The next time you get the gift of an extra doughnut added to your dozen, thank  crooked 13th-century bakers for the bonus treat.

In the 1260s, British  breadmakers were notorious for shorting customers with skimpy loaves.

King Henry  III was so irked by the problem that he implemented a new law to standardize the  weight of a loaf—selling puny loaves could result in beatings or jail time.

Since bakers wanted to stay on the right side of the law, one common trick was  to give 13 loaves to any customer buying a dozen.

Even if the loaves were light,  the extra would cover the shortfall.

It was an easy fix for bakers, and since  low-carb diets were still seven centuries away, customers rejoiced.

We’re featuring European Wieners today (must resist more potty humour).

Have one in a Hoagie bun with some Dijon Mustard and a bowl of our Fish Friday Soup and it’ll be the best lunch you’ve had all week!

Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom?

Because the ‘p’ is silent.

Admit it, you laughed.

Our Sandwich Special today is on Cracked Wheat.

We’re featuring our Honey Bran Muffins

And the Soup of the Day is Cream of Cauliflower.

Cheers!

Did you know that Richard Nixon was born 100 years ago today?

Wowzers!

Elvis Presley , Stephen Hawking &  David Bowie were all born on this day. Imagine ‘that’ birthday party.

Save 10% on sandwiches made on Croissants today.

We’ll be sampling our Cherry Pie and I forgot to find out what the soup will be, But I’m sure it will be delicious.

Cheers!

The kids came over for dinner last night and the thing that the Gr’baby really wanted to do was ‘brush her teeth with Grandpa’. Who knew that was a special ‘thing’?

Donna’s Borscht is also a special ‘thing’.  Seriously, you’ll need to get there early or you’ll be disappointed.

I usually only make Marble Rye on Fridays, but we had an order for it so I made extra for todays Sandwich Special.

And we’ll be sampling Pakora, our most popular ‘import’ item today.

Ernie would be so jealous of this collection of ducky’s!

Back in the day when ‘low-carb’ diets were all the rage, we made a 9.5 carb bread (made with whole wheat and soya flours). But when that particular diet fell out of fashion so did that particular bread and now we only make it for special orders.

We had such an order for today and I made a few extra loaves to use for our sandwich special.

We also have a Chicken Meatball Sub (who knew chickens had balls?) and Eccles Cakes to tempt you!

Yummers!

Hey, it’s the first ‘Fish Friday’ of the new year and what could be better on a cold wet January day than a delicious bowl of soup?

Cya soon!

So how was your NYE?

Ours was nice enough, but at midnight Sheana was snoring and I was trying to convince Simply Accounting to let me write pay cheques in 2013 for a pay period that ended in 2012. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

This picture reminded me that we missed out on our NYE kiss. Oh and our feature today is our Walnut Bars!

It’s a funny thing that big celebrations like NYE mean lots of orders for ‘mini’ things…like buns, sausage rolls, pasteries…I even made mini sour dough bowls today.

Sheana & I & all of our staff want to thank you for continuing to support local small business’ and wish you all a healthy & happy 2013!

As some of you might know, Sheana & I (during the height of the Christmas rush) moved to White Rock. What you might not have heard was that our possession date was six days after we moved out of our home in Langley.

The two main factors that allowed this to happen without me going completely bonkers were Sheana’s amazing organizational skills and our stay at the Ocean Rose Bed & Breakfast. The suite was clean and bright and quiet (very important for a night-shift worker). David & Marilyn were friendly and accommodating (they even let us use their washer & dryer to do the bakery laundry). David’s breakfasts were awesome…seriously, I stayed up late every morning so I wouldn’t miss out! If you’re ever looking for a place to stay in White Rock we would highly recommend them.

During one of our breaky’s I happened to mention that we were offering take-out Turkey dinners again this year and they ordered 4.  We were so pleased to get the following email yesterday.

…and we’re back!

Was Santa good to you? The hi-light for us was spending Christmas Eve/morning with the 2.5 yr old grandbaby. She was so much fun, insisting on helping everyone open their presents!

We’ll have lots of Boxing Week Clearance Specials this week and probably a bowl or two of Turkey Soup.

Cya soon!

So according to the internet (they have that on computers now), today is either the best day ever or it’s the end of the world as we know it.

I do know it’s my last ’4o-something’ birthday and I’m going to buy a lottery ticket!

Stop in, wish me luck and check out my birthday present…

…our shiny new sandwich station!

What’s your favourite Christmas story?

The absolutely funniest Christmas story that I know is Dave Cooks the Turkey. You can listen to it here.

We’ll have take-out Turkey Dinners again on Dec 24. This has become a seasonal favourite and with good reason. You get a generous serving of turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, veggies, cranberry sauce and a slice of pie. ALL made in-house and all for $11.50 + tax. Pre-order by Dec 15 and save 10%

It’ll be a busy couple of weeks at the bakery so our updates will need to be quick.

The sandwich special today will be on Rye Bread

and the soup is Farmer Veggie

The reason I’m writing this update several hours later than I might have a month ago is, well, ’tis the season’.

Christmas is the busiest time of the year in the bakery and if everything goes according to Hoyle, the shop should get busier every day until the grand crescendo that is December 24 (there’s still time to pre-order)

One of the things that are different this Christmas is that we’re making Pumpkin Pies. In years past we only made them at Thanksgiving and there was a very good reason for that.

My former boss could not stand the smell of the Pumpkin Pie filling.

I, on the other hand love pumpkin pie…in fact I’m eating a big piece right now at 8:50 in the a of m and it’s delicious!

You should sample a piece today with your Fish-Friday Soup or your Hoagie Sandwich.

Cheers!

Still haven’t tried our Walnut Squares?  They’re todays feature, so now’s your chance.

The Sandwich Special is on Bagels. We have lots to choose from.

And todays soup is…

Well, maybe I should keep it a secret…

The last time Donna made Borscht we were sold out before the end of the lunch hour.

…Little Richard is 80 today!

Save 10% on any Sandwich made with our Oberlander Rye today.

We’ll be featuring Lamingtons.

And todays Soup is Lentil.

Cya soon!

We have Farmer vegetable Soup to warm you up today.

Our Sandwich special is on our Mediterranean Bread.

Almond Sticks are a seasonal favourite and are one of the first things that sell out on Christmas Eve. So if you’ve never tried ours, now’s your chance to have a taste and get your pre-order in!

You’ll save 10% and won’t have to wait in line.

Oh and yes, it’s true…I’m selling my Mini :o(

We’re featuring our Sausage Rolls on Monday.

The Sandwich special will be on Flax Bread and the Soup of the day is…a secret.

OK, I forgot to ask.

But don’t YOU forget to pre-order your Christmas Goodies!

For the next 2 weeks you’ll save 10% on your Dec 24 pre-order and we’ll have a special pick-up door open so you won’t have to wait in line.