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pastries

Parchment Connects to Heritage Through Scandinavian-Style Baking

January 11, 2022 By marketeditor

By Julia Howard

Isabel Burlingham holds her family, Scandinavian heritage, and traditions close to her heart. Her new baking business, parchment, is, in fact, a culmination of all of her passions.

Burlingham worked as an analytical research chemist for the past ten years but became uninspired by her work. When she heard of a business incubator program through the Troy Waterfront Farmers’ Market, she decided to pursue her passion for baking.

Kardemummabullar variations, photo provided by parchment.

Isabel Burlingham delves deep into her Norwegian roots, baking traditional bread, pastries, and cookies using a combination of family and contemporary Norwegian recipes while acknowledging science for making the baking process possible.

“Scandinavian baking is unique because it is less sweet and uses traditional flavors like cardamom, almond, and pecan,” says Burlingham.

At parchment, everything is meaningful – from the selection of breads, pastries, and cookies to their ingredients, packaging, and business name.“The name parchment comes from parchment paper,” explains Burlingham. “parchment was one of the original writing tools used to record stories that we’ve passed down through the ages. And, parchment is also a baking paper used in modern baking.” Burlingham adds.

Julekaker in three sizes, photo provided by parchment.

For bread, Burlingham makes Rugbrød, a dense and tangy Nordic-style rye sourdough, and Julekaker, a yeasted cardamom bread made in a brioche-style with crystalized ginger and raisins.

Her centerpiece pastry is Kardemummabullar, a slightly sweet cardamom flavored roll with a cardamom filling available in various flavors, including traditional, raspberry, chocolate, almond, and orange.

Traditional cookies are a cornerstone at parchment. Burlingham bakes various cookies, including Pepperkaker, a thin, crisp spice cookie, Lavendelflarn, a crisp, buttery lavender shortbread (with seasonal variations), Pekannflarn, a crisp, lacey pecan cookie with a chewy, caramel finish, and Kniplingskager, a buttery crisp Danish lace cookie with a hint of ginger – just to name a few.

Pebernodder kipful treringer smorkuler pekannflarn drommar, photo provided by parchment.

Burlingham relies on local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and she uses organic flour from New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

For Isabel Burlingham, her work is inspiring and rewarding. She loves to share the origins of her products and the stories that go with them.

You can find parchment at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, the Troy Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, and the Schenectady Greenmarket on Sundays. You can also find parchment’s products at the Honest Weight Food Co-op.

This week’s recipe: A Smorgasbord of Open-face Sandwiches

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: baked goods, baking, bread, cookies, danish, Local, parchment, pastries, scandinavian, scandinavian baking, shop local, shop small, shortbread cookies, small business, traditions

Building community with bread

August 17, 2021 By marketeditor

NightWork Bread, photo provided


By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

In February 2021, Leigh Rathner and his wife Cindy Rosenberg moved from Los Angeles to Saratoga Springs, where Rathner had lived earlier in life and raised his children. They had a dream: to feed people and build community. At the center was bread.

Seven months later, their dream has grown into NightWork Bread. NightWork is derived from Rathner’s previous work of logging difficult late-night hours in the film business. Now, those late hours mean care and passion. Rathner makes slow-rising, naturally fermented sourdough bread, often working late at night.

Rosenberg brings the bread to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings, where it sells fast. In seven months, Rathner has gone from making 25 loaves a week to 325.

Their feat is remarkable. Besides learning the basics of business and the many factors that influence the making of artisan bread, they have had to figure out how to build customer support as newcomers to a place where old loyalties run deep.

Leigh Rathner of NightWork Bread, photo provided

The secret is bread.

“I’ve always been a community builder,” Rosenberg says. “Bread is a community builder, too.”

The connection got clear in 2020.

Rathner and Rosenberg lived in Los Angeles in a 145-unit condominium, where they knew three other people. Everyone was working or commuting. The COVID-19 pandemic brought people home, including Rathner who saw making bread as a means of calming the mind after his work dried up. As the loaves piled up, Rosenberg began distributing them. They met more people and in the once-lifeless building, a sense of community formed.

People began stopping in open-air hallways and other spaces to chat. Chats became meetups with food and drink. Neighbors began offering Rathner money to cover his bread-making costs. Then came preorders, and ultimately a product Rathner felt comfortable selling to others.

“That’s how we lived through the pandemic,” Rathner says. “Bread was a part of it.”

He and Rosenberg yearned to move to a smaller town with a strong farm-to-table ethos. Saratoga seemed like a good fit.

