All of us that bake recently trained one of our employees, Beau Lemoine, on the oven.  He’d been shaping loaves for almost a year and was now getting the pleasure of standing next to The Room of Fire where a miracle happens every single day: we put raw dough into the fires of Mount Doom and, instead of that bread burning, it tastes delicious.

On Beau’s first day I was walking him through the science of what was happening.  The gluten strands were stretching.  The yeast was expanding rapidly.  We looked for certain visual cues of when the loaves were ready to be thrown into the oven.  

After a lengthy lecture, Beau asked me if the bread was ready to go into the oven.  I turned around to check on the proofing of it and stopped in my tracks.  The loaves had poofed out seemingly instantly.  The toasters (that’s what we call the rectangle ones) were spilling beautifully out of their strap pans.  The rounds were expanding like a slow motion bomb detonation.

Maybe it’s just me but there’s something about training that helps you see the task you’re teaching someone through those innocent eyes you used to have.  I threw my training notes out of the mental window for a couple of minutes as I looked at Beau and said, “This is so cool, man.”


It was so cool.  The bread was alive.  It was breathing, sucking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.  It was sweating alcohol as the yeast ate the honey around them.  The gluten strands in the wheat were almost at the breaking point as they tried to hold everything together.  The flavor had matured into the great, nuanced flavor of Honey Whole Wheat that we try to deliver to you every time we make it.

Mentally I grabbed my lecture notes again, looked at Beau, and said “yes, it’s time to throw it in the oven.”

A few months ago J.P. told us about the Green Restaurant Association.  We had no clue what he was talking about.  To say that we’ve gotten a little more educated over the last few months would be a bit of an understatement… we’re now the only restaurant in Louisiana that is certified by them!

We’ve made a few modifications on our cleaners, gear, etc. but it was a surprisingly painless experience.  As a matter of fact there is one specific cleaning product that does wonders on our floors and the “What to do if ingested” directions are pretty simple- "Drink Water"!

We want to say something clearly: while we’re proud to be the first Great Harvest in the nation and the first restaurant in Louisiana to be certified by the Green Restaurant Association there are plenty of others out there that could do it right now if they wanted to… which is where you come in.  All you’ve got to do it ask them enough times.  We’d rather be one of twenty certified restaurants in town and lose bragging rights than be able to puff out our chests over being first!

G. Harvest was a man who experienced more in one month than most men experience in one decade.  His adventures inspire the breads that we make.  Here’s the story behind our Spinach Feta bread.

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For the first time in months my travels felt aimless.  I had been in Israel for a couple of weeks and was just kind of waiting for something to happen.  As I walked around Haifa I ventured into the Quishon Marina and saw a sign that stopped me in my tracks:

Sailing to Greece
Looking for shipmate
All costs & work split in half

I enjoy traveling cheaply and thoroughly enjoy sailing.  The sign is not what truly interested me, though.  It was the woman sitting near the sign.  She had jet black hair, olive skin, and an assertive demeanor about her.  She was clad in clothing that looked like Gypsy Americana- somewhat recognizable but put together in an unfamiliar and non-traditional way.  She had on a Minnesota Twins t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, an Eastern European scarf tied in her hair, and a short Samoan sari that she wrapped around her like a skirt.  The outfit was finished off with cowboy boots… with a knife tucked into them.

Her name was Gianira Johnson.  Her father was American and her mother was Greek.  She was sailing around the world on the cheap by taking people from port to port.  We agreed on a price and she told me I had one hour to get my things out of my hotel and get back to the boat otherwise she would offer my spot to someone else.  I’ve never packed so quickly in my life. 

Gianira was all business during the day but after the sun set she became more of herself.  We talked about home and swapped travel stories while we stared out at the endless Mediterranean.  On the second evening I got up the courage to ask about the knife… she started wearing it after an Englishman that was travelling to Spain with her started getting aggressive.  Gianira had to hit him on the head with a paddle, drag his knocked out body down below, and lock him in the boat for the last two days of their trip.  The first thing she bought in Spain was the knife and she said she hadn’t taken it off since then.  Our conversations got more and more personal as we spent time together.  We spoke of love lost, secret dreams, and childhood memories.  The chemistry between us was powerful.

We stopped for supplies in Cyprus.  We were sick of dried foods and desperately wanted something fresh but we weren’t sick of each other.  We stayed together.  It was in a crowded market when I was starting to lose her that Gianira first reached for my hand.  I took it, pulled her close to me, and didn’t let go until we were carrying too many things for us to each hold in one hand.

I told Gianira I would make supper that night.  The first thing I did when we left the dock was set up the fishing line.  After that I went downstairs to cube feta and wilt spinach.  I then pulled out my secret weapon: dried yeast.  (There are only a few possessions that never leave my body when I travel- my toothbrush, my passport, and dried yeast.  You can find flour anywhere but yeast is quite difficult to get your hands on in many parts of the world!)  I mixed water, flour, local honey, and yeast together.  Next came the spinach, feta, and Mediterranean spices.  That’s when I realized I had to “bake” on a flat top.  I put the bread inside a preheated pot, on an elevated grilling rack I’d placed inside it, and went up to check the line.  We had caught a sole.  I disappeared downstairs with it.

