Baking Sharing

Sharing Recipes

We had each of the girls (I have 10 ages 5-14) purchase a binder and some plastic sleeves. They each brought 10 copies of their favorite recipes and we passed them out so each girl started out with 20 recipes.

Here are two easy recipes for the pie and cobbler.

Fudge Pie -  2 Tbsp. Cocoa, 1 stick melted butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla.  Cook butter and mix ingredients. Pour into 9 inch unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, shaking to be sure center is firm.

Teresa Harris Pie Crust - 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt.  Sift these together. Cut in: 1/2 cup shortening.  Add one at a time, 3 tbsps water.  Stir into ball, roll out onto floured surface. Bake 12-15 minutes at 425 degrees to prebake shell.

Teresa Harris Fruit Cobbler -  1 can of fruit or pie filling OR 3 cups of fresh fruit cooked with 1/2 cup sugar  to  3/4 cup sugar. 1 cup self rising flour, 4 tbsps butter, 1/2 cup milk. Cream sugar and butter, then alternate adding flour and milk. Place fruit in the bottom of a square baking dish, cover with batter. (If all you have is all purpose flour, use 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsps baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.) 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp corn starch, 1 tsp cinnamon, if desired (good for apple or peach). Mix together and pour over batter. Heat 1 cup of water in microwave until boiling and pour over cobbler. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Teresa Harris  (Floyds Knobs, Indiana)

Baking . . . It Is So Much Fun

My daughter (nine) is working on her Keepers badges in the afternoons as part of her homeschooling. She just finished up her baking badge and it was one of her favorite badges so far. All she cooked was new to her. She is just learning and it is so much fun. She baked a pound cake, apple cobbler, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter pie, white/wheat yeast bread, and caramel nut pull-aparts. Her favorite part was for her grandmother's birthday.  She baked her a loaf of bread and wrapped it up in pretty paper and a bow. Her aunts were amazed that she baked it on her on and her uncle asked her if she could come and teach her cousin/his daughter (18yo) to bake. I think she is ready to start on her cooking badge soon.  (Gaffney, SC)

A Season for Baking

I planned this during the winter, when a warm oven and baked gifts are welcomed. I found inexpensive patty pans at a discount store (Walmart) which we marked with their names. They loved taking their little creations home every meeting.  By the end they had their own collection.

First, we discuss what type of item we're baking. Then, as the girls take turns measuring and adding ingredients, we discuss their function. As we blend I explain why there is a certain order and method. We did pies and cobblers in November. They were very interested in the color and texture of the fresh boiled pumpkin. I found a large bag of organic frozen berry blend at a club store for the cobbler. In December we did rolled and drop cookies one meeting and cakes and dessert breads the next. When making the angel food cake we all learned you cannot take a short cut and use the pasturized pre-separated egg whites. It was a good lesson and their eyes glowed when they saw the fresh egg whites fluff up so big and quickly in comparison. Last, we read a story of the Christian origin and made pretzels for the yeast bread. As a time saver I prepared large batches of doughs that needed to rise or chill ahead of time, then mixed another batch together for later use. May the Good Lord fill our daughters homes with warmth and pleasent aromas.  (Temecula, CA)

A Baking Field Trip

Our stepping stones are working on the baking badge and cake decorating. We bake one week each month. This month was yeast bread. A local Deli/bakery invited the girls to come for a baking lesson. The baker started with a lesson of how wheat grows. He explained the process showing them a wheat plant, wheat berries, then the flour. He had them start the dough. In addition, he had dough in the different stages for the girls to knead for rising. He had dough ready to be shaped for baking. Also, loaves ready to go into the oven and hot bread to come out of the oven. They were able to experience all the stages of bread baking. We ate hot bread with him. Then each girl had a loaf of bread to bring home. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.  (Brattleboro, VT)

Baking Bread in a Group

Our club rotates homes for each topic. We have sixteen children 14-0, with most in the 7-11 range, and we meet every other week. The person whose turn it is to teach is responsible for choosing, researching and teaching the topic, and providing the materials.

Baking (Breadmaking) is a two-session project. Each session is approximately 3 hours, which includes the topic, snack and fellowship.

Preparation: Purchase bread ingredients. Write gist of recipe on white board for quick reference. Gather together as many mixing bowls and wooden spoons as possible. Lay out ingredients on the table in "assembly-line" fashion.

SESSION ONE: Basic Bread     We began by opening in prayer. The teacher had prepared memory verses whose meaning we discussed as a group, then took home to memorize individually. On to the mixing area! The ingredients had been arranged in order. She read the recipe, with emphasis on the amounts needed. First the children did a little experiment to determine the best conditions for yeast to rise. We tried it in hot water, ice water, cold water, room temperature water and milk, and watched the results. Children then proofed their yeast, mixed up the dough and began kneading. Such fun! Even the littlest Keeper (2) could do the kneading. It was a lot of fun, with a lot of laughing and smiles. Loaves were baked 6 at a time, so the actual baking did take quite a while. 2 loaves times 14 kids :-). The girls tidied up the work area while the first batch was baking. Because of the amount of time it took to bake, loaves were delivered to those who were unable to wait past our normal meeting time.

