dave's bread in Ashland?

Whoa Dave....I'm hooked on this good seed spelt bread! Just recently stopped eating regular wheat and have been missing decent bread. My daughter bought a loaf of this for me when I visited her in Portland. WOW! It's delicious. Ok Ok...now let's get this down here to Ashland..puh-leeeze! I'll put in a request to local food co-op--anything else I should do?
Thanks
~Marian

Well, Marian, the only avenue that I know of at the moment is via UPS to a store there in Ashland. I'll tell you what. If you get your store to contact me, I will send them some samples, as well as wholesale pricing and shipping info.
Another possiblity would be if your store comes to Portland to pick things up, or has an arrangement with someone to do it. Perhaps we could piggyback somehow.
Thanks!

hats off to the crew...

It has occurred to me that some people may enjoy meeting the killer bread crew, so this post is all about them.

The first shot is of Rumen and Tony, who actually make NatureBake's cookies, but with smiles like these, they at least look good enough to be on my crew!
Either he's a great actor, or Aaron really enjoys being our newest member.

Don doing his best to avoid the camera lens.

Making killer bread seems to agree with Tessa and Joe.

If you've ever been to our booth at Portland Farmers' Market, you may have met Denise.


It's easy to see why Joe is the floor manager, with legs like that!

if it hurts, print it...

Here is another "guinea pig review" (I hope that none of these pretty ladies minds being called a "guinea pig". Is there a better term for a cherished bread-tester? If so, I welcome feedback.) I'm going to set it up buy telling you what's being sampled.
I gave the author, a young Blues Bread lover, 4 loaves, each from a different batch of sprouted wheat bread that I have been testing. Instructions were to share and to give feedback. She's done it before, and it has always been valuable to me, as has Sally's and Zia's, as well.

Descriptions of the breads:

Batch 1: Sprouted Wheat with lots of seeds

Batch 2: Same, with even more (ground) flax seeds

Batch 3: Oat fiber added

Batch 4: Even more oat fiber

All batches contained all-organic ingredients, and these were 27 oz wide-footprint slices.

Here comes Rachel's review:

Hello Dave!

sorry!-Two and 1/2 hours later than I said I'd mail you; here is the review on all four loaves. I will mail you about the other two smaller loaves in a few days.

I appreciate your last email, thank you! And thank you for suggesting for me to read the blog, I did.
And your friend is very good at this. I think I would like to copy her style.
Please let me know if this review was too wordy.
Thank you, and I'll see you in the next few days!
Rachel (last name withheld)

Batch 1:
Flavor:
I liked the flavor of this loaf the best of all four loaves. This loaf seemed more sweet to me and less overpowered by the taste of flax or bran.
Out of all four breads, this bread seemed to resemble in taste, my favorite regular “Blues bread”. However, I would not be inclined to purchase this bread if it was on the shelf, now knowing how it tastes. If I compare this to the most favored loaf A from the last batch of loaves, I would be inclined to purchase loaf A off the shelf rather than this loaf.

Texture:
To me, this texture seemed the best throughout the entire loaf. This was similar in texture to loaf #2 to me, but I still like this loaf the best in texture.

Footprint:
Great size for sandwiches, toast

Other features you like or dislike:
I just all around enjoyed this one the best. To me, only, it had the best flavor, best texture, best taste, out of all four loaves.




Batch 2:
Flavor:
Nutty, seedy. (Too flaxy to me) This was everyone’s favorite out of seven
people besides myself that tasted all four loaves. Each person commented
that it had a very unique taste they were puzzled by, but couldn’t put their
finger on (until I told them what they were tasting). But, although this
was almost every person’s favorite in taste and texture of all the four
loaves, they still did not feel drawn to return to this loaf either.

Texture:
Nice mouthfeel, pulled apart nicely. Good structure, whether toasted or not.

Footprint:
Great size for sandwiches, toast

Other features you like or dislike:
Personally I do not like flax in my bread. This is because it has a very
pugent, oily smell to me, and I really felt like it way overpowered loaf #2.
Loaf #1 seemed to have that similar smell to it, however, loaf #1 seemed
to taste and smell less flaxy than loaf #2, hence I enjoyed loaf #1 better.



Batch 3:
Flavor: No significant comments on taste was made on this bread. No one
really seemed to have any positive or negative thoughts on this bread. I
thought maybe I was the only one who felt this way, but, no –they just
passed this bread by after tasting it.

