The butter went slack in minutes I opened the back door for some air. It's been 96°F all week, and the oven's side of the kitchen hasn't been much better. The pats of butter on the counter usually take an hour to soften; this week they went slack in minutes. Which, as it happens, is what a bun dough wants. For the cookout, I'm working with buns. A lot of buns. But also a few of my crowd favs: a jalapeño-cheddar loaf, a pizza with all the sliced pepperoni, and an uncommon pairing folded into a...

Fresh Bakes for School Lunches More often than not, I bake two loaves for school lunches because one loaf will never survive the afternoon. It comes out of the pan, cools on the counter for maybe twenty minutes, and then someone walks through the kitchen, and the heel (my favorite part) is gone. Then the slice next to the heel. By dinner, the first loaf is but a wisp and the second one is the lunch bread. And that's totally fine. This is the stretch of the year when my house kind of runs on...

Easy late summer sourdough discard bakes This past week I was still baking large, crusty loaves (and a pizza!) here in my kitchen—but I get it if it's too hot for you to turn that oven on. In this week's newsletter, I present a few easy-lift bakes that might make you go back on that rule, though. If you haven't made the sourdough discard plum cake yet, that's where I'd start this Saturday! In this week's newsletter: Recipes: Discard plum cake, banana bread, and focaccia Baking Tip: Can I skip...