Bread, Bread, and More Bread

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

As many of you probably know, some of the best times the kids and I have had in the kitchen together are spontaneous. Spur of the moment happenings that could not have been planned in any way, shape or form. As a bystander, I’ve noted that this natural growth of creativity from the kids requires little of me in “doing form”—but it does require a big step backwards: the ability to stand by, perhaps provide a reinforcing comment—but mainly to not put a stop to their in-the-moment excitement. It’s the step-back-from-being-an-adult drill: to not interfere, to not clean up … to stop and recognize the beauty in their enthusiastic ideas.

And that’s just what happened recently when my dad showed up on the doorstep with a surprise bag-full of bagels and various sourdough loaves. You see, there’s a thrift shop near their house that accepts day-old bread (definitely from a skilled baker or a nearby Panera bakery-café). So when my mom goes bargain-shopping, she surprises us with the biggest bargain of all: cheese and apple strudels, parmesan cheese and garlic bagels, rectangular multi-grain and caraway loaves—and even some 1½-inch thick cheesy rounds similar to foccacia (but a bit thicker).

It’s been a wonderful bread-o-rama. And we’ve been discovering all kinds of interesting (and delicious ways) to incorporate these handmade, sourdough-type breads into our meals. Not one to overload (or pack on unnecessary pounds), I enlisted the help of my daughter to divide and pack this booty into gallon-size freezer bags. And although I often just feel like tossing the original bags straight into the freezer, this time I took my dad’s advice when he mentioned that my mom and he sliced the larger loaves and divided them into bags so they’d be handy to pull out later. Good one, I thought. A little forethought, effort and planning now will make using this (and the meals) easier.

So out came the cutting boards, serrated knife and freezer bags. And since I like to utilize the help of my oh-so-handy helpers, I called my daughter to help count the bagels and slices. Sure enough, once she saw the pile we needed to divide, she was game. Of course, it’s always more fun when you get to dig right in and get in on the action. To have her sitting and watching while I did “the fun stuff” would not have worked well at all. I merely suggested how many of each item we could put in the bags—and she wanted to try her hand at slicing some of the breads too, so we worked together quite well.

But when it was time to slice the large, heavy rectangular loaf (yes, I believe it was studded with cheese), I had to pull out some serious muscle. Slicing, stacking. Stacking, slicing. It just so happened that all those slices were inspiring. Daughter was inspired to create a staircase out of the slices. The staircase evolved into a spiral. The spiral evolved into a cave. The cave needed people. And a whole story ensued from there.

By this time, I was just glad she was having a good time because I was up to my elbows in crumbs, and piles of bread-filled freezer bags were littering the countertops. But amidst my busyness and so-called organization were the delightful ever changing and evolving stories of “The Leaning Tower of Bread” and the “Bread Cave.” Nothing like a good story to help the time go faster (and turn the work into fun).

Yep, one of the things I love best about kids is that they know how to have fun—and they can actually make work into play and pleasure.

So the next time you’re on a mission—especially in the kitchen—remember to keep an open mind to see where your kids’ explorations may lead. I bet it’ll be worth a few crumbs. And, who knows, maybe even the cleaning up can even be turned into a game.