Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, my son, Ryan Hunter.

I'm So Glad I Found My People That line came from @Jill Hart . She wrote it in a reply to @Henry Hunter's "Beautiful loaf" video at the top of the working thread, watching the music, watching the crumb, thinking about twenty years ago when she went to the local technical college to learn sourdough because YouTube didn't exist yet and she decided she really wanted to know. @Henry Hunter wrote back: "Jill, twenty years of chasing the same loaf is the quiet definition of mastery. Most folks think the finish line is a perfect crumb. It isn't. The finish line is the day you stop being surprised by the dough." That exchange is the whole week in two comments. The working thread closed at 1,451 comments and 22 post likes. Across 17 tagged and related threads, the community posted 1,847 comments and 211 reactions between Monday and Sunday morning. The main thread ran at roughly 58 comments per hour for 24 straight hours. This was the biggest single week of Bake-Along activity on record for Crust & Crumb Academy. Here's the thing. The number only matters because of what sits behind it. Every one of those comments is a person in a kitchen, trying something. @Sandy Chong feeding her chickens at 4 AM. @Cheryl Odden crossing her first Bake-Along finish line. @Ehsan Omara running two loaves with ingredients most of us have never heard of. @Jill Hart telling the story about the technical college. That's what 1,847 comments looks like from the inside. The Week Before Saturday The 1,451-comment working thread didn't happen on accident. @Henry Hunter spent the whole week building toward it. Monday he posted "Saturday Bake-Along: Here's How It Works" to onboard anyone new to the technique. Twenty-two likes, 39 comments. Tuesday the video "Worth watching before Saturday" went up, 18 likes and 12 comments. Wednesday was the teaching stack. "The Art of the Marble" pulled 23 likes and 98 comments. "Let's talk about color before Saturday" and "Before Saturday: 3 Questions Every Marbled Loaf Baker Is Asking Right Now" both ran the same day.

I was out of town yesterday. Spotty cell service, bleachers, cold wind, and a track oval in the middle of nowhere. But I had one eye on the bake-along all day and what I watched you all do… I can’t put it into words. You showed up. You coached each other. You answered questions, encouraged each other through the rough spots, and made sure nobody got left behind. That’s not something I taught you. That’s who you are. This is exactly the community I hoped we’d build. I’m going through all the threads right now. The recap drops at 3 PM and I’m going to make sure every person who put in the work gets their moment. Now let me tell you a little about where I was yesterday. My youngest son Ryan holds the school record in the 100m, 200m, 4x100, and javelin. He’s the conference champion in javelin and he’s ranked fifth in the nation right now with the season just getting started. Yesterday he won his third meet in a row, sweeping his events again. I’m attaching a short video of some of what we witnessed. Two things I’m incredibly proud of this Easter weekend. What’s happening on that track and what’s happening in this community. Thank you for everything you did yesterday . Henry ⭐🔥

It’s bake day. And this one means something. This is one of those weekends where bread isn’t just bread. It’s tradition. It’s memory. It’s the thing your grandmother made that you’re now making for your own family. That matters. Whether you’re baking: 🐰 Sculpted Easter bunny bread 🍞 Enriched Easter loaf ✝️ Hot cross buns 🌿 Babka, Tsoureki, Colomba ✡️ Something beautiful for your Passover table 🥖 Or just the bread your family expects to see this time of year We want to see it. All of it. Not sure what to make? Head to the Recipe Pantry at pantry.bakinggreatbread.com and search Easter. Everything is right there waiting for you. And remember, today isn’t limited to those recipes. Anything you’re baking for your holiday table is fair game. Drop your photos, your questions, your works in progress, and your finished loaves right here in this thread. Check in throughout the day. This is what Saturdays are for. Happy Easter to everyone celebrating. 🐣✝️ Chag Sameach to those observing Passover. ✡️🕍 Whatever your table looks like today, I hope it’s full and it’s warm and it smells incredible. Now let’s bake. 🔥 Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

We’ve got so many new faces in here and honestly, I feel like we talk in the comments all the time but I don’t really know who you are. And that’s on me for not doing this sooner. So let’s fix that today. New members, longtime members, everyone. Drop a reply below and tell us: 🏡 Where you’re from 🍞 What kind of bread you’re baking right now (or trying to learn) 🎯 One thing you’re working on getting better at I’ll go first: I’m Henry, based in Columbia, South Carolina. I’m in the middle of an Easter bread series right now and I’m constantly chasing better oven spring on enriched doughs. It never gets old. There are members in here from all over the country, some internationally too, and you’ve been talking to each other in threads without really knowing the person on the other side of the comment. Let’s change that. This isn’t just for the new folks. If you’ve been here since day one, I want to hear from you too. We grow as a community when we actually know each other, not just each other’s loaves. Drop your intro below. I’m reading every single one.