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Christine Her, Hers&Ems | Sourdough, Des Moines

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🍞 Small-batch Sourdough & handmade goods
For her, for ‘em, for you
$2/loaf → @artforceiowa
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Hi friends. There’s a lot of new faces here, and I wanted to say, “Hi! Thanks for being here.”

I’m Christine, a Hmong American woman living in the Midwest. I’m the Executive Director of @artforceiowa, a nonprofit with the mission to create opportunities for youth to transform through art.

I was recently diagnosed with PMOS, formerly known as PCOS. Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) is a hormonal imbalance that occurs when your ovaries create excess hormones. Weight management and fertility are incredibly difficult when you’re living with PMOS. Throughout the years, I would place a lot of blame on myself because no matter how active I was or how proactive I would be with calorie deficit, nothing worked. But I can say, though it’s been difficult, understanding that isn’t my fault has helped me to stop blaming myself, and instead, be more grateful.

When I started baking sourdough a year ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn’t a baker. A homecook, yes. As a first generation American kid with refugee parents, we didn’t do a lot of baking unless it was ribs, turkey or roasts. I never made bread, and I didn’t bake much. If I did bake, I baked cake boxes, nothing made from scratch. I didn’t have pounds of flour in my home. Now, I can’t imagine my life without sourdough.

Baking has given me a chance to slow down, be present, and find beauty in ordinary things. Sometimes, I feel like we live in a world that only wants to celebrate extraordinary people and extraordinary stories. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but in times of grief and loss, when things get hard, I don’t go looking for the extraordinary story.

It’s actually the ordinary moments. It’s the, “I wish I could talk to my best friend again”. It’s the, “I wish I could eat my grandma’s food again”. It’s the feeling of learning something new for the first time. Smelling the first bloom of spring. It’s the excitement of seeing the leaves change colors because fall is coming. It’s these little ordinary moments that remind us of our human experience. That remind us of our humanity and how beautiful and wonderful it is to just simply exist.

So, I’m glad you’re here.

Continued 👇 by @hersnems

Come get your sourdough today!
Freshly baked by yours truly 🫶🏼

📍 @valleyjunction
From 4 to 8 pm

Hers&Ems will be with @artforceiowa infront of our friends @readinginpublicbooks ✨ by @hersnems

Last May, my partner and I went to London with some of our favorite people to celebrate love. We went to @dalfiorentino.london and had three amazing sandwiches: Boccaccio, Da Vinci, and Machiavelli. The freshly baked schiacciata, the delicious spreads, the meats, the veggies. It was incredible.

I’ve been missing a really good Italian sandwich. So I tried making it at home. Here’s my simple version of their Da Vinci—mortadella, stracciatella (burrata filling), pistachio spread, extra virgin olive oil on freshly baked bread. Instead of using their signature schiacciate, I used homemade sourdough focaccia. Schiacciate is thinner and flatter, with a crispy and sturdy structure. Perfect for sandwiches. Their pistachio pesto is more complex than the simple spread I made.

I’m not going to lie to you, it’s not a copycat recipe, but if you’re living in a place where you can’t get this amazing sandwich, this is pretty damn good.

Shout out to one of my favorite sandwich places, Dal Fiorentino 🫶🏼

What are some of your favorite sandwich shops? by @hersnems

Back at @artforceiowa ✨

I have Jane, the classic sourdough, organic pumpkin spice, organic gold milk tea, pot simmers, pumpkin spice pancake mix and sourdough crackers! Come say hi 🫶🏼 by @hersnems

I used @amybakesbread Croissant sourdough measurements. I slightly over proofed the dough and didn’t get the rise I wanted. BUT it tastes amazing. The house smells amazing and the crust, softness of the crumb, and the buttery goodness is so damn good.

With all that said, I’m going to keep working on this loaf. I typically keep my dough temp around 75 degrees, but I used cold water to prevent the butter from melting during bulk fermentation. I didn’t want to under ferment, so I pushed the fermentation on this one. I might have also cooked it too high initially making the crust form before it could continue expanding. While the bread didn’t have the large belly and ear I was hoping for, I’m still glad I tried. And I hope you keep trying too, whatever it may be.

That’s one of the many things I love about sourdough, about making something from scratch…there are many ways to make it. The possibilities! And I love possibilities, because that means expansion.

How are you growing today? by @hersnems

Iceland is not only beautiful and magical with kindhearted people, but the food is also incredible. Fresh, clean, balanced, local, warm, bright. I could eat langoustine all day, everyday.

