12 December 2023

This is the weekly-ish newsletter from Loaf in Stirchley, keeping you abreast of our bakery and cookery school, and other news we think you might be interested in.

It's two weeks to Christmas and we're talking about the cookery school! We've put classes on sale for the new year and want to remind you of our gift vouchers which, as the name implies, make great gifts!

We also have plenty of baking equipment in stock, for the baker in your life who always needs more tins...

Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu.

🍞 Pre-order your bread and pastries 🥐

We’ll have plenty on the shelves all week, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.

Our opening hours are:
Wed - Fri: 12-6
Saturday: 8-1
Christmas eve (Sunday 24th): 9-1

More mince pies for Christmas Eve!

We quickly sold out of mince pies for the weekend before Christmas so have rejigged the baking schedule and have figured out how to make loads more! Thirty extra boxes have been added to Saturday 23rd and another 45 for Sunday 24th. We will try to make more on those days but can't guarantee it, so if you want a Loaf mince pie to mark your Yule, click on this link right away.

Christmas opening and closing updates

In order to make sure we have time to bake everything we can possible bake, we'll be opening from 9am to 1pm on Christmas Eve, Sunday 24th. All other days up to then will be normal opening hours, Wed - Fri: 12-6, Saturday: 8-1

Our winter shutdown will be three weeks this year: two for a much-needed break and a third so we can spend some time planning 2024 properly. This has been a very busy year and next year promises to be even busier as we head towards moving into our new building. We want to get all our buns in a row before the baking starts again.

We will re-open on Wednesday 17th January. Pre-orders will be available from the Saturday before.

Thank you for your understanding. We know how traumatic it can be for you during these shutdowns, but it will be worth it, we promise. 2024 is going to be something else.

New year cookery school dates

The following cookery school classes have gone on sale. We hope to schedule some more and will inform the alert lists as soon as they are out.

• Dumplings – Tue 16 Jan – Book here
• Ramen – Wed 17 Jan – Book here
• Knife Skills & Maintenance – Tue 23 Jan – Book here
• Thai – Wed 24 Jan – Book here
• Thaali – Wed 31 Jan – Book here
• Dosa – Wed 14 Feb – Book here
• Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker – Sat 17 Feb – Book here
• Sausage & Charcuterie – Sat 24 Feb – Book here
• Bread: Back to Basics – Tue 27 Feb – Book here
• Thaali – Wed 28 Feb – Book here
• Seafood Masterclass – Sat 2 Mar – Book here
• Dosa – Wed 6 Mar – Book here
• Dumplings – Tue 12 Mar – Book here
• Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie – Tue 19 Mar – Book here
• Bread: Back to Basics – Sat 23 Mar – Book here
• Thaali – Wed 27 Mar – Book here

All upcoming classes are listed on this page and you can sign up to be alerted as soon as new ones go on sale here.

Cookery school vouchers

Our cookery school vouchers sell so well that we often forget to promote them, but not at this time of year!

• Available in any denomination, they now last for at least two years so there's plenty of time to redeem them.
• They can be put towards any of the classes we offer in whole or in part payment – you don't need to cover the whole cost.
• You are sent a PDF to print out and pop in a gift card.

Please consider giving the gift of a future food learning experience this Winterval by visiting this page!

(If you've given or received a voucher in the last year, don't worry, we'll automatically be extending the expiry date by 12 months).

An explanatory leaflet

We produced a new leaflet this year detailing what we offer at our cookery school. You can pick one up in the bakery shop or download this PDF, which isn't as nice as the lovely textured paper stock Joseph at The Holodeck chose for us, but is a bit more convenient if you're not actually in Stirchley.

For all your baking needs...

We sell all the equipment you need to bake bread in your own home, from proving baskets to bread tins to wooden peels. See our equipment range.

Along with flour you'd expect to find in a bakery, we sell a range of heritage grains. These varieties are often called "ancient" as they were in use thousands of years ago, before wheat was commodified into the strain grown around the world today. They are great for a baker looking for a new challenge as they behave in subtly different ways and have unique flavours. Look for Einkorn, Khorasan, Emmer and Spelt on the shelves in our shop.

We have two books in stock from the Real Bread Campaign. Slow Dough Real Bread is chock-full of recipes from real bread bakers across the country, while Knead To Know More has practical advice for starting your own microbakery, whether it's from your kitchen or something like Loaf. The more bakeries the better!

And finally...

We're getting restocks from Jacky's Pantry every week at the moment, and today she brought in something rather special.

And look out for the Pip's Christmas hot sauce and the Quarter Horse Christmas coffee blend, due in this week!

Lunches this week

Wednesday

• Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)

Thursday

• Soup: Spicy winter roots with focaccia (Ve)

Friday

• Curry: Sweet potato, cauliflower and pea with sourdough (Ve)
• Salt beef on challah bun

Wed – Sat:

• Sausage rolls
• Vegetable rolls (V)

Wed - Fri

• Sourdough pizza: Potato, confit garlic, chilli oil, parmesan and mozzarella (V)
• Ham and cheese croissant
• Tomato, spinach and cheese croissant (V)

Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.

Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.

Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!

Team Loaf: Sarah, Pete, Rach, Dave, Martha, Dorit, Molly, Neil & Ian

Website: loaf.coop
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