SESSION TWO: Quick Breads - Banana Nut Bread     Children who wrote out or memorized their verses were awarded small candy bars based on the number of verses completed. The teacher gave a short lesson on the Bread of Life. Then we discussed the difference between yeast and unleavened bread, and gave examples of each. To the dining room! We learned how to properly measure shortening (flat across the top, then poke to release air and refill), the right way to break eggs, how to cream, and the importance of measuring correctly and getting all of the ingredients out of the measuring cup. We mixed our batter, one at a time, heading down the assembly line. Then popped into the oven. Smelled absolutely delicious! After they came out, the kids rubbed the tops with butter to keep them soft. We all took them home for dessert :-)

You don't have to have a huge kitchen to do this. We used a normal-sized kitchen and oven, with the mixing done in the attached dining area. There is some waiting time which can be used either for fellowship or to complete puzzles, Bible work or other activities.  (Belfair, WA)

Goodie Jar, Bread, and a Craft

Baking was a fun skill for our Keepers at Home to learn. Although baking is best learned one on one with Mom in the kitchen, the girls? interest was sparked and some basic skills were learned together during club time with some fun projects.

Meeting Number 1: First, after discussing the benefits of homemade baked goods versus store-bought, and explaining different ways to collect and store recipes, the girls assembled a cookie mix to take home and bake with Mom or Grandma. Making the mix taught them how to measure and properly combine ingredients in the right order. Each girl brought measuring cups, spoons, a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a 1 Quart jar with a Mason-type lid and ring.

The recipe is as follows: Layer all ingredients in jar one at a time, packing down with a wooden spoon after each addition. (I did have them mix the flour with baking powder, soda, and salt, before putting in the jar.) 1 Cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ Cup white sugar, ¾ Cup packed brown sugar, 1 Cup cornflakes cereal, ¾ Cup semisweet chocolate chips, 2 Tablespoons flaked coconut, 1 Cup rolled oats.

I provided pretty calico circles for the girls to place between the lid and ring on their jars and yarn to tie a bow around the ring. They attached the following recipe to the jar: "Munchy Crunchy Cookies" Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together ½ Cup melted butter, 1 egg, and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla. Add entire contents of the jar and mix well. Roll dough into 2 inch balls, place on a cookie sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Making this project also gave the girls a wonderful gift-giving idea! Ideally, I should have had samples of already baked cookies for the girls and snack time; I thought of it too late!

Each girl also brought a pie plate to make a one-crust pie crust to take home, fill and bake as she desired. Pie crusts seem to scare people. It really didn't take too long nor make too much of a mess. Only one plate was dropped and shattered!

Meeting Number 2: A mom who is very talented in making homemade bread mixed up a batch of dough at home so it would already have risen and be ready for the girls to knead and bake at the club meeting. She showed them how to measure and mix another batch which she finished baking later at home. I also brought a hand-operated grain mill for them to see the wheat and how it is ground into flour. Since this didn't take the whole 2 hour meeting time, the kids also made another craft when finished with the bread demonstration.

Craft: I cut a 3" X 3" bread-shaped piece of white (or tan) "Foamies" craft foam. They painted the edge dark brown to look more like bread crust. The kids then drew faces (I gave them some examples from a cartoon art book) on the shape and used googly eyes for the eyes. I made tags with the Bible scripture John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."  This they attached to the bread shape. A magnet was glued to the back and they had another nice craft to take home or give as a gift. The rest of the baking requirements were completed at home with Mom.  (Kenna, WV)

One Fun Way to Accomplish the Baking Skill

Our group has come up with a fun way to do the Baking skill. We have decided that this was a great skill for the girls to do at home with their moms and then share with the other girls what they learned. We have 8 girls and we meet 2x a month. So it will take 4 months for each girl to do the baking one time. They will choose ONE of the six items and make it at home. Then she'll bring the item to the meeting and she will share with the other girls how she made it. She will also bring copies of the recipe for each girl to add to their own notebooks. Then the baking item becomes the snack for the meeting! It will take a long time for each girl to finish this skill - getting to do one item only every 4 months. But we decided as a group that they would love to try many different things and start to build up their own recipe files.  (Vista, CA)

A Recipe Tree

To help the girls start their own recipe collection, we participated in a recipe tree. The following letter was given to each of the girls to get them started, and they followed the instructions. The recipes are rolling in!

RECIPE TREE     This is a recipe tree. There is no money involved, so it is legal and fun. Please send a copy of your favorite recipe to the person listed on the back of this letter. (There’s an address label on the back.) Then: * Copy this letter and send it to six different people. Do not send them a recipe.   Put my address labels on the back of the letters that you are sending out to the six people.  Enclose six of your address labels in each envelope you send out. You should receive 36 recipes. It will be interesting to see who they come from and what they are! Now, turn the sheet over and send your recipe to that person! (That’s right, you only have to send one recipe.) If you cannot participate within one week, please let me know. This is for a girl's Sunday School project, and we need our recipes! Thanks.  (Toney, AL)

A Family Club Writes

Our club consists of our family: Dad, Mom, and 7 children so when we decided to cover baking as a skill we did something different. We exchanged recipes with 3 other families (1 recipe had to be ethnic) and we baked the dishes one per week and compared results. We found this to be more interesting than just opening a cookbook. We were able to make and try dishes that we might not have otherwise. All the children were able to help which is a big plus when learning a new skill. Baking is also a wonderful way to learn fractions!  (Orrville, OH)

Homemade Snacks

We have just recently started a Keepers group.  One of the first things  that we instituted in our group was having the girls be responsible for providing snack.  Each girl signs up for one week of the season, she then is to make the snack herself.  No store bought items are  allowed.

The first week we met, we had the girls make recipe boxes from cardstock and decorative papers.  We made the dividers for inside, with category separations as well.

The girl, whose responsibility it is to bring snack for that week, also is to bring 13 index cards with her recipe written on each.  During our designated snack time, the young lady is to serve snack and pass out her recipe cards.  Each week the girls are adding to their recipe boxes and sampling recipes that they might wish to recreate in  the future!

We are having a great time and learning a lot through this fun experience! (Janesville, WI)