This just in: Epic journeys not just for Odysseus!

Whenever someone I know travels to any semi-distant city, I usually have a bakery to recommend to them that I've been admiring from afar. Typically, I will stalk bakeries via news articles, cookbooks, word of mouth recommendations, and the like for quite some time before I actually have the chance to travel there and taste for myself.

Such is the case with Extraordinary Desserts, located in downtown San Diego.

My friend Kim, a fellow bakery hunter that represents the GABH Pasadena chapter gave me the tip-off on this one quite awhile ago.

A very special thanks goes out to bakery hunter April (Hawaii GABH regional representative) for finally making my dreams of attaining Extraordinary Desserts come true. After working seven days straight, she had to drive up to San Diego for a work training. Running on turbo April fuel with not as much as a day off to rest, she orchestrated a dessert journey for me that involved the immediate transport of both a fresh berry cobbler and a linzer tart all the way from San Diego County to my coastal palace (read: studio) in Santa Monica. These desserts traveled to me on a 13o- mile plus epic journey.


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April, for your dedication in helping our cause here at The Great American Bakery Hunt, I salute you.

mouth watering soul satisfying Berry Cobbler

Linzer tart was linzer-licious, if you'll accept that as an adjective...

Both desserts were more than delicious: Folks, it turns out Extraordinary Desserts is not just a clever name!

The Great American Bakery Hunt Hiatus...

The Great American Bakery Hunt is taking a hiatus! My posts have dwindled as of late because I am working and living at a non-profit summer camp right now, and I don't have access to time or transportation that allow me to bakery hunt. Also, my laptop broke so I am sharing exactly four other computers with an entire summer camp staff. But fear not! I haven't forgotten my quest to hunt the bakeries of America, and I promise I'll have more frequent posts in the fall for you. Until then, keep me posted, dear readers, on any bakeries you might find in your own adventures...

Cinco de Mayo brings cravings for Mexican food, relaxation, anti-social amusement, and reruns

It's Cinco de Mayo weekend, but with my big East Coast bakery hunt trip nearing, I'm taking it easy. After working this evening, I was craving a genuine good night IN, and a good meal from my favorite taco joint. I made my way over to Taco Mesa and ordered some grub to-go. It's amazing how the familiar flavors of your favorite food can work wonders for the weary soul. And speaking of wonders, I caught the tail end of an old Wonder Years episode as I was finishing my meal.

I don't know what it is about that Kevin Arnold, but that show makes me nostalgic and sentimental to no end. Perhaps it's because the writing in The Wonder Years exploits all of the adolescent insecurities that the average American experiences throughout his or her own lifetime. But I think it's something even deeper-- there's a little bit of the Arnolds in all of us, and some families, such as my own, even have the classic rock collections to prove it.

Whether your situation reflects the typical nuclear family or not, the show captures something basic about being human that we can all relate to, and I guess that's what I love so much about it. Also, The Wonder Years reminds me of a more sincere time in consumer entertainment-- before writers rested on their laurels and began relying on the easy shortcuts of reality tv.

Even though The Wonder Years dealt with highly dramatic scenarios of tragedy, loss, and war, it always managed to do so with the spirit of light-hearted innocence and a killer soundtrack. Arnold's often humiliating and heartbreaking moments of adolescence always seemed so authentic, and so unlike the calculated, formulaic, and scripted representations of youth that appear on "reality" tv today. And who, I ask you who, can resist a show with a vulnerable inner monologue in the background? Take the success of Scrubs as evidence.

Tonight's episode was classic. First, a scene from Kevin's French class, where all poor little 9th grade Kevin Arnold can remember to say en Francais is "Do you want some butter?"
After a very long day of 9th grade, Kevin feels that he is smack dab in the middle of an existential crisis. Luckily, he runs into Winnie Cooper, who saves the day by making him feel "like home" again.

Sometimes it's a person that reminds you what it's like to be home, and sometimes it's partaking in a great meal at your actual home. As much as I absolutely love being out and about and around people, I also revel in the joy of a truly anti-social night of relaxation, syndication, and good food. Sure, we all need a little help from our friends, but you can't trust a man who doesn't know how to be alone with himself, watch a little Wonder Years, and eat a few tacos.

Plus, this time allows you the luxury of asking all of life's important questions: Was the nerd-influenced Paul character (Kevin Arnold's best friend with the thick-rimmed glasses before thick rims were cool) the inspiration for the modern liger-drawing Napolean Dynamite persona? Did people just watch Boy Meets World because they were upset Fred Savage had finally grown up? Or was Mr. Feenie just that charming? Who's hotter-- Winnie, or Topanga? If Fred Savage owned a bakery, would it be called "Savage Delights"? The list goes on and on!

