Baking is in My Blood

I discovered a fun fact after starting this bagel passion project — my family started a bakery in Johannesburg, South Africa! My grandmother sent me a photo of my great grandmother standing in front of “Fotheringham’s Bakery” sometime in the early 1900s. I have tried to research if the bakery still exists, and there seems to be some investment entity with the bakery’s name, but no bakery. Maybe the bakery changed names… It’s also possible the most recent owners decided that baking in South Africa is too dangerous. According to Independent Media, one of South Africa’s leading multi-platform content companies, “the business of baking bread in Joburg has become so deadly that deliverymen have to travel with armed bodyguards.” Now I understand why my grandma moved to the United States! I’m happy to bake bagels in Aspen where I don’t need bodyguards… unless you all start fighting over my bagels because they are SO GOOD!