Yeast and Love

The smell, crunchy sound and soft touch, the warmth of freshly baked bread, there is nothing like this carb happy experience. What’s better? Having your hand in baking bread and the pride and joy of sharing the bread you made with friends. 

All week we have been baking bread with learners in pairs. Why? Besides it being delicious, recipes are science (this session’s theme) and our bread making recipe offers learners practice in completing measurements and patience throughout the day and patience with their baking partner. Plus, it is pretty darn delicious, reason alone, and literally warms all of our hearts when everyone gets their allotted piece (more on this). We love sitting in the kitchen for an afternoon chit-chat and snack. 

Just like yeast, we grow and rise and this week learners grew in their practice of our Acton principle “learning to be”, specifically learning to be a kind friend. This lesson wasn’t easy, especially when learners WANT more than one piece of bread. After one day of greediness, steaming faces while coveting bread, and upset learners over too much or not enough slices, we regrouped and asked for suggestions. “We can only have one piece, that’s it!” “We can have 2 pieces but only if there is a big enough bread loaf” “We should save all the extras for the next day”. We took a vote and now…learners are peaceful, accountable, and bellies are happy.  

A favorite moment this week while baking:

Me: Can you double check our recipe to make sure we have everything?

Learner: We forgot the most important ingredient.

Me: No, we have everything.

Learner: The most important ingredient is…LOVE!