A Baker’s Year: Twelve Months of Baking and Living the Simple Life at the Smoke Signals Bakery by Tara Jensen

The Smoke Signals Bakery is located at 590 Bernard Road in Marshall, North Carolina. Its mission is to “inspire self-actualization through the craft of baking.” It features an outdoor wood-fired oven and gives workshops. Its core values are: THINK OF FLOUR AS FRESH PRODUCE. LEARN ONE RECIPE LIKE THE BACK OF YOUR HAND. ART AND SCIENCE ARE MEANT TO REINFORCE EACH OTHER, NOT UNDERMINE EACH OTHER. ALL BINARIES ARE FALSE. KEEP A JOURNAL / BE OBSERVANT. WORK IS THE ONLY TRUTH. LEARN TO TRUST. ENGAGE THE INTELLIGENCE OF YOUR BODY. VALUE THE ENTIRE PROCESS, NOT JUST THE FINAL RESULT. STRIVE, BUT TAKE BREAKS. KEEP A CLEAR MIND AND A CLEAN WORK SPACE. LIVED EXPERIENCE INFORMS TECHNIQUE. STRENGTH THROUGH DIVERSITY, NOT MONOCULTURE. BE A LITTLE WILD. Publisher’s Weekly enthused: “Jensen, who owns the Smoke Signals Bakery outside of Asheville, N.C., arranges this homey, down-to-earth book by month and intersperses her recipes with short essays that offer insight into her lifestyle and baking philos