Good morning bread friends!
Last week my dreams came true. ๐
Seriously! Thank you all for being here as I finally expanded my menu to begin offering sourdough English muffins. Iโve been selling exclusively sourdough bread loaves since 2020. I have been content to sell just one specific product, but always dreamt of and wondered when Iโd start selling a second product.
Since this bakery is a passion project, it was always a matter of seeing when the stars would align feeling like skills and motivation and confidence were all coming together at the same time that I felt like I had the capacity. This summer all of those aligned, and I knew it was time to introduce English muffins. Itโs been even more fun than I could have hoped for.
When my kids were much younger they used to help with bakery projects frequently. Theyโve not been interested in helping as much lately, but somehow I guess they sensed that last week was special.
For the first time in recent memory, Cyrus asked if he could help mix the dough. So we washed hands and he jumped in there. He eagerly and skillfully mixed the dough for our inaugural English muffins.
And almost a week ahead of time, Hannah proactively asked what I was planning for the packaging of the EMs. I told her I wasnโt sure yet and asked if she wanted to help me decide. She eagerly leaned in with a bunch of thoughts about what the package should look like. She told me she liked this clear window on a brown bag because the folding brown top fit the aesthetic of the bakeryโs existing bread bags while still letting the muffins be visible.
She also prompted me to make sure I was planning to update the sticker label with updated ingredients. To be quite honestโฆ these stickers are something I would have likely forgotten about until the 11th hour. I was so impressed with her attention to detail. And I hadnโt seen her express an eye for design in this way before. It was so fun to witness!
And most importantly, customer feedback on the EMs has been quite positive!
I didnโt anticipate that they would sell out so quickly last week. It is so humbling to see you allโs enthusiasm and trust in me. I suspect that selling out quickly each week might just be part of the experience for a whileโฆ while I slowly figure out how I might build a plan to make more than 75 of them at a time. ๐
Anyway. Thank you all for being here for this. It is deeply fun and fulfilling to feel like I get to run this micro-bakery in community with you all.
A quick family update:
If youโve been around for a while, you might remember when I flew to Houston a few years ago to meet my newborn niece. This weekend, Iโm traveling to Texas again. This time to celebrate her dad (my brother) whoโs graduating with his Masterโs degree in Educational leadership.
This is a big moment for our family. Weโre very proud of him! Heโs been pursuing his passion as a special education teacher for many years now, and he sees this as the next step in his commitment to his passion as he begins to explores what school leadership in the world of special education might look like.
This does mean that there wonโt be bread sales this weekend.
For those of you whoโve been patiently reading this far because youโre waiting for the link to pre-order breadโฆ. thank you for your patience. Rest assured that I enjoy it most when when Iโve got my hands in the dough as often as possible. Hopefully nothing comes up to prevent me from baking next week and Iโll be back here with bread & English muffins for you.
Next week Iโll share a tally of our donations from August also.
For today, Iโll just wish you a wonderful start to the school yearโฆ and a cozy weekend with this preview of fall weather.
Cheers!
Mo
baker ๐