UPDATE: Baking with a nine year-old

Priscilla Ballou wrote:

It appears your niece has more interest in microbiology than food scienceAs she is more concerned how things work in the microscopic level... say for example how yeast behave.

At my time when I was a kid I was more concerned what will happen when I add this to that and what will come out.Why did things resulted in such and how? When I was able to make a satisfactory bread I pestered my mom once again...but she threatened me ....If you want to enjoy your new found hobby give me a peace of mind....if you insist I will not let you stay in the kitchen with me anymore.....therefore better ask somebody else knowledgeable in those matters. Therefore....with all those questions running in my mind ... I pestered my elementary school science teacher for answers: What makes the dough rise, ....she says its due to the yeast and she show me a microscopic picture of the yeast from a biology book... but I keep asking how does it happen....by fermentation.....I ask further.... what is all about?... its a chemical reaction....what is a reaction?......when things react such as burning of wood.....but dough is cold?.....its different matter due to enzymes that convert sugars to alcohol and gas in a different way..... what is this gas?..... Carbon dioxide the same kind that you exhales and comes out when you go to the toilet... but I do not find the bread smelly....like peoples breath and expelled gas from my butt....why its different?.......its comes from the reaction of sugar and yeast enzymes. It does not have impurities. that cause the odd smell... What are impurities?. how was it produced..? how does the reaction occur?....... Thats enough! The teacher glared at me....I am tired of your endless question....You better study chemistry when you grow up and that will answer how things happen and how reactions occur...... That it....curiosity it what makes people study science.And it my case led me to chemistry and ever since then I was not always asking people for explanation but have to seek the answer personally by literature search, experiment,mathematical analysis etc.

Keep in mind.... A child hood interest on a particular line is a good indicator what type of profession it will enter when they grow up. I hope that she will be as inquisitive as me when I was a kid and not just want to experience things due to novelty. Roy

Emma's dad went to MIT and is interested in everything. He's currently playing a role as a science and tech resource at her elementary school and taught her fourth grade class's unit on electricity. (He's an electrical engineer by training.) He and I both have encouraged Emma to be curious about the natural world and how things work since she was a tiny kid. She was hatching butterflies and looking at bugs through a magnifying glass at an early age. Lately she's shown a lot of interest in rocks and minerals, although I'm not sure if her interest is scientific or aesthetic (probably both). She is wildly artistic and won a city-wide prize for poetry in second grade. We have no idea what she'll end up doing with her life, although she's insistent these days that she's going to be a fashion designer. ;-) Heck, she's 9!

Priscilla, proud aunt

Hmnn,....that is interesting.... Kids have a lