If you need a hand in the kitchen tomorrow, remember that your kindergartner can handle the bread baking! Not just during Thanksgiving, but every week we bake bread together in our kindergartens in preparation for snack time. It is a time for our little ones to understand how our food is made, to participate in purposeful work, to use their creativity to shape the dough, to appreciate the entire process and all of the smells and tastes that go with it, and to celebrate the importance of gathering around the table. We are grateful that we have been able to enjoy the company of your children in this unusual year.
For anyone at home who would like to make bread with your children, we have shared one of our much loved kindergarten bread recipes below.
Morning Glory Bread
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup organic honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of good organic oil
organic whole wheat flour (you can also mix some organic white flour in)
Mix warm water and yeast in a large bowl, add honey and salt, then add oil. When this is all mixed, add a cup or so of flour at a time and mix well until you have a nice dough. Cover the dough with a clean towel and let it rise for about an hour. When the dough has risen, smush it down with your hand and let it rise again for about a half hour. Then, knead the dough (the children are very good at this) for a while. You and your child can shape it however you would like. They can take small pieces to make what they want and you can braid the dough or shape it into a loaf. Bake it at 350 until it is a golden brown. We love it with sunflower butter and jam or just butter is delicious! We have fruit with our homemade bread for our snack.
