I fell asleep at my desk Friday night. Woke up at 6:55 with keyboard creases on my face and the working thread already moving without me. That’s the story of Week 17. Not the bread. The bakers who decided to show up scared and bake anyway. 🥖 1,869 comments in the working thread 🥖 ~10,300 interactions across the week 🥖 63 new bakers 🥖 954 members and counting First-timers got cheered into next week. Robert Caldas baked the loaf he didn’t think he was ready for. Stacey said it best: “Never let the ‘F’ word ‘Fear’ stop you.” The full recap, every name, every story, lives here: 👉 https://lemon-diner-3mj4.here.now/ To everyone who climbed a step this week — next Saturday we climb the next one. ~ Henry ⭐🔥

Today we're baking baguettes. If you've been waiting for the right week to try them, this is it. Here's how the working thread runs: drop in throughout the day, share where you are in the process, post photos, ask questions as they come up. I'll be in and out answering. The whole point is that nobody bakes alone today. A few things to keep in mind before you start: Hydration matters. Baguette dough is wetter than a sandwich loaf and that's on purpose. Don't fight it with extra flour. Trust the folds. Shape with intention. The pre-shape sets up the final shape. Rushing the pre-shape is the number one reason baguettes come out lumpy or uneven. Score with confidence. One quick motion, blade angled almost flat to the dough. Hesitation gives you a torn loaf instead of a clean ear. Steam is non-negotiable. Whatever method you use, get steam in that oven for the first 10 minutes. No steam, no crust, no shine. If you need the recipe, here it is: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/ Drop your starting time below so we can see who's mixing when. Photos welcome at every stage. Floury counters, ugly pre-shapes, perfect oven spring, all of it. Let's bake. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

👋 We’ve got a lot of new faces in the Academy this week, and the Saturday bake-along is coming up fast. If you’ve never done one before, here’s what to expect. If you’ve been around a while, this is a good refresher to share with someone you’ve been trying to pull in. Here’s how it works. 📅 The recipe for the week gets announced on Monday, and we post about it throughout the week. Teaching posts, technique breakdowns, reminders, prep tips. By the time Saturday rolls around, you’ve already got everything you need to bake with confidence. 🥖 This week it’s Rustic Italian Ciabatta. 👉 Recipe here: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/rustic-italian-ciabatta ☀️ Saturday morning around 8:00 AM ET, I open a dedicated thread right here in the community feed. That thread becomes the living room for the day. Everyone gathers there. Photos of dough in progress, questions, wins, struggles, troubleshooting, side conversations. All of it happens in one place. 🚫 You don’t need a Zoom link. You don’t need to log in anywhere else. You don’t need to RSVP. You just show up in the feed. You’ve got three ways to participate: 🔥 Bake with us live. Some folks start Friday night, some start midday Saturday. It doesn’t matter when you begin. The group pace gives you a built-in rhythm and you can jump in wherever you are in the process. 🕐 Bake at your own pace. Some members have other commitments and don’t finish until Sunday. Some bake Monday. Doesn’t matter. Post your bake whenever you finish and you’ll still get eyes on it and feedback. 👀 Just watch. A lot of first-timers do this one. Read the thread, watch how people handle each step, see what questions come up, see what the dough looks like at different stages. That’s how you learn the rhythm before you ever touch flour. There’s no minimum participation requirement. 💬 Any questions about how it works, drop them below. No question is too basic. Henry ⭐🔥

Something happened to my baguette though, and it became very liquidy. I decided to put in more flour and it became cinnamon cinnamon swirl bread.🤪

A week ago I shared a personal post here about Ryan's road to NCAA Nationals. I want to take a moment today, while a lot of you are in the house, to thank every single one of you who reached out, donated, shared, or sent a quiet "rooting for him." It meant more than I can put into a short post. This community continues to surprise me in the best way. A few new chapters since that first post. This past Monday at FMU's 56th Annual Athletic Gala, Ryan was named Men's Outdoor Track and Field Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row (2024, 2025, 2026). Out of 17 sports and dozens of MVP awards across the department, only four athletes earned a repeat MVP this year. Ryan was one of them. Quiet kid, loud résumé. Last weekend at the Conference Carolinas Championships, he won his third conference title in the javelin. He holds six school records at FMU and currently sits among the top javelin throwers in NCAA Division II. In three weeks he competes at the NCAA Division II National Championships at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas. Two weeks after that, he receives his master's degree. The NCAA is covering Ryan's trip. I'm covering mine. I'd like to be in the stands. For those who've asked how to follow along or help: - Ryan's story page (with recognition for the businesses who've stepped up): https://faith-field-flow.lovable.app - The GoFundMe is still active for parent travel: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-cheer-ryan-at-ncaa-nationals Sharing helps as much as giving. And honestly, just knowing you're cheering with us means a lot. Back to baguettes. — Henry ⭐🔥