Bread Party.

Yesterday my good friend, Andrea, came over and we baked some bread together. We have a lot in common, but on opposite ends of the spectrum. We both work(ed) in the entertainment industry. She is an idea woman, a coordinator; I am a worker, give me the idea and I will make it happen. We both love baking. She is a pastry woman and is scared of bread. I am a bread woman and scared of pastries. I need to go over to her place now and have her teach me about pastries. Tarts, pie crusts, flaky doughs all scare me. They seem so delicate. I feel like I can beat up bread a little more and it will survive.

She came over and we made some whole wheat bread from start to finish. I tried my best to be a good teacher and went over proofing yeast, folding in flour, kneading, punching down and variable oven temperatures. I think the result of her first bread baking adventure was a success!

It was fun, though, to make bread baking a communal experience. Usually it's a solitary one. Many of these time-consuming, make-from-scratch things are often solitary endeavors. Knitting for hours, cooking (when it's a tiny kitchen), baking, canning, etc. There are knitting clubs already. People often cook together, and I guess potlucks could be “cooking parties”. And I recently read about hosting canning parties. Someday, when I have a bigger kitchen with an island, I'll have to start a baking club. Bread Party – it's the next big thing!