by Chris Jay
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The fun thing about talking with the Lowder kids is that, despite their youth (eldest daughter Mary Ellen is nine), you get the impression that they know exactly how lucky they are.
“We really like it because every day after school, we get to come to the bakery and pick out a treat,” Charlie Lowder, age six, told me during a telephone interview.
“Nice,” I said.
“Mom and daddy are the best cooks on earth,” Mary Ellen added matter-of-factly.
“Mom and daddy” are Sarah and Preston Lowder, and “the bakery” is Lowder Baking Company (4019 Fern Ave., Suite 500), which opened in January of 2019 and expanded to double its original size after only nine months in business.
“We have all three kids in the kitchen a lot,” Sarah told me during a recent visit on the bakery’s sunny patio. “We let them stir, we let them chop. I love that they’re growing up with a love of cooking, but they definitely eat their fair share of chicken nuggets, too.”
At the bakery, Sarah handles the business side of things. Preston has become what Sarah lovingly refers to as “the bread nerd of the family,” piling up books on the history and science of baking while spending countless hours in pursuit of the perfect crust or crumb. Preston previously worked as a Neuro-ICU nurse, a career that—like baking—must have demanded precise measurements, perfect timing, and attention to detail.
“That love of science and chemistry is something that’s in his bones,” Sarah said. “I get a lot of questions about what it’s like working with your spouse, but we’ve found a really good balance. We would probably strangle each other if we were both bread nerds.”
The Lowder family may be in the process of minting a second “bread nerd.” Mary Ellen recently came home from Southfield School with a special assignment to explore Egyptian culture through hands-on activity. Her chosen topic?
“She made sourdough bread!” Sarah said. “It really wasn’t something that I pushed on her—she wanted to do bread!”
At home, the Lowders are as rowdy and rambunctious as any family with three young children and three dogs, but things tend to settle down at dinnertime. Sarah and Preston insist on as many family dinners at the table as possible. That doesn’t seem to bother the kids, who are glad to talk about their favorite things to eat at home.
Meatloaf, chicken spaghetti, and “macaroni without the box” are popular. Gumbo is a favorite, as well as pizzas made with Preston’s outstanding sourdough crust.
One dish, in particular, inspires the kind of reverence and glee that kids typically reserve for Ninja Turtles or Tik Tok dances.
“We’re crazy about it, whenever mommy makes crawfish étouffée,” Charlie said.
“She makes a sauce that goes really, really good with it, and the crawfish isn’t too seafoody,” Mary Ellen said.
“Even if she put bell peppers in there, I’d eat that with crawfish étouffée,” Charlie said, with all of the authority of a Chopped judge. “All I want is cookies in it. Crawfish is chocolate and the sauce was melted chocolate and the vegetables could be cookie crumbs.”
“I see,” I said.
“There are bell peppers in it,” Sarah said. “And celery.”
“Celery?!”
“I like to eat tiny things,” Molly, the younger daughter, joined in.
The Lowder Family makes all of this work—the bakery, the family life, the crawfish étouffée—by paring everything down to its simplest form. Sarah pointed out that foodies like us can get caught up in what makes a recipe unique or different, when the mere existence of a home-cooked meal, eaten together, is an extraordinary thing.
In today’s busy and chaotic world, a family of five sitting down to dinner together four or five times each week is a minor miracle. If the meal is outstanding (this recipe for crawfish étouffée definitely is), that’s a bonus.
Sarah Lowder’s Crawfish Étouffée
Ingredients:
8 Tbsp. butter
8 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 lb. Louisiana crawfish tails
4 cups cooked white rice
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped celery
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. Worcestershire
2-3 Tbsp. white wine
3-ish tsp. Tony Chachere’s
Directions:
Make a blonde roux (butter + flour) in a skillet, stir on low-medium heat until it turns the color of peanut butter. Add the trinity of chopped veggies (onion + green bell pepper + celery) and minced garlic. Season with black pepper and salt. Sauté until vegetables are softened and slightly translucent. Let roux get a little darker to a light-medium brown. Add chicken broth and turn heat to a low boil, let it reduce until the mixture starts to thicken (while continuing to stir). Add Louisiana crawfish tails, reduce heat, but let it continue to simmer. Add Worcestershire sauce and white wine, season with Tony Chachere’s to taste. Let simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
Grab a bowl and add cooked rice, and spoon crawfish étouffée over the top. Serve with a side of Lowder French Bread 🙂
Enjoy!
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