“The Perfect Brackers” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2019. I was experimenting with making homemade crackers and I stumbled on a perfect innovation. The perfect innovation was a combination of flour and leftover tomato basil soup. With these two, simple ingredients, I came up with “Brackers.” I was so surprised when I made these because I had always thought making crackers was difficult. Turns out it’s the easiest thing in the world. Two ingredients is all it takes for making any variation of crackers. The North Dakota flour is a beautiful thing. It lends itself to so many different recipes. It lends itself to so many different creations. In addition to tomato basic crackers, I also managed to make my own cheesy mashups. I often mix some chunks of sharp cheddar cheese in with my flour and soups to create an more flavorful cracker. But, that being said, favorite homemade cracker is definitely the tomato basil variety.   

“Tomato Basil Bread as Perfect Therapy” - This picture was taken in October 2020. This was one of the most difficult years anyone has ever lived through. Remarkably, one of the positives of this year was baking. Many people decided to experiment, for instance, with sourdough breads. Many people made their own yeast. While I did not do that the bread featured, I nonetheless innovated. I innovated an interesting mashup. The mashup feature is a bread that has tomatoes I grew right here in Southwestern North Dakota. The bread shown is a tomato basil bread. Of course, the basil was also grown right here in North Dakota. The quality of North Dakota bread speaks for itself. Bread speaks for itself. It’s a feeling of comfort. And we all needed that in 2020. 

“The Perfect White Bread” - This picture was taken in fall 2019. Remarkably, the bread pictured represents years and years of practice. It has taken me a lifetime to master the art of making soft, white bread that rivals any store-bought white bread. It’s so easy to make crumbly bread; it’s easy to make heavy bread. There’s something artistic, challenging, rewarding about making bread that is soft and strong. That’s what I achieved with the picture shown. It was truly exciting. It wouldn’t have been possible without the flour that one finds only in North Dakota. I know this because I lived in Utah, Texas, and West Virginia for many years. Yes, North Dakota is home for me. But I have lived elsewhere. This has proven to be significant because it has helped me appreciate everything North Dakota, including its flour and bread options. 

 

“A Passionate Baker at Work” - This picture was taken in fall 2019. It actually makes me feel intelligent. I see this picture and I realize I discovered the foremost principle of successful breadmaking. Yes, breadmaking is about quality flour. But, more importantly, breadmaking is about kneading. What’s not shown in this picture are the years and years of failed attempts at making good bread. I would literally fail each time I made a pizza, a bun, or a general loaf. I could never figure out the reason for those failed attempts. Then, I discovered, almost by accident, the benefit of having a home miker. That home mixer, a KitchenAid, made kneading so much easier. By extension, I accidentally discovered that bread kneaded carefully and thoroughly always rises better, holds together better, and tastes better. This picture makes me feel wise.  

“The Best Camp Bread Experience” - This photo was taken in early summer 2021. I was feeling relaxed that evening as I completed a day of work at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College. I decided to pitch my tent at the Van Hook Campground near New Town. LIfe doesn’t get much better than BBQ beans and soft, white bread. That’s what we see here. This was my favorite campsite food I’ve ever had. I think I loved this meal the most because I knew the bread was a local brand. I also loved this meal because I rarely get to enjoy BBQ beans. Many of us would say the same thing. Yeah, we all tend to enjoy lots of pizza and pasta and burgers. What gets lost, often, are those lesser-known, but equally satisfying meals. That’s what we see here: The perfect, overlooked meal.   

“A Philly Cheesesteak on the Perfect Bread at Ranchman’s 23” - This picture was taken around Spring Break 2021 near New Town, North Dakota. I was visiting a friend in the area, and we decided to go out for supper. I realized then, as I realize now, that the best foods in North Dakota always come on bread. Here we have a Philly Cheesesteak. Remarkable about this bread experience is that I’ve only ever had this genre of food a couple of times in my life. It does seem like a tragedy to admit this, because this genre of food presents itself as brilliant cuisine. Not only does it feature perfect North Dakota bread, but it also features meat and cheese. It is hard to go wrong with those choices. The best North Dakota bread is everywhere. It can be found in even the most overlooked restaurants, such as Ranchman's 23.  

