baking days
(more than just bread)
In Egypt, bread is called ‘Ayeesh’, or life. There is something so grounding and comforting about the primal smell of dough as we work it, and the warming scent of the baked bread as it wafts from the oven and over comes our senses. Baking is a comprehensive endeavor. For a child, it literally can nourish their body and senses while also nourishing their mind and their spirit. It can give them a sense of rhythm and comfort while also stimulating their curiosity and creativity. It can soothe and relax them and give them a workout and stimulate their will forces. For a young child it can also be an activity of connection—connection to family, connection to the earth, and connection to themselves and their abilities. As a child grows, making bread can become a source of intellectual engagement. Great bread making is as much a science as it is a practical art.
Flour, water, living culture—three simple ingredients are the basis of most baked break, yet many children today have no idea of what the bread that they eat is made. In a time where most of our staples are bought at the market, children rarely have opportunities to see how and of what they are made. While we might not be able to get them all the way back to the grains from which flour is milled, we can show them what goes into preparing the bread. When children participate in baking, they can make connections to and gain an appreciation for the process and ingredients that make the delicious treat. Even a young toddler can participate in the mixing, kneading, and shaping of dough. Their inquisitive minds take great pleasure in watching the transformation– watching the yeast come alive, seeing the liquid and powder come together to form a third substance. Their interest is piqued by the smells of the mixture and the sticky and then smooth feel of the dough. So many times, I have watched children breathe in the smell and caress their cheeks with the cool dough, squish it through their fingers and stretch it apart, taking pleasure in the sensory experience. They observe when the dough is well-made and silken, and muse if the dough is overly moist and sticky on all their little digits. And of course, there is no greater joy in childhood baking than eating the dough, even when they are told not to.
For the dough, kneading activates the gluten and begins to give life, and body to it. For the baker, kneading is a wonderful rhythmic exercise–pushing and pulling, folding, and stretching. Children enjoy this will work. They relish the opportunity to put all their gusto an energy into any task. Baking is particularly healthy activity for children who have sensory challenges because the feel, texture, and even the messiness is integrating for the sense of touch. The movements of mixing and kneading are supportive to the proprioceptive system. For a child with low will, baking provides an opportunity for work with the natural incentive of something yummy and nourishing at the end. A few well-chosen rhymes and songs can bring even more joy and imbue the activity with healthy pictures and sustain the children in the ‘work’ until the bread is ready to be shaped and baked.
From the separate ingredients to the bowl, to their hands, to the tray, to the oven, they watch the journey of transformation–their work, their will, turned into nourishment for their own selves. From the simple act of baking, a child learns that if they use the resources provided by nature and their environment and invest their efforts, they can provide for themselves and share with others. Consistent experiences like this throughout childhood develop the senses, build healthy will, encourage a habit of follow-through, enhance executive skills like planning, build patience, and nurture self-reliance. All these life skills in a loaf of bread–Ayeesh.
Parent and Child Bread Recipe
2 cups warm water
2 tsp. or one packet of yeast
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup One Degree Sprouted Whole Wheat
3 cups Jovial Einkorn Flour
4 tbsp. Raw honey
Dash of salt
directions
Dissolve honey in 1/2 cup of warm water and then add the yeast, stirring until mixed. Allow the mixture to proof for about 15 min in a warm space until the yeast has formed a frothy dome. Add the remainder of the warm water, salt, and olive oil and then slowly add the flour beginning with the all purpose and ending with the Einkorn. When the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn it on to a floured surface and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Then, knead the dough, adding flour if required until it is no longer sticky but rather smooth and elastic to the point that it bounces back when pressed. Place it in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and place in a warm space and allow it to rise for 2 hours until it has doubled in size. After 2 hours, punch it down and kneed for a few minutes before you form it in rolls or a loaf. Bread is best if you allow the formed rolls to rise before baking them!
honey butter
No bread is complete without something to smooth on top of it or in which to dip it. Olive oil is always a good dipping choice and bread always tastes good with jam, but it is most delicious with a little (or big) smudge of honey butter.
To make honey butter, take your favorite butter, softened, and whip it up until it is smooth. Add add your favorite golden honey to taste and mix well before spreading it on to your warm bread buns. Look out for sweet, delicious butter mustaches and butter fingers!