If you haven't been to one of their stores, it doesn't seem like much from the outside, but once you walk inside, you are drawn to their sample board like a moth to a flame. They have loaves sitting out, representing all the flavors they are selling that day. And there is no guilt, asking for a slice. In fact, I've found that if I don't ask, they will offer one to me. Hmmmm, the samples.....
I kind of love all of their bread, and yes, I know that I can pretty much make any of it myself, but there is something special with their "white" breads.
Everyday, they sell "Farmhouse White", a regular loaf of homemade white bread, and they happily slice it for you. It's not anything like Wonder Bread, but is thick and dense. On special days, however, they sell "Virginia White".
I won't lie--I didn't know about Virginia White until I went to the Ann Arbor store this past summer with Glo. When she sampled it, she told me that I had to get a loaf. And I kid you not--it's some of the best bread I've ever had (and I've had a lot of breads having lived in Europe).
Besides being thick and dense like it's brother, Farmhouse, it's smooth. That's right. Like a good whiskey, it melts in the mouth and goes down easy.
At $6.00 a loaf though, it's definitely a treat to buy a loaf of bread from Great Harvest. I mean, I can throw a dollar's worth of ingredients together and create a nice, warm, fresh loaf for John and me that we will eat within a day....but it's just not the same.
I hadn't bought a loaf since Glo left on her mission, and Sarah had sent me some Boise Berry freezer jam for my birthday which I was itching to taste, so I stopped by one evening before a performance to pick up a loaf. They had closed at 4 p.m. Ugh. So a couple of days later, I dragged John into the shop. I know I should never bring John anywhere where the items I'm buying aren't a "deal", and sure enough, his eyes bugged out when he saw the prices. But I bought a loaf.
The next day, I had a Mia Maid class presidency meeting after church, and I try and bring some treat to the girls because (honestly) I'm so thankful that they happily stay after church to meet. I didn't have anything else really great to give them when I thought about it at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, so I grabbed my loaf of Virginia White. And my Boise Berry jam. And because I was out of butter (don't judge--with only two of us eating at home now, I don't have a stockpile of basics sitting around), I asked the Mia Maid adviser to bring some.
There's something deeply satisfying, seeing how happy people are when I serve them food, and the Mia Maids are no exception. And to their credit, they are always verbally grateful. They could hardly wait for me to untie the loaf and open the jam. And they downed their piece of bread. And another. And after the opening prayer, they had another. And when I was closing the bag (with only a mere four pieces left *sob*), they asked for just one more. And when I told them that I had already licked the knife for the jam, my adviser piped up and told me to just pour the jam onto the bread....
I walked out of the meeting with a heel. That's it. They had demolished my entire loaf of $6.00 Virginia White.
I came home, toasted the heel, put some jam on it and sat down alone in front of the TV. Without the TV on.
I could hardly believe it. THEY HAD EATEN MY ENTIRE LOAF OF BREAD!! And being out of butter, it's not like I could make myself a new loaf....
Thankfully, the next day, we were shopping in Ann Arbor and stopped in for another loaf although it wasn't a Virginia White day, so I settled for Farmhouse White. And John checked the prices of the loaf and cookies that we had bought on Saturday because he was sure we had been overcharged.
But then today, with my loaf sitting on the counter, I thought of my missionary girl who was eating chocolate-covered pretzels and Pringles and Cheetos while on the phone with me yesterday. So I boxed up half the loaf of Farmhouse White, three cans of tuna fish, and new bottle of Miracle Whip, because she associates the Virginia White with us eating tuna fish sandwiches this past summer and watching "Big Little Lies" (on VidAngel, of course). I'm hoping to just get some protein in her, and I do believe she won't be able to resist that sandwich made with two slices of delicious white bread.
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