A few of you may know that I like to bake a lot. When I was younger, I would watch and “help” my mom and grandmas bake. Joining 4-H and taking home economics classes in junior high and high school continued to cultivate my interest.
Now, I have the pleasure of baking with my children on Sunday afternoons; my daughter, Clancey, is eight and my son, Reid, is six. They have been baking since they were toddlers and old enough to stand up in a chair next to me to add ingredients. There are times when they are basically just waiting for a chance to lick the chocolate spoon, find a stray chocolate chip, or snitch gobs of cookie dough, but there are also other times where they are completely into the whole process from start to finish.
Just this past Sunday while baking with Reid, I mentioned we were going to double the recipe and right away he started saying instead of two cups of flour we will need four and so on. Baking is fun math, even the fractions!
There are life lessons in baking too: finish what you start, because something half-done is just a mess, and share whatever gift and bounty God has blessed you with, just like you would share cookies, and use patience to wait for dough to rise or cupcakes to set and cool.
In church, we have a group that does “Overt Ops.” One of their ministries is taking baked goods, provided by our church family, to local merchants as a thank you for their service to the community. They have received reactions ranging from, “Why are you doing this?” to “Wow, what a treat!” What a great opportunity to show your care for community members and perhaps to plant some small seed.
Both of my kids also know that what we bake on Sundays is shared at the office on Mondays. When I get home from work on Monday nights they always ask, “How did they like my [insert whatever we made the day before]?” They are excited and pleased when they hear compliments and are ready to start pouring over cookbooks and looking at online recipes for what to make next week.
They have learned to take pleasure in serving others in this small way. Just last week, Clancey asked to make our “Famous chocolate chip cookies with the secret ingredient” for her class Valentine’s Day party because some classmates had asked her to bring in that particular treat. She collected all the ingredients, mixed up the cookies, and put them on the cookie sheet all on her own.
For me, baking is relaxing. Kneading dough and mindlessly stirring batter is cathartic. I could care less about how something looks when finished as long as it tastes good. I have been bringing in Monday treats for several years now and have gotten to know people a little better by them just stopping in for a snack.
Sometimes we have groups or individuals come to our house to have the space and equipment to do some larger scale baking, and I’ve gone to students’ places to bake together and fellowship, pray, or have some serious conversations. There is something about doing a task together, like baking, that puts you at ease and distracts you from the cares of the day.
¾ cup brown sugar 2 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup white sugar 1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup softened margarine or butter ¼ tsp. salt (optional)
2 eggs 1 (3oz.) package instant vanilla pudding (use dry)
1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. chocolate chips
Combine sugars and margarine until creamy. Add eggs beating one at a time; stir in vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix; mix until well-blended. Stir in chocolate chips – batter may be little stiff. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 min or until set.