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Emma Zimmerman and her father Jeff restarted the historic Hayden Flour Mill in Queen Creek more than 10 years ago.

(thesourdoughpodcast.com)

Queen Creek ‘flour child’s’ book celebrates grains

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

ust call her a flour child.

Emma Zimmerman entered the flour business a little more than 10 years ago and is finally harvesting success with the completion of her first cookbook. The 37-year-old mother of three just spent two-and-a-half years putting together 80 different recipes made from 10 different grains that the Hayden Flour Mill produces in Queen Creek. She said people often visit the mill but don’t know what to make with the grains. “I really wanted to answer that question,” she said. “Here’s something for everyone.” It’s all found in her cookbook “The Miller’s Daughter: Unusual Flours & Heritage Grains, Stories and Recipes from Hayden Flour Mills.” It also tells the story of how her and her father Jeff restarted the historic Hayden Flour Mill in 2011 with the help of Sossaman Farms. The original mill operated in Tempe from 1874 to 1998 and on Aug. 13, 2011, that history began again 30 miles away from the historic original mill. “We were very inspired by that story so it’s kind of our homage to that part of Arizona history,” she said. It all started when she quit her PhD program in Canada and returned home teaching evening cadaver labs at a comGoat Yoga has taken the world by storm and last week its Gilbert pioneers brought their animals to the stage of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Going into the competition, Arizona Goat Yoga co-founder April Gould had no set expectations – given that all animals can be very unpredictable. “We have the most amazingly talented goats in the entire world, but they still are farm animals,” chuckled Gould. “So we weren’t quite sure exactly what they were going to do. I spent months and months training them, but with the lights and the audience, it was still a gamble.” Their first live TV appearance aired May 31 and while Gould said they had a successful showing, their performance was edited into the program’s “flops” portion. Despite that, Gould and the goats have been cleared for the show’s second round. “We did an obstacle course and they didn’t show any of that,” said Gould. Right before the show, all the judges went to meet the goats. And when judge Sofia Vergara picked up Gould’s star goat, Minnie, it fell asleep in her arms. “I was getting a little bit nervous,” said Gould. “The goat was asleep and it was the only one that does every trick.” Two minutes before the show, Gould managed to awaken Minnie. Gould’s goats and alpacas participated in the obstacle course.

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Arizona Goat Yoga April Gould, left, and Sarah Williams owners get their animals ready for an appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” (Courtesy of Arizona Goat Yoga)

EV yoga goats get big national TV spotlight

BY SAMANTHA MORRIS Tribune Staff Writer

19 Auxier Elementary teacher honored by Rotary

TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF

The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes has named Sawyer Merrill, a special education teacher at Chandler Unified’s Auxier Elementary School in Queen Creek, Educator of the Year. Merrill received the club’s 2023 Sandy Lundberg Educator of the Year Award, which was established in 2017 to demonstrate the club’s continuing commitment to the Chandler Unified School District’s educational objectives and “the educators who work so diligently and professionally to achieve those objectives.” Merrill graduated from California Lutheran University with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and sports medicine with an emphasis in education in 2010. He received his cross-categorical K-12 teaching certificate from Rio Salado University in 2011. With over 10 years of teaching special education, Merrill’s philosophy of education is that all children are unique, and Flanked by Chandler Unified Superintendent Frank Narducci on his right and Sun Lakes Rotary Club President Jon Lyons, Auxier Elementary special ed teacher Sawyer Merrill holds a blow-up of the check representing his award for being named the club’s Teacher of the Year. *(Special to SanTan Sun News)

each student must have a motivating educational environment where they can meet their full potential through growing physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. The Rotary Club’s education committee’s selection process included a review of several parent testimonials in support of Merrill. “Our family has been affected by Mr. Merrill’s amazing abilities and his passion to challenge each student to be the best one can be,” a parent wrote. “We have seen a complete transformation in our child and trust Mr. Merrill to shape our child’s education. Mr. Merrill is a voice for his students and advocates for their inclusion in school activities; and Mr. Merrill is the embodiment of this award, his spirit lights up the lives of every child he works with.” In May 2018, the first award was presented to Sandy Lundberg, the principal of the then-newly opened Casteel High School and an active member of the Rotary Club of Sun Lakes, “in which she provided the same energy to the Club endeavors as she did to her profession” a club spokeswoman explained. “Her passion for children and community shone through whatever she did. Due to Sandy’s untimely passing, the Rotary Club of Sun Lakes proudly sponsors and has named the award the Sandy Lundberg Educator of the Year Award.” QC

FLOUR from page 18

munity college and help her dad with his “glorified bread-baking hobby.” “Basically, it was a bread hobby that really took off,” she said. He started experimenting with basic ingredients – flour, yeast, water, salt – and a small tabletop mill and eventually graduated to a larger room-size mill and struck a deal with Phoenix chef Chris Bianco. Now, the family devotes itself to making flours from some of the world’s oldest varieties of wheat and selling it to

GOAT from page 18

Gould said the network showed a funny impromptu performance with the goats after they had already finished their routine. “They did a really good job, I mean we made it through to the next round.” Gould still loves “America’s Got Talent” and appreciates the opportunity to move on to the next round, whenever that is scheduled to take place next. more than 500 stores, including Whole Foods. Ten year later, she said she never could have predicted that she would remain as involved as she has with the mill while balancing every life change that’s taken place simultaneously. “As each new season arose, the mill quietly followed me into the developing chapter with its challenges and demands,” she writes in the book. In an interview last year with Bristol Farms, she said, “Hiring a fantastic team that believes in the mission. That’s been key in reaching work/life

It’s been seven years since goat yoga first came to Arizona. Gould, along with her longtime friend Sarah Williams, realized one day that they could combine their two passions into a business. Gould fashions herself as the “Goat Whisperer” and Williams teaches paddleboard yoga. When Williams experienced a slowdown in business during winter, she and Gould came together to find a new spin on the workout. Even though it’s their first time on balance.” The book features recipes for breakfast, main courses and sweets including chickpea cookies, pink polenta with crispy pancetta, sprouted barley salad, farro crust tart, white sonora berry salad. The 10 grains featured in the cookbook include corn, barley, rye, chickpeas, and her personal favorite is Emmer Farro Flour. According to their website, Italians named the ancient grain after the Pharaohs of Egypt with one of the very first crops domesticated more than 10,000 years ago.

“America’s Got Talent,” Gould and Williams are no strangers to TV. They have appeared on many television shows over the years, often giving their goats a spotlight. Gould and Williams have both competed together on shows like “The Amazing Race,” sporting their goat yoga shirts. And when Gould trained for American Ninja Warrior, her goats assisted, doing pushups or squats with their balance to the test as well. This is grain goes into the Chocolate-Flecked Farro Banana Bread that’s one of her favorites that she makes for her family a lot. “It has chocolate in it,” she said. “So, it’s a crowd pleaser.” She said there’s plenty of options for readers to find something that they could enjoy making a part of their family’s palettes. “There’s something for everyone,” she said. “And hopefully really enjoy them and really notice that big flavor difference in using heritage grains.”

https://haydenflourmills.com/ QC

But it was winning with their goats on the Nickelodeon animal show, “Unleashed,” that inspired the two women’s confidence and motivation to seek recognition on one of the biggest talent shows in the world. “We were like ‘Hey, we won that show so what’s the biggest talent show in the world?’ America’s Got Talent,” said Gould. If you want to meet Arizona’s own AGT goats in person, go online to schedule a Goat Yoga class at goatyoga.com. QC