Baking star rising: Chasing Birds Bread

LACONIA — Jada Ganzel has always been interested in food. As a child, she dreamed of owning a five-star restaurant. Laughing as she recalled that childhood dream, Ganzel said, “I didn’t know what that was or what it meant, but it sounded nice.”

In her own way, Ganzel has made the dream come true. Although she does not have a five-star restaurant, she is the owner and baker at Chasing Birds Bread. She loves to craft her own recipes while also researching the recipes of others. But most of all, she loves to bake bread and pastries. Ganzel’s baked goods are sold at Sunflower Natural Foods on South Main Street, where she has a loyal following of customers. Favorites are sourdough bread and bagels, with every batch homemade, as are all her products.

After high school, Ganzel pursued illustration in college and never took a baking class. Five or so years ago, a friend gave her some sourdough bread starter. Curious to give breadmaking a try, she baked her first loaf of sourdough bread to positive family reviews.

Right before the pandemic shut down the world, Ganzel’s youngest child was born, and she became a stay-at-home parent of two. She remembered, “I wanted something to learn that my daughter, my oldest child, could be involved in, so I decided to make bagels. I started with jalapeno cheddar bagels, and they became a huge hit with my friends. It’s kind of a niche product in this area because not many people make bagels.”

The pandemic had a bit of a silver lining for Ganzel’s baking business. At that time, she was happy to pursue a new direction when she realized people responded so well to her baked goods.

Thus began Chasing Birds Bread. “I am coming up on my first anniversary of doing this full time, and I love it,” she said.

Although she did not begin by baking from recipes she created, Ganzel now adapts ingredients to make the recipes her own. She discovered, when baking, how many things impact the finished product.

“Our environment really affects the outcome of baked goods, such as the humidity, elevation, and even chlorine in city water,” she explained.

Unlike many bakers and chefs, Ganzel has never looked up to any particular baker.

“As a younger millennial, social media has been my biggest influence, especially in the last few years. I love watching and learning from Vanessa at the Sourdough School and Ailine from A Sour Story; I found both women on social media.”

Bagels remain a customer favorite at Chasing Birds Bread, and Ganzel offers at least a dozen flavors, including plain, blueberry, cinnamon raisin, jalapeno cheddar, and everything bagels. When customers request new flavors, Ganzel adds them to the list.

Baking is time-consuming, but Ganzel loves it and has a schedule of baking days and times when she delivers bread and bagels. On Fridays, chocolate chip cookies are added to the offerings at Sunflower Natural Foods. Her rustic sourdough bread takes time to prepare, with a 20-hour fermentation. She also makes banana bread, pretzels, cookies, cupcakes and scones, and will continue adding to the list.

Ganzel dreams of having a mobile bakery. That, however, is a “someday” dream. “I am focused for now on the growth and consistency of Chasing Birds Bread,” she explained. “My next step will be to collaborate with more local businesses."

“I am experimenting with cupcakes right now,” she added. While that might seem like a simple baked good, Ganzel said, “I am excited to learn how to make cupcakes, so they not only taste good, but also look good. I am a bit of a perfectionist, I guess.”

With a homestead license, Chasing Birds Bread is registered as a cottage bakery. She is intensely organized and focused when she pulls out her recipes and gathers ingredients to create bread and other goods at least three times a week.

“I like my products to be organic or as close to it as possible. I also try to use products from local farmers. I think that is important,” she stressed.

The business name Chasing Birds Bread is unusual. “Years ago, I created a personal Instagram handle called @_chasing birds in reference to my children, who we call our ‘birdies.’ When I created my business, I decided to piggyback on that.” Even now, Ganzel said, she runs around, chasing those little birdies, her two active children.

Years after her childhood dream of owning a five-star restaurant, Ganzel still loves food, as well as bagels, sourdough bread, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes and cookies.

For more information about baked goods from Chasing Birds Bread, visit chasingbirds-bread.square.site.