loaf cookery school

New dates for courses 2017!

The announcement of our Cookery School courses 2017, has been somewhat long awaited by the eager and organised amongst us, so here it is just in time for Xmas!

NEW dates for January-March 2017 are now available for:

– Bread: Back to Basics
– Bread: Simply Sourdough
– Sweet breads and Viennoiserie
– Flavour Geography: South Indian Dosa
– Handmade Pasta
– Macarons

Plus many more!

We’ve worked hard to fit in as many courses as we can, so we hope you’ll find something to suit your needs!

If not, why not buy a gift voucher?

You can purchase Cookery School gift vouchers from £1-£150!

Further dates will be staggered throughout 2017.

*Foraging & Earth Oven Building will be available from March.

Lamb & Poultry will be available from February.*

Happy Booking!

Closing for maintenance!

We’ll be closed for maintenance from Tuesday 23rd – Tuesday 30th August; opening as normal on Wednesday 31st August.

We’ll be making some improvements throughout our building: in the shop, bakery, cookery school and back of house; very exciting stuff!

We know a lot of you will be alarmed that you won’t be able to get your usual orders (or salt beef – goodness!!); so make sure you stock up in the weeks before. Our bread and sweet stuff freeze brilliantly you know! Just perk them up in the oven once you’ve defrosted them.

OR…

Jump onto one of our bread or sourdough courses and make your own! Fresh bread just can’t be beaten can it!

Also, we’ve got the last few places on Lap’s phenomenal Bao course on the 31st; now you can recreate #baohouse at your house!

August in the Cookery School

With it being holiday and vacation season (for you guys and us!) we don’t have as full a course schedule as we normally do; though we have ensured that we’ve got the best coverage of our bread courses to suit most needs, so if you’ve got some time off and have always meant to book on to one – take advantage now!

We’ve got places available on all dates for August:

Bread: Back to Basics – Saturday 6th 9.30am-4pm

Simply Sourdough – Friday 12th 7.30-9.30pm – Saturday 13th 9.30am-1pm

Bread: Back to Basics – Thursday 18th 9.30am-4pm (weekday)

And we’ve even snuck in a Bao and Chinese Dumpling course with Lap on Wednesday 31st 6.30-9.30pm – we’re always thinking of you!

July in the Cookery School!

We’re coming to the end of June, and our July courses are filling up fast!

What better way to spend an evening or day, than learning great new cooking skills, and more importantly EATING!

Kicking off the month with our Earth Oven Building course (now SOLD OUT! But join the mailing list if you want to attend the next one!)
We have got places on all our super popular Flavour Geography courses though: Dosa, Sichuan & Bao.
Not to mention specialist evening courses on Macarons and Fish with our resident Foodist, Lap-fai Lee!
Finishing it off with the final places on our stellar Bread and Sourdough courses – it’s not too late to learn!

We look forward to welcoming you to our school!

NEW STOCK!

If you’ve been into the shop this week, you may have noticed we’ve got some new stock gracing our shelves!

We’ve curated a spice rack, with spices we use ourselves in the bakery and the cookery school. Some/most of which we haven’t found at our local shops, so you’re welcome!

You’ll find: Za’tar, Ras El Hanout, Sumac, Saffron AND a selection of spices – ORGANIC where we could!

Much to popular demand we’ve also stocked 1kg Peanut Butter, Tahini and Coconut Oil.

You may also notice (or if you follow us on Twitter..) that we’ve got a brand new swanky fridge! Fully stocked with The Happy Gut Hut Kombucha, Milk, Cawston Press drinks cans PLUS NEW Fentimans classics, Chi Coconut water and pure churned butter!

We still stock Pip’s hot sauce, Cuffufle jams, chutneys, vinegars and cordials; Quarter Horse coffee, Union Coffee, Urban Harvest apple juice, eggs and our own Granola mix.

