All they want is to restart the machines. But the act – The Take – has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

a documentary film by Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein

Presented with special thanks to the Coalition for Economic Justice and the Worker Cooperative Forum Series

SUMMER BREAD SHARE

We're gearing up for another 12 week bread share.  It starts June 30 - which is this Saturday.  If you haven't signed up or renewed and would like to, please email us! or call us! (716) 534-8385

More details:

The share will run from June 30 to Sept 22 and will skip the weekend of August 11.  It costs $60.  Pickup will be from 2-4pm at the Nickel City Co-op house at 208 North St. (the big brick house at the corner of Elmwood and North.)  We usually distribute the bread on the porch; if not, the front door will be open and we'll be in the front room.

We'll be offering familiar breads like sourdough, deli rye, struan (sweet whole wheat multigrain), and of course our cult favorite cinnamon raisin.  We'll have new breads on offer like a sweet oatmeal loaf that's great for toasting, a sourdough with seeds, and we're developing a pumpernickel recipe.

Our flour is organic, grown and ground in Ithaca.  We use local honey and will be switching to alternate sweeteners for our cinnamon raisin swirl (formerly white sugar.)  We buy our ingredients from local distributors and when possible source them from independent stores in Buffalo a bike's ride away from our kitchen space. 

Our success in the past and hopes for the future are grounded in our connections with community members who love our bread, believe in our mission, and support our vision to become Buffalo's cooperative artisan bakery and spread our baked goods far and wide. 

In bread we trust,
F&D

p.s. Join us on Wednesday at 8:30pm for our forum on worker cooperatives!

Join us as we cooperatify!

This year is the United Nations International Year of the Cooperative.  And on Tuesday the Common Council of the City of Buffalo honored local coops with a proclamation.  "So what?" you might ask.  Well, our little bakery is made up of folks involved in various coops around town, including Nickel City Housing Coop, the Buffalo Cooperative Credit Union, and Lexington Coop, and we're big believers in the cooperative movement.  After a lot of thought and discussion, we decided that as Fancy and Delicious moves forward, we will be restructuring into a worker cooperative. 

To steal Wikipedia's definition, "A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically managed by its worker-owners."  Our bread won't be drastically altered, but the way we run our business will.

Two of our bakers, Tori and Emily, will be attending the 2012 National Worker Cooperative Conference this month and will return to present their findings in a forum at Nickel City, the house where we distribute the bread.  Join us on Wednesday June 27 at 8pm, 208 North St. to learn and discuss the worker cooperative model.  Or come early for a house potluck dinner starting at 7!

F&D at Allen West Fest!

This weekend we'll have a table at Allen West (you know, the festival on the western end of the Allentown Art Festival) and will be signing up shareholders for summer, giving samples, and saying hi to friends old and new.  Stop by and see us if you're in the neighborhood!

For more info on the summer share or to sign up, drop us a line... more will be posted here too!  Stay tuned!

Last week of the spring bread share!

Whew!

This has been a fantastic three months.  We've made some of the most delicious bread in our history and are fired up with plans for the future.  We debuted some exciting new varieties last week at a bread tasting and are dreaming of what we could do with our own kitchen.  Baking more than once a week?  Outlandish!

We'll be taking a few weeks off to catch our collective breath, but will be returning for our SUMMER BREAD SHARE on June 30.  There will be more announcements about this, be assured.  There are lots of exciting things in the works for our little bakery, but until they're solid they're staying under the hat.

For now, thanks to all of our wonderful shareholders and supporters.  Without you we would not be Fancy & Delicious.

In bread we trust,
F&D

Bread party!

This Saturday will be the penultimate week of the spring bread share, and to celebrate this and announce the details of our summer share, we are having a bread party!

You are cordially invited to join us for food&drink, bread samples galore, music, bread-based camaraderie, and ideally some really nice weather best enjoyed from the Nickel City Housing Co-op's beautiful brick porch on the corner of Elmwood and North.  Swing by all afternoon and early evening, we'll be around.  There will be opportunities to give feedback on this past share and suggestions for the next.  And there might be some exciting announcements!

(There's a Facebook event page here if you're a FB type: http://www.facebook.com/events/430550946973824/)

We'll be giving out more details about the summer bread share, but for now: it starts June 30.  It's $60 (or $55 for returning shareholders who renew before the end of this share.)  And part-time baker Emily has been cooking up a pumpernickel recipe for all you lovers of dark bread.

In bread we trust,
F&D

Halfway!

