Kids Really Can Cook

June 7, 2011 at 1:12 pm Leave a comment

Mitch enjoys a slice of his bread.

: Mitch stirs in some flour.

My five-year-old grandson decided he would like me to teach him how to make bread. An ambitious idea for such a young chap? Maybe, but I learned on the weekend that it can be accomplished. For a little lad with usually no patience to spare, Mitch did an excellent job of following instructions and understanding some of the chemistry involved. He now knows that yeast is asleep, but wakes up and grows with the addition of liquid and a bit of sugar to give it energy. He also waited out the rising time of 1-1/2 hours for the dough and 1 hour for the loaves without any grumbling! As soon as the bread was baked, Mitch asked for a piece and pleasantly waited again for it to cool enough to slice. (He doesn’t always eat what he helps to cook.) Two slices later (crusts and all), he was ready to recommend the bread to his friends who seemed to come from the whole neighbourhood to taste it. It was remarkably like giving kids candy, and soon two loaves had disappeared. Later came adults who appeared to enjoy a buttered slice of Mitch’s bread with beer. It was another successful example of how “kids really can cook”.