Saturday, January 14, 2012

Days of bread and physics



Omg rolls
photo by Roy Patrick Tan who shares his photos and is a painter


If you know you are low on an ingredient, leave home early, and shop on the way to the school.

Sign in, check e-mail, review the physics lesson:  then teach Physics.

2nd period is your prep: go for a walk to get out of the classroom, say hello to someone who is pleasant and smiles, go shopping if you did not leave early-- be glad that a store is just down the street.  Move needed materials from your classroom to one that has a kitchen.  as prep time comes to an end, place a pot with water over some low heat.

Say, "wash your hands."  Say, "did you wash your hands?"  as you keep an eye on the water temp, students will prepare three large bowls:  2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 cup of olive oil.

in a 2 cup measuring cup you place a packet of yeast, if this is the first time experience for a student you will explain about fungi and pockets of air in bread, a pinch or two of sugar, and 2 cups of water which is just over 100 degrees, Fahrenheit.  With the right pressure you can exceed 100 degrees Celsius but this would kill the yeast and you will have crackers. 

repeat the above paragraph two times, each time showing the students the signs of life before pouring into one of the big bowls.

add 1/2 cup of white flour after 1/2 cup of white flour until the hand-crafted wooden spoon, which is only used for bread, has done as much as it can.  Kneed in more flour till it is moist but not sticking onto your hands or the table.  Oil the dough, then cover with one of those big bowls.  Run off to teach physics while being glad your assistant can wrap things up in the kitchen.

eat lunch, but before that time is over go to the kitchen and get the oven pre-heating 360 or so.

6th period---  take each dough, cut in half, each half in half, each quarter in half, each eighth in half.  Quit cutting.  form rolls.  say, "please don't toss that around," and before that you will be heard saying, "knives are sharp."

start baking the rolls.  I put a tray on a low rack for 8 minutes and then place it on a higher rack for 8 minutes as a new tray goes on the lower.  keep baking.  sample rolls with students.

7th period finish baking and clean up.  sample rolls with students.  place rolls in bags as they cool.

8th period sell rolls around campus, but sample rolls with students before venturing out because it is likely they will be gone by the time you get back.






6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful day. I can almost smell the rolls baking. I bet that the students benefitted in many ways from the experience.

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  2. Sounds sooooo similar to my days, except I shop for myself either on my break or early in the day, store the groceries in the cafateria fridge, and forget to take it all home LOL Thanks for the Flickr comment (goat).

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  3. Valerie--- I am going to do this twice a week till Spring arrives

    Gina--- how cool, first the goat brightens my day, then you take the effort to visit me here ;')

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  4. This is very interesting and entertaining. What level of school do you teach?

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    1. I teach at a state approved private special education school. The range of levels is beyond this comment, especially when one considers the variety of students who enter into my horticulture classes. It is a good gig. I teach science classes to students who are close to grade level in reading but have a variety of needs that have landed them in my classroom

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    2. thank you for explaining, it helps me to get to know you.
      i commented one other place...if i can only remember where it was...

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