Yesterday, while I was out and about, I made a stop by Spring Mill Bread Company in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I usually visit there 3-5 times a year, and always get the same thing, their Pesto Asiago Bread. I know I should branch out and try some of their other breads, and I will eventually do it, but their Pesto Asiago Bread is just really good.

When you walk into the store, it’s just a small area for the customers. I think this works really well, since the real star of this place is the food. There is another area with sweets, but I didn’t take a picture of it yesterday. One of the things I really enjoy about this place is that the oven is right there, so you can see what is being baked. I’ve come in and watched as they were rolling out the bread, watched as they were taking things out of the oven. This is baked fresh on-site, so these aren’t being shipped in from somewhere else and then re-baked to “freshness”. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just think the fresh bread experience is really neat.

While I was perusing through the different options, I noticed some samples. I asked for a sample of an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie. I’m not a fan of raisins, so this sounded good. It also tasted good. Definitely a cookie I would get again. I also noticed that they had a pumpkin log, so I purchased a slice of that. The flavor was on point. The pumpkin roll had the flavor of pumpkin and spices together. It had a firmness with the pumpkin roll that worked well with the spongy interior. The cream cheese frosting was a nice additional touch. It may seem like a lot, but when paired with the pumpkin roll, it worked perfectly. The outside was dusted with powdered sugar, which was a nice finishing touch.

Now, onto the Pesto Asiago Bread. This was good, as is always the case. The crust is firm, but not solid. The inside bread part has the perfect squish to it. The swirl of pesto and asiago cheese gives it a nice flavor without being overpowering. I tend to heat these up in my toaster oven and then add a little bit of butter, unless I’m having pasta, in which case I’m just going to dip it into the sauce or eat it with the pasta. One of the things I really enjoy about this bread is that no two loaves are exactly alike. I can appreciate the bread you get in the grocery stores, where there is uniformity. But when you have a bread like this, I think having some variance is what makes it better. Each bite will not taste the same. Some will have more pesto than others, some more asiago cheese, some more bread. I enjoy multiple bites of happiness every time.

I look forward to my next visit down to Gaithersburg. Maybe I’ll try a different bread. Maybe I’ll stick with just the Pesto Asiago Bread. No matter what, it will be a good and positive experience.