Don’t forget we still sell bread making equipment: locally made peels, scoring knives, scrapers, proving baskets; plus Italian 00, semolina, and rice flours; AND books on bread making, foraging and preserving!

Oh yeah, we sell awesome Loaf canvas tote bags too! (If you spot one out and about, tweet us a photo! @loafonline #loafspotted

New Loaf Bakery Shop Opens – Sat 26 April

Stirchley Just Got Tastier!

At Loaf this week there has been a hive of activity. We have done a complete refit of the shop and are introducing some new editions – including weekday takeaway lunches, and a small selection of cookery equipment, specialist cookery ingredients and local produce to buy. We’ll also be selling our usual selection of speciality bread and cakes . Thanks to a fantastic team of staff and volunteers the new & improved Loaf Bakery Shop re-opens tomorrow – Saturday 26th April 2014. Particular thanks goes to Tom, Sarah, Nancy, Andy, Jordan, Mike, Alasdair, Russ, Walter and Jane for all your hard work. You’re amazing!

Below you’ll find out what’s new, discover our new opening hours and salivate at this week’s takeaway lunch menu – changing every week. We hope you like the look of the new shop too, with much of our furniture made from reclaimed palettes and recycled materials….

New Loaf Bakery Shop Opens – Saturday 26 April 2014

So here’s what we’ve got on offer. Pop in to discover what’s new….

New Opening Hours

Tuesday – Friday: 12 – 6.30pm

Saturday: 8.15am – 1pm

Tuesdays – Fridays: Takeaway lunches, from 12noon

Weekday Takeaway Lunch Menu

Tuesday 29 April to Friday 2 May 2014, from 12 noon

Tuesday – Daal with sourdough; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Wednesday – Herb & mushroom Frittata with green salad; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Thursday – Rosso Pomodoro Soup with sourdough; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Friday – Spinach, artichoke & chilli goats cheese pizza; Spicy ‘Nduja sausage, mozzarella & parmesan pizza.

We will also have brewed coffee and loose leaf teas to takeaway.

Pick up a Loyalty Card

We like to reward our regular customers with the Loaf Loyalty Card, to enable you to collect “˜Loaf’ stamps and redeem a free loaf of bread!

You’ll get your last loaf in a baker’s dozen on us

when you buy 12 loaves, you’ll get the 13th free!*

Ask at the till. Subject to terms and conditions – details on the card*.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Loaf Team

New Loaf Bakery Shop Opens – Sat 26 April

Stirchley Just Got Tastier!

New Loaf Bakery Shop Opens – Saturday 26 April 2014

So here’s what we’ve got on offer. Pop in to discover what’s new….

New Opening Hours

Tuesday – Friday: 12 – 6.30pm

Saturday: 8.15am – 1pm

Tuesdays – Fridays: Takeaway lunches, from 12noon

Weekday Takeaway Lunch Menu

Tuesday 29 April to Friday 2 May 2014, from 12 noon

Tuesday – Daal with sourdough; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Wednesday – Herb & mushroom Frittata with green salad; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Thursday – Rosso Pomodoro Soup with sourdough; Baked ham & mature cheese croissant.

Friday – Spinach, artichoke & chilli goats cheese pizza; Spicy ‘Nduja sausage, mozzarella & parmesan pizza.

We will also have brewed coffee and loose leaf teas to takeaway.

Pick up a Loyalty Card

We like to reward our regular customers with the Loaf Loyalty Card, to enable you to collect ‘Loaf’ stamps and redeem a free loaf of bread!

