My daily bread...
Hello, October ☀️
What a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The sun is shining, we’re sitting in the high teens, and I hope you’ve all managed to soak up a little bit of this gorgeous fall weekend.
I spent some time outside today tackling that inevitable fall checklist...
Rain barrels emptied and flipped over.✔️
Pots cleaned up and tucked away.✔️
Garden shed organized.✔️
There’s something very satisfying about getting it all done while the sun is shining instead of waiting until you’re racing against the first snow!
The planters at Rise have officially been cleaned up too, which means we’ve gained a little more room on the sidewalk. As long as Mother Nature keeps giving us days like this, we’ll keep a few tables outside and squeeze every last bit out of the outdoor seating.
And now here we are, the first full week of October. We are OPEN our regular hours all week, Monday through Friday, and then Thanksgiving weekend arrives. Rise will be closed Thanksgiving Monday, so the following week will be a short four-day week for us.
Before we get into what’s happening this week, I have to give my team a little love.
As you all know I was away in Calgary on Friday and left Rise completely in their hands. Before noon, I had an email from someone who couldn’t believe she hadn’t pre-ordered the cheesecake... because it was already gone. Then on Saturday, while I was grocery shopping, someone stopped me to tell me she’d had Friday’s pizza and it was the best pizza she had ever tasted.
I knew the team would absolutely nail Friday without me, but hearing things like that from our customers is pretty special. They had a crazy busy day, handled it beautifully, and it makes me so proud of the team we’ve built at Rise.💛
And if you were one of the people who missed out, don’t worry. That pizza is absolutely going into the Rise rotation. Sometimes the simplest combinations are the very best, and that beautiful cheesy pizza finished with paper-thin prosciutto, fresh greens and that incredible relish/tapenade situation was just too darn good not to make again.
And the cheesecake? Well... we might just be able to push repeat on that one. Stay tuned.
I Didn’t Come Home Empty-Handed…
While the team was holding down the fort at Rise, I was in Calgary gathering supplies and you know I wasn’t coming home without a little something delicious. Cheese is back!
It’s been a while, but I managed to bring home some beautiful Pierre Robert French Brie and Saint Angel. I couldn’t get a lot, so quantities are limited, but we’ll have some available as full wheels and we’ll be cutting some into smaller pieces for the grab-and-go cooler.
And because cheese needs crackers, we’re trying out something new. Sourdough crackers for the very first time too.
A piece of cheese, a box of crackers, some olives and a few of the other goodies from our cooler and you’ve got yourself a pretty darn lovely little starter for your Thanksgiving table.
This week we’re leaning right into the theme, Thanksgiving is coming.
We’re taking some of those flavors we all start craving at this time of year, squash, potatoes, leeks, cranberries, brie, brussels sprouts, brown butter, roast turkey and all those warm, savory fall things and weaving them through the Rise menu all week long.
Think Potato Leek & Squash Soup, Cranberry & Brie Bialys, a warm Brown Butter Kale Salad loaded with roasted brussels sprouts, potatoes and cranberries, and then by Friday we’re going all in with a Turkey Pot Pie Pizza and a couple of special Thanksgiving sourdough loaves for your weekend table.
Basically, we’re spending the week getting you good and hungry for Thanksgiving.
Let’s get into it.💛
Monday Morning at Rise ☕️
Doors open at 7am and we’ll be waiting for you.
The coffee will be going, the barista will be ready, and the muffins will already be sitting on the counter when you crack open the door. From there, the pastry counter slowly starts filling up as the morning rolls along and as the week goes on, expect a few little Thanksgiving flavors to start sneaking their way onto the counter.
And apparently you guys are VERY ready for Pumpkin Spice Latte season. We are going through our house Pumpkin Spice Latte concentrate like crazy, so I bought extra pumpkin this week and we’ll be making batch after batch to keep up with you. And don’t worry pumpkin spice does not disappear after Thanksgiving around here. It’s staying with us right through the Christmas season. Golden milk, chai and all your regular Birdy Coffee favorites will be waiting for you.
A Tiny Roof Update: We think we’re getting close! I haven’t officially heard that the roof work is completely finished, so there may still be a little extra noise or disruption this week. Thank you to everyone who came through the doors last week and rolled with it there were definitely a few noisy moments!
The Last of the Market 🥕
I was back at the Farmers' Market this weekend, and I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but there is only ONE market left.
I was shopping a little bit like a chipmunk preparing for winter, loading up on absolutely everything I could get my hands on while it’s still here.
There are golden beets, beautiful squash, sugar pumpkins, rainbow chard, fresh cranberries and all kinds of other fall goodness coming into Rise this week. That rainbow chard may very well be the last we see after those frosty mornings we had. And all of that market goodness is going straight into this week’s menu.
Thanksgiving Quinoa Bowls
We’re starting with quinoa, lentils and wild rice, then loading those bowls up with golden beets, roasted squash, rainbow chard and lots of beautiful fresh vegetables.
Then we’re taking it straight into Thanksgiving territory.
We’re making a Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette, adding cranberries and pistachios through the bowl, and finishing everything with toasted pumpkin seeds and, of course, a big handful of fresh Balmoral Microgreens when Brian arrives with Monday morning’s harvest.
And yes, the Grilled Chicken Wraps will be filling the cooler too.
Wednesday Soup Day
This week we’re taking classic potato leek soup and giving it a little Thanksgiving makeover.
Squash, Potato Leek & Sausage Chowder.
We’ll start with all those beautiful potatoes and leeks, then purée roasted squash right into the soup to make it rich, velvety and just a little bit sweet. And remember those delicious sausages from Olds College? We have a few left, and they’re going straight into the pot.
