Houlton Bakery

Recipe for Valentine's

2010-02-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

A perfect recipe for a sweet day!

If you are looking for a special treat for your sweetheart, we have a suggestion: give a bag of Houlton Bakery cookies that comes with a great recipe for sugar cookies. Perfectly sized to fit a recipe card file, tied up with a red ribbon AND a cookie cutter, this makes for a sweet treat now, and then later too!

Please visit our pastry case on Friday and Saturday this week for dressy cookies and cakes to take away for your special celebration!

She has been here...

2009-09-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Remember the super-animated feel of the cafe in Amelie?? Didn't you just wanted to be a patron in that same cafe? Now is your chance...the carrot cake decoration is perfection and the pastry case is full of deliciousness, topped with precision and detail so...find your green shades, order 'un cafe' and join us just off screen for the scoop on all the regulars...

Chanterelle Season, Deep Dish Pizza Bonanza!

2009-09-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

We have just received some absolutely magnificent chanterelles from one of our regular customers at the Bakery who happens to have located some very prolific foraging spots this year! An exceptional and seasonal Deep Dish Special is in the making...

Visit us this Saturday, 9/12, to enjoy delicious deep dish pizzas featuring these seductive chanterelles sauteed with shallots!

Who knows what else we might cook up?

Ridiculously Red Cabbage!

2009-09-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

With the crisp night air, and beautiful fall daylight, this cabbage reached perfection. This week, enjoy our Corned Beef and Red Cabbage Sandwiches (braised red cabbage, that is) on Houlton Bakery Bread. And yes, we can grill it for your dining enjoyment!

Macaroon Forest

2009-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

A forest of scooped macaroon balls, waiting to be baked...

They are such a simple good treat, full of chewiness inside their slightly browned, crusty exterior revealing a soft, full coconut flavor inside.

Did you know they travel well and we do ship them upon request.

September Tomorrow!

2009-08-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

If you like Fall, I suppose that is good news, though if you are going back to school soon, facing the end of summer weather and fun, maybe not so much.

Change is always upon us, so with this photo, we bid farewell to the growing days of late summer. A beautiful pitcher filled with gigantic, luscious basil and fragrant rosemary grown by Lacey. Look for it to be a part of this week's bakery offerings, perhaps in the Potato Rosemary bread or as topping on Houlton Deep Dish pizza.

The Univex Floor Mixer

2009-05-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Univex got fixed a few weeks ago after the motor just stopped running one day. Production went to all the small table top mixers and our customers missed a few of their regular favorites. After a new motor came all the way from New Hampshire and was installed, we were back in business...so far, so good! Here's what the Univex looks like.

Slow Food and Houlton Bakery

2009-04-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

Just a short post today -- after taking a look at other blogs I like, it seems a good idea to think about what topics to present and maybe write a story or add our latest specials weekly instead of daily.

Yesterday, when all that quiet work was supposed to be happening, the big dough mixer, that sits on the floor broke, requiring repair service to be called in. No fresh bread for today or maybe tomorrow, unfortunately, though Joe will get a day off I think. A lot of work did get done beforehand and luckily the sticky bun dough was already complete!

Houlton Bakery believes in Slow Food, where great care is taken to prepare foods with all the freshest ingredients by hand and use organic, local produce where possible. There is a lot written about the Slow Food movement, which originated in Italy. We heart the Orange Snail!

Second Person, Houlton Bakery Life, First Post!

2009-04-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today, Houlton Bakery is closed as it usually is on Mondays, but inside the ovens are warm and much work is going on. My sister, Gainor, Houlton Bakery's owner, is preparing doughs for tomorrow, ordering food for the weekly delivery from FSA on Tuesdays and cleaning anything that didn't get done after the hectic closing on Saturday, right before Easter Sunday. Kellie is helping out today with baking and prep work for the start of business Tuesday. A lot will be done in the relative calm of a typical Monday. See our new stools for the bar just waiting for tomorrow's customers...

On Saturday, so many big white boxes of Potato Rosemary Rolls and beautiful braided mini-Challah breads baked by Joe for Easter orders went out the door. And two beautiful strawberry 4 - layer cakes, decorated with whipped cream and looking fresh as spring. Several trays of delicious lemon bars, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, pecan sticky buns and of course, traditional hot cross buns.

I was able to help out too on Saturday, and for the first time, was at the sandwich prep counter, sort of "front-of-house", creating one of Houlton's favorite lunch recipes for Smoked Chicken Pasta Salad. An extra flavorful offering, all fresh ingredients and house-made dressing, one customer wanted to know why we hadn't sent out the word ahead of time! Oops, that was my job as the email mistress and now hopefully we can do better with a blog in keeping the loyal and new customers informed here in a more fluid manner!

So, stay tuned, we hope this new blog will provide some news from St. Helens, Oregon, Houlton Bakery's town, recipes from the kitchen, cooking class updates and some "back-of-house" tales about bakery life:)