Dear bread friends,

I have been promising a newsletter for a while, and finally I have put one together for you!

In each monthly newsletter you will find a little recipe, a reminder in case you’ve missed any updates to my book, and news about new bread-things that are happening.

It has been an exciting couple of months!

I moved house!

I sold bread at my first ever market (and realised that I definitely need a bigger oven, because 10 loaves was not enough)!

And I have done a few collaborations with @abc_everyday including a video about making your own starter, a sourdough for beginner’s recipe and a recipe for Swedish Sourdough Knots with Chocolate and Cinnamon. Also following all your great questions about sourdough starter, we’ve compiled list of sourdough starter FAQs.

In the last week or so, I have finally had sometime to add a couple of new sections to my book Live Laugh Loaf. One section is about flour – how to choose and source out great local flour to bake bread with.

Another new section tells you what I’ve learnt about how to control the sourness of your loaf.

The last new section talks about yeast and the difference between sourdough and commercial yeast – something I have been wondering about for a while and finally had time to do some research into.

They’re highlighted in pink in the table of contents so you can tell which things are new.

Also, I’ve added in a recipe to the book for vegan cardamom scrolls because you have been asking for a vegan scroll variant!

Once you’ve got Live Laugh Loaf (paperback or ebook) you can always re-download it to get the newest ebook version! The code to download it for free is at the back of the book, on the last page.

Currently I am making a little book/zine of haikus about bread. Keep an eye out for it, I will write about it more on Insta soon. I have sooo many unused photos of bread, and so many poem ideas, a little zine/book of bread haikus seems like the only solution! Here is a sourdough starter haiku for you, I hope you enjoy it.

To my dear starer

I was going to feed you

But then I forgot

I have been thinking about running some face to face sourdough workshops in Adelaide. I don’t have concrete dates set out yet, probably in January some time. Would you like to join? If yes, send me a reply and let me know and I’ll pop your name on the list of interested persons for the workshops. I’ve been thinking about doing a croissant workshop too!

A recipe for you.

Toast Meal no.1: spicy, lemony toast

This is one of my favourite toast meals. I have strong opinions about the legitimacy of bread as a meal or a main component of a meal in its own right. It is a filling, nourishing and healthy option that for some reason has been shamed for being a trashy food choice. It’s not! Your toast meal is a great meal and you should never feel bad about eating a fancy toast for dinner!

A side note: I recently re-read the book Ester, part of the Somekind Press Takeaway series and felt very validated about all my thoughts on bread and toast meals. If you haven’t read this book yet (and you love bread, which I assume you do, if you have subscribed to my newsletter!), I highly recommend trying to get a hold of a copy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp ricotta cheese
¼ of a preserved lemon, finely chopped
Caper berries, sliced
Fresh parsley, torn
Olive oil
2 slices of backwards bread

Step 1: Preparing the ingredients

Get out all your toast components from the fridge and have them ready to go. Slice the caper berries. Carefully get out a preserved lemon from your jar of lemons with a nice clean spoon (preserved lemon recipe is also coming very soon!). Give it a little rinse and keep just the firm part of the lemon rind. Chop finely.
Wash and tear up some fresh parsley.

Step 2: Toasting

Slice two nice thick slices of your bread. Toast them until dark but not burnt, be careful.

Step 3: Assembling the toast

This part should happen quite quickly, so your toast can be consumed at optimal (warm) temperature. Get your ricotta and spread about a tablespoon’s worth in a layer across each piece of toast (similar to the amount of peanut butter you might put on toast, to your own personal liking).

Layer the caper berries on top of the ricotta, make them look pretty.

Sprinkle pieces of preserved lemon and fresh parsley over the toasts. Give each piece a nice drizzle of olive oil.

And don’t forget this step: transfer to a beautiful plate, to appreciate this toast meal in all its glory.

And then kind of like my backwards bread recipe where you always make two loaves: you have a choice, share a piece with someone in your house. They will be very happy! Or eat them both yourself, you will also be very happy – with either choice.

Thank you very much for being a recipient of my newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it. Please get into contact if you have any questions or comments, or any delicious things you have made that you would like to show me. I love seeing all of your sourdough creations!

Mary Grace

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