You’ll get your last loaf in a baker’s dozen on us

when you buy 12 loaves, you’ll get the 13th free!*

Ask at the till. Subject to terms and conditions – details on the card*.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Loaf Team

The Guardian, Country Living Magazine & New Course Dates

At the beginning of March, we were pleased to be featured in the April edition of Country Living magazine, and again in the Guardian on Saturday 22nd March. Celebrating Loaf Cookery School in their Country in the City section, Country Living magazine featured our Earth Oven Building course – and we sold out on places for our end of May course straight away! The Guardian featured us in their ‘Do Something’ supplement, mentioning our bread subscriber scheme, and our no waste bread policy (see photos of articles below). So, we’ve seen an additional flurry of interest, which is fantastic – taking the word about Loaf further afield. With such amazing interest, we’ve had to add new course dates to keep up with the demand. Coming up we have:

NEW COURSE DATES

Earth Oven Building Weekend – Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th August 2014

The Earth- Oven Weekend is great for both garden, food and bushcraft enthusiasts, and definitely for those that don’t mind getting their hands dirty. No experience is needed, we’ll teach you everything – just a willingness to get stuck in. You can cook practically anything in a wood-fired oven, from bread and cakes to casseroles and pizza, all with that unique smoky taste. And there really is nothing quite like it.

To find out more and to book visit: Earth-Oven Building Weekend

Seafood One: Fish – Tuesday 17th June or Wednesday 13th August 2014

Join Loaf and fish expert Lap-fai Lee for a hands-on evening learning the art and science of fish preparation and cookery. This three hour workshop aims to take the fear out of fish and give you the knowledge and skills to go home and start enjoying preparing fish in your own kitchen. It’s actually pretty quick, easy and fun when you know how! Related courses include our equally fantastic Seafood Two: Shellfish course, if you fancy taking your culinary skills that extra step.

To find out more and to book visit: Seafood One: Fish

Country Living, April 2014. Photo courtesy Mike Satterthwaite

Guardian, 22 March 2014. Photo courtesy @Lauralarue

Treat Yourself

Alongside our forthcoming Forage and Cook course, we have a fantastic selection of other Loaf Cookery School courses coming up in April to whet your spring cooking appetite. Go on, treat yourself.

April 2014 Courses

Cooking Meat – Tuesday 8th April

Butchery: Perfect Poultry – Tuesday 15th April

Forage & Cook – Wednesday 16th April

Handmade Pasta – Tuesday 22nd April (one place available)

Knife Skills – Wednesday 30th April

Why not?! Find out more here: www.loafonline.co.uk/cookeryschool or call Nancy on 0121 458 7682

Welcoming Spring – Forage & Cook

With a glimpse of sun and warmth, bulbs are emerging from their winter sleep, buds are forming on hedgerows and trees, and blossom is bursting into flower. The seasons are changing and with spring come’s the first of our Forage and Cook courses for 2014.

April: Wednesday 16th
May: Tuesday 6th (one place available), Wednesday 7th (one place available)
June: Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th

Foraging isn’t just a countryside past-time, it can be an urban adventure too! Join us for a delightful evening wandering the urban wilds of south Birmingham in search of edible treats, before returning to Loaf HQ to turn them into some fabulous seasonal dishes. This course is aimed at those with little or no experience of foraging, and covers all the practicalities, legalities, and safety aspects of picking wild plants to eat. By the end of the evening you will be able to confidently identify several readily available wild foods, know how to properly prepare them, and be eager to get out there on your own adventure.

To find out more and to book visit: Forage & Cook

Welcoming Spring – Forage & Cook

April: Wednesday 16th
May: Tuesday 6th (one place available), Wednesday 7th (one place available)
June: Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th

To find out more and to book visit: Forage & Cook

How do you turn a kitchen novice into a fantastic cook?

We can’t claim to be able to turn you into Michelin star chefs. Sorry.

Often, we meet neighbours, friends and Loaf customers who’d love to shake up their culinary skills and become better home cooks. Most people’s concern is how to work with ingredients to turn them from bland, same-old set dishes, to an endless repertoire of flavoursome meals that they would be proud to serve. Basically, what’s the magic?

And it’s my concern too. I may be married to Tom, but I don’t share the same culinary experiences, and therefore skill or knowledge (even though most people think we share the same brain!). I’m good at Marketing – but I also love eating good food from around the world, and watching the joy it gives others. So i’m slowly starting to learn too. I’ve done the Bread: Back to Basics course and i’m booked on the Dosa and Handmade Pasta courses.

