Dear bread friends,
It’s exactly two weeks before Christmas (and actually I know this specifically because today is my birthday!). It’s a special time of year and sometimes a little bit of a bitter-sweet time too. Christmas is when you think about all the Christmases before and you can see how things have changed over the years of your life. And these couple of weeks before Christmas are often joyous but also a little overwhelming.
I had a longer list of my favourite bread and baking related items that I wanted to share with you leading up to Christmas but this Christmas season, this year in my family has been a little unlike any other and I haven’t had a lot of time or mental space to put together a list in time for you to be able to actually order those objects, so I’ll save that as a surprise for you some time in 2023, because you can give gifts at times other than Christmas.
And for now I have a different list of gift ideas for you that you can buy at short notice, and that feel especially relevant to me in my personal life right now, and perhaps there are a few of you who will feel this connection too.
This is my list of three cookbooks that have touched my heart.
Food is home, familiarity, memories and love. It’s a way of finding connections with the people we love. And I have three of my favourite cookbooks I want to share with you that demonstrate this connection so beautifully. Each one actually made me cry at one point or another when reading it, which was a little unexpected for a cookbook but looking back at what a meaningful role food plays in our lives, it makes perfect sense.
The first book I want to show you is Tenderheart by Hetty McKinnon. The recipes in this book are so simple yet so creative at the same time and really Hetty, in her earlier cookbooks was the one who taught me how to cook. Last year she baked a loaf using my recipe and it was a really amazing moment for me. Tenderheart is so special because it’s a book of connection to family though food, specifically connection to her late father. I love the warmth, kindness and authenticity that comes through so strongly in this book.
The second book I want to share with you is Breadsong by Kitty and Al Tait. They are a father and daughter team who bake together and share their bread with others in the most beautiful ways. This book has so many beautiful, easy to follow bread recipes and the sweetest illustrations, all drawn by Al. It is so wholesome and lovely.
The last book I want to tell you about in this list is The Bread Builders by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott. This book is full of the most helpful information about baking sourdough bread, real bread as they call it in the book. But that’s not why it’s on today’s list. The writing in this book, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail, thoughts about bread and its connection to our lives, how we live and an ability to have an impact on other peoples’ lives in our community, who we then give bread to is just so special. When I first read this book I just almost felt like someone had written down some words from my own mind. It’s so beautiful to see a lifetime of work in developing a craft and building knowledge in the simple yet also so complex area of bread baking.
Each book isn’t just about giving you instructions for making food. They’re about so much more than that, because food has so much potential to create meaning and connections in our lives.
And if you’re reading this newsletter, you will likely already know that the Kickstarter campaign for my own new cookbook Such Good Bread has been running for the last few weeks and we’ve reached over 90% of our funding goal. I am so thankful to everyone who has shown their support so far! It’s truly a dream come true.
I hope that Such Good Bread will be able to communicate similarly this connection between food and the other meaningful, sentimental things that happen in our life. A little starting point of ways it’s done that for me, for you to have and find your own meaningful moments with loved ones.
Last week my mum made a pledge to my Kickstarter and asked to buy some copies as Christmas presents for her friends (she’s so lovely!!) and she asked me if she could have something to show them since the book won’t be there until May.
So I had a little idea for anyone that wanted to pledge towards my new book Such Good Bread as a Christmas gift for a friend, we’ve made a little card that you can print and give to them, as something to enjoy before the real book comes (you can save and print the image below):
I hope you like it! If you’d like to have a personalised version of the card with your friend’s name and your name on it, just send me an email and I will organise one for you and send it through.
Finally, I am sending you my best energy for your Christmas and the lead up to it. If the not so easy time I’ve been having most recently with my family has given me any gift it is this: to remind you to cherish and just soak up every moment of joy you have with the people you love because you never know what will happen next in your life.
So I wish you a very joyous Christmas.
Thank you for reading my bread newsletter.
Kindest regards from,
Mary (and Benny and Sammy)
Thank you for the recommendations Mary Grace. I read cookbooks like some people read novels. I've just gotten King Arthur's Baking Bread cookbook and your books sound lovely too. Are they only available in your locality?