28 November 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.

This week it's all about the mince pies! MINCE! PIES! M!I!N!C!E! P!I!E!S! What more do you want?

OK, howabout Rach's advent calendar treasure hunt, this year with an extra something special? Will that do?

Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu and community news.

🍞 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 pre-orders open this Saturday

This Saturday afternoon we'll be opening up pre-orders for all of December, so you'll be able to get your mince pies and festive sourdoughs locked in right up to the 24th. Head to loaf.coop/shop shortly after the bakery closes on Saturday.

Sorry, did we mention mince pies?

Mince pies! Mince pies! Mince pies!

This Friday is December 1st and that's the first day we put our frankly quite legendary mince pies on sale. It's been a looooong eleven months but the wait is finally over. And judging by the test-bake we did last week, you're not going to be disappointed.

As always, we have all-butter and vegan options, freshly baked that morning.

Get in.

The advent games begin

For the last few years Rach has been running a treasure hunt throughout December and this year is no different. Many of you will know how this work but for those new to the game, here's the skinny.

Each day from 1st December Rach will hide a Loaf bread voucher somewhere in Stirchley. Clues will be posted to our Instagram stories and then the game is afoot! The first to find the voucher gets a free loaf of bread... and something else!

This year we're teaming up with another local business who happen to be marking their 5th birthday this year. Who are they? Get hunting to find out!

The Breadcrumbs

🥖 Stirchley Community Market is this Saturday at the Baths, chock full of local makers, crafters and small businesses.

🥖 Our neighbours at Hedge are running their annual wreath making workshops and once again we're supplying the complementary mince pies. Book here.

🥖 York Supplies are advertising for a shop manager, should you fancy working for the newest co-op business on the block.

🥖 Save Birmingham is a campaign to protect community places and spaces, from libraries to allotments, in Birmingham from the bankruptcy of our local council. Many of them are ripe for selling off in a government sanctioned fire sale, and that would be a bad thing. This is not just a protest but a practical way to stop that happening by registering them as “assets of community value”.

🥖 SIFA Fireside, the homelessness charity we supported earlier this year, have a gift shop where you can buy items desperately needed by those sleeping on the streets this winter, from socks and sleeping-bags, toothpaste to towels.

Lunches this week

Wednesday

• Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)

Thursday

• Soup: Winter veg stew with crusty cob (Ve)

Friday

• Curry: New potato, kale, pea and chickpea with sourdough (Ve)
• Salt beef on challah bun

Wed – Sat:

• Sausage rolls
• Vegetable rolls (V)

Wed - Fri

• Sourdough pizza: Mushroom, green olive, capers, chilli, rocket 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.

Cookery school classes

Classes for January onwards will be posted soon. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.

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

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

Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Threads / Twitter / Facebook