My culinary wish list is as follows:

Understanding flavours – I have a great sense of taste, and grow my own fresh herbs, but I’d love to grasp making fantastic flavour combinations, to transform a dish with a few simple touches.
Building Blocks – How do I make the classic stocks and sauces from around the world extra special? (béchamel to improve my Italian cooking; tasty vinaigrettes to lift my salad, tomato-based sauce to die for; a good solid home-made mayonnaise, and classic French and Asian stocks).
Preparing ingredients and utensils – Sometimes my timing goes awry or i’m slowed down by not knowing which utensil to select, or how to use it well for the job intended.
International Cuisines – I grew up eating classic British meat and veg dinners, which I love. But i’m also blown away discovering international cuisines from Asia, Europe and Africa, and I simply how I can make them too.

So, i’m upping my game and booking on some Kitchen Essentials courses , to tick my culinary wish list boxes. Stocks and Sauces, Beans, Pulses and Grains and Knife Skills to start. Fingers crossed.

Kitchen Essentials: a series of evening cookery courses

Led by Loaf Baker and trained chef Dom Clarke, this series of short workshops are designed to help create more adventurous, faster, efficient home cooks. They cover a wide range of skills, and work well as single courses or as a whole set. Each once does what it says on the tin, teaches you a new and essential kitchen skills. Once you’ve learn the magic they’ll be no turning back. All with an evening meal included, cooked by you! Coming up:

Kitchen Essentials
Knife Skills: Tuesday 18th March
Stocks and Sauces: Tuesday 18th February
Cooking Vegetables: Tuesday 25th February
Herbs & Spices: Tuesday 11th March
Beans, Pulses & Grains: Tuesday 1st April
Cooking Meat: Tuesday 8th April

To find out more about each workshop visit: Kitchen Essentials. £30 per person per workshop (except Cooking Meat – £40).

www.loafonline.co.uk/cookeryschool

Jane Baker

Happy Christmas & Thank you!

What a year!

It’s been fantastic. Thank you to everyone that has made 2013 a real success. We’ve grown from strength to strength over the year, increasing our staff team, taking on new directors, extending our selection of bread & cakes, developing new courses and pop-up events and meeting lots of new faces in the cookery school, bakery & on our local high street in Stirchley.

Thank you to all our customers, friends, colleagues & families. Special mention also goes to our:

Bread Bond Holders – without whom none of this would have been possible – thank you
Bread Club members – for returning to the bakery week after week to pick up baked goodies!
Loaf Directors – Matt, Michelle, Russ… and former directors Tim & Ria
Loaf Staff – Andy, Dom, Jane, Nancy, Sarah & Tom
Cookery School Guest Tutors – Haseen, Lap, Lizzy, Mohini, Rachel & Steve
Everards Brewery – our landlords who have helped us grow on Stirchley high street
Stirchey Stores Members – for sharing the Loaf love by selling our bread & cakes in the shop
Creative & green fingered friends – Clare, Fraser, Jack, Jacob, Kerry, Mike, Paul & Walter
Fellow Food Lovers – Brad, Carl, Chris, Krishan, Lap, Nico, Nick, Vic
Fordall Farm – a community owned business who are a real inspiration to us.

And many, many more… there are just too many to mention!

Loaf in Lights - Christmas 2013

Have a very Happy Christmas and promise of a wonderful new year.

We look forward to developing new & exciting projects in 2014 and hope you will join us for the ride!

From the Loaf Team

x x x

* Christmas Closure – The Loaf Community Bakery, Cookery School and Stirchley Stores will be closed from Wednesday 25th December, re-opening on Thursday 2nd January 2014. Bread Subscribers – we will be baking for you again on Friday 3rd January.