“First-Timer with Avocado Toast” - This picture was taken in fall 2020. I was preparing my first avocado toast experience. I had heard so many things about this interesting food, but I had never tried it prior to this point. Featured in my picture here, in addition to the avocado toast, is homemade, gluten-free bread. I was sharing this notable experience with my sister. She cannot have regular bread due to allergies. So, I decided to prepare my best versions of gluten-free bread. While the avocado was a brilliant flavor, the bread was unfortunately not. It is, as I learned, very difficult to make your own gluten-free bread. This was a humble loaf you see in the picture. Predictably, most gluten-free bread one makes at home tends to be crumbly and heavy.  

“The Best Salad a Quinoa Can Make” -  This picture was taken in the summer of 2020. I was serving a quinoa-inspired salad to my sister. Featured in the picture is what makes any salad a perfect meal: Bread. Of course, we see in this picture a homemade bun. Homemade buns are not as tricky as some people might make them out to be. The key with homemade buns is kneading. Kneading makes everything soft and strong. A reliable yeast is also essential. This salad is my favorite salad by far. And it’s not only the bread that stamps its perfection. It’s also the red onions, the cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. This is a brilliant salad to enjoy whenever.   

“A Work of Art”- This picture was taken in the fall of 2020. It is perhaps the most attractive loaf of bread I’ve ever made. This is a tomato bread. I chopped fresh tomatoes from my garden and mixed them in a regular loaf of bread. I also used a blender to puree several tomatoes to mix into the bread. I used the tomato puree instead of water. Basically, I made a bread without using regular water. I also skipped the water for activating the yeast. The dusting of flour as it baked was the perfect touch. The bread went remarkably well with a cream cheese spread. I thought this bread, in general, was the most flavorful one I had ever made. It rivaled even my tomato basil crackers, or brackers. Perfection. Of course, you have to love tomatoes to enjoy this bread. Thankfully, I worship tomatoes.   

“Ductchoats Bread” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2019. I had returned to North Dakota after having been away for about ten years. I lived, notably, in Texas for about six years. After that, I lived in West Virginia for about two years. My time away from my home state made me realize how much North Dakota has to offer people. It not only presents its citizens with opportunities for rural living, but it also presents its citizens with quality ingredients for their essential foods. Some quality ingredients I rediscovered after returning to North Dakota in 2019 were oats and flour. I began to experiment with different styles of breads, and that’s how I came across the idea for a Dutchoats bread. This bread (i.e. the one featured) is one baked in a Dutch oven. It was a hearty, rich bread that I greatly enjoyed. It also looks pretty amazing.   

“Simple but Difficult” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2020. I was attempting to make my own pizza dough. It’s not easy. Pizza dough is one of those things that everyone has experience with eating, if not making. Because so many people have eaten pizza in their pasts, they all have a certain expectation for pizza dough. It has to be soft. It has to be flavorful. It has to hold together perfectly. It presents bakers with a formidable challenge. Ultimately, the challenge of breadmaking is always the challenge of balancing soft and strong. Perfect bread needs to be both. What I learned from the breadmaking experience highlighted in the picture is that a good maker approaches bread making as science, not art. There is a careful science to bread making that people must be delicate with. The science of breadmaking is a science in patience and discipline. A good baker needs both. Pizza dough is a science that certainly requires both patience and discipline.  

“An Apple a Day” - This photo was taken in the fall of 2019. It was harvest season, and the apples were perfect for picking. As I look at this picture, I’m reminded of the cliche “an apple a day.” I would say it like this, to be more appropriate with my innovation with bread that’s featured in the photo: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away; an apple baked in any way is brilliant play.” And I certainly do find breadmaking to be my favorite hobby. There’s something about incorporating fresh ingredients into my breads that I find challenging, but rewarding. Most arts that people privilege are challenging indeed, but they’re also predictably rewarding. The bread featured is one in which I experiment with apples instead of bananas. This is a common banana bread recipe that I spun by using apples instead. I don’t usually like breads that don’t rely on yeast, but I enjoyed this recipe. It was flavorful.    