Today is the 7th bake day of our 12 week spring bread share - which means we're halfway through the share!

With six kinds of bread - four introduced for the first time this spring - and the help of apprentices Emily and Ben, this share has been a treat.  Especially making it all worthwhile is the support of our awesome shareholders.  Seeing these folks show up every week has been very very cool.

Here's to a successful second half of the spring share!  Raise your toasts and toast!

This week's bread (March 10)

On Saturday we'll be offering two fresh new faces in the bread lineup and of course a perennial favorite.

Cinnamon raisin, still hot from the oven

Nickel City Sourdough
An American original.  This bread is made with a sourdough starter we maintain, which lends it a flavor and rising power specific to Buffalo-area wild yeasts making it a truly local bread.  Pick up this boule if you'd like to see how F&D interprets the age-old naturally leavened bread tradition.

Brewhouse
New recipe for this season!  Instead of baking yeast, we use brewing yeast from a culture used by noted homebrewing enthusiast R. Turley, who runs the Buffalo Barn Raisers home brewing workshop each month.  It's also packed with spent grain from the brewing process.  A hearty and unique bread!  (And if you're wondering, it doesn't taste too beery, and not at all like hops)

Cinnamon Raisin
Cult following?  Pretty much.  We offer this bread every week by popular demand.  Our cinnamon raisin features a hefty dose of whole wheat flour, local honey, and a cinnamon sugar swirl that melts into a delicious goo.  Has been known to occasionally convert raisin bread haters.  Bring one home to satisfy that sweet tooth.

If your heart is set on getting a specific one of these, email us and we'll reserve you a loaf of the desired type!

Meet the bakers!

So the first week of the spring share is in the bag, and you may wonder - who are the people baking this bread?

F&D was founded by two people, Matt and Maura, who have moved onwards and upwards.  The people running the show at present are Allison and Tori.  For the spring share and perhaps beyond, they've brought Ben and Emily on board.  Meet the bakers:

L-R: Tori, Marty, Ben, Allison, and Emily

Tori was a late bloomer in the baking world, as she grew up in the 90s when society feared carbs.  By her early 20s she lovingly rekindled her relationship with complex carbohydrates, and while living in Manhattan, she discovered the magical world of challah, bagels, and sourdough rye, and began experimenting in the kitchen.  Several years ago, Tori began spending summers working at a farm camp, teaching youth to live closer to the land by raising animals, growing food, and cooking wholesome meals from scratch.  Upon moving to Buffalo in 2009, Tori learned more about urban farming, natural building, and the local foods movement, which inevitably led her to a Fancy and Delicious Baking Workshop in the summer of 2010. Tori immediately apprenticed as a baker and by autumn of 2011, she and Allison inherited Fancy and Delicious from its founders, Maura and Matt. Tori believes everyone deserves access to healthy, wholesome food. She loves teaching the art of baking bread, a craft which allows us all to discover an active, dynamic relationship with our food supply.  Baking bread is an ancient everyday ritual which spans many cultures. When baking, Tori feels connected to that history and to the earth.

Allison grew up baking cookies and cakes in Atlanta, GA with her mother.  When her mom took up bread baking she urged Allison, now in Buffalo, to try a simple recipe.  Allison failed on an epic scale that first time but kept trying.  She and her partner began maintaining a sourdough starter shortly before she discovered F&D through their workshops, and that was that.  Whenever she worries that she thinks too much about food and related societal questions, she reminds herself that food is one of the most basic requirements to sustain life and so its importance can't really be overstated.  Introduced to a "learn to teach, teach to learn" mindset in an Outdoor Education setting, she believes that F&D's workshops are a fantastic way to both enable people to create and access good food and to hone her own knowledge and craft.

Ben and Emily wrote each other's bios and took the assignment quite seriously.  Enjoy:

Cultivated by loins from behind the iron curtain, B. Madoff's genes have been germinating like a fine yeast within only the best sourdough starters. While native to the land of Ohio, B. Madoff has migrated north to take over the once sovereign nation of Western New York. His monarchy is only in its initial stages, but his plans are great as they begin with Fancy and Delicious. Fear not, my friends, for B. Madoff is a fair king only taking what is his, and leaving the gleanings to his followers. But be warned, bread will only be for the worthy!

Emily came from Nashville Tennessee riding a rainbow of dreams.  She spends her days forging communities from the greatest people this land has to offer.  This same spirit drives her bread baking - gathering great ingredients, seeing what each has to offer, and kneading them passionately into little loaves of southern charm.  It is not an act of creation, but transmutation, with every element reaching its full potential!

