My daily bread...
Well, here we are… practically smack dab in the middle of July, and it looks like summer has officially decided to show off a little.
We’ve got a hot week ahead of us, with temperatures hanging out in the high 20s and a few good old Alberta thunderstorms likely rolling through along the way.
Honestly, it feels like the perfect week to slow things down a little. Grab a picnic basket, load it up with a couple of wraps, a salad or two, and maybe something sweet from the pastry counter, and head to the park. Find some shade, kick off your shoes, and spend a little time with your favorite people.
Have you seen our beautiful picnic baskets in the shop over the last couple of weeks… consider this your sign. Summer in Alberta is short. Let’s soak up every darn minute of it.
OPEN FARM DAYS… WE'RE ONE MONTH OUT! 🌻
I love Open Farm Days. I mean, I really love Open Farm Days. I grew up on a farm, and I think it's safe to say you can take the girl off the farm… but you can't take the farm out of the girl.💛
Open Farm Days falls on August 15th and 16th this year, and if you've never experienced it before, you really should!
For one weekend, farms all across Alberta open their gates and invite us in. You can tour farms, meet the people growing and raising our food, wander through fields, learn where your food comes from, and take part in everything from farm tours to long table dinners and some pretty incredible food experiences.
Honestly, there is so much happening across the province and, of course, Rise is getting in on the action too! But we're not just celebrating for the weekend… we're making a whole week of it!
More details on all of that as we get a little closer. But for right now, there's one thing you need to know…
NOW… LET'S TALK ABOUT SATURDAY 💐🥂
On Saturday, August 15th, the Rise Girls are heading to the Uchtenhagen Flower Farm!
Rise has joined forces with Erin and Britt for a beautiful afternoon of picking, sipping and eating, basically, three of my favorite things.
And I'm pulling out the Eat Catering trailer to the farm for this one! For those of you who may not know, Eat Catering is the big sister to Rise Bakehouse and yes… for all my longtime Eat Catering people… the coconut shrimp will be making an appearance!
Erin will be sharing some of her tricks of the trade when it comes to building a beautiful bouquet, while her sister Britt educates us on bubbles because honestly, if we're going to have flowers and appies, we should probably have bubbles too.
Then we'll head out into the flower fields, snip our own blooms and build our own bouquets… all while sipping, snacking and spending a beautiful summer afternoon together.
SO… HOW DO YOU GET TO COME WITH US?
Well, this is where we need a little help from all of you.💛
We want you to leave Rise a Google review!
Word of mouth has always been huge for Rise. You tell your friends. You tag us on Facebook. You send people our way. And believe me, we appreciate every single bit of it.
But here's the thing about the world we live in now, when someone is new to Red Deer or simply passing through town, they're pulling out their phone and Googling.
Where can I get an awesome cup of coffee?
Where's a great place to grab lunch?
Who has a delicious breakfast sandwich?
Where do I find amazing sourdough?
That's where Google reviews make such a huge difference for a little business like Rise.
So, if you love what we do, leave us a Google review and be specific! Maybe it's our Birdy coffee. Maybe it's those sourdough milk buns on Thursday. Maybe it's the BLT, Pizza Friday, or simply the way the girls greet you when you walk through the door. Those little details help someone who's never been through our doors find us.
And if leaving a Google review feels completely foreign to you, don't worry! Come on into Rise. We've got a little QR code right at the till, and any one of us will happily help you figure it out.
Every Google review left between July 1st and August 7th will be entered into our draw. We'll be drawing SIX NAMES before we go home on Friday the 7th. Those 6 lucky people get to come along with us for our Team Building Pick, Sip and Eat afternoon!
OKAY… WHAT'S HAPPENING AT RISE THIS WEEK?
Monday morning… you know the drill.
The doors open at 7am, the music goes on, the coffee is ready to go, and we get to work. It's honestly not unusual to look out the window and see someone sitting in their vehicle waiting for us to unlock the doors - usually with a BLT on their mind.😉
BLTs are ready to roll first thing and available all day, every day.
The barista is always on standby with a smile and a friendly good morning, ready to pull your shots and make whatever your morning is calling for - coffee or any one of the other amazing drinks we have happening behind the bar.
And the morning muffin rule around here...they have to be out of the oven before those doors open. So you can count on fresh muffins and a pastry counter that's already filling up by 7am.
Then the kitchen really gets moving.
This Monday, we'll be rolling up two wraps, our Grilled Chicken & Veggie Wrap and one featuring the incredible Smoked Beef I picked up on a quick run to the Olds College Meat Shop this weekend. Think Montreal smoked meat… tender, smoky and so darn good.
Next up are the Rice Paper Salad Rolls with our peanut sauce, and then we get busy on the week's quinoa salad.
You know our Quinoa Salad…all the things. My Saturday morning starts with a trip to the Farmers' Market, so you can bet there will be plenty of beautiful, fresh local veggies packed in there. And after last week's rhubarb and apricot vinaigrette? Well… we're pushing repeat. It was just too darn good not to.
The wraps and rolls start making their way into the grab-and-go throughout the morning, with the quinoa salads joining the party closer to noon.
That's Monday morning at Rise. Music going, coffee ready, ovens on and all of us moving in about twelve different directions at once. Just the way we like it.💛
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
WEDNESDAY… WE'RE SWITCHING THINGS UP!
Wednesday is usually Soup Day around here, but with temperatures looking like they're going to hit 28 degrees that day… I just can't do it to you.😂
Now, for you diehard Soup Day people who simply need your litre of soup, we did pop a few litres into the freezer before we headed home on Friday. So if you're fast enough to grab them, we have soup for you.
But for the rest of us, we're giving the soup pot a week off and turning Wednesday into Quesadilla Day!
We've got two beauties in the works. First up, a Surf & Turf Quesadilla loaded with slow-braised beef and shrimp. Then, for those of you who aren't into all that business, we'll have a Grilled Chicken Quesadilla happening too.
Hot, cheesy and coming off the grill starting at 11am, served up with salsa, sour cream and a fresh slaw on the side.
AND THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TALK PRE-ORDERS…Quesadillas, our weekly salads, Friday pizza… honestly, some days we just don't know what's going to fly out the door or when we're going to run out.
That's where pre-ordering becomes your best friend around here.
We're a little old school at Rise. Just pop into the shop, chat with one of the girls at the till, tell us what you'd like and we'll write your name down on our trusty list. You prepay, we set it aside, and it's waiting for you when you're ready.
No tears. No disappointment. No staring sadly at an empty spot in the grab-and-go. If there's something you know you want this week, pre-order it. It's the easiest way to make sure you get your hands on it.
🍕 TGIF Sourdough Pizza – BEEF, BROCCOLI & BLACK BEAN - and before your mind heads to Mexico, turn it around and head straight towards Chinese black bean.
We'll be slow-braising beef until it's fall-apart tender, piling it onto our sourdough crust with a garlicky black bean sauce, hard-roasted broccoli with those beautiful crispy edges, thinly sliced red onion, mozzarella and a little provolone.
Out of the oven, we'll finish it with our garlic aioli, greens, maybe a few chives straight from the garden, toasted sesame seeds, a drizzle of our house chili oil and a little lime zest to wake the whole thing up. Pizza starts coming out of the oven at 11am… and I have a feeling this one's going to be a gooder.
CHEESECAKE FRIDAY… OH, HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED!
Did you know that about a year ago, Cheesecake Friday actually took a little break? Yep. For a couple of weeks, we gave up on it because it honestly didn't seem like anybody was all that interested. I know. Seems ridiculous now!!
Because holy smokes… Cheesecake Friday has become one of the hottest commodities around here. People are pre-ordering their pieces, planning ahead and making darn sure their cheesecake is tucked safely away before Friday even rolls around.
And this little beauty in the photo...that's last week's Honey-Roasted Apricot Cheesecake. If you managed to get your hands on a piece… you already know. Those roasted B.C. apricots were absolutely phenomenal. But a few of you have been whispering in my ear that it's time for some chocolate. Okay. I hear you.
This Friday, we're going Black Forest Cheesecake. 🍒🍫
Chocolate. Cherries. Lots of Chantilly. Fresh cherries piled on top and big, beautiful shards of dark chocolate to finish it all off.
Rich, messy and a little over the top.😍
Well, friends, you've all been asking for the heat… and here it comes.☀️
So, a little motherly advice before I go - drink lots of water, find some shade, wear a hat and don't forget to slow down a little. Alberta summers are far too short, and these are the days we'll all be wishing for come January.
Get outside. Pack a picnic. Sit on a patio. Let the kids stay up a little too late. And when those thunderstorms roll through, sit back and enjoy the show while your rain barrels fill.
That's it from me this week. I'll be back here next Sunday with all the flavors of Rise and whatever else we've managed to get ourselves into by then.
Have a beautiful week.💛