“Victory Bread” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2019. For me, this picture represents everything remarkable about the craft of bread making. It is one picture that highlights the goal of the baker. The goal of any good baker is to execute a bread perfectly. That’s what we see here. This was a perfectly executed soft, white bread. Perfecting this bread took nothing short of ten years of practice. The missing ingredient in the failed attempts was always the flour. I had never baked when I lived in North Dakota as a teenager or young adult. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I really got into breadmaking. I failed so many times while living in Waco, Texas, and Fairmont, West Virginia. I had no idea that flour was partially to blame for these failed attempts. 

“A Recent Visit in the Making, in the Baking” - This picture was taken in the morning of March 9, 2022. I finally decided to visit a local bakery in DIckinson, North Dakota. I can’t believe it took me so long to visit this place. I think any local bakery is a good bakery. It doesn’t really matter what their offerings are really because everyone values a local store that sells their favorite breads and sweets. This bakery, unfortunately, mostly sells sweets. I don’t really have a sweet tooth. However, the lovely owner was able to direct me to some hoagie buns. I wasn’t in a position to complain at all. Sadly, it did take me about three years to finally visit this place. In my defense, it was too long ago that this bakery was a bagel shop. But, even as a bagel shop, I should have hauled myself here much earlier. Bagels are also an exceptional choice.

“Too Many Bakeries Have Those Sweets” - This picture was taken on March 9, 2022. I was on the lookout for a great, hometown bakery. I discovered this place in Dickinson, North Dakota. It is Portillo’s Bakery. Unfortunately, their offerings are mostly sweet. It’s personal taste, of course, to criticize bakeries for serving mostly sweets, as this bakery does. Most people have every right to be pleased with their sweets. I would readily admit that I’m the odd one with not wanting my overly sugared baked goods. I guess I grew out of it. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe my change in tastes aligned with my experiences with perfecting homemade bread. There’s something about a homemade baked good that isn’t sweet that started to be my flavor. But, it’s completely unfair to criticize this great bakery in Dickinson. I’m actually okay with what they serve. And, to my delight, they certainly do offer things that aren’t totally sweet.  

“The Best Cucumber Sandwiches Made in North Dakota” - This picture was taken in the summer of 2019. I was on a recent return to North Dakota and couldn’t wait to experience a dish I loved as a child. I had always loved a good cucumber sandwich. The North Dakota bread, the North Dakota cucumbers, made possible this welcome return to my childhood. It also didn’t hurt that I have my favorite chips to go along with this sandwich, the Sun Chips, “Harvest Cheddar.” Cream cheese in general is one of those welcome flavors. It’s really hard to go wrong with adding cream cheese to a sandwich. While I’m not a vegetarian, I do enjoy laying off meats every now and then. It makes me feel a bit healthier. And, let’s face it, cucumber sandwiches are exceptional. 

 

“Deer Steak and Homemade Bread with Apple Butter” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2019. I had returned to the farm where I grew up to spend some time with my father. I spent about a month that fall on the farm. Featured in this picture are my favorite two foods in the world: bread and deer meat. I also innovated with apple grits; I innovated with salted caramel apple butter. While the deer meat was certainly the novelty here, the staple was the homemade bread. I was beginning to celebrate bread after having lived in many other places before this time. I was so happy to back on the farm where I grew up. Although my time here was brief, I will remember those deer meat meals forever. And it’s hard to go wrong with salted caramel apple butter. One thing I should add is that my dad’s farm has about thirty apple trees.  

“The Most Striking Visual” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2019. More than any other bread I have ever made, this one was the most visually stunning. I couldn’t believe what I was able to make with simple flour, water, yeast, and a Dutch oven. The downside to Dutch oven bread, but the upside as well, is the crust. Dutch oven bread is not meant to be a soft bread. It is meant to tough on the outside, but soft on the inside. Most of the flavor in Dutch oven bread is achieved through that crust. It is recommended to bake this style of bread at a higher-than-normal temperature. I love the exterior of these styles of bread. They’re not for everyone. I can remember my dad turning down a loaf I was gifting him. Of course, the older we get, the less likely we are to want things we have to chew too much. 

