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“my grandmother always made challah for Shabbat and dropped it off at our house.
she said braided bread was a symbol of love because it’s like arms interlocking.”
― r
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source credits: gastro obscura, idan chabasov (aka: the challah prince)
the kinder work together to bake loaves of sweet lemon bread
to sell to their older learning partners
practicing for the big bakery the next day
when there will be many different breads
their families will be the customers
everything will cost 1 cent
if someone is hungry and doesn’t have any money
they will give them a penny and a piece of bread for free.
everyone eats bread.
“cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking.
it’s about harnessing, imagination, environment, and creativity.”
-guy fieri
Meet Cake4Kids: The Nonprofit That Bakes Birthday Cakes for Foster and At-Risk Children
Inspired by an article profiling a young girl in the foster care system who burst into tears upon receiving her first birthday cake, Cake4Kids founder Libby Gruender recognized that such a simple gesture could have a profound impact on the lives of underprivileged children. IIn 2010, Cake4Kids launched as a grassroots effort in Sunnyvale, California, with a handful of volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies that support youth. Today, the organization encompasses hundreds of volunteers, serves over 400 social services agencies, and provides over 3,000 custom, homemade cakes or sweets for at-risk kids (ages 1-24) on an annual basis — with more than 40,000 treats delivered in the past 13 years
While a birthday cake may seem like a simple gesture to many, each baked good serves as a sweet reminder to the children and youth in the U.S. foster care system that they are seen, cherished, and not forgotten.
Per the organization’s website, children served by this mission include “youth in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, transitional and low income housing, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, substance abuse programs, and refugees.” Agencies partnering with Cake4Kids must serve at-risk or underserved youth, be categorized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or government agency, and have offices in an area served by Cake4Kids.
Three years after Cake4Kids began, Gruender sadly passed away, but her mission continues to live on: The organization has since expanded across the country, with chapters all across the United States.
For more information, visit the Cake4Kids website to learn how you can volunteer, start a chapter in your area, and donate.
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“how far that little candle throws his beams! so shines a good deed in a weary world.”
-william shakespeare, the merchant of venice
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-source credit: julia diddy
Born in Utah, NATALIA MEIJOME spent a large portion of her childhood in her father’s original hometown of Buenos Aires. She created this most unusual bakery as an homage to the Argentine panaderías she loved as a child. In lieu of a full-scale shop, however, Meijome opted for a much more diminutive format. Locals in the area know to go early to this self-service bakery with a view of Mt. Monadnock in order to snag the best pastries.
Every Saturday morning, Meijome stocks her Tiny Bread Box in rural Vernon, Vermont with goodies such as palmeritas (laminated pastries covered in caramelized sugar), maple bacon cheddar biscuits, and alfajores maicena (tender sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche). Offerings vary daily, but tend to lean heavily on a sourdough starter for extra flavor. For her milk bread loaf and individually portioned cinnamon rolls, Meijome uses tangzhong, a flour-water roux often used by East Asian bakeries to produce an exceptionally tender crumb.
To order, customers simply need to scan a QR code and pay with a credit or debit card. Tiny Bread Box partially operates on the honor system, which inhabitants in this small New England community have always respected.
Tiny Bread Box is located right near the Vernon VT forest trailhead (J. Maynard Miller Municipal Forest), making it ideal for hikers looking to stock up on snacks.
“all sorrows are less with bread.”
-miguel de cervantes
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credits: instagram, gastro obscura, giarvis
when you can’t get your dough to flatten
your hands are tired
you have to improvise
use all resources at hand
as one of our young bakers recently illustrated
by using a unique and innovative method
i had been previously unaware of.
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the bread you bake by your own sweat tastes better than the dishes of sultans.
-Armenian mothers
new french patisserie in town
seems an impossible challenge
to make the right choice
yet an impossible challenge
to choose wrong.
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“but compared with the task of selecting a piece of french pastry held by an impatient waiter,
a move in chess is like reaching for a salary check in its demand on the contemplative faculties.”
-robert benchley
grandie b whips up a late night batch of her chocolate chip cookies
no recipe
improv as needed
no fear.
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“cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking.
it’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.”
-guy fieri
have you ever asked yourself,
“will today be the day I combine my love of baking with my love of arts and crafts?”
if this is the day, here’s what can help
the brand new disco, glitter, chocolate chips
this hit all the sweet spots for me
a holy trinity of sins.
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“you know, your clothes may say disco, but your eyes say rock and roll.”
-giuseppe andrews
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image credit: nestle’s
“happiness isn’t a fortune in a cookie. it’s deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that.”
-elvis costello
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NATIONAL COOKIE DAY – December 4
The English word “cookie” is derived from the Dutch word koekie, meaning “little cake.”
Hard cookie-like wafers have existed for as long as baking has been documented. Not surprisingly, they traveled well, too, though were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern-day standards.
The origin of the cookie appears to begin in Persia in the 7th century, soon after the use of sugar became common in the region. They then spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. Cookies were common at all levels of society throughout Europe by the 14th century, from the royal cuisine to the street vendors.
Cookies arrived in America in the 17th century. Macaroons and gingerbread cookies were among the popular early American cookies. In most English-speaking countries outside of North America, the most common word for cookie is “biscuit.” In some regions, both terms, cookies, and biscuits are used.
HOW TO OBSERVE NationalCookieDay
Pick up some cookies at your local bakery and remember to share them with family and friends. Or – make a list of your favorite cookies to bake and enjoy. Organize your baking tools and start your assembly line. Taste as you go.
NATIONAL COOKIE DAY HISTORY
In 1976, Sesame Street included National Cookie Day on its calendar for the first time. Cookie Monster also proclaimed his own National Cookie Day in the 1980 book The Sesame Street Dictionary. Then in 1987, Matt Nader of the Blue Chip Cookie Company created Cookie Day, celebrating it on December 4th.
on this day in 1964
a perennial favorite of children
“mary poppins,” premiered.
julie andrews as mary, sang and danced her way through this happy film
her famous ‘just a spoonful of sugar’ song danced through my head
as i continued my foray into bread making with my latest project
cinnamon swirl donut bread
i think mary would have been quite impressed/horrified by all the sugar involved in this one
is was not only a sweet donut loaf
but was swirled with cinnamon, sugar, and molasses
and in the final stages
the entire loaf
still warm from the oven
was dipped in melted butter
then rolled in a mix of brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon
that melted together
creating an outer crust
this was not a loaf for the feint of heart
nor amateur sugar-eater
a little went a long way, but pretty tasty, all in all.
next up – beer bread
i wonder what movie from my past that experience will trigger.
“if god hadn’t meant for us to eat sugar, he wouldn’t have invented dentists.”
-ralph nader
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image credit: walt disney pictures
I didn't have my glasses on.... 