My daily bread...

Well... summer finally decided to show up!

If you've been wishing for sunshine, blue skies, and hot Alberta afternoons, this is your week. We are officially in the middle of a heat wave, and while you'll probably find me hiding in the shade with an Italian Soda instead of working on my tan, I know so many of you have been patiently waiting for these few weeks of real "HOT" summer. Enjoy every minute of it, we all know it never sticks around for long!

Over the past couple of weeks we've welcomed a whole bunch of new faces to the Rise newsletter, so if you're joining us for the first time... welcome! You picked a fun time to hop aboard because the next couple of weeks are absolutely packed. Between the August long weekend, Open Farm Days, our Google Review giveaway, the Sip & Snip event, and a bakery full of summer treats, there's a lot happening around here.

A quick heads-up before we dive in: because of the August long weekend, Rise will be open Monday through Friday this week, but next week we'll be open Tuesday through Friday, as we'll be closed on the Monday holiday. If you have a favorite loaf and know exactly which day of the week to come and grab it, things will be shifting around a little next week. Be sure to keep an eye on next week's bread schedule, along with all of our special features and a few helpful reminders.

Alright... grab yourself something cold to drink, settle into the shade, and let's catch up on everything happening at Rise!

RESTOCK! The kitchen has been absolutely buzzing this week! While we decided to press pause on Soup Wednesday (let's be honest... it's just too hot for soup!), we've been busy filling every shelf, cooler, and freezer with all of your Rise favorites.
We've restocked everything from our Super Seed Crackers, Chicken Dust (yes... we really do put it on almost everything!), Baked Bharta Dip, Kaslo Sourdough Pasta, Whole Wheat Pita Chips, Parthena Olive Oil and Balsamic, including the new 750 mL bottles. Olives, cheeses, and another delicious delivery from Bles-wold Dairy.
And don't forget the freezer! It's loaded with easy summer meals like Lasagna, Chicken Burritos, Quesadillas, Chicken Parmigiana, Twice-baked Potatoes, and plenty more to make dinner a whole lot easier.
With this heat, who wants to turn on the oven? Pick up a few of your favorites, toss together a fresh salad, pour yourself something cold to drink, and dinner is practically done. Summer should be spent enjoying the sunshine not standing over a hot stove!

Monday Morning at Rise
​Every Monday morning starts the same way... the lights come on early, the ovens are warming up, coffee is brewing, and the whole bakery slowly comes to life.
Our doors open at 7am, the pastry counter starts filling up with fresh baking, the Rise & Shine Morning Muffins are ready to go, and our barista is behind the espresso machine waiting to make your favorite coffee, latte, matcha, or iced drink.
While you're deciding what pastry is coming home with you, the kitchen is already hard at work. Knives are chopping, vegetables are on the cutting boards, and the grab-and-go cooler starts filling up one delicious item at a time.
The very first thing to hit the cooler on Monday morning? Wraps!

We'll be kicking off the week with our incredibly popular Smoked Beef Wraps made with smoked beef from Old's College. Judging by how quickly they've been disappearing, I'd say we've found another customer favorite! We'll also have our Grilled Chicken Wraps ready to go, packed with fresh deliciousness and perfect for an easy lunch.

This Week's Salad Bowl - This is one of my favorite times of the year. You can almost feel the Farmers' Market changing from week to week as the fields begin to explode with summer produce. Every visit seems to uncover something new, and this week I may have gotten just a little carried away!
The first thing that caught my eye? Baby potatoes! Tiny red, white, and purple potatoes were simply too beautiful to leave behind, so they'll be joining this week's salad bowl alongside fluffy quinoa.
Then came the rest of the market haul... sweet little baby carrots (so tender we're simply chopping them instead of shredding them this week), beautiful green beans, golden beets, crisp cabbage, our favorite broccolini(from Loving Acres), and even gorgeous golden cauliflower that was practically begging to be part of the salad bowl this week. We'll round it all out with plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables, creating a bowl that's packed with color, texture, and everything summer has to offer.
And because my favorite BC fruit stand was overflowing, I couldn't resist bringing home baskets of beautiful strawberries. They'll be blended into a fresh Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette to brighten up every bite of our quinoa salad this week.