Not pictured are the 26 pyslur (Icelandic hotdogs) we ate on this trip, Chinese noodles from Old Wharf Noodle House, pastries from Braud & Co, all the skyr, the local breads and butter, and a few other food items. Also, Icelandic water is superior ✨

What a beautiful privilege it is to have been able to visit this place twice now. We tried new places this time around, except for Pakkhus and Seabaron. On our first trip, we did the entire ring road and tried Messin, Cafe Loki, Mia’s Fish & Chips, Nail’d It Fish & Chips, Kristjan’s bakery, Kaffi Ilmur, Vogafjos Farm Resort, Kaffi Lára El Grillo Bar, Strondin, Kaffi Krus and a few other places.

Feeling extra grateful and thankful for the opportunity to travel and explore a part of the world I’m not from. Learning and appreciating people, their cultures, and their foods from all parts of the world has made me a better person. I hope as I continue to dive into the world of sourdough that you’ll join me in exploring everything this world has to offer through food, through stories, through our shared human experiences.

On other news, I’m currently making a crossiant sourdough loaf. I’ll be sharing that soon! Stay tuned 🫶🏼

Until then, what are you looking forward to this fall? by @hersnems

I’ve been away in Iceland, and now I’m back home. I fed my starter and left her in the fridge for 10 days before leaving. I also had some dry starter, just incase. I used to put my starter in the fridge when I wasn’t baking all the time, but I haven’t done that in a while. I forgot how easy and resilient sourdough starters are.

So, if you’re going on a trip, or managing a starter everyday sounds like a lot of work, you can put your starter in the fridge too. And if you’re feeding your starter everyday and not putting it in the fridge, that’s cool too. No sourdough judgement here.

I’m excited to start baking again, and to be baking with Icelandic ingredients.

P.S. Stay tuned for my Iceland seasoning haul video. I can’t wait to show you everything I brought back. by @hersnems

Hi friends. I am so excited to be back home. Iceland was everything my heart needed. It’s my favorite place in the world. From the beautiful black sand beaches to the mountains, from the rainbow roads to the northern lights, from the free roaming lambs and horses, this place is magical in every way.

We had freshly baked bread everyday plus other delicious foods. I can’t wait to share with you all soon. I also can’t wait to share all the seasonings I brought back. I’ll be baking sourdough with Icelandic ingredients, and for those of you in Central Iowa, you’ll have a chance to taste and buy these handmade goods for October’s First Friday with @artforceiowa.

Hers&Ems website is almost ready and you’ll be able to preorder handmade goods soon. Thanks for being patient. I appreciate ya’ll. And more importantly, thanks for being part of my journey. Joy is who you share it with 🫶🏼

Places visited according to the slides:
1. Stokksnes near Hofn
2. Dyrhólaey near Vik - a filming location for Games of Thrones
3. Snæfellsbær Peninsula landscape
4. Black Wooden Church in Búðir
5. Hellissandur, Ingjaldshóll Church (Ingjaldshólskirkja), famous for looking like the little red house shown in optometry eye-test machines
6. Grundarfjörður, Mount Kirkjufell - another filming location location for Games of Thrones
7. Northern lights in Hofn
8. Blue church and rainbow road in Seyðisfjörður by @hersnems

Welp. You live and you learn. Fuck ups happen, and that’s okay. We keep moving on. I tested out a new recipe: coconut cream pie sourdough loaf. I lowered my baking temp by 15 degrees compared to my usual bake temp. I won’t be doing that again.

Here’s to the real side to trying something new.
To experimenting. To failing. To doing it anyway. 🍻

P.s. Don’t worry. The loaves tomorrow will be freshly baked, all the way. See you at @mainframearts. I’ll be with @artforceiowa in studio #101 from 5 to 8 pm. by @hersnems

B R E A D A S M R

Flavor: Pandan

Recipe coming. Since I’ve been under the weather, my smell and taste is off. BUT it does look really pretty. What should we name this bread? I was thinking Banner for the Hulk 🤪

I’ll be bringing some test flavors like this one to @artforceiowa for our First Friday at @mainframearts on 9/4 from 5 to 8 pm. Come try some samples and buy some sourdough! $2 goes back to support ArtForce Iowa 🫶🏼

What flavor(s) should I try next? by @hersnems

I used to be scared to score because I wanted the perfect ear and belly. I’m learning more and more that perfection isn’t important. Why? Because the bread still tastes good.

If you’re worried about being bad at something, be bad at something. It’s the only way to get better. by @hersnems