A Grandfather, A Jewish Bakery, and the Start of Living Bread Baker
“Grandpa is home from the hospital.”
The words came out slowly but with so many thoughts between the lines.
As an adult, you understand what isn’t said, that time is short.
A Rare Opportunity to Fight Time
My Grandpa and I always had a special relationship. I drove the 3 hours with my husband and kids often to go visit.
After a difficult hospital stay and more health issues, my grandpa came back home. My family told me how skinny he was and a list of other serious concerns. I baked sourdough bread, we loaded up the kids, and packed up to spend a weekend with him.
It was a very rare opportunity to have him alone after his second marriage without interference or distraction. Armed with diabetic and blood pressure friendly, healthy anti-inflammatory recipes and a fresh loaf of sourdough bread, I was ready to give him the kind of medicine I’m equipped to administer: from scratch cooking made with love.
Kitchen Connection and Healing
While I prepared the chicken and chopped cilantro, I smiled as I heard the playful grandfatherly voice I remembered from many years ago. “Hey little mansy! I got you!” his thin form stretched over his large frame as he slowly reached down to hug my giggling son.
30 years seemed to flash by in an instant.
I saw the grandpa I remembered from when I was little. I was the first grandchild and had a special bond with him from the beginning. I loved seeing his joy and childlike play when the kids were around.
Time is at one time friend and at another a foe as we fight to capture its vapor.
The Sometimes Sacred Work of Sourdough Baking
In those rare hours with just our young family of four with my Grandpa in a quiet house, cooking felt like sacred work.
God was stirring connections and creativity. I had a sense that it was an important weekend and our only opportunity to capture that time.
In my business I was hitting walls and finding dead ends in my spice mix business and cooking blog.
There was momentum in my sourdough baking. People were constantly asking me about it.
My grandpa and his nurse wanted to hear my story and how sourdough worked. And we all loved savoring the decadent soft, tangy bread slices with olive oil and butter.
An Unforgettable Weekend
That weekend was a treasure for us and our kids. I wanted to show my grandpa love and honor, and I believe it was as important for me, as it was for him, and maybe more.
As we said goodbye in the driveway as we had always done for decades through the changing seasons of our family, I felt an ache that this was a bigger goodbye than I could grasp in that moment.
A Chance Encounter at a Jewish Bakery
We got in the car that Sunday and I wanted to cap off the weekend with one more stop for our little family: a bakery stop.
I went to Yelp to find a small, independent, and delicious bakery, but many were closed including our favorite. The one that rose to the top (pun intended 😉 ) was called Mama’s Bakery.
We navigated to the bakery and felt unsure as we pulled into what appeared to be a business office strip mall. The tiny office suite wasn’t well labeled and not at all what we expected.
We needed to get on the road soon so we committed to venturing into this tiny bakery.
I opened the door and felt like we had just walked into a family’s kitchen! Three generations: grandpa, daughter, and grandson were methodically rolling and braiding challah effortlessly.
They looked perplexed at the appearance of my husband, our two small kids, and me.
I looked around at the racks of dough and bread waiting in the refrigerators and shelves for pickup.
I felt like being led there was no accident. You know that feeling when it feels like you’re walking in a dream? I was quickly woken up by grandpa baker telling me to get an apron on and help shape some challah!
What was happening?
I clumsily tried to copy their memorized movements with their kind patience and mild annoyance at my lack of challah prowess.
Biblical Significance of Bread
My mind was racing because I was thinking through all the Bible study I had been doing lately about the poignant significance of bread throughout the Bible from Genesis 1 through the New Testament.
And here I was in a Jewish bakery shaping challah with a Jewish family with Passover only days away, a very significant holiday for Jewish people as well as for Christians.
We bought some challah and profusely thanked the family for inviting us in for more than a loaf of bread.
And of course I went straight to work in developing a sourdough challah recipe, which you can try here.
I knew that God was confirming some thoughts I was having about shifting my business from spices and my former food blog to teaching about sourdough.
And, spoiler alert, that divine leading and prompting didn’t end there!
A Grandfather’s Last Encouragement
In the few months that followed, I saw my Grandpa a few more times before he died at the end of that summer.
I always brought him a loaf of sourdough bread on every visit, but the visits were never like that sacred one before Passover.
His last words to me were an encouragement to “do good, do a good job”.
I will miss him cheering me on this side of Heaven (he loved seeing his grandkids succeed), but I am SO thankful that he is free and experiencing joy and peace in a profound way right now.
I love you, Grandpa.
A New Beginning
We held his memorial service and luncheon on what happened to be another significant Jewish feast day, Rosh Hashanah.
It is the day of the Jewish New Year. It seemed like a sign that a new season was beginning.
That day I made sourdough bread to share with my fractured family, divided by family politics and history. But that bread played a significant role in creating a short window of peace and connection that day.
It’s More than Bread
I want to share this story because it has significance for how my business started and my business name, “Living Bread Baker”.
Because who doesn’t love an origin story??
But more importantly, I want you to know fellow baker, that baking and sharing bread can be far more impactful than you might realize.
Create Something Significant, Start a New Story
It’s been almost 7 years since that special weekend and I’ve seen incredible things happen through sharing bread and heard inspiring baking stories. Relationships created, healing in families, celebration, sparks of imagination in golden years, traditions started, businesses birthed, and so many more.
Leave behind perfectionism and distraction and bake with and for people.
Ready to Bake Sourdough?
Do you have a story about bread inspiring you or creating something unexpected? I’d love to hear it in the comments or you can send me an email!
And if this post has you excited to begin your sourdough journey, I want to help you!
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Time Planning Help for Sourdough Baking
The #1 need for sourdough bakers is help with time planning, so I created a resource for you.
Sourdough Time Planning Workbook: Perfect for new or experienced bakers, this workbook includes 8 templates ready to fill in and a baking journal. The templates cover 4 different ways to make classic sourdough country breads, 3 time planning worksheets for enriched sourdough bread depending on serving time target, and a blank template. The baking journal goes over baker’s percentages and how to take notes on your sourdough bakes.
Get a free sample of the workbook: Use this sourdough time planning worksheet sample to simplify your baking.
