T-Shirt Design Contest

Are you artistic and witty? We are holding a contest to choose the next Wild Oats Bakery t-shirt design! Submit either a slogan or a drawing (or both!) in-store or send via email to valerie@wildoatsbakery.com. The winner will receive a $100 gift card to Wild Oats Bakery as well as the opportunity to see their design on our retail t-shirts! The deadline for submission is April 30, 2011.

For inspiration, we've included some of our previous designs below.

Good luck!

P.S. Sign up for our weekly email to receive a coupon for a FREE t-shirt!*

*With purchase of $25 or more.

In Honor of Hot Cross Bun Season - The Legend of the Hot Cross Bun

Tomorrow (Ash Wednesday) marks the start of the Hot Cross Bun season at Wild Oats Bakery. Our original recipe uses unique ingredients such as cardamom, lemon and orange zest, ground clove, nutmeg and more. Due to the limited season of the Hot Cross Buns - we only offer them from Ash Wednesday through Easter - they are truly a much-anticipated treat!

In honor of the start of the season, we are reprinting The Legend of the Hot Cross Bun from the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook.

English folklore traces this bun, with its cross on the top, all the way back to pagan Britain, before the arrival of Christianity, to the celebration of the vernal equinox and the return of the sun's dominance in the sky. The bun represented the earth and the four sections, delineated by the cross on top, represented the seasons of the year. In addition to its seasonal implications, for the baker the cross also was a sign to ward off evil and to encourage the dough to rise.


During the reign of Elizabeth I, sweetened and spiced breads were allowed by law to be made and sold only on special occasions, Good Friday being one. While these laws were relaxed in the next century, hot cross buns continued, even as they are today, to be associated with Good Friday. It is said that if the buns are made on Good Friday itself they will protect the baker, and those sharing them, from misfortune in the coming year.

Click HERE to see the original Wild Oats Bakery Hot Cross Bun recipe and to watch owner Rebecca Shepherd making them on WCSH's 207 program.

It's another Small Business Saturday!

Come in Saturday, treat yourself, get stamped and
be entered to win...

We are pleased to announce that we will be participating in another Small Business Saturday this Saturday, March 5th. We are excited about this grassroots effort to increase exposure to local businesses while also helping the local economy...

Come out on Saturday and pick up an entry form at any of the participating businesses. Explore downtown shops and restaurants and collect stamps to be entered to win the grand prize of over $600 in gift certificates to local businesses!

Participating businesses include:

Wild Oats Bakery & Cafe
Morning Glory Natural Foods
Summer Island Studio
Indrani's
Wilburs of Maine Chocolate
The Music Center
Brunswick Inn
The Gelato Fiasco
Frontier
Wild Flours
Blessings
Estilo
Maine Street Events
Brunswick Movers and Used Furniture
Nest
Captain Daniel Stone Inn
The Great Impasta
The Little Dog Coffee Shop
The Big Top Deli
Flipside Pizza
Bombay Mahal
Maine Running Company
Provisions
Communication Network
Little Tokyo
Bart and Greg's DVD Explosion

We hope to see you this Saturday!