Author: whtpeacock

Earlier today someone told me she loves to cook, but baking doesn’t appeal to her because it is too exact and scientific. When someone shares their fear of working with yeast, I tell them yeast is very forgiving. Adding water that’s too hot can kill the yeast, but beyond that, measurements mostly have to do with the feel of the dough. And that takes practice. I prefer kneading by hand rather than machine so I can know the dough and learn how it is reacting to the environment.

I was thrilled when making pretzels today with our third through fifth grade students at church. Many of them remembered making pretzels last year for World Communion, so they have grown in dough knowledge. A few commented, upon entering the kitchen, how they loved the smell of the dough. We practiced relaxing the gluten, rolling the dough into 17-inch long ropes, shaping them into horseshoes, twisting the ends, and bringing them up to form praying arms with three holes symbolizing the Trinity. Each pretzel bathed in a baking soda and egg white wash before adding salt and baking. The students were captivated, cooperative, and inquisitive. I try to remember how important it is to create opportunities such as this; experiences engaging all of our senses, helping us teach and form positive impressions on our children.

Spanish for “salt bread”, pandesal (pan de sal) has been a staple bread roll in the Philippines for generations. Despite its name, it is slightly more sweet than salty. It is commonly spread with butter, coconut jam, condensed milk, peanut butter or cheese during breakfast or as a midday snack; sometimes eaten as a simple sandwich filled with a piece of fried Spam. It is also dipped into black coffee or Filipino hot chocolate (tsokolate). The bread crumbs on top add a bit of crunchy goodness. A “dirty ice cream” is a dessert in which pandesal replaces the cone and is stuffed with ice cream.

“Pan de sal is the favorite ‘Bread of Masa‘. For Professor Doreen Fernandez, the pan de sal is the bread of our history, at the core of our culture, at the heart of our tastes.” ~Jahweh Huerta, The Philippines

This bread is full of cracked whole grain oats; Scotland’s main crop. Viewing the “crumb” (the interior of the bread) up close, I can almost smell and taste the swirl of maple sugar and cinnamon. Tasting with my eyes. It fills me.

O taste and see that the LORD is good. – Psalm 34:8

I’ve danced it. Have you? The first time I realized those innocent looking fruit-like balls on the sidewalk emitted an unpleasant odor, I found myself surrounded by them with no place to step. My feet moved with frenzied fancy footwork trying to avoid them. Lesson learned…look ahead on the path, especially in autumn; ginkgo seed season. During my walk today I was reminded of this experience as I sidestepped a few flattened, naked seeds.

Ginkgo biloba, also known as Maidenhair Tree, is an ancient plant native to China, and the word ‘ginkgo’ means ‘silver apricot’. This beautiful tree is a living fossil dating from several hundred million years ago. Although it produces seeds which are messy and emit a foul odor, the ginkgo’s seeds and leaves are used in medicine throughout the world. It is also a hardy tree that can endure the stresses of city life including pollution, cramped spaces, and drought.

It’s important for me to remind myself that there are unpleasant moments in life which will never go away. But usually there is something beautiful, good and pleasant on the other side. I’ll just hold my breath and dance away.

I am not comfortable in front of the camera, but a few days ago I was filmed for a Facebook promotion of our church’s World Communion Sunday. All week long I thought about what to say. Should I make notes so I don’t forget anything? I was so relieved to be staged in the kitchen where the bread could speak for me. Behind the dough I felt comfortable, and the words seemed to flow as the variety of breads took center stage. No cue cards “kneaded”. I don’t think of myself as a salesperson, but I do know that someone good in sales must know and believe in their product. I’m not selling anything, but I love to share things I’m passionate about. World Communion involves bread and faith. Score!

Bread can uncover memories from the past. Some loaves include unexpected or unfamiliar ingredients; offering better understanding of other cultures. Twenty members of our congregation are baking forty varieties of bread from around the world to sample on October 7. World Communion Sunday and the bread fellowship after worship is hard to describe in words, so it’s really best to come and experience for yourself the many tastes and treasures. If you cannot attend, you may visit my recent blog posts which describe much of the bread I’m baking.