One little reminder... these salad bowls don't magically appear! There is a whole lot of washing, chopping, roasting, steaming, and assembling happening behind the scenes every Monday morning, and our kitchen crew works incredibly hard to have them ready for lunchtime.

One more little update... many of you have been asking if you can add protein to your salad bowls. Great idea! While we love keeping our salads naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, we've now started grilling juicy chicken breasts and packaging them separately, along with locally raised farm eggs that we hard boil. Add whichever you like (or both!) to make your salad a little more filling while still keeping it fresh, simple, and delicious.

Sourdough line-up...

Monday - no sourdough loaves
​Tuesday - SuperSeed Multigrain Loaves and Red Fife Country Loaves
​Wednesday - The Classic Brown 60/40 Loaf and 100% Whole Grain Organic Loaf
​Thursday - Light Rye Loaves and Hokkaido Sourdough Milk Buns
​Friday - Red Fife Country Loaves and guess what??? This is the last Friday of the month so it is Cinnamon Bun Friday this week!!

🍕 TGIF Sourdough Pizza
​Last week's Mediterranean Pizza disappeared almost as quickly as we could make it! Between the roasted peppers, artichokes, fresh prosciutto, garlic aioli, lemon zest, and all those beautiful finishing touches, I'd say it was a pretty big hit.

So... let's keep the summer inspiration rolling.

We're firing up the grill for beautiful BC peaches, letting them caramelize just enough to bring out all that incredible sweetness before they land on our sourdough pizza. They'll bake alongside mozzarella, provolone, and thinly sliced red onion over a creamy garlic base.

Once it comes out of the oven, we'll layer on delicate ribbons of prosciutto, a handful of fresh microgreens, a drizzle of our Parthena white balsamic vinaigrette, a little lemon zest, cracked black pepper, a pinch of Vancouver Island sea salt, and just a whisper of our house chili oil.

Sweet. Salty. Creamy. Fresh. Exactly the kind of pizza summer was made for. Pizza coming out of the oven at 11am!

​
​CHEESECAKE FRIDAY - It must be something about summer... because you all have definitely been on a chocolate kick lately! Between our Black Forest and Mint Chocolate Chip cheesecakes, you've made one thing very clear, you've been craving chocolate.
So this Friday, we're keeping the chocolate train rolling... with a little taste of Alberta summer.
Introducing this week's Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cheesecake.
We'll start with a rich chocolate cookie crust, fill it with an irresistibly silky dark chocolate cheesecake, then spoon over a strawberry compote made with beautiful Red Deer Strawberries while they're at their absolute peak.
We'll finish it with generous swirls of our house-made Chantilly cream and crown with hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries.
Rich chocolate. Sweet local strawberries. Clouds of fresh Chantilly.
Honestly... this might just be one of the best cheesecakes we've made all year.
As always, our cheesecake is available by the slice while it lasts, or feel free to pre-order your little piece of heaven!

Cinnamon Bun Friday - The last Friday of every month has become a little tradition around here... Cinnamon Bun Friday!

These aren't your average cinnamon buns. They're made from our sourdough milk bun dough, mixed the day before and left to slowly ferment overnight, creating that soft, fluffy texture and incredible flavor that only time can produce.
They head into the oven bright and early Friday morning, and while they're still warm, each one gets a generous pour of our house-made cinnamon caramel sauce. Once they've cooled, we pile on a thick layer of rich cream cheese icing.

Simple. Classic. Absolutely irresistible.

They're available individually, so you can grab just one... or a box to share (although we won't judge if you don't!).

A Little Reminder About Pre-Ordering
​We've welcomed so many new faces over the past few weeks that this seems like the perfect time for a quick reminder about how pre-ordering works at Rise.

We're a little old school... and we kind of like it that way.

