Teaching Jake to make bread...CHECK!
I didn't plan on doing this today, but Jake had other plans. He came into my room early, asking if I had any bread cookbooks he could look at, because he wanted to make a baguette. (What 11 y.o. American kid wakes up in the morning and thinks, "I'd really like to make a baguette today."? I hadn't even heard the word until I was an adult...and didn't know the meaning until the advent of the WWW. Am I raising nerds? Am I OK with that?) I just so happened to have a kids' bread cookbook, so I got it for him and told him to knock himself out. He found a French bread recipe he liked, and started throwing ingredients into the KitchenAid. (With only my supervision and occasional advice...so was I really "teaching" him? I was getting off easy, me thinks.)
This is how it looked after the first two risings. We just decided to go with a traditional loaf for our first time. I wasn't sure it was headed in the right direction, but I figured it would still taste good, even if it wasn't attractive.
Ready for the oven...
It was very crusty...and Jake was very proud.
Not a bad texture at all...probably wouldn't win any ribbons, but it was not bad at all. Next time, we're going to roll up the dough for a rounder shape to see if we can pull off the baguette. Learning is so fun when you get to eat your practice!
THIS is what I'M talkin' about!
And within minutes, the entire thing was gone. Hours of work for minutes of pleasure. Next time we'll make two loaves.
(Trivia: Can you believe my mom used to make bread every. week when I was little? And she'd grind her own wheat, too. Anyone else out there grow up with a wheat grinder on their kitchen counter?)
3 comments:
I love to see a kid get excited about cooking. It makes them more enthusiastic about eating too! We are on a two week school holiday and I am looking forward to the kids getting their hands dirty in the kitchen. I'm hinting for cookies and muffins...
Looks yummy! Until Ellie was born, Miles helped me make bread from fresh ground wheat each week. Though the grinder isn't alway out on the counter... It was way better than store bought.
Gina...I hope there's lots of taste-testing involved!
Kristen...you are so right about that. Although I don't have a wheat grinder (I just buy wheat flour homemade bread just can't be beat! I should really make it more often.
Post a Comment