Breadmaking Contest

For our seventh day out of ten straight days with all the kids home, I was running out of indoor activities that wouldn't draw complaints of boredom. No one made much of a mad dash for all the snow outside every day, and I refused to allow unlimited screen time, so on Friday I had an inspiration.

When I was eight years old, if I recall correctly, my mother had me a) make bread all by myself and b) memorize the recipe. I figured that my 8- and 9-year-olds should at least be able to do the former, so we tried it. I got out twin sets of mixing bowls and measuring cups, taped the recipe to the microwave above their heads, and set them loose. I tend to want to micromanage this kind of learning, but I made a point to not touch their dough at all so that it truly was their own bread from start to finish.

And they made me (and themselves) so proud! There were some frustrating moments, especially for Ian during the kneading stage, and it was interesting to see how identical recipes under identical weather, etc., looked so different along the way; but in the end, the bread was virtually indistinguishable, and completely delicious. Here's to the future cooks!!