If there's something you absolutely don't want to miss, whether it's Cinnamon Bun Friday, Cheesecake Friday, TGIF Pizza, your favorite sourdough loaf, wraps, salad bowls, or just about anything else we make simply stop by the bakery.
We've got a clipboard tucked under the till where we'll write down your order, pickup day, and your name. We ask that all pre-orders are prepaid, and then your goodies are waiting with your name on them when you arrive.
It's a simple system, but it works really well, especially on those busy Fridays when some of your favorite items disappear a little faster than you'd like!

Come Celebrate Local With Us! 💐
​We've got something really special happening... and we'd love to bring a few of you along.
As part of Alberta Open Farm Days, the Rise team will be heading out to the beautiful Uchtenhagen Flower Farm for an afternoon of flowers, food, and community at our Sip & Snip event on August 15th.

Erin will be teaching us the art of creating a beautiful hand-tied bouquet, sharing her tips on selecting, arranging, and designing with fresh-cut flowers. Meanwhile, her sister, Britt, will be introducing us to a selection of bubbly refreshments to sip while we create.

Then we'll head out into the flower fields to pick our own blooms, gather all of our favorites, and create a bouquet to take home. And of course... Eat Catering will be rolling in with the kitchen trailer to serve up some incredible appetizers and charcuterie. (Yes... the coconut shrimp will be making an appearance!)

Now here's where you come in.
​If you've been meaning to leave Rise a Google review, we'd be so grateful if you took a couple of minutes to do it. Word of mouth has always been our favorite way to grow, but Google reviews are what help new people discover us. Whether someone is visiting Red Deer for the first time or has just moved to town, those reviews help them find our little bakehouse.

If you've enjoyed your morning coffee, found a favorite sourdough loaf, discovered your go-to lunch, or simply had a great experience with our team, we'd love for you to tell others about it. The more specific you can be, the more helpful your review is not just for us, but for someone trying to decide where to stop for breakfast or lunch.

Not sure how to leave a Google review? Don't worry, we've got you! Just stop by the bakery with your phone, and any of the girls at the front counter will happily walk you through it step by step. We have a quick and easy setup at the till, and it only takes a couple of minutes. We promise it's easier than you think!
Every Google review submitted between now and August 8th will be entered into our draw.
We'll be inviting six of you to join the Rise team for the afternoon, and we promise it'll be a day full of flowers, laughter, and really good food.
And yes... this invitation really is for everyone! Women, men, couples, friends, neighbors, coffee groups, we'd love to have you.
In fact, one of our wonderful regular customers (who just happens to be a man!) has generously volunteered to take over the Eat Catering kitchen trailer for the afternoon. He's no stranger to the kitchen, and thanks to him I'll actually get to step away from cooking and spend the afternoon enjoying the event with all of you.
So gentlemen, don't be shy, you're absolutely welcome! We promise you won't be the only guy there.

Can't make it if your name is drawn? No problem! If you win, you're welcome to pass your spot along to a family member or a friend. So maybe it's time to remind your mom, your neighbor, your best friend or that coffee buddy you always meet at Rise that we'd love to hear what they think too.
Thank you, as always, for helping small businesses like ours grow. Every review, every visit, and every kind word means more than you know.💛

Well... I think that's enough excitement for one newsletter!

There's still so much to tell you about Open Farm Days, and with all the fun happening the week leading up to it, I think we'll save the rest for next Sunday's newsletter. We'll dive into all the details, share what's happening at Rise that week, and let you know how we're celebrating one of my favorite weekends of the summer.

Until then, I hope you find a little time to soak up these beautiful summer days. Whether you're heading to the lake, working in the garden, enjoying an evening on the patio, or simply sneaking away with a great cup of coffee and something delicious to eat, don't forget to slow down and enjoy it. Summer in Alberta has a funny way of disappearing before we know it.

Have a wonderful week, stay cool, stay safe, and thank you as always for making Rise such an incredible place to come to work every day.

I'll see you back here next Sunday with more stories, more deliciousness, and all the details as we count down to Open Farm Days! 💛

#5, 4324 - 54 Ave., Red Deer Alberta
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