But I think what I might be most excited about is what we’re baking to go beside it.
Cranberry & Brie Bialys
We’re making a big batch of cranberry compote from fresh cranberries this week, and some of it is destined for Wednesday’s bialys.
Think Brie, house-made cranberry compote and caramelized onions, baked into those soft sourdough bialys and finished with fresh thyme — which, incidentally, I just harvested from the planters outside Rise and tucked safely into the fridge.
How good is THAT going to be dunked into a bowl of hot soup?
Milk buns are BACK this week so on Wednesday, you can choose your side: a warm milk bun or one of those Cranberry & Brie Bialys.
Thursday Lunch — The Salad I Had to Figure Out
Years ago, I ate a warm kale salad at Earl’s that I loved so much, I went back twice in the same week just so I could eat it again and try to figure out exactly what was going on in that bowl.
I’ve been making my own version ever since.
Thursday’s lunch special is our Brown Butter Kale Caesar and we’re giving it the full Rise Thanksgiving treatment.
We’ll toss kale and romaine with roasted baby potatoes, brussels sprouts, sugar pumpkin and sunchokes, along with cranberries, sourdough croutons and toasted pumpkin seeds.
And about those sunchokes...
I saw them on my Alberta grower’s list this week, did a little investigating and thought, Why have we never played with these before?
So naturally, I ordered a case.
We’re going to roast them up and start experimenting. If they’re as delicious as I think they’re going to be, you may see them popping up in a few places.
Then comes the part that makes Thursday lunch a full-on meal.
We’re filling the freezer this week with another batch of those Grilled Chicken Burritos you guys love, and Thursday is burrito-making day. So we’re grilling them fresh and serving half a chicken burrito alongside your salad with sour cream.
You can absolutely order the salad on its own but if you’re hungry, get the whole works.
TGIF — Thanksgiving Turkey Pot Pie Pizza 🦃🍕
Okay. We are going ALL IN. We’re roasting turkeys earlier in the week, and Friday’s pizza starts with our creamy garlic base and beautiful roast turkey.
Then we’re building all those classic pot pie flavors right onto the sourdough crust: carrot, onion, leek, celery and, obviously peas.
Because can you even call it turkey pot pie without peas?
Into the oven it goes.
And then we Rise it up.
Instead of putting potatoes into the “pot pie,” we’re making those crispy shredded potatoes we’ve become slightly obsessed with and piling them on after the bake.
Then comes garlic aioli, fresh microgreens and a cranberry gastrique to give us that bright, tart little hit against all that creamy turkey deliciousness.
And finally, a Brown Butter Sage Stuffing Crunch. Not full-on stuffing, but all those buttery, sagey Thanksgiving flavors turned into a crispy crumble over the top.
Finish it with cracked pepper and those amazing Vancouver Island sea salt flakes, and I think we may have Thanksgiving dinner on a pizza.
Pizzas start coming out of the oven at 11am.
Cheesecake Friday, One More Time💛
Okay. We’re doing it again.
I was in Calgary last Friday, so while everyone sent me pictures of that gorgeous Last Campfire S’mores Cheesecake, I never actually got to stand in front of it, admire it properly... or, more importantly, taste it.
And judging by how quickly it disappeared, quite a few of you didn’t get to taste it either.
So let's push repeat. Actually, let’s do one better.
We’re making TWO.
It’s Thanksgiving weekend. We can all worry about behaving ourselves again next week.
We’re bringing back the graham crust, our deep New York cheesecake, that layer of homemade marshmallow and chocolate ganache, and finishing it Friday morning with Chantilly, toasted marshmallows, house made graham crackers and chocolate.
Two cheesecakes definitely gives us a fighting chance.
But considering the first one was gone before 10am last week... I’d get your name on that pre-order list.
Sourdough line-up...
Monday - no sourdough loaves
Tuesday - Red Fife Country Loaf and Superseed Multigrain Loaf and Sourdough Bagels (Everything Spice & Pumpernickel)
Wednesday - Classic 60/40 Brown Loaf and Organic 100% Whole Grain Dark Rye Loaf and Sourdough Milk Buns and Cranberry Brie Bialys
Thursday - Light Rye Loaves
Friday - A Little Thanksgiving Sourdough 🍞
Okay, this is where our regular bread schedule changes just a little bit, because we want to get some sourdough ready for your Thanksgiving table. We’re baking two special loaves on Friday:
Cranberry & Pistachio Sourdough: tart cranberries and beautiful pistachios tucked into our sourdough.
Fig & Walnut Sourdough: sweet figs and toasted walnuts folded throughout the loaf.
Two beautiful fall loaves, and honestly, either one would be right at home on your Thanksgiving table or sliced up for all those glorious leftovers the next day.
I hope you’re making some lovely plans for Thanksgiving weekend whether that means, a big table full of family and friends, something small and quiet, or simply a few days to slow down and enjoy.
I’m going a little untraditional at my house this year. We’re skipping the turkey and heading in a seafood direction for our Thanksgiving table. Sometimes it’s fun to throw tradition out the window and just cook what your craving.
It looks like we have one beautiful October week ahead of us. Sunshine, warm afternoons and hopefully lots of you sitting outside Rise enjoying it.
Come grab a coffee, find yourself something delicious, sit in the sunshine for a bit and let us help get you into the Thanksgiving spirit. Have a beautiful week.
And I’ll be back here holiday Monday, figuring out just how much we can possibly cram into a four-day week at Rise without missing a beat and tell you all about it.💛