Christmas Goodies from the Bakery

The mincemeat that we made back in October is maturing nicely, and quite frankly we’ve held off long enough. Now December is upon us, we’ll be unleashing glorious mince pies on you every day in the bakery. We have a deliciously rich mincemeat, which will be stuffed into our own sweet shortcrust pastry and baked fresh daily.

PRE-ORDER STOLLEN – This year reserve your Christmas Stollen (for collection in the shop on 23 – 24 December only). We do not offer a postal service. Our usual selection of bread produced in the Loaf Community Bakery will also be available to buy as usual in the Stirchley Stores co-operative community shop.

Christmas Stollen

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS – The Loaf Community Bakery, Cookery School and Stirchley Stores will be closed from Wednesday 25th December, re-opening on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

STIRCHLEY BREWHOUSE – We’re taking a small break from Stirchley Brewhouse throughout December. It’s all hands on deck in the bakery instead in the run up to Christmas. The smell of seasonal dried fruit & spices is amazing. Brewhouse will be back again in early 2014.

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS @ Stirchley Stores:

Tuesday – Friday 2 – 7pm

Saturday 8.15am – 2pm

Monday 23rd December 2 – 7pm

Tuesday 24 December 8.15am – 2pm

Closed 25th December – 1st January.

Re-opening on Thursday 2nd January 2014, 2 – 7pm.

An Alternative Christmas

If you’re one of those people who cringes at the sight of shop windows turning Christmassy on November 1st, then you’re probably fed up with the commercialization of this time of year and the rush for presents too. So here’s some alternative Christmas pressie ideas from the Baker family. For the past few years we’ve been doing a handmade Secret Santa for adults and a fun activity (and small present to unwrap!) for some of the children. It’s been great fun. Try these:

Alternative Christmas Present Ideas

Hand Baked – we’ve created our own hampers full of sloe gin, ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend), jams and chutneys, lemon curd, chocolate truffles, elderflower cordial etc… and of course fresh bread for the table. You could even go the whole hog and make Christmas Cakes or puddings too.

Hand Crafted – i dusted the sewing machine off and made textile table bread baskets from recycled materials, and vintage tea cup candles. We’ve also received embroidered Loaf couches. You may have seen these in the Cookery School being used to prove dough if you’ve done the Bread: Back to Basics course.

Share a Skill – Last Christmas we invited all seven of our Baker nieces and nephews to the Cookery School for their very own course making bread, pizzas, pitta bread, humous and lots more. Then we sat down and tucked into our food creations for lunch. It was a fantastic opportunity to spend time together and teach them new cooking skills, especially as we don’t all live in the same city. And it went down a treat. We threw in some some baking gifts to unwrap too (novelty biscuit cutters etc).

You could try this in your own kitchen, or think of a different skill to share, or as an alternative plan a day trip somewhere fun together instead. Everyone has a skill, passion or place they’d love to visit with their loved ones. So be creative.

Try baking, making your own hamper or food related paraphernalia or go on an adventure somewhere new together as a family or group of friends.

If you’re still stumped – here’s a little bit of Loaf help along the way. Try the following:

Bake – Bake beautiful bread to your heart’s delight. Make you’re own bread using peels, baskets, scrapers & knifes, or give the gift of bread making equipment from the Loaf Cookery School.

Read Up – Pick up a bread making or foraging book then recreate the magic in your own kitchen or give a gift to a loved one. Check out our Mini Loaf Bookstore (pictured below) in the Cookery School. We currently have: Dough by Richard Bertinet ; Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley; & Food for Free- by Richard Mabey. We’ve also got The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard coming soon.

Give the Gift of Learning – buy a Gift Voucher for a loved one at Loaf Cookery School.

For any of the above pop into the Cookery School, call 0121 458 7682 or email Nancy on info@loafonline.co.uk . Unfortunately we cannot deliver books or cookery school equipment by post.

Gift Voucher Mini Loaf Bookstore