Cindy Rosenberg and NightWork Bread at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, photo by Pattie Garrett

Rosenberg, an acupuncturist, learned how to use Instagram from one of her clients in her last days in Los Angeles. En route to Saratoga, she posted reports via Facebook and began friending people and businesses locally, including me after a mutual friend put us in touch.

Rathner’s past ties to Saratoga also helped. His children had attended the Waldorf School, and even after he left, his friendships with some Waldorf parents had remained strong.

NightWork Bread is now available at three farmers’ markets, including Saratoga, and Rathner and Rosenberg hope eventually to open a store.

This week’s recipe: Panzanella

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: baked goods, bread, new vendor, Night Work Bread, NightWork Bread, pastries, summer 2021

Before Footer

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Get ready to mushroom into a world of flavor at th Get ready to mushroom into a world of flavor at the Saratoga Farmers' Market! 🍄🌱 This week, we're thrilled to highlight the Mushroom Shop and their incredible selection of locally grown and harvested mushrooms. We spoke with owner's Jacob and Elysee to learn more.

Q: What are some of the health benefits associated with consuming mushrooms?

A: Mushrooms contain a multitude of medicinal compounds. The mushroom species Cordyceps militaris contains cordycepin, which increases your blood's ability to absorb and transport oxygen, improving exercise performance. Mukitake or Panellus serotinus possesses compounds that have shown in recent studies to improve liver function in people suffering from fatty liver disease. Reishi mushrooms improve immune health, warding off sickness and reducing inflammation. Other medicinal mushrooms include Turkey Tail, Chaga, Agarikon, Maitake, and Lions Mane.

Q: What inspired you to start selling mushrooms at the farmers' market?

A: We initially got our inspiration from a mushroom farm based in Tennessee called Mossy Creek Mushrooms. They have many videos on Youtube covering every aspect of operating a mushroom farm from building and maintaining equipment to harvesting and marketing mushrooms. Jacob has had an interest in growing mushrooms as a hobby for about eight years when he discovered a patch of oyster mushrooms growing in the wild. We got the opportunity to lease land in the beginning of 2021 and shortly after started selling at farmers’ markets.

Q: How do you recommend customers prepare and cook the mushrooms they purchase from you?

A: At our farmers markets we always provide printed recipes that utilize the mushrooms available during the current season. Like meat, mushrooms can be cooked in a variety of ways, such as sautéing, roasting, and grilling to create a flavorful dish. One of our recent favorites is a Spicy Crispy Lion's Mane Sandwich- a thick slab of Lion's Mane mushroom battered and fried on a toasted bun with spicy mayo and pickles. This is a delicious take on a chicken sandwich made entirely of whole, natural produce. 

*Find the Mushroom shop year round at our Saturday markets!*

#saratogafarmersmarket
Get ready for a mouth-watering adventure! 🍴🌍 Get ready for a mouth-watering adventure! 🍴🌍 Join us on Saturday, March 25th from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Saratoga Farmers' Market's International Flavor Fest in the Wilton Mall food court! 🎉 Indulge in frgál cakes, julekaker, burek, curries, samosas, and more, representing cuisines from all around the world! 🌎 There will be live music, family-friendly activities, and food tastings that will take your taste buds on a journey around the globe! 🎶👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Plus, our friends at the World Awareness Children's Museum will be hosting a paper fortune cookie making session for the kiddos! Don't forget to pick up your passport for a chance to win a prize by filling it with stamps from market vendors! Let's celebrate our traditions, history, and community through the language of flavorful food! 😍🍴

 #InternationalFlavorFest #SaratogaFarmersMarket #FoodieAdventure #CommunityConnection
Join us tomorrow for our Saturday market! From 9:3 Join us tomorrow for our Saturday market! From 9:30-1:30 you can find all your favorite vendors in the Wilton Mall Food court. We’ll by joined by the Academy of Life Long Learning, AIM Services, and musician Lee Paquin. Hope you can make it!!!

Photos of: @squash.villa.farm , KOKINDA Farm, and @eurodelicaciesco by Graciela Colston

#saratogafarmersmarket #saratogasprings #farmersmarket #agriculture #shoplocal
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is seeking donation The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is seeking donations to help improve our market and keep our nonprofit organization running. Your donation will be used for essential functions of the market as well as helping us reach more of our long-term goals for the community. We are looking for additional resources to expand our community offerings such as hosting family friendly events, programs and activities.

You can help us by donating via our GiveButter account (link in bio) or in person at the market via our market manager. Thank you for your ongoing support. We couldn’t do it without you! 

#saratogafarmersmarket #supportlocalfarmers #nonprofit #communitylove #givebutter

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