“More Than Bread” - This picture was taken in March of 2020. As everyone knows, March of 2020 was one of those months that will be remembered forever. The shutdown that occurred, unfortunately, meant my brother and his wife lost their needed daycare. Their children, Logan and Benton, usually were with a babysitter four days a week. Thankfully, I had a job that was fairly flexible with its hours. Therefore, I was able to provide a service to my brother and his wife. I quickly found that babysitting kids who were three and one needed a lot of attention. This usually meant entertainment. I felt as if I constantly had to entertain these two kids. I loved them to death, as I still do. But I really had to up my game in the entertainment area. I would color with them. I would play trucks with them. I would watch television with them. But what really worked in charming the boys was breadmaking. We would knead bread; we would bake bread. Then, of course, there were the many tasting sessions. This picture reminds me of valuable time experimenting with bread, but also with spending time with two of my favorite people in the world. 

“A Favorite Meal of Bread and Cheese (Bonus Soup” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2021. Featured is my favorite meal: bread and cheese. The bread featured is a gluten-free bread. While I’m not a fan of gluten-free bread, I’m not afraid to try new foods. Remarkable about this picture for me is the flavor of cheddar cheese. Cheddar cheese and bread present the ideal combination. It is a flavor overload. If there were ever to be a new flavor, in addition to the five people already have, I think a cheese taste would be a perfect addition. Of course, there are only five flavors. But, why not include another? Maybe a seventh could be bread. We would all benefit from having these two new flavor profiles: cheese and bread. 

“The Best Flour Anywhere” - This picture was taken on Sunday, March 20, 2022. I had never known the value of good flour until I used the best: Dakota Maid. Growing up, it was always this flour that my parents used. My dad was usually the one assigned the task of making bread. It was strange. He never cooked anything else; he never had a talent for cooking. My dad grew up in a family of ten kids. He had three older sisters, and they commonly did the cooking in the family. This meant my dad never had much practice cooking. My dad lived on a farm growing up, so he usually worked out in the fields with his brothers. This was a time, of course, when there wasn’t much thought given to gender roles. It usually meant women cooked and men worked outside–in a traditional farm family. Though not practiced in cooking, my dad was a good baker. This appreciation for bread was passed one to me. He also passed on to me the note on quality flour: Dakota Maid. 

“A Baker’s Foremost Tool” - This picture was taken on March 21, 2022. I would never again attempt to make bread without a bread mixer. Sometimes there’s no mystery to what someone needs to do to be successful. In the breadmaking world, this truth is spotlighted. The no-mystery step one needs to take to be successful with making any bread is kneading. It’s the hard work that one puts into rolling and pressing the bread that actually means better bread. It creates less crumbles in the final product, for instance. Strangely, it also ensures a softer bread. The lesson in life that this teaches is to never confuse quality with chance. Quality is the result of hard work–always. Those who are willing to work harder are those who are always going to be more successful. For me, the mixer shown is an example of hard work. Hard work is everything in success. Yeah, I would never again attempt to make bread without a bread mixer. 

“What’s the Lesson Everyone Must Learn About Being Wasteful?” - This photo was taken on March 21, 2022. Remarkable about this picture is how unremarkable it first appears. It’s just a picture of a leftover hoagie that’s been frozen. To an untrained eye, this seems pointless. It’s certainly not a picture that’s going to win any award. An exception would be an award for being environmentally conscious. The truth is, this picture is remarkable in that it shows people how to be more responsible with the things they buy. When you buy something, try to think through how you can avoid wasting anything. People are far too wasteful in society. We throw away so many things. Rather than continue this fruitless lifestyle, people should try to reuse and repurpose. This picture actually shows people how to avoid being wasteful in their everyday lives. Leftover bread could easily be frozen and turned into bread crumbs later on.  

“A Baker’s Tool” - This photo was taken on March 23, 2022. The photo shows a baker’s most humble tool: The Dutch oven. The crusty bread creation that results from this brilliant tool is not to be easily dismissed. It’s a pleasure to sink one’s teeth in that crusty masterpiece. The look of the bread that results from this baking process is equally noteworthy. There are blended shades of brown, white, and red. The smell of this bread is also overwhelming. It is quite shocking how a simple device could yield such complex flavors. Get one today! 