And finally, Marty was a professional baker for years before taking a bread hiatus.  He's joining us on a more casual scale during this share to rekindle his enjoyment of baking and share both breadbaking know-how and an impeccable taste in baking soundtracks (aka Thriller.)

Last chance for a share! And thanks for coming to our party!

First off, thanks to everyone who has bought a share, supported F&D throughout the years, and/or come to our event on Saturday.  The bread tasting party was a night jam-packed with old and new friends, music, home crafted beverages and of course bread of many kinds.  We should throw parties more often, this one was a blast! More pictures at our Facebook page.

There are still shares available – we've reached our minimum but not our maximum capacity.  Here are the details again:

F&D Spring bread share
3 months (12 weeks) of fresh baked bread
One loaf per week
$50 per share
Pickup on Saturdays from 2-4 at the front of 208 North St.

Contact fancyanddelicious@gmail.com or (716) 534-8385 to secure a share.  We accept cash or checks.

Oh!  And for our first week of the share (a.k.a. this Saturday, March the 3rd) we'll be offering cinnamon raisin, sourdough rye and a new favorite: struan, a sweet whole wheat multigrain that was a huge hit at the party.

Bread party! Bread share! All bread all the time!!

You, yes you are cordially invited to an evening of bread, beverages, and fun with the bakers of F&D!

That's right.  Swing by Nickel City Coop on Saturday and try six of the breads we'll be offering for the spring share and beyond – some are all new and some are old favorites! *ahem cinnamon raisin, ahem*

Oh, and the party doubles as an opportunity to sign up for a Spring Bread Share.  If you can't make it to the party but still want to reserve your share, email fancyanddelicious@gmail.com.  (You can find more share details in this post!)

You'll also be able to meet and talk bread with the bakers of Fancy & Delicious: Tori and Allison (owners) and Ben and Emily (new bakers this season.)  Stay tuned to this blog for a "meet the bakers" intro, coming soon!

We're very excited about delivering the best bread we can all Spring long.  In bread we trust,

F&D

Announcing our spring bread share! [updated]

12 weeks of fresh-baked bread.
March 3 - May 19.
Made by hand in Buffalo's Allentown neighborhood using local and organic ingredients.

The nitty gritty details:

Each Saturday you'll pick up a loaf of fresh bread: either cinnamon raisin, white sourdough, or a multigrain wild card.  We'll be distributing out of the Nickel City Co-op house at 208 North St. (corner of North and Elmwood) from 2-4pm on Saturdays.

A share is $50, which is roughly $4 per loaf.

You can pay for a share with cash or a check.  Mail to:
Fancy & Delicious Bakery
c/o Tori Kuper
208 North St.
Buffalo, NY 14201

***We will only be able to run this share if more than 50 shareholders sign on!***

We love our shareholders and the strong community support and love we've been lucky to have throughout the years.

Reserve a share via our email at fancyanddelicious@gmail.com or call (716) 534-8385.  Payment in full is due by February 27.

Moving and Shaking

...or is it dancing and kneading?  Either way, baker ladies Tori and Allison have been spending the holiday madness season making and eating bread, and dreaming up what this year will hold for Fancy & Delicious.

New Year's Resolutions:
Start baking naturally leavened F&D bread (aka sourdough)
Gearing our winter workshops toward artisan baking in a home oven
Spring and summer bread shares!
Bringing a few new bakers up to speed
Working toward a kitchen of our own... with a certified indoor clay oven?

Stay tuned as we keep you all up to date on these moves... it's an exciting time.

the joys of home baking

Tori went on a whirlwind tour of home baking, cranking out challah, struan, pain au levain, and an eerily airy 100% whole wheat in the space of about a week.  While visiting family, Allison took a jaunt to San Francisco and managed to snag the last loaf of the day at Tartine (as well as a brick of Danish rye bread made by Anna's Daughters) and returned to town super inspired by the hard work of Bay Area bakers and lactobacillus sanfranciscensis and resolving to bring her sourdough starter back out of its refrigerated hibernation.

Tartine's spelt rye bread

We've also been graced with the ineffable presence of Baker Emeritus, founder and spirit animal Mo who is swinging through town on a brief return visit from her Pacific Northwest sabbatical.  Hanging out with Mo always involves some deep talk and thought on bread, mission, vision, community, and food's place in the world, and we're always inspired by time spent with her.

Happy 2012 to all F&D friends and supporters!  You also inspire us.  Here's to a year that will see us all nourished well in body and spirit.