Happy Jubilee Day!

🎉 BIG update on English muffins

Good morning bread friends!

I hope you’re enjoying a beautiful morning today. Before I jump into some very exciting news for the bakery, I first want to say Happy Juneteenth!

Juneteenth is a day of reflection and celebration. It is often loosely described as the day that the news of the Emancipation proclamation finally made it all the way down to Galveston, Texas.

I recently watched this documentary Juneteenth Faith & Freedom, wherein author & public historian D.J. Norman Cox challenges that common myth. He says,

“There’s this perception that nobody [here] knew the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued- but they were fully aware of it. The enslaved people may not have known, but what they knew was irrelevant because they could not emancipate themselves.
…
The mentality of the state seemed to have been, if you want them, you’re gonna have to come here and get them ‘cause we’re not gonna let them go.”

It is sobering to be reminded so starkly that even after the fight for freedom had been declared won, those with power were intent to carry out their injustices until they were literally forced to stop.

There is so much cause for reflection in this movie. I found it to be humbling, but also legitimately inspiring.

I really want to encourage you to check it out this evening or this weekend as you commemorate this holiday. If you do make time to watch it (links: Amazon Prime & Youtube), please do let me know if you decide that you agree with Miss Opal Lee’s decision to celebrate freedom in America from Juneteenth all the way until the Fourth of July. 😎✊🏽

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Now, I have some big news for those of you who like English muffins :)

A few weeks ago I sent out a quick survey asking you all if you’d be interested in English muffins if Bread & Justice started selling those.

What I learned from your replies is that MANY people buy English muffins regularly, and a lot of you would really like to have your English muffins made with the same care and natural fermentation process that you’ve gotten used to in your bread.

Guess what… It’s happening!

I’m excited to share that I was awarded a micro-grant from Artisan Grain Collaborative this week that allowed me to place an order for some custom equipment that is going to allow me to make English muffins at scale.

I first started making sourdough English muffins for my family a few years ago, but the stovetop process that I had been using was always particularly slow and finicky. These custom trays however should be perfect for baking English muffins with the sort of consistent results that I want to have for customers.

Great news: I’ve ordered the trays, and sourdough English muffins are going to happen!

Medium news: The trays are on back order, and even once they arrive I expect it’ll still require some weeks of R&D before they’re ready to sell.

Currently, I’d estimate that I’ll be selling English muffins by the fall… but I’m hoping to get lucky and get there sooner than that.

Thank you all so very much! 🙏🏽 Deep gratitude to the Artisan Grain Collaborative for their support — and to you for reading these letters, answering my questions, cheering me on, believing in the importance of hand made bread, and believing in the power of humans in community to manifest a more just world.

Cheers,
Mo
baker!