“A Large One” - This photo was taken in the fall of 2020. I was using a special baking pan: my great grandmas. She gifted these obnoxiously large baking pans to mother. They were then passed on to a neighbor. Eventually, the neighbor returned them to my parents. I was the beneficiary. These large bread pans make the most dramatic breads. It’s an amazing sight when one sees the bread fill the pan, then escape it. I simply love how the bread looks when I share it with others. They can’t believe their eyes. Thanks for the pans, great grandma. I will continue to use them frequently. 

“A Process Pic” - This picture was taken in fall 2020. It shows a brilliant attempt to make a soft, homemade white bread. Perfectly executed is the meatloaf that goes with it. There’s meatloaf and applesauce. Anyone who has a mouth that’s not watering right now might want to take another look at the picture. What’s equally noteworthy about this photo is the process shown. There’s that moment when a loaf of bread hits the oven and rises a bit that the baker gets especially excited. The baker feels that sense of pride. Yeast can be a tricky thing. There’s no doubt about that. That’s why it’s always a victory when the bread does its initial oven dance. 

Could the most remarkable thing about North Dakota be its bread? I think so. As a person who was born and raised in North Dakota, someone who has spent most of my life here, I can say confidently that the bread in North Dakota is unmatched. Please enjoy some of my many bread experiences that I've chronicled here. This album is a tribute to my favorite place in the world: Southwestern North Dakota. I hope my many posts inspire your many visits to this great place. North Dakota has a distinct, agricultural beauty. One of things that makes North Dakota bread so good is that it relies on locally-sourced flour. We grow the flour. We make the bread.

“Another Process Pic” - This photo was taken in the fall of 2020. It represents the magical process of breadmaking. A sign of successful bread is that early-oven rise. I love it. It tells me that my calculations are correct. I don’t like working with baking soda and baking powder. It’s too alchemy-like for me. But it does make some good, hearty bread. This one is an apple bread. I made it on my dad’s farm. The farm has about thirty apple trees, and in the fall a person cannot resist experimenting. That’s what I did here. Normally, this bread recipe is a banana bread. I just swapped out bananas for apples. It was magical. 

“Oh, the Color of Bread” - This picture was taken in the fall of 2020. What I love most about this picture is that color. I love, in general, the color of a properly cooked loaf of bread. I love when the bread turns a slightly browner color than a person might prefer. Me, I’ll take my bread brown any day of the week. I love that crispier exterior, which is what I achieved with the loaf pictured. There’s just more flavor when a bread has a browner exterior. It’s not a Dutch oven bread, certainly. But it has parallels. To get this perfect color, one needs to be patient. One also needs to time the retrieval perfectly. The color of this bread makes me happy. 

“A Careful Tool” - This picture was taken on March 23, 2022. It is an attempt to show the simple brilliance of a breadmaker's humble tool. The worn color of this bread pan shows how every baker should practice. If a baker’s tools are worn in, then that baker is likely not an artist. There is artistry in a worn bread pan. There is care there. There many bakes cannot be ignored. They are inscribed brilliantly on the exterior of the bread pan. I also like that this bread pan is nothing special in terms of its dimensions. The perfect baker doesn’t have to get carried away. The perfect baker is humble, practiced, worn-in. That’s what we see here. 

Could the most remarkable thing about North Dakota be its bread? I think so. As a person who was born and raised in North Dakota, someone who has spent most of my life here, I can say confidently that the bread in North Dakota is unmatched. Please enjoy some of my many bread experiences that I've chronicled here. This album is a tribute to my favorite place in the world: Southwestern North Dakota.

“A Fun Getaway with Cheese and Bread” - This picture was taken in summer 2021. I had the opportunity to get away to a friend’s lake cabin near New Town, North Dakota. As one sees, I didn’t need a lot for a perfect supper. We have my favorite foods featured: bread and cheese. A person could do great, great things with just those two ingredients. Really, who doesn’t like cheese? Who doesn’t like the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread? A person can’t beat the views at this cabin, either. It was a perfect summer day there. I can’t wait to get back. You can bet I’ll be taking my favorite food: bread and cheese.