Lessons in the Kitchen

One of my goals for the New Year was to bake more, and to include the boys (mostly Troy) in cooking and other kitchen projects. So far, it’s been going well, though we’ve mostly stuck to baking things like muffins and brownies.

Last Saturday I decided to branch out and make our own pizza dough for pizza night. Troy hopped up onto his little wooden stool and helped measure and knead the dough, excited at the chance to get messy and play with food. After the dough was properly mixed I explained to him that we now had to wait for it to rise, and he set the timer for 30 minutes.

I started to get nervous around the 15 minute mark, when the dough had not risen at all. When the timer went off, Troy excitedly ran to see the dough, only to discover that it looked absolutely the same as it had 30 minutes ago. I explained to him that it didn’t work, we looked up some troubleshooting options online, and set about making another batch, which didn’t rise either.

By this point it was almost 8 o’clock and everyone was hungry, dare I say, hangry! (Hungry+Angry) We decided to order a pizza instead, and Troy ran out with his daddy to pick it up and bring it home. We ate quietly, which in our household, is how you can tell that the food is good and the people are hungry. I think I was the only one disappointed that the dough didn’t turn out right.

Laying in bed that night I reflected on what might have gone wrong and on the experience as a whole. I decided that I was grateful that the dough didn’t rise. I was grateful to have the opportunity to show my son that sometimes, though you do everything right; things just don’t work out the way you want them to. I was grateful that I was able to show him that when things don’t turn out according to plan you just move on to the next plan, in this case, take out. It doesn’t mean you give up forever, just that sometimes it’s best to walk away and try again later.

As for us, we’ll be attempting pizza crust again this weekend.

Xo, 

Amanda 

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