Hi there! I'm Lauren, your friendly neighborhood baker! Like most Millenials, my love of baking really started in the early '90s with an Easy-Bake Oven, but took a big leap with a deep dive down the rabbit hole of "enriched" foods, additives, and mass production.

 

After realizing all of the unnecessary additives used to grow grain and bake the bread I was feeding my family every week, I was on the hunt for better flour. That is when I found the family at Sunrise Flour Mill. They are hands-on during every step, from choosing heritage grains (easier to digest) that haven't been genetically modified and are grown sustainably and organically, all the way to bagging it up without bleaches, bromates or "enrichments." I was sold; I had to try making my own bread.  

 

I had heard story after story of people traveling to Italy, and even though they didn't eat gluten regularly at home, they couldn't pass the opportunity to have authentic pizzas and pastas (can you blame them?). Expecting the normal reaction, they are blown away to realize that they don't feel bad; in fact, they feel great. Always a fun anecdote, but I never put too much thought into it until I researched the differences in the grain growing and processing between the U.S. and Italy.

 

I dabbled (and failed) in all different types of bread at first, but on a whim, I decided to try sourdough. After my first boule, I was addicted. The process, the flavor, and the challenge of not knowing exactly how it will turn out with each tweak of the recipe... soon I was baking way more than my family could eat, so I gave it away as gifts to friends. I started getting requests for more, with friends telling me they've had to be careful in the past about where they buy bread because of bad reactions, but these loaves have been so easy to digest that they are enjoying eating bread again! With this feedback, I thought, if a more heritage-type loaf of bread could make life easier for them, could it help others?

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