Bohemian Rhapsodizing: Baking with KR

Each year, the Kindergarten classes at Stinkerbell's school conduct a three month study on Bread and Baking. They visit different bakeries, pizza shops and restaurants to learn what it takes to make all of the delicious and different types of dough. And they learn what it takes to run a business. It all culminates with a big bake sale at the end of February. The kids will set up, open and run their own bakery, for the entire school, for a full week. All of the baking will be done by the kids. All of the pricing and marketing will be handled by the kids. All of the sales will be done by, you guessed it, the kids. And at the end of the week they donate all of their hard earned money to charity, usually one that helps feed those less fortunate. And the pride on their faces when they make that donation is priceless.

To help them make enough goodies to sell in February, each parent is asked to come in and bake with the children at least once during this unit of study. We are asked to bring in a family recipe for bread, perhaps one that is indicative of the country our family is from. Or maybe a pie, or muffin recipe from Grandma. It doesn't really matter, the only requirement is that the children have to be able to do it themselves (with a bit of guiding help from the adults) and that we do it from scratch.

If you know me, you know I was stumped. I don't really have any family bread recipes and I my baking usually tends more toward the sweet side of things. I was wracking my brain for something to share with Stinkerbell's class when one of the other mothers asked if I would like to do the project together. I couldn't say yes fast enough. We talked about what days would work for us to spend a full morning with the class and it turned out that we could both do the week before Thanksgiving. Suddenly, it all just fell into place. Pumpkin Pies sounded perfect.

It seemed like this was going to be easy as pie (pun intended). Until we both realized that all of the ingredients for this oh so traditional Thanksgiving dish are oh so hard to come by in Prague. Luckily, we have canned pumpkin imported by one of the stores here. It may be expensive, but you do what is necessary. We weren't so lucky on finding pumpkin pie spice or Evaporated milk. But that is what Google is for...We made our own spice mix and evaporated milk. I guess we took the "from scratch" part to heart. When in Prague...

The kids were very excited about making the pies. They loved measuring and stirring, and cracking eggs. They used rolling pins - many for the first time - and they crimped pie crust. They poured filling and they scraped the bowls so none of it got left behind. And they couldn't wait to taste their final product. Unfortunately, R and I forgot one important detail, pumpkin pie is an acquired taste and not usually one that kids love. And for most of the children, it is not something they would ever be served at home because pumpkin pie really is traditionally American, and they kids are not. Most took a bite or two (I was told - we weren't there to watch them try their pie) and said it was ok but didn't eat much of it. One student loved it and wanted more and more, but the majority of them just enjoyed the fact that they made it themselves.

I don't know who had more fun - the kids or the adults. I will definitely do it again, but maybe this time with a more kids friendly end product...Cinnamon Rolls???