Umpleby's Bakery & Café

I like to think that I am in the quality of life business.   What does that mean exactly?  To me it means trying to provide a relaxing atmosphere in a space that settles the nerves, promotes thoughtful conversation, and nourishes the individual with honest food made from ingredients that are locally sourced when possible and at least of high quality if not.

For absolutely no reason whatsoever I thought it might be a good time to extol the merits of comfort food.  (who am I kidding – there is really a good reason why I am posting this now)   What is comfort food?  Here is one definition that I got off the ‘net:

com·fort food
ˈkəmfərt fo͞od/
noun
food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically any with a high sugar or other carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.

I agree with most of the definition but I bristle at the reference to “high sugar”.   I disagree with the idea that childhood cooking had to involve a lot of sugar.   I strongly believe that something can taste amazing,  indeed it will only taste amazing if it is not overly sweet. I have a mantra –  sweet is not a flavor.   Lemon is a flavor, vanilla is a flavor,  fresh fruits have a flavor, chocolate is a flavor, coffee is a flavor.  SUGAR IS NOT A FLAVOR.

It is snowing right now as I write this and what I am thinking would taste good is a freshly made baked good right out of the ovens.   It appeals to all of the senses –  the smell of butter on the nose, the warm healthy look of the properly finished baked good,  the feel of the pastry in the hand, the sound of the gentle crunch with the first bite,  the amazing taste when the flavors reveal themselves.   That is comfort food.  I don’t think you can achieve the same results in a product that has ingredients that you can’t even pronounce and that don’t normally appear in nature.  Baked goods made with such ingredients should be considered phantom-comfort foods or trojan horse-comfort foods.    It would be food that might give you a moment of pleasure but after that brief moment is gone you are left with a sickly, empty, nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach and dare I say your soul as well.

I’ll get off my soap box now but I don’t think I will ever give up preaching the merits and power of properly made, honest ingredient based baked goods.   True comfort foods are a comfort for a reason.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday so allow me to suggest a couple different ways to enjoy watching it
on the food side. Since the Giants aren’t in it I can’t help you with the actual game but since we are in New England I suppose there are some Patriots fans out there who might be interested in how the game unfolds.

The first method is to do it the way Australians watch the Grand Final  and by that I mean meat pies and sausage rolls.   The ones that we do are a much tastier version than the four’n twenty pie.  Check out the lunch page on our website to get all the different flavors that we do.  They are perfect eats for the Super Bowl (once again, even if the Giants aren’t in it).

The second way is the more traditional method but I don’t mean wings.  Instead I call your attention to our sandwiches.  Check out lunch menu on our webpage or you can download it here:   

Maybe you want to make your own sandwiches –  in that case I would suggest our rolls, baguettes or sour dough breads.  They all make excellent vehicles for whatever you want to put inside.

So have a think of which style you would like to do and then call us with your order!

Let’s go Giants!

I am looking over the seed catalogues again today in anticipation of placing my 2017 order.  I first start by looking at what seeds I have leftover from last year and go from there.  Please note: seeds from the onion family don’t age. Toss them and start with a fresh batch! Novice me,  I learned that a couple years ago from my farmer friends.    And don’t forget your tubers!   I am a big advocate of Moose Tubers – a subsidiary of Fedco.     The deadline for early shipment of taters is March 3 so get going!  February is a short month so it will be here before you know it.   As I believe I have mentioned before  I love seed savers for their tomato and pepper selection.

And also don’t forget about cutting flowers and herbs.  Two very big categories to choose from and grow.  We plan on going crazy this spring on the cafe patio and have planters and boxes stuffed with sweet smelling flowers and savory smelling herbs!  It’ll be like a little jungle out there if all goes well.

What else is there to say   –  I’ll be posting the Super Bowl notice in the next day or so and then there is Valentines Day.

February 14th will be a study in chocolate.  We’ll keep you posted.