Baking

bakersbowl
Pumpkin bread just prior to baking

Setting up the Best Brownie Recipe Contest taught me something I did not know. Far fewer women are baking. How could that be? I began this post by looking at what baking is, precisely. Here’s what wiki told me:

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, and cookies.

In short, this is a very very old process. Indeed, when humankind mastered the art of fire, they shifted from a hunter/gatherer lifestyle, to an agrarian lifestyle. And the experimentation of what one could do with various grasses and grains, including the first baked breads, emerged. Our soul memory on baking is extremely old. It’s in our genes.

Ramsesbakery
Relief of bakery of Ramses III (12th century B.C.), from his tomb

While I know that many many of my loyal readers do, in fact, bake, my realization is that the majority of women, particularly young women, do not. They are busy and they grab mixes off the shelves of local markets–even health food markets. Here’s what I want you to know.

First, baking is really easy. Impossibly easy. You have access to a zillion recipes in seconds simply by googling. And if you can read a manual, you can read a recipe. And, there are all levels of baking. I’m busy, too. Pick the easy recipes. The fast recipes. If you master one or two or three and you will already be way ahead of your peers, will advance your lifestyle by you won’t believe what quantum number, and your family will never forget that you did.

sconedough
scone dough, so delightfully ancient a thing
sconetriangles
Scones ready for oven–so wonderful in their messiness, and about to be transformed!

Secondly, if you bake you will save tons of money. You may think you are “saving time” by grabbing something off the shelf, but you are spending a lot more of your income. What do you pay for a scone? I make at least eight each week and freeze them as soon as they cool off, each in an individual plastic bag. I have one with tea in the morning. I know I’m getting butter, fresh organic eggs, cream, healthy flour and organic fruit, often blueberries or, in summer, wild blackberries I can pick in my own garden. Let’s see. I am spending under $2.00 for eight scones. What are spending at your local coffeeshop for a muffin? See? And it’s like this with anything you can imagine. You save your money while increasing the value of what’s available to you and your family at any given moment. You have good food on hand.
scones
See?

Thirdly, by learning to bake you will change your relationship with yourself by empowering yourself to create food from virtually nothing. Good nothings, but you know what I mean. You can take flour and water and oil and egg and sugar and create something marvelous. Over and over again.

“Nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin from the oven.” ~Pillsbury tagline

In pondering this post I was recalling last evening something my wonderful teacher Angeles Arrien told us about when I was studying anthropology in grad school. She shared that at some point in her early upper education she had participated in a study conducted in nursing homes. The purpose was to find creative ways to impact the well being of those living in nursing homes. These folks found that residents responded very well to the simple act of allowing the smells that come from baking to filter through the air system into their rooms.

Imagine the wonderful delicious smells that come from peach pie, gingerbread, peanut butter cookies, puddings, baked apples, ah, yes, and pumpkin bread, a favorite in our home. Imagine the impact that has on you and your family. It speaks of well being. It speaks of luxury. It speaks of comfort. And it speaks of deep nourishment, which you provide. How do you pay for that, short of a chef?

Lastly, I am obliged to say that baking is really really FUN! Yesterday I found these heart-shaped cookie cutters and I cannot wait for Valentine’s Day as I am already planning to make butter cookies, the very kind I made when Antonia was a little girl, with frosting. Oh, yes I am.
cookiecutters
And I stood pondering that teeny heart in the center asking myself, what can I do with that? And realized that the next pie I make with a top crust (though I tend to weave my crusts as I can’t bear not to, they are so amazing) I will embellish with a small circle of hearts. I am excited just to think of it. Am I part Martha?

Love and kitchen blessings!
Kathryn xoxo

28 Responses to “Baking”

  1. Hi, Philip! Oh, how wonderful, yes, to have something you’ve inherited from the family that gets put to good use. Green enameled handles sound so beautiful! I would love to see that cookie cutter! And, yes, I love that large crystalline sugar for baking! I sprinkle it on top of the scones now, after brushing tops with cream! ๐Ÿ™‚ Enjoy, Philip! Kathryn xoox

  2. Great, but kind of sad, post Kathryn. It makes me sad that women don’t bake. I guess they think they don’t have time with their careers. I know I will sound really old-fashioned, but I sometimes wonder what we’ve traded for our suits in the boardroom. I think I can say this, I am happier now than when I was a career woman with two small children in tow.

    Also, at the risk of sounding truly old-fashioned, why can’t our schools still teach everyone to bake, sew and garden. Boys and girls, young men and women. We all need these skills. Remind me to teach my son how to thread a needle later. ๐Ÿ™‚ ~~Dee

  3. Hi, Dee, Oh, I so agree! It’s not old fashioned. We are discovering that our very lifestyles are making us sick and our planet sick. Children are obese. We get cancer. Why? One big reason is that we are grabbing at foods about whose origins we know nothing about. We assume it’s been screened for safety, for our well being. Extreme example is when over 2,000 of our beloved pets died because we were asleep at the wheel and were not being mindful of what people were putting in our petfood. It’s the same with our children and ourselves. Bad oils. High fructose corn syrup. (We have to get rid of the corn somehow, right? We have contracts with farmers that oblige us.) And overdrugging us with prescription pills. The Quick Fix is not a fix at all. It’s a racket. We are ever so slowly realizing that we must begin to reclaim Agrarian Skills. God bless the locavores and the guerilla gardeners and the Victory Garden folks and the Obamas for putting in a vege garden and keeping bees! Anyone who thought Avatar was about colonization, think again. It’s a metaphor for what is happening NOW. That TREE *is* homemaking for children. You’re not old fashioned at all, my dear. You are cutting edge. ๐Ÿ™‚ Love, Kathryn xoxo

  4. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!! I couldn’t tell whether I wanted to eat the scones before they were baked or after. Looks absolutely scrumptious! And ahhhh our dear Angeles…her presence is always felt after spending time w/ her.
    Love to you & Antonia during this New Year! Are you enjoying the storm??
    Much Much Love~
    Cyndee

  5. Hi, Cyndee! Nice to find you here this evening! Yes, Angeles is forever. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you for the well wishes! Yes, grateful for the abundance of water coming to us. Happy New Year! Love, Kathryn xoxo

  6. Welcome, Adrian! Go to the kitchen! Make some now! ๐Ÿ™‚ Kathryn xoxo

  7. Great post! I’ve never made scones, although I’ve thought about do that for a long time! Hubby and I also bake and we love having those wonderful goodies in the freezer when the mood strikes. Thanks again for the great post!

  8. Welcome, Lynda! If you love to bake, I invite you to go ahead and try the scones! If you follow my photos and directions, you will find they are quite easy, especially if you are comfortable with doughs, and you will also find they are delicious! I love that you also have the practice of having something handy in the freezer! Such a smart thing to do! Glad you enjoyed the post. ๐Ÿ™‚ Kathryn xoxo

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