The Great American Bakery Hunt journeys to New York...

Bakery hunters, my long awaited trip to New York is just days away. I'll be visiting my brother, a journalism student at NYU and a California transplant to Brookyn. I can't wait to hunt East Coast bakeries like a champ, running amok all throughout Manhattan and the outer boroughs on a permanent sugar high. Since I'm going for only 5 days, I'll have to increase my meals from 3 a day to roughly 5 and a half a day to cram all of New York's tasty delights into my gullet!

I'm salivating just thinking about it. Of course, I am trying to do my fair share of research so I hit all the culinary gems. I'll be armed with some great tips from some industry folks who are in the know, and I'll also be digesting some reading material for the hunt. So far I've compiled all your regular Michelin and Zagat guides to New York, as well as The Slow Food Guide to New York (thanks to this guide, I gained a great listing of local farmer's markets in the city. And a side note about farmer's markets, they were featured in the food section of the LA Times recently. Sadly my vendor friends and I didn't get even an honorable mention for the Laguna Beach Farmer's Market, but no hard feelings. I suppose every farmer's market girl thinks hers is more charming than the rest!)

I will let you know how the hunt turns out...Though I am going prepared with some destinations in mind, I am most excited to stumble upon the neighborhood haunts that guides like Zagat have not yet discovered-- the places that will touch my soul, and my stomach, with local treats.

Happy hunting!

Black market baked goods...

I was bakery hunting around the lunch hour this Thursday at the Costa Mesa Farmer's Market when I stumbled upon The Black Market Bakery booth. Although I have never been to their storefront, I had checked out their goods once before at the market. On this particular visit, I spoke with one of their employees, Jennifer, a friendly vendor who gave me a sample of their black market bars and some good suggestions about what else to try. I left with an armful of black market loot! (It felt like a steal since all of the breads were on sale-- I came at the very end of the market, so I'm assuming that's why...a very late arrival is a little known farmer's market secret that can potentially ease the damage on your billfold.)

I think what I love most about this bakery is that their website describes their Black Widow tart as "a Joseph Conrad-inspired journey into the possibilities of dark chocolate." Just from that description, I'm guessing that existentialism never tasted so good....

I haven't tried the tart yet, but I did buy a focaccia pocket with mushrooms and shallots, and it made for the perfect lunchtime nibble. I like their theme over at the Black Market Bakery-- it suggests that the their treats are so good, they must be illegal! So next time you're feeling rebellious, risky, or anti-establishment, make your way to the Black Market Bakery and fight the man through your stomach...It's anarchist baking at it's best!! (They should definitely make a t-shirt with that on the back. I will accept payment for my slogan's creative genius in the form of baked goods...)

And speaking of lawlessness, the farmer's market was all kinds of chaotic on Thursday! Those Southern California winds were picking up, and the vendors were getting restless. High velocity winds can mean trouble for the vendor tents, so I pitched in and, in the spirit of Joe Cocker, I gave a little help to my friends. A few of the vendors at the Costa Mesa market work at my farmer's market as well, so I felt right at home. I had a particularly enjoyable time helping the hummus guy pack up his stuff-- he is Algerian and speaks fluent French, so we were able to practice French together as we begged the wind for mercy! (I think it went something like "Au secours!!!")

Poilane is in the news yet again...

BusinessWeek is running an online slideshow about "The Making of Poilane Bread".

Poilane is run by a French owned company that has gained an international reputation.

According to the slideshow commentary, 1/5 of Poilane's revenues come from online orders. Thus, it is clear that bakery hunters everywhere are using the power of technology to transform the international bakery hunting landscape.

Bakery hunting through the golden years

Elderly bakery hunters in Northern Europe need not struggle with the bus system: now they can easily gain access to limitless pastries due to new advances in personal transportation. It's good to know that if age brings mobility concerns, I will still be able to hunt through Scandinavia with ease as a feisty old lady! Now if I can just get every baker in Copenhagen to give me a 55 and over discount, I will be the happiest golden girl of them all.

A Great American Bakery Hunt shoutout post!

This post is a shoutout to my friend Justin Paul Veiga, who took the photos below with the spirit of bakery hunting in mind. In addition to being named the FedEx Package Handler of the Month for September 2004 (Placentia, CA Hub), he is also one of the most talented, original, and artistic people I know. (When we met to discuss the future of The Great American Bakery Hunt the other day, he offered some clarification about his past accomplishments: "You know, I really handled packages quite well during all the other months too. I'm sure if they could have awarded it to me more than once, they would have.") I would have to agree. Whatever the context, his talents never cease to amaze me.

