Good Bread. Distinction: AMAZING bread.

Well, I had planned to post updates in order, including photos and information on some of the excursions and trips I’ve taken. 

But hang on, we’ll be right back after this message from our sponsor:

Mrs. Crimble’s. I love you. You make the best gluten-free white bread ever. Can you maybe distribute in the USA? No? Okay, I’ll settle for my local Sainsbury’s please... 

I’m visiting my sister right now, always an interesting adventure to explore her town. I’ve finally gotten the route from the station to her apartment. Today I proposed an adventure: grocery shopping in a new city. I took my time choosing a grocery store. I went in Marks & Spencer first just to see if they had anything. They didn’t, just like the one in Oxford. But Sainsbury’s was next door, and they’re fairly dependable. Even the Sainsbury’s Locals have a small section where you can get bread and cookies (and custard...). After finally locating the gluten-free section in the Reading Sainsbury’s, I began trying to decide between three breads. There was a Dietary Specials Brown Bread, Mrs. Crimble’s White Loaf, and some interesting looking pita bread from Sainsbury’s. In the interest of utilitarianistic bread (as in, bread that is useful for all meals... thank you Jewell for adding that idea) I immediately narrowed it to the Mrs. Crimble’s and Dietary Specials. Now the problem: I’ve heard good things about both brands. I’ve even had the Dietary Specials continental sweet rolls. They’re pretty much to die for. Or they would be if I was going to die for a food item. Well, it’s either that or Glutino’s wafer cookies. 

But I digress.

Normally I’m a pre-sliced loaf kind of gal, but I decided to be racy today and buy the plain loaf style from Mrs. Crimble’s. I’ve finally located Dietary Specials products in Oxford, so I guess I could always find their brown bread at a later point. I have no idea who if anyone in Oxford sells Mrs. Crimble’s.

So I pulled the loaf out, it’s dusted with flour on top, which reminded me of the bread a family friend, Rosemary, and I used to make when she was teaching me how to bake. It also smelled like that bread. In fact, this bread smelled like someone had pulled it out of the oven about an hour ago, a definite point in it’s favor. Then I began slicing. Now here’s the thing, most gluten-free breads crumble instantly when stick a knife in them, which is a big reason I prefer pre-sliced loaves. And I don’t mean crumbling like the odd crust falls off here and there, I mean entire hunks of bread disintegrate. It’s not a pretty sight. 

But Mrs. Crimble, you had an ace up your sleeve. Your bread didn’t crumble like that. In fact, the consistency while slicing was rather like that of one of those loaves I used to make back in the days of eating gluten. The excitement was beginning to bubble over. 

And then it happened, I stuck a bit of a crust in my mouth. My mother, I’m sure will laugh at this next part, because I used to HATE the crust when I ate regular bread. Unless it was from homemade bread that we made.  I cut my crusts off until I was 17. That was about the point I started making our bread, which meant I didn’t have to put up with gross crust anymore. The crust off this loaf today melted in my mouth. Literally. It didn’t have that super dry feeling that most gluten-free breads have, it was simply “bread”. When it’s squeezed, you can actually make an impression on the bread, that’s how moist this bread is. 

Well, at this point, I was beyond excited. So I quickly made lunch. The actual act of eating this bread as part of a sandwich made me feel like I wasn’t gluten-free anymore. It was incredible. I’m reluctant to get up and brush my teeth after having finished lunch, because that bread was THAT good.

For those of you who can’t relate to what I’m talking about, pretend someone has given you styrofoam to eat for your bread for the last ten months. Then imagine someone gave you real bread again. Yeah, it’s kinda like that, but even more extreme. 

So I reiterate, Mrs. Crimble’s: you make the best gluten-free bread I’ve had to date, and this is my tenth brand, and my fifteenth loaf that’s commercial. And this is both American and English brands. You win Mrs. Crimble’s, I am your devotee for the next nine months while I live in England...