Bread Baking Demonstrated for Bedminster Students

Students got a lesson in bread-making when Amy Driscoll, of King Arthur Flour, visited Bedminster Township School Tuesday to teach them how the bread rises.

As part of a nationwide program through the Vermont-based company, Driscoll spent the day teaching students the art of baking bread so that they can do it themselves.

"I got the idea [to bring this program to Bedminster] when I saw it in the paper," said Pat Palmeri, Family and Consumer Science teacher at the school. "It is the first year we have had it here."

Driscoll, with the help of fifth-grader Hudson Davis and fourth-grader Claudia Cruz, showed students how to make braided bread, cinnamon rolls and loaves. Students also received enough ingredients to make two loaves of bread.

One of those loaves will be brought back to the school on Monday, and all will be delivered to the Mission in Morristown. The other loaf is for the students to enjoy on their own.

"I called the soup kitchen, but they already had a place donating bread through the program," Palmeri said. "And they get bread from Panera."

"I picked the Mission, and they said they would be happy to accept bread," she added.

But during the assembly itself, students watched as Davis and Cruz assisted in pouring in the ingredients, kneading the dough, rolling it out and preparing it fully.

Through the presentation, Driscoll spoke to the students about how to use the different tools of cooking, measuring out the ingredients and how to use science and fractions when cooking.

And the students were able to answer questions as they went along.

Davis noticed the change in the dough as he worked with Driscoll.

"It's getting harder to stir," he noted as they continued adding flour to the mixture.

Driscoll said adding flour is a good way to stop the dough from being sticky as you are kneading it.

"If the dough is not sticking to you or the table, you are probably done kneading," she said. "And if it's staying together, you're probably done."

Palmeri said she was excited about the program, particularly because she is never able to bake bread with the kids in her classes because it takes three hours to do. But, she said, she hopes the students learn a lot from the program.

"I hope they have a good appreciation of where food comes from," she said, noting that many students think it comes from a frozen bag, or just by making a phone call. "And I think we instill passion for cooking with the kids."

Driscoll said she will be doing programs at about two schools a day for four days across the northeast, and other workers will be going to other locations on the west coast and across the country.

The King Arthur Flour Life Skills Bread Baking Program began in 1992, and is done for grades four through seven.

Palmeri said the program at Bedminster this year was with fourth- and fifth-graders, but she doesn't know if she will do it every year because that would require students to do it two years in a row.

"Maybe it will be every few years," she said. "I think it is a cool program."

For more information about the company, visit kingarthurflour.com.