Bread is universal. Bread is life. Bread speaks to me, and bread speaks for me.

Popped, roasted, sautéed, boiled, steamed, fried, grilled, creamed, baked…this cereal grain is so versatile. I have fond memories of shaking a pan of kernels over the stovetop, waiting, and listening for them to pop. Corn fields are a typical sight while traveling in the Midwest, and cornstalk mazes have provided much entertainment for our family over the years. What is my favorite part of the corn? I love eating strips of kernels freshly cut off the cob and the sweet milky juice. Our cat likes corn milk too! Making corn tortillas for the first time, the slightly burnt smell reminds me of the wonderful butter-grilled corn on the cob aroma wafting through the air at Silver Dollar City. Corn tortillas are the staple bread in most of Mexico, and maize, an essential food in many regions of the world. I didn’t grow up eating tortillas, and I am new to creating these flatbreads from corn. But I may be a fan, because hot and fresh, they are so tasty. I can see why they are a popular vehicle for transporting food from plate to mouth. Maize. Grain of life.

God is not just with us, not just beside us, not just under us, not just over us, but within us, at the deepest level, and, in our inmost being, a step beyond the true Self. —Thomas Keating

Some days I feel distant from God, and I don’t know why. What I do know is that God has not abandoned me. He is within me. So if I can be patient, and I will (as hard as it might be), I will grow closer to God again. God may be hidden, but that doesn’t mean he is not present. He will reveal what needs to be revealed in his own time.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven… Ecclesiastes 3:1

Today in Kindermusik I taught the children about steady beats by tapping our thighs and chanting, “Show me please, how you tap the beat, beat, beat, beat, show me please, how you tap the beat, beat, beat, beat”. Then we moved on to…..”tap your toes, toes, toes, toes….tap your knees….tap your hair….” and finally ending with, “Show me please, how you tap the air, air, air, air.” As we tapped the air, our voices were very quiet. I asked, “Can you feel the air?” We closed our eyes and thought about what the air might feel like. “Heavy, fluffy, warm, damp, and still” were some responses. I am not always aware of the air. If I pay attention to it more, I wonder what it would tell me.

Yesterday I made one of Mexico’s favorite sweet breads (pan dulce). Conchas (meaning “shell” in Spanish) are enriched, lightly sweet yeast rolls with a “shell-like” crunchy streusel topping, similar to a cookie dough. The golden surface of the egg-washed roll is revealed through the cracks during baking.

The scallop shell is an ancient Christian symbol of baptism and the start of the Christian journey toward heaven. A pilgrim who journeyed the Santiago path, Yaz Rooney, explains that “The Scallop Shell has many grooved lines that lead from the outer rim to a meeting point at the base. The shell itself represents the many different spiritual and religious pathways that lead to the same place, to the universal centre of all life-forms, the spirit, the soul. When pilgrims carry the Scallop Shell it represents our personal journey, the sacred path that we must take within. The Scallop Shell reminds us why we are walking, especially at the points when the journey feels too hard and we want to give up. It reminds us that we are all ultimately one sacred soul, and that each of our roads are leading back to each other.”

Although it’s a bit early to celebrate the arrival of November’s Beaujolais Nouveau, it’s never too early to celebrate this beautiful season of harvest. Today’s bread is a spectacular variation on a basic Country French Bread recipe by Lionel Vatinet, Master Baker. Basic French bread consists of four essential ingredients, flour, yeast, salt, and water. Beaujolais Bread replaces all water with wine, includes honey and salami, and for fun, is shaped into a grape cluster. The dough has a slightly purple hue. By using wine as the liquid, the fermentation process is slowed down, so this bread takes much longer to rise before baking. I’ve heard that people who live in France and other parts of Europe take much longer at the table than Americans do while enjoying their meals. I wonder what it would be like to weave longer mealtimes into my daily life. I think I could get used to that.