Good morning, Downtimeistas.

It excites me to no end to witness the changing of the seasons, away from what was a brutally cold and dumb winter and into a glorious, hopeful, and yet sometimes fickle, spring. Mika remarked today that it felt like nature came to life practically overnight — all those pink and white blossoms and daffodils and tulips. The bakery staff sets monthly goals for ourselves and this month we vowed to go running more, and with this weather, there’s really nothing stopping us. I am proudly back on my running game. This is what I look like out there, in case you’re wondering: 🐢💨.

Here’s all you need to know this week:

Thursday Things

Today’s special loaf is our favorite fruit and nut loaf. In it: dried cherries, apricots, golden raisins, and walnuts. It’ll be brushed with a lovely bergamot syrup. This bread is a favorite among our regulars, and we’re debating adding it into our regular rotation in the future.

Friday Things

We will have challah, 100% rye, and pain d’épice — all out at 9am. I know what you’re thinking: “Dayna, isn’t pain d’épice — the traditional honey spiced quick bread with roots in Dijon, France — more of a holiday season thing?” That may be true, but we were craving it this week — something about the honey/anise/orange zest/rye combo feels springy, as well as wintery — so we’re making a couple of loaves for you and us on Friday. Best eaten sliced thin, toasted, with butter and salt. This version we’re making with local buckwheat honey and whole rye that we milled, so it’s a real panoply of flavors.

Saturday and Sunday Things

Easter preorder pickups go from 9am to 3pm on both days. Please remember which day you preordered for 😀. Didn’t preorder yet? There’s still some time — here’s the link! Saturday preorders close Thursday at midnight, and Sunday preorders close Friday at midnight. Feel like playing it fast and loose? We’ll have a limited number of hot cross buns for walk-ins. And maybe some other cool stuff, too. You simply never know.

All Week Things

Our sandwich menu is officially switching over: chickpea salad, cornichons, Ruffles potato chips, and Dijon mustard on our sourdough ciabatta. Shoutout Sophie :). Then a whipped goat cheese, maple-roasted carrot, pickled onions, and dressed greens sandwich on our sourdough focaccia. The pastry menu is slowly changing, too! Squash muffin is goodbye for now, with a corn muffin coming in the next few weeks. We have our gluten-free mochi cake back in rotation as of today, and some other changes will be coming over the next couple weeks. We’re excited. We hope you are, too.

Lastly, One May Thing!

We have our friend Rachel Popik cooking up an amazing vegetarian fundraiser dinner at the bakery on Friday, May 1. 100% of proceeds will benefit the New Sanctuary Movement in Philadelphia to support immigrant rights in our fair city. We have a limited number of seats but the dinner is going to be delicious. You can purchase tickets here! Scroll below the Easter preorders. Hope to see you there.

Xo,

Dayna

Dayna’s What’s Up Corner

I had a FANTASTIC Monday, which is such a flex considering it’s most people’s least favorite day of the week. I read two great books that I can’t stop thinking about: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico and Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl by Mandy Suzanne-Wong, the former on the subject of millennials being shallow and the latter essays about the beauty of marine life. As if that wasn’t enough, I also watched a perfect movie: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) starring Maggie Smith. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube and I highly recommend you do it! Another movie that’s just as good as the book, so rare and so special. What’s up with you? Anything cool to share?