Hey Crust & Crumb bakers, Rachel Parker is back with a new episode of Breaking Bread — and this time, she's taking us somewhere we didn't expect to go. Salem, Massachusetts. 1692. You know the story. The fits. The accusations. The trials. The executions. One of the darkest chapters in American history. But what if the answer wasn't witchcraft, mass hysteria, or village politics? What if it was the bread? 🎙️ Episode 2: The Fungus That Cursed a Village — Bread, Madness, and the Salem Witch Trials In this episode, Rachel digs into the genuinely unsettling theory that a fungus called ergot — growing silently on contaminated rye crops — may have triggered the hallucinations, convulsions, and visions that started the whole terrifying chain of events. A fungus so chemically similar to LSD that the symptoms of eating it read almost word for word like the testimony of the afflicted girls in Salem. A cold, wet winter. Marshy rye fields. A village with no idea what was in their flour. And then — when the grain ran out — the devil disappeared. This episode covers: 🌾 What ergot is and how it gets into your bread without anyone knowing 😱 The symptoms of ergot poisoning — and why they match the Salem testimony so closely 🗺️ The geography of the outbreak and what it tells us ⚖️ Why not everyone agrees with the theory — and why that makes it even more interesting 🍞 What it means for us as bakers who love and trust our rye This is the kind of story that makes you look at your rye flour a little differently. Give it a listen and come back here with your thoughts. Do you think the ergot theory holds up? Have you ever felt like there's something wild and ancient in rye that the other grains don't quite have? Drop it in the comments. This one is going to spark a conversation. 👉 Listen now — link in the comments below. — Henry

This is my first attempt at using Henry's Japanese Milk Bread recipe. This bread smells amazing!

I just dropped a quick video walking you through 11 filling options for Saturday's star bread. Savory, sweet, and everything in between. The dough is the same no matter what you put inside it. Same technique. Same bake. The only thing that changes is the flavor. A few highlights: Pizza Star. Buffalo Chicken. Jalapeno Popper. Cinnamon Sugar. Nutella and Banana. And that's not even all of them. And these aren't the only options. If you've got an idea that isn't on the list, bring it. The dough doesn't care what's inside it. It just wants to be a star. Watch the video, pick your filling, and tell me below what you're making Saturday. 👉 Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/henrys-savory-star-bread?variant=yeasted

The kitchen just got a lot busier. 🍞 Please help me welcome our newest members: @Frank Johnson , @Jesse and Veronika Olson , @Elizabeth Roth , @Reid Hunter , @Kathy Donald , @Oliver Wing , @Maria Mitchell-Wilson , @Beckie Bradhurst , @Jill Hart , @Alica T. Marie , @Melissa Campbell , @Nolan Hunter , @Alisha Smith , @Karen Miller , @Pam Cote , @Michele Nilson , @Suzette Howe , @Dru Vana , @Josh Malcom , @Greg Shackelford , @Deborah Coleman , @Sara Gaffney , @Amy Cross , @Karen Sossin , @Monica Njoo , @N N , @Margaret Pippen , @Quyen Phan , @Kathryn Sabean , @Josephine Junior , @Kara Gerstel , @Diego Enrique , @Sharon Stubbs , @Cameron Wadrop , @Oliya Hunt , @Juli Ethington , @Sandy Chong , @Lindsey Christian , @Corliss Groover , @Marcia Bracken , and @Kathy Marrai .

I'm working a piece that will give you guys some latitude on what to include in your Starbread this weekend. The opportunities here are truly endless. Stay tuned