Last week was a little R&R around here, and I hope you gave yourself permission to rest too. But now I am officially stepping into August and I always think of this month as a transition. Summer is still here, but routines are slowly starting to come back. Schedules get fuller. Fall starts peeking around the corner. In Minnesota, we don't start school until early September, so we still have some time, but I am thinking about how our routines will change, once again. That is exactly why this month’s theme is Bake It Into Your Life. - Not make bread another big project. - Not add one more thing to your already-full list. - Not try to become a person who bakes every single day. Just one loaf at a time. Because one loaf a week can become toast on a busy morning, sandwiches for lunch, something warm beside dinner, or a little backup in the freezer for later. It is a small rhythm—but it can make your kitchen feel more grounded when life gets busy. This month, we are going to talk about making bread fit your real life: your schedule, your energy, your family, and your season. And if you are thinking, “I would love to bake, but I am still not sure if my sourdough starter is ready,” come join me this Wednesday, Live on Zoom, for the Is My Starter Ready? Starter Workshop. (Registration closes Tuesday, August 11 at 8:00pm). You do not have to keep guessing. We will talk through what to look for so you can understand your starter with more confidence and know when it is ready to help you make a loaf. So tell me below: if you could bake just one loaf a week, what would you want it to become in your home—toast, sandwiches, grilled cheese, soup bread, or something else?

I want to share one of our new member's first loaves! AMAZING! Well done!!

Wow! 400 Members! That is so awesome! So cool! I am thrilled that you are here learning sourdough & bread making with me! Thank you for being here! Every week that goes by, I am more convinced that this is where I need to be...I live and breathe the process. Even my advice to my kids is packed full of metaphors and examples around the bread making process...I am sure they are so annoyed "Mama talking about Sourdough...again!" ...but it is so valid. Have you discovered that the more we learn, the more we realize how much we still have to learn...and I am here for it! I had no idea the depth of this topic...and every day is an adventure. Thanks for being here! For fun, share something about the bread making process that surprised you?

In my state of Minnesota (& extreme weather) today we are under a heat advisory. Crazy hot & humid. Two weeks ago, it was starting to warm up. It was still upper 70s so it was what I thought was perfect to mix dough. So I thought. I was prepping for the first farmers market of the season, where I was planning to bring 70 loaves of bread. I had upgraded my fridge so it could hold more dough, and got new containers. However, within 45 minutes, my dough was overflowing out of the containers, I quickly split the dough and put into additional containers. I knew that my dough hadn't fermented completely, it was just aggressively rising. Those containers started to overflow as well! So I split that dough and put them into even more containers. Then put them in fridge to cool down. That helped, but they were still overflowing. I broke all of my rules...and had a mess to show for it. There was one point that when I opened the fridge, the dough had stuck to the door. oof. All the new elements created a layer of unpredictability. Summer kitchens move faster. Doughs rise quicker. Starters wake up before you’ve had coffee. That doesn’t mean you have to quit baking until September. It just means you need a different rhythm. This week inside BBW, we’re talking about how to bake with the heat instead of fighting it: shorter countertop time, more fridge time, and dough schedules that actually work in the heat. If you haven't ever baked in the heat, try it for fun (when there is no pressure) bake one loaf this week using cooler water and at least one cold proof. Notice how long it takes to rise, how the dough feels, and what changes in your crumb. Any summer bake is data. You’re not “messing it up” — you’re learning how your dough behaves when it’s warm. This last week for farmers market, I used cold water, started after the sun started to set and split my dough more evenly through the containers. But it cooled off quite a bit and took FOREVER to rise, but we got there and I didn't have a mess to clean up.

Trends come and go. “Never eat carbs again.” “Only eat this one special grain.” Meanwhile, in places where people quietly live a long time, they just… keep eating simple breads made from whole grains and long-fermented doughs, alongside plants and beans. This week, we’re talking less about “quick fixes” and more about the slow, steady habits that add up over years. If you’re here, you’re not chasing a 10‑day challenge. You’re building skills you can still use 10 years from now. Where do you see bread fitting into the kind of life you want long-term?