A student of photography at Cal State Fullerton, Justin is also gifted in painting, and he makes a wicked mix CD (a skill which should never be underestimated-- although, read Chuck Klosterman's Sex Drugs and Cocoapuffs for a theory about mixed cd's Vs. cassettes, he makes some valid points. If you're interested, Klosterman's book also contains a profound theory about why John Cusack is ruining the lives of Americans everywhere.) Anyway, I'll state here for the record that if you see any interesting photos on this site, chances are that Justin took them. The ones that are a little rough around the edges are probably mine!
He profiled different professions for his last photo project, so of course, I dressed up like a baker to help the cause! I'll let him leave some details under the post comments about what kind of camera he took the photos with and why this is probably significant in some way.

All I know is that he is the fearless leader of my one-man tech support team here at The Great American Bakery Hunt. Thus he gets the first and most honorable techie shoutout of the entire blog. If you want to help his artistic cause, give him a fruit custard tart, his number one bakery muse.

We have a running deal to exchange html advice with baked goods: I'll make the tarts, he'll teach me to be a tech wonderwoman. I'm still a long way off, but eventually I hope to become proficient in computer geekiness. And hopefully I will get better at baking along the way. Justin, thanks for all your inspiration and encouragement! The Great American Bakery Hunt would not be the same without you!

A hunting nightmare...

Bakery Hunt Gone Bad!

Brownito ceases to habla English...

Have you heard of Brownito? He's a friendly, dancing brownie that serves as the "mascot and figure head" of a Dominoe's pizza Brownie Squares promotion.

Standing proud, Brownito is three feet tall with Mickey Mouse-like hands, wholehearted greetings like "Hola, soy Brownito!," and wicked break dancing moves he busts out at the click of your mouse. For a while, Brownito was bilingual, and performed his moves under the pseudonym "Fudgem" on the English speaking sister site. But every time I try to use the "visita a brownito en ingles para ver a fudgems" button, I get a blank page and a "HTTP 404 Not Found" message.

What gives Dominoes? I know the press release dates way back to August, but some of us English speakers were just getting to know Brownito in our native language. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful the legend still lives on en espanol. But this HTTP 404 business is a mystery indeed.

I suppose we should count our blessings. After all, the whole brownie promotion did bring us this humorous story.

Even so, I can't help but feel that these large corporations are just toying with our emotions, bringing friendly brownies into our lives and then changing their minds. I haven't actually tasted the brownies, but I sure liked the idea of a brownie hypnotically beatboxing and dancing to techno music. You just don't see that every day. It's breakthrough marketing if I've ever seen it.

Fudgem was soon replaced by another promotion to make way for Dominoe's Brooklyn Style Pizza, where anyone with the name "Brook Lynn", or "Brooklyn" was the recipient of a free pizza in honor of their name. Maybe if I name my future children "Bake Ree" or "Paste Tree" I can use them to get all sorts of free pastries from a willing corporate sponsor! I'd say it's definitely worth chancing it. (But along those lines, what was Gwyneth Paltrow thinking with the whole "Apple" debacle? I'll never understand it.)

In any case, Bake Ree it is! I have to keep my eye on the prize. That's right: I will become the most powerful American bakery hunting mastermind, whether my children like it or not. One day they'll thank me.

The other San Francisco Treat...

In a recent New York Times article, Mark Bittman wrote that San Francisco's Tartine takes the cake for his favorite bakery in the United States. That's quite a grand statement, and I'd like to know how Bittman arrived at this conclusion. (Does Bittman have the bakery hunting bug too?) At the same time, I don't doubt that it's a valid one. I have heard nothing but good things about Tartine, although I haven't had the pleasure of going there yet.

I was given the Tartine cookbook for Christmas, which does me little good since it is rare that I have a solid chunk of good baking time these days. All it does is sit there on the shelf, teasing me! I need to make weekly baking a goal.

And forget about traveling up to San Francisco to feast on the real thing. I must save my money for a yet-to-be scheduled future European adventure. Indeed, I fear the only San Francisco treat I'll be enjoying anytime soon is Rice-A-Roni. Although it's possible that my fellow Denmark-obsessed friend Haej and I might splurge and travel up to Solvang, CA (a so called "Authentic Danish village")for a few days on February. You might think February is a month for lovers, but it's also prime season for random celebratory platonic bakery hunting trips. That's right, I hereby officially deem February an exceptionally ideal month for b-hunting. Lonely this February? Get off your butt and find a good bakery. You'll be the better for it.