Third and Bird was two weeks ago, but somehow feels like just yesterday and a year ago!!! What a crazy week and to follow it up mothers day. I am incredibly grateful for all the support that we get from our amazing customers. We could not do it without everyone. Third and Bird was another very tiring but successful week for us. Long hours means, night bakes and day bakes around the clock for three full days. The spring Third and Bird marks the return of our amazing feta dill sourdough that will now be available for the rest of the summer, using fresh dill. Lots of fresh dill. We made the most pastries that we ever have for any market, we were so happy to have had our new sheeter for this event. For those who don’t know what a sheeter is, it basically saves our arms from getting carpal tunnel too soon 🙂 No but really, it’s like two rolling pins that rolls out your dough for you, rolling it back and forth making it thinner and thinner. Saves your arms and a whole lot of time so we can make lots of tasty pastries! Like the super one that we made for mothers day. Take our Kouign Amann (a caramelized croissant) and injecting it with lime pastry cream. Soooooo good! Sold out of them for all those amazing mamas out there! No time to rest for us though. Coming up is the grand opening of the summer St. Norbert Farmers market starting May long! That will mark the start of our craziness for the summer to come!

Oh who are we kidding, we can tell you what happened in Vegas! For those who don’t already know, Holly and I, went to Las Vegas for a pizza and artisan bread expo. We ate pizza, met bread celebrities (I was in love), and most of all learnt lots to bring back with us. The trip was both educational but also affirming that, yes, we are on the right track. Running a small business is difficult and you tend to question yourself quite a bit. Are we filing things properly, are we correct in the way we cost and price our products, etc… Hearing other entrepreneurs speak about there businesses was so great, hearing the mistakes they have made and where there bakeries are at not was very humbling. Now for the things you really want to know! What goodies will we be baking up here at home that I learnt out there. Get ready for a variety of new rye breads, spent grain sourdough, and kouign-amann! I got to meet Stanley Ginsberg, an expert in rye breads and author of the the “The Rye Baker” It’s an excellent book and I’m looking forward to sharing the results with everyone. Spent grain is the fermented grain after which beer is made and bottled. It’s rich and earthy in flavour and extremely healthy for you. This formula that we will be trying out comes from the new cook book (Heritage Baking) that Ellen King wrote. Her bakery is just outside of Chicago. Now I know, what the heck is kouign-amann? (kween aman) Its essentially a caramelized croissant that’s in the shape of a muffin. All you need to know is its sweet, salty, chewy, soft with a crisp crunchy exterior. Over all amazing! Come in and ask for me (Julie) to talk to you more about all of these exciting new creations.

It’s been quite awhile since the last post, sorry for this, the bakery life is quite a busy one that ranges through all hours of the day. Now with Christmas and NewYears done and lets not forget about busy busy Valentines day we have finally come to a brief cool down rest. It’s a short one before the busyness of spring and markets are to come so it’s important to really try to rest up and restore so we can really bring our best baking selves to you. You might ask: how do we rest up for the next race? Going to the beach? Relaxing by the fireside? Sleeping? Oh how I wish it were all of those, especially the sleeping but no, it is not. Instead we rest by getting inspired by other bakers, learning the up and coming in the bread and pastry world, and getting amazing advice and ideas from bakeries around the world. That’s why for the first week in March Holly and I (Julie) will be attending the Artisan bread and pizza conference in Las Vegas. We are so looking forward to telling you all about what we learnt and bring some of these great ideas to the bakery.

With Spring in the air, Old Church Bakery is getting prepared for the fresh new season. Our buttery croissants can’t seem to make it through the morning before they are sold out, so we decided to get a little help with production and got ourselves a sheeter! This  is a dream come true for the bakers at Old Church Bakery. What does this mean for you? More croissants, croissants available everyday, and an even bigger selection of croissants! Starting this week we are getting to know our new sheeter and you can expect these croissants to hit our counter any day.

With Spring comes warmer weather. That means the markets will be beginning soon. Before we start with the outside markets we will be attending a couple of indoor artisan craft shows in Winnipeg, which I know we’ve all been looking forward to. Lucky Girl Pop Up Shop will start us off from April 21+22 from 10-4 at the Hut K Gallery Space 300 Ross Avenue.  We will be there on the 22nd and looking forward to seeing so many of Manitoba’s talented people. On May 4th and 5th we will be at Third + Bird at The Bay downtown. Our Feta Dill Sourdough will make their season appearance at these shows and will be available at the bakery as well.

Our first Sourdough Basics class will be held in Spring. If you are interested in attending a class leave your name and number at the bakery and we will announce a second class shortly.

Happy Spring everyone!