"A Good Recipe for a Happy Life": MacReady artisan Bread Co.
What a treat (literally) it was to stop in MacReady Artisan Bread Co. this fall and meet the owners, Jenny and Michael MacReady, in their cozy bread shop. Although it was mid-afternoon when I was there, there were still several folks coming and going, ordering homemade sandwiches, soups, scones, cookies and loafs of incredible bread.
At MacReady’s, which has been open since May 2012, all the breads are hand-crafter from scratch using original recipes. Jenny and Michael use many old world bread-baking techniques, such as allowing each load to rise naturally and by forming each loaf by hand. They told me that depending on the time of year and how much moisture is in the air can determine how the bread will turn out. They choose each grain separately to ensure the best quality ingredients are used. They toast the grains and then carefully blend them to create several different and innovative flavors. All the MacReady Artisan Breads are extremely unique and complex.
Jenny put a bread tasting plate together for me, which included Fall Spice, French loaf, Bagel Bread, Heirloom Tomato, and Italian Semolina loaf. Paired with their homemade butter, I was immediately taken to bread heaven! Bite after bite of soft, chewy deliciousness made me incredibly happy that there is such a lovely, hand crafted bread store for us to enjoy in Door County! Jenny even insisted that I take some loaves home with me as a gift. She wrapped up a Fall Spice loaf and an Heirloom Tomato loaf, both which only last a few days at my house.
I had the pleasure of eating lunch at MacReady’s in late summer, where my mother and I enjoyed homemade Tomato Vegetable Soup, fresh bread, and an Heirloom Tomato and Renard’s Herb Cream Cheese sandwich. Tomato sandwiches are my favorite and this one topped the list of best tomato sandwich I’ve had in a long time! There’s definitely something about eating a sandwich on bread that was made fresh that day.
MacReady Artisan Bread Company is located at 7836 Hwy. 42 in Egg Harbor and is open (almost) all year. Jenny and Michael will be open through the holidays, then will change to weekends in the winter. Call for hours, visit them online, and ‘like’ them on Facebook. 920.868.2233. www.macreadyartisanbread.com.
-by Laurel Ciohon