The buns ride shotgun

On Saturdays, I help Matt at the farmers market, for which I earn a little dough (ha!), and hang out with my honey (less common than I'd like during the gardening-and-baking season).

And every Saturday morning I mean to photograph the baking process (or the brief part of it that I am awake for). The loaves of sourdough this-and-that, the crackling ciabattas and the trays of seasonal fruit scones all look so pretty filling up the bakery racks. But the morning gets busy fast.

First I clean up any messes the dog has made in the night, and then I cook breakfast (not the most savory sequence of events). Next I walk the dog, and give her cuddles, and she and I discuss the fact that while it's really better to puke a river on the floor than on the couch, we're over it and on with our day. And all of a sudden it's time to pack bread, load the truck, and hit the highway. [Note to any of Matt's customers who might be reading this: dog not allowed in bakery.]

So all I have to post today is a somewhat blurry shot of Matt with the little honey oat loaves that would not fit in the back, as we pull out of the alley.

Opening Day of the Wilkes-Barre Farmers' Market

Summer arrives at our house when Matt pretty much moves into the bakery in the basement. I don't think he knew how appropriate the name "Mockingbird Bakery" was when he chose it a year ago. But now, he and the neighborhood mockingbird are the only ones awake and working diligently through the wee hours - Matt baking to low-volume Nina Simone or some brand of death metal, mockingbird making his own music. I am sleeping upstairs, but when the box fan starts to pull in the earthy aroma of sourdoughs or the sugar tang of cream scones, I do take notice...


Last year this time we were scrambling to finish construction downstairs. This season, it is wonderful to be back at the market and interacting with the great folks who buy his bread. Handing someone a paper sack of something nourishing, tasty, lovely and exciting to eat is really satisfying. So helping Matt out on market day is the highlight of the week for me. (My job is bagging breads and making change - other than pre-market breakfast delivery, I pretty much stay out of the production area.)