My Journey to Joy

First of all I want to thank you so much for joining me on my journey! Baking New Memories was born out of covid in 2020 when I (as many of you did) found myself with not much to do. Quarantined with my adult children I got a sudden urge to bake a recipe of my Great Grandmother’s, Minnie Burns. Having already lost my mother to pancreatic cancer, I reached out to my aunt to see if she had the recipe, and sure enough...I found myself sharing stories, memories of my great grandparents, my grandparents and my parents with my children as I baked them Mondel Brait which they had only tasted once. Only once...I had taken for granted that Mondel Brait would be a part of my life forever, as it was a staple in my great grandma’s house...a consistent childhood memory...It was then that I decided to keep this and so many other recipes alive through the foods that bring back the BEST memories! Baking New Memories has grown into an incredible support group of, what I’ve coined as, Love Bakers...we share old and new recipes and create new memories together along the way...Sourdough was never in my thought process! In my journey of Love, Loss and Life Itself...Sourdough found its way to me. It’s tradition to give your starter a name so I named my starter HARVEY (after my late grandfather). I have been baking with him for about a year. .When I decided to dehydrate Harvey so that I could share him with you I knew that I was sharing so much more than a simple starter...As I spread my starter over my silicon baking sheet I couldn’t help but think of all of the Joy Harvey has brought to me. Then I realized... that on that silicon sheet I was LITERALLY SPREADING JOY...It is absolutely NOT a coincidence that My poppa Harvey was married to my grandmother Eileen JOY! I knew then and there, JOY it is. My hope is that you find as much enJOYment in her as I have! I believe you will!

~Neeka

Baking New Memories Circa 2020

My Great Grandmother

Minnie Burns

The Mandel Brait that I made with my

children

This is the recipe that inspired my group "Baking New Memories". Due to Covid-19, I suddenly found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands, as so many of you have. In the quietness, a desire arose that I hadn't felt in some time. The desire to bake. I had, somehow over the years, forgotten that I love to cook and to bake, and actually had myself believing that I wasn't any good at either. When I decided to ask my aunt for my great grandmother's Mondel Bread recipe, I had only the intention of trying to bake it (for the first time ever) with every expectation of completely botching it and never trying again. But that isn't what happened. Instead, I just did it. Although, I had some idea of what it should look like because of the many times that my great grandmother made it over the years, I had no idea how to get to the finished product. And, here is what I love so much about this...it didn't matter how I got there. I had the steps in front of me, and whatever I ended up with was gonna be okay! Because the point wasn't to make perfect Mondel Bread. The point was to try, and the trying led to so much more than a great memory, and reminiscent aromas of some of my favorite childhood times. More than that, the trying led to new memories of MY children and I making Mondel Bread for the very first time together. And so I had found perfection in the making of this familiar and unfamiliar recipe. We were Baking New Memories as I shared old ones, and the past and the present mingled there in my kitchen, creating a new and familiar aroma. It was the smell of new traditions in the air that had laid dormant, waiting to be brought to life and passed on. It is never too late to start a NEW memory. My children are ages 16-21, and this was our first Mondel Bread experience. The beauty lies in that it won't be our last. I hope that you will join my family and I as we begin, continue, and leave a legacy of sweet and rich memories shared from so many perspectives, cultures, religions and homes in this amazing community we've created. Here's to Baking New Memories!