My daily bread...

Here We Go… Back to School & Into Harvest Season🍎

Oh my gosh, how is it already the end of August?!
Tomorrow is Monday, August 31st, and for lots of families, that means back to school! Lunches packed, backpacks found, indoor shoes located (hopefully😆), kiddos out the door and everyone figuring out those new routines all over again.

A little heads-up for this Monday morning at Rise: be patient with us. Mondays are always a big, busy production day around here, and a few of our mamas will be coming in a little later after getting their own kiddos settled and off to school. We’ll all get there, coffee helps.☕️
And while summer might be winding down, I have to tell you… this is one of my absolute favorite times of year.
The farmers markets are absolutely bursting right now. From now until Thanksgiving and really, until that first hard frost arrives, the amount of beautiful Alberta-grown produce available to us is incredible. Every week there’s something new coming through the doors at Rise, and it makes planning what we’re cooking next way too much fun.
The mornings are getting cooler, the kitchen is starting to feel cozy again, and I’ve got lots of delicious things planned for this week.
So here we go… September is knocking on the door, harvest season is here, and the Rise Kitchen is ready for it.

Monday Morning at Rise - Door open at 7am!

We’ve been talking about pies ever since Open Farm Days, and I’ve decided there’s really no getting around it, pies just belong at Rise. They fit here. So now the trick is figuring out how to squeeze them into our already slightly ridiculous baking schedule on a regular basis. And so, the pie lesson plan continues. I’m still pretty new to the pie game, but I’ve been rolling out crusts and tucking them into these beautiful old vintage pie plates that have clearly seen a thing or two. These pans have experience. They’ve probably baked more pies than I can even imagine, so I’m hoping to draw on a little of that energy while I figure this whole pie thing out.

I spent part of my Sunday afternoon in the kitchen getting a little head start, so when you walk through the doors Monday morning, you’ll find Apple Saskatoon Berry Pies and a couple of beautiful Strawberry Cream Pies waiting on the pastry counter.
And, of course, Monday morning means all the usual Rise deliciousness too. Rise & Shine Breakfast Muffins, fresh pastries filling the counter as quickly as we can bake them, and our BLTs available all day, every day. Add a smiling barista and pretty much any coffee beverage your heart desires, and I think we’ve got Monday morning covered.

Then there are the black currants. I came home with a big bucket of these gorgeous little berries from the Farmers Market and right now, my favorite way to eat them is ridiculously simple: sourdough toast, a little butter, and fresh black currants squished right on top. I’m not much of a jam girl, give me the actual fruit and let me smoosh it into my toast and I’m happy.
BUT… now I’m standing in the Rise Kitchen staring at this bucket and racking my brain because I know these little beauties need to make their way onto the pastry counter somehow this week.
​Black currant something is coming. I just haven’t quite figured out what that something is yet.

It’s Zucchini Season… You Know What That Means ​
We have officially reached that time of year when the zucchinis start getting a little out of control.

I came home from the Farmers Market with a couple of big, beautiful zucchinis this weekend because, really, how could I not? And there is only one logical thing to do when zucchini season hits full force
​Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
​This year, though, we’re going mini. I have the cutest little mini loaf pans, so we’re going to turn that rich, chocolatey zucchini cake into individual little loaves for the pastry counter.
Will I manage to get them baked for Monday? Maybe or they may have to wait until Tuesday. But sometime this week, Chocolate Zucchini Mini Loaves are happening at Rise.

A Little Friday Road Trip 🍯
​After we closed the doors at Rise on Friday, I grabbed my little sidekick and off we went to Gull Lake Honey to fill the buckets!

They’ve had an incredible fill-your-buckets sale going on for the month of August and when I looked at the calendar and realized… it was August 28th. Apparently it was time to get my butt out there.
So we loaded up and made the trip, filled our buckets with

beautiful Alberta honey, and I was reminded all over again just how cool this place is. They literally have honey on tap, straight out of the wall in their tap house! And somehow I managed to get absolutely no picture of it. In my defense, I was filling buckets while keeping one eye on my little Raiden, who had discovered what may have been the best seat in the entire place.

There he was, plunked down on the ground beside a great big five-gallon bucket of apples, happily eating away with a few little farm kitties hanging around in the background. Honestly, he had the whole place figured out.

The Rise honey buckets are officially FULL again, and I may have also brought home a couple of gorgeous big pieces of fresh honeycomb.

Keep your eye on those because you’re going to see them again when we get to Cheesecake Friday.
​
​Next up on the Monday list: fill that grab-and-go cooler!
​Wrap production has officially become a pretty serious part of the Rise schedule. We’re making them every single day now, and some days you should see the production line, the table completely covered, everybody with a job, and wraps rolling out one after another. It’s become quite the operation!

This week we’ll start with our Grilled Chicken Wraps and Roast Ham Wraps. I roasted the hams this afternoon, so those babies are ready to go.

You may notice one familiar face missing from the cooler. We are officially out of our Olds College Smoked Beef, so we’re going to take a little break from that one while the college gets back into the school year and those smokers get fired up again. We’ll absolutely bring it back when we can get our hands on more.