The sun was setting as I came up on deck.  I had prepared a tray for us to share: a wilted spinach salad, a Mediterranean Ceviche (lemon juice, salt, diced sole, red pepper flakes, fresh parsley, onion, and olives), red wine, and a loaf of Spinach Feta bread.  Gianira ate ravenously.  Watching a beautiful woman eat with passion is always such a joy.

One bottle of wine turned into two and our laughter got loud enough to get us kicked out of a restaurant if we were on land. 

I went downstairs to clean the dishes and, when I came up on deck, [BIOGRAPHER'S NOTE: G. Harvest's adventure gets a little steamy here.  I blushed as he told me the story so I'm editing it a little short for you!] The moon danced on the endless waves and our bodies but the strangest thing was this: when I had originally come back up on deck, the sea was calm.

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Spinach Feta is available on Tuesdays & Thursdays during the summer.  While G. Harvest recommends eating it on a boat, we think that you’ll enjoy it in your backyard or on a dining room table just as well!

Big things sometimes come in small packages.  This photo is no exception.

This is the first plant in our Herb Garden.  It’s Basil (specifically a variety known as Poppy Joe’s Basil) and its broad, green leaves have such a beautiful and sharp scent that once you use it fresh, you’ll never want to use dried basil again.

It’s only one plant, for now, but we hope to have much more.  I’ve got a gigantic pot of Oregano that I’ve been meaning to bring over and I’m getting ready to plant a clipping of Rosemary.  The purpose is two-fold: First, it reduces our carbon footprint by eliminating all of the travel that the dried herbs would have to make.  Second, it greatly improves the quality of our products.

Also, we think it’s cool that someone gets to have the title of Gardener In Residence… for now that’s me!

Wednesday night we and Pack & Paddle co-hosted a screening of the movie FRESH. 

It was a great experience and we want to thank all of you that came out.  There was lots of inspired conversation about food and we wanted to give you a few resources in case you want to keep learning about where your food comes from, how it is produced, and what you can do to be a part of making what goes into your community’s mouths more healthy/local/flavorful!

Movies:
Food Inc.
Polycultures: Food Where We Live
Sustainable Table: Food to Plate
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
You can find an even more comprehensive list here.

Books:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The man these authors quote the most is Wendell Berry.  His best compilation of essays is The Art of the Commonplace.

Television:
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
America’s Test Kitchen (If you want to learn how to cook from scratch these guys are the best!)

Local Farms:
Gotreaux Family Farms
Louisiana Wild Farms
Earthshare Gardens

If there's anything you think we're missing, please feel free to add it in the comments section!

We started working on some kind of breakfast sandwich out of hunger which means that, in this case, Hunger was the mother invention!  It was too early for anyone to want a Tuscan Chicken and someone said, “Hey, let’s try to whip up something with egg!”  This was our first version:

We told J.P. and Michelle about our little creation and they said, “Cool.  Now make ‘em good enough that we can sell ‘em to our customers.”  We tried biscuits.  Our standard we had to reach was Edie’s and we realized that their biscuits are just too dang good to replicate.  Also, we make killer bread so why were we trying to reinvent the wheel?!  We tried multiple variations of egg.  Our resident Mad Scientist, Brandi Gayneaux, came up with a great herbed egg recipe that won over even the most vocal critics.  From there, it was just coming up with a few varieties: Egg & Cheese; Egg, Cheese, & Bacon; and Egg, Cheese, & Veggies... all toasted on our panini grill!

Viola.

We are proud to present The Breakfast Wedge.  We make it Tuesday – Friday from when we open until 10am!

J.P. got a phone call out of the blue last week from a childhood friend’s brother.  “I’m passing through Lafayette and need a place to stay.  Can you help me out?”

They were able to help him and that's how all of us at the bakery got to find out a little bit more about Larry Falk.  He’s riding the “U” of the USA, meaning he started in Seattle and rode down the West Coast, is crossing East along the Southern Border, and will head back up the East Coast to New England.

We’ve got a history of fueling endeavors like this and we gladly made no exception here.  Larry’s ride is now powered by Great Harvest Go Bars!

If you want to follow him you can find his journal here.  Geaux Larry!

 You may have noticed that we don't use any plastic grocery bags in the store anymore.  It's part of an ongoing effort to REDUCE!  Since we had a few left at home, the kids decided to do RECYCLE the bags so they could be RE-USED again & again.    Reinforced with grey tape (or rather, orange & purple), we can now use our homemade totes for many years to come!  This is a great "homemade" gift for grandparents!
 
In case you weren't in the store last week, in honor of Earth Day, we have put into place incentives for RE-USING & REDUCING!  We are now selling Great Harvest re-usable totes for $1 like the other grocery stores.  However, our incentive to RE-USE the tote is much more compelling!  Every time you bring in your Great Harvest Tote (instead of using our paper bags), we will give you a FREE Lagniappe Loafer POINT.  That's more like a 50 cent value rather than a nickel back!   We are also selling coffee travel mugs.  Bring those back for a 20% discount on your coffee!

To make your own tote, go to http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/recycled-tote-674128/
Submitted by Michelle