winter bread days

Winter has us inside the boat more than we're used to the rest of the year. We're thankful for the bubble and the space this boat provides us. And we're thankful for things that keep us busy inside the boat in winter.

Doug is our bread maker, and for his birthday we got him a grinder. It's a really compact one that stores neatly away when we're finished with it, and the kids love getting the wheat ground up into flour during the day so they can make bread with daddy in the evening.

Somehow they both decided recently that it was hat day.  Yeah, I had to wear one too.

Anyhow, doing things the long, slow way is a great way to engage the little ones on long, slow inside winter days. Making bread from scratch and making butter from scratch use all of their senses, tasting and touching and smelling it all. Then it's all ready when Doug gets home from work and he takes over helping make the dough, gets the kids kneading and forming and all the rest.

 

Naia was amazed at the transformation of the cream into butter. It was sweet watching Zach, who's done butter making for so long now, talk her through it all and tell her what to expect.

Of course for her the tasting was the best part.

By dinner we have some warm bread with the imprint of little fingers and big hearts.