In what feels like the blink of an eye, February is coming to a close and the days are getting longer - thank goodness! We were anticipating a slower start to the year, however have welcomed the unexpected business of the past few weeks.

On Saturday past, we were delighted to contribute to the Scottish Festival of Real Bread at Bowhouse Farmers Market. The festival was a fantastic opportunity and it was exciting to see that the Scottish Sourdough scene is alive and kicking! We developed a Porridge Sourdough Loaf especially for the festival using predominantly Scottish flour. We do hope to feature it on our Bakery shelves soon. Profits from the festival contributed to fundraising for the Bread for Good Community Benefit Society, whose aim it is to establish a Scottish flour and bread supply that is healthy, equitable, locally sourced and sustainable.Thank you Bowhouse and the Real Bread Team - we look forward to next year. Of course, the weekend was made even better with Scotland’s win at the rugby!

In early February we launched our 2024 Celebration Cakes online. Flavour options include Apple & Olive Oil with Caramel Icing and Devil’s Food with Chocolate Ganache. You can view the full list on our website. When we reach the summer months, we will include the option for cakes to be decorated with fresh flowers supplied to us by McConnell Blooms. In the meantime we have a lovely selection of dried flowers for decoration. Please do ping us an email if you have any queries about your cake and we will do the best we can to accommodate any special requests.

In correlation with the brightening and (ever so slightly) warmer days, our menu change strives to capture the beginnings of spring (not that we are manifesting in the slightest…). Hot Cross Buns are oot the oven! Along with Rhubarb & Custard cake and Blood Orange Meringue Danish. Our savoury options include Pea & Courgette Soup, Blood Orange & Radicchio Salad, and a Spiced Chicken, Chickpea & Caramelised Onion Sandwich. Accompanied by the usual favourites, along with Focaccia and Seeded Rolls throughout the week. Rye Bread is available Thursdays and Fridays, and Sourdough Wednesday to Saturday.

LON Store has also had a busy month, with the launch of the LON Mother’s Day Box. The box includes a dried flower posy, elegant dinner candles and a range of tasty treats - thoughtfully collated by our LON Team. If this sounds like the gift for the mother figure in your life, click here to place your order. In addition to our postal boxes, if you spot an item on the LON instagram that you would love to have but can’t make the trip to see us, please get in touch and we can organise home delivery.

And lastly we said a sad goodbye to our long serving coffee machine this weekend. Boy did she go out with a bang - what a busy day it was on Saturday! Our poor little machine has been with us since the day we opened six and a half years ago. But alas, after serving what we estimate to be upwards of 250,000 coffees during this time, she was well and truly done. We welcomed its new and shiny replacement thanks to our brilliant coffee suppliers Obadiah Roasters. Thank you for helping us set up and continuing to supply us with delicious coffee!

That’s all for now folks. Hope you’re managing to catch some of those precious rays of sun. We’re almost there - spring is in sight!

Until next time,

Lots of love, Team ARAN x