Texture:
A sort of mut, plain, texture. No noticeable comments were made on this
loaf.

Footprint:
Great size for sandwiches, toast

Other features you like or dislike:
My coworkers did not re-choose this loaf to eat from. This loaf was left
second-to-the-last full after I had brought this batch of loaves to work for
3 days straight.




Batch 4:
Flavor:
Seven out of seven people who tried this bread did not care for the taste
(flavor) or the texture, with taste being the first thing they commented on.
It was as if they all text eachother and decided that they were going to
mutany this loaf. Please don’t take offense to the comments my co-workers
made, they do understand these are test loaves. Here are the comments from
my coworkers: “cardboard-like”, “plain”, “no taste”, “airy”, “too plain”, “I
like #2 the best.”

Texture:
I felt that there was too much consistency with this loaf. The bread was
very plain with reguards to texture. I believe taste, alongside texture,
really affected how I viewed the texture, cuz it was difficult to ignore the
fact that I really didn’t like the taste. I really enjoy a healthy bread
that has adventure with wheat bits and small seed bits.

Footprint:
Great size for sandwiches, toast

Other features you like or dislike:
I felt the same way as my coworkers. I did not like the flavor or texture
of this loaf. It does not matter how much healthiness this bread had, I
would still not purchase this loaf based on flavor alone.


Other comments on the loaves:
On footprint alone:
The size of this bread really seemed to attribute to my other tasters as too
large for tasting. My coworkers and also my roommate really seemed to want
to taste test all four breads when they were smaller.
When I asked them to taste the breads, on each occasion, and with different
co-workers, they said in their own way “woa… that’s a lot of bread” And then
tasted it in single mouthfuls rather than halves.
-so, I decided after reading the blog on your website that one of your
guinea pigs, Sally, wrote, I now think that I am going to test the breads
for people in separate labeled baggies. Hopefully this will not be so
overwhelming for them. I am so glad you posted her response; I also will
put in a ½ sheet of paper so they can write their comments.


Taste:
Overall, this tasting didn’t go as well as the last one. My tasters had a
hard time wanting to go on tasting loaves #1 & #2, after they ate loaves #3
& #4(I had them taste the loaves out of numerical sequence). They said
loaves #3 & #4 were just “boring”. And two of my tasting coworkers are
hardcore fans of your Blues bread & Good Seed.

I believe loaf A from the previous batch of four loaves, was definitely much
more marketable in taste, texture, and smell then any of these four breads.
In fact they even said they much preferred the last batch of breads to this
batch (one girl even said “I like the other bread A better than any of these
breads).

I also unbiasly asked how much they would pay for a loaf from each # (i.e.
How much would you pay for loaf #1… loaf #2… etc.?)
Even though they may have positively commented on loaf #2 when comparing
against the other 3 loaves, each taster separately said that they would not
buy any of these breads (including #2) if it was being sold in a store.

In closing, I hope this helped. It was kind of longwinded. My coworkers are
rawly honest when they taste this bread. And, Oh, I’ll write you on the
differences between bakery loaf #1 and bakery loaf #4, when I write you
again. I need to taste these some more.

Thank you! And I hope I didn’t offend you or sound too rude –email has a
way of giving that impression.
Talk to you soon,
Rachel L Fiftal

guinea pig results...

Hi Dave,

Just wanted to let you know that I haven’t just left town with your bread without doing any tasting. I am out of town and in fact held the tastings. The forms are at home as I’ve been waiting for the results from two friends.

I held a tasting with four folks at work, plus two friends in one family and 3 friends in another as well as David and myself for a total of 11 people. The preferences were all quite different, and quite difficult for some folks to choose a favorite.

So that we could involve people on their own schedules I labeled baggies A,B,C, and D and placed enough full slices in each so each person in a group would have one slice of each bread. At work I just labeled each plate with the appropriate letter and we all wished we had wine to go with it! Everyone also had a form to fill out and each group had a copy of the nutrients.

David and I tried the samples both toasted and un-toasted. The group of three just did toast. The group of four sat around and tested it plain and we found out that one person had been involved in a formal bread tasting years ago. The loaf of Winter Wheat you gave me went to a woman with two small kids.

I just received the results today by email from the friends I was waiting on. So I’m copying the text from their testing here for you to see and I’ll either mail or tabulate the others to send when I get home next week. Hope this isn’t too late for you.

To summarize, everyone loved the bread, some liked the nutty chewiness of A and B and others preferred less texture as in C and D. One would have preferred a larger footprint for his sandwiches (he is extremely active with a good appetite) while most thought the footprint was fine.

Because everyone liked the bread and weren’t necessarily calorie or carb counters (with the exception of two) most thought all the ingredients were fine so that wouldn’t have swayed their decision. However, the following speaks for the carb counters. You can tell they read their labels!

“Over a week after you gave it to us, we finally had time to do the Dave’s Killer Bread taste test. It was still extremely fresh and delicious. We were shocked and happily surprised. He has made an even tastier, more nutritious, lower carbs, higher fiber, lower calories, bigger serving (yes!), nuttier, seedier bread than the Best Winter Wheat that we eat every morning. “B” was my overall favorite because it seemed to have the most texture but “D” is the best for us and really just as good. All four were delicious. Is “D” still in testing or can we buy it now? Where can you buy his bread before the Farmer’s Market starts up in March or April??”

Hope this is helpful to you and my apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I’ll send the rest next week. And if you have answers to the above, let me know and I’ll pass it along! This was quite fun!

Cheers,
Sally

only a matter of time, kimberly...

Hi,

You are probably too busy making bread (or sleeping, right now, as it's past midnight) to read this email, but I thought, what the hell? I am awake and I am impressed, so I decided to let you know... my mother brought home a loaf of bread tonight; she said she had bought it at some bakery in Portland. We live in Seaside, and I was not too excited to hear that the only thing she brought home for me was a loaf of bread. Until I tried it... wow! Thank you thank you thank you, Dave, whomever you are. I have eaten half the loaf, ha ha, and it's just delicious. You are a delightful person, I can just tell! :)

Thanks again for a wonderful addition to my eternal request for healthy stuff for my son and myself... and WHERE nearby Seaside/Warrenton/Astoria can I buy your bread? Do I have to come to Portland? I will, dammit! Ha ha...

Best Wishes,
Kimberly

seattle...

Hi Dave,
Do you have any stores in the Seattle area of Washington that sell your bread?
Thanks, Judith


Hi Judith...not yet, but we have lots of interest. QFC has contacted us, but we aren't ready to meet the demand. Stay tuned!

cut the crap, slacker...

This one's for those who've been in the "planning" stage of an exercise regimen for anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of decades. If you have plans of blog-hopping, Internet shopping, or eating a half a loaf of Good Seed Bread (like me) as your next activity, I submit to you a challenge: Whatever is the most vigorous exercise you are capable of performing, do it now. If walking 50 yards is more than you've done in 6 months, walk 50 yards now. Better yet, walk a lot more than 50 yards. If you can, run around the block. Get a couple of miles on your old 10-speed bike. Start now, feel good about getting started, and do it again tomorrow. Before very long, you'll need to increase your level of exertion. Once you get in the habit, you won't want to ever go back. I guarantee that you will get the results you earn.
For me, one of the secrets to success in such an endeavor is to not expect too much from yourself at the beginning. To be real, I haven't been "totally" out-of-shape in many years. The worst was in the mid 90's, when I was deep in the meth sack and unaware of just how much harm I was doing to myself. The reality check wouldn't come until I was jumping out of a car and waddling as fast as I could to get away from a pursuing cop. I would often get away, simply because most cops don't want to work that hard. But when they finally put me away this last time (in '97), I had found a new low in every imaginable way. And my body was shot, baby.

I got really healthy in prison, but as I approached my mid-40's, I started experiencing more and more pain and swelling in my joints. It appears that I have mild psoriatic arthritis, and some of the things that were easy and painless not too many years ago have become difficult, if not downright torture. Like running. Remember running? Well, I don't run anymore (and if I leave the drugs and crime alone, I probably won't have to.).

Now I am the happy owner of a fine elliptical trainer. After a short (5 set) daily weight-training session, I move on to a high-level (for me anyway) 50-minute workout on the elliptical. This has been the game plan for the past several weeks, and during this time I have seen the kind of results I experienced as a younger man with running. I don't have a scale at home, but I have a wall-size workout-room mirror that tells me no lies. The love handles are reduced and the muscle looks harder and more defined. I have incredible energy and I'm told that I brighten every room I enter (b.s. alert!). I am still hideously unattractive, but poised. This is what exercise can do for you!

Again, my challenge: get started now. Do anything more strenuous than you're used to. Feel good about making that start, and do even better tomorrow, and so on.