And by Tuesday, we’ll get another round of those Roasted Cauliflower Wraps happening. We’ve been slowly introducing these into the lineup and you guys are LOVING them. They’re vegetarian, so they may not be everybody’s first pick but I’m telling you, they are absolutely phenomenal.

So if you’ve been eyeing that cauliflower wrap and haven’t taken the plunge yet… this should be your week.

This Week’s Quinoa Salad Bowl
Honestly, this is the BEST time of year to build a salad bowl. The Farmers Market is absolutely bursting and I’m basically picking up everything I can get my hands on and figuring out how to get it into the Rise Kitchen.
As always, we’re starting with quinoa and keeping the whole bowl beautifully gluten-free. We’ll add some gorgeous lentils, a little steamed rice, which we’ve been loving in these bowls and then start piling in all those incredible Alberta vegetables. I found more golden beets this weekend, and there will be plenty more market goodness joining them as we start chopping and roasting our way through Monday.

And we’re bringing back one of my favorite dressings: Apricot Honey Vinaigrette. Everything gets tossed together in that slightly sweet, tangy goodness and loaded into the grab-and-go cooler for you.

At this time of year, I’m not even sure we need a strict recipe for these bowls. If the farmers grew it and it looks delicious, chances are I’m putting it in.

Sourdough line-up...
​Monday - no sourdough loaves
​Tuesday - Red Fife Country Loaf and Superseed Multigrain Loaf
​Wednesday - Classic Brown and 100% Whole Grain Organic Loaf
​Thursday - Light Rye Loaves and Sourdough Milk Buns
​Friday - Red Fife Country Loaves

Quesadilla Thursday! We’re throwing a hot lunch at you this Thursday! We’ll have two coming off the grill:
​Garlic Lime Shrimp Quesadillas​
and
​Roasted Veg + Alberta Oyster Mushroom Quesadillas

Both will come with a crunchy cabbage slaw with a little toasted sunflower seed goodness, plus salsa and sour cream on the side.
We’ll start pulling them hot off the grill at 11am, and pre-ordering is always a great idea if you know you want one.

That being said, we’re also making a PILE of them. Our freezer is officially quesadilla-free right now, and that simply will not do. So Thursday is also a big production day to get that freezer stocked back up with quesadillas you can grab and take home for one of those ridiculously easy dinners when nobody feels like cooking.

🍕☀️TGIF PIZZA FRIDAY

Okay, summer… we’re not quite finished with you yet.
This Friday we’re giving you an Alberta Cantaloupe & Prosciutto End-of-Summer Pizza, because those beautiful Alberta melons are everywhere right now and I cannot resist.
We’re starting with our creamy garlic base, grilled Alberta cantaloupe, a little onion, prosciutto and loads of mozzarella before sending it into the oven.
And then, as always, we get a little carried away after the bake. We’ll load it up with fresh arugula, crispy prosciutto chip, fresh cantaloupe, hot honey oil, flaky sea salt, cracked pepper, lemon zest and fresh basil. And for those of you who love it, we’ll add some beautiful Rockridge chèvre on top. Not a goat cheese person? No worries whatsoever, just tell us to leave it off.

Sweet melon, salty prosciutto, creamy cheese, peppery greens, a little heat from that honey and all that fresh basil and lemon…
​That feels like a pretty darn delicious way to say goodbye to August. Coming out of the oven at 11am and we will bake until we sell out!

​
​CHEESECAKE FRIDAY ​
​Remember that little road trip to Gull Lake Honey earlier in the newsletter? Well… here’s where that beautiful honeycomb is going.

This Friday we’re keeping things simple, rich and absolutely delicious with a Honey & Honeycomb New York Cheesecake.

We’re starting with a brown butter graham crust and an extra-deep New York cheesecake, with a little honey worked into the batter and beautiful ribbons of honey rippled throughout before it heads into the oven.

Then we’ll let it cool and settle overnight, and Friday morning we’ll crown it with vanilla bean Chantilly, chunks of fresh honeycomb, salted honey sunflower crunch and one last drizzle of beautiful Alberta honey.

And Just Like That… September is upon us🍂

To all the mamas and papas doing the Sunday-night scramble, lunches, backpacks, forms, schedules and wondering how on earth summer disappeared so quickly. I remember those days well and I’m happy to report that I am no longer living in back-to-school panic.

I have simply moved into an entirely different hemisphere of panic. Apparently the panic never actually ends, it just changes departments.

And while the mornings might be getting a little cooler, the Rise patio is still very much OPEN for business. We know those patio days are numbered now, so we’re going to squeeze every last beautiful one out of them. I’m bringing in a big basket of cozy afghans this week, so if there’s a little chill in the air, grab yourself a blanket, wrap it around your shoulders, order something warm to drink and settle in.

Honestly, that sounds pretty darn perfect to me.💛

So good luck to all your babies heading back to school, good luck to all the parents getting them there, and good luck to the rest of us just trying to figure out what day it is.

Come find us at Rise this week. The coffee will be hot, the kitchen will be busy, and there’ll be a blanket waiting for you on the patio. And I’ll meet you right back here next Sunday with another week of deliciousness from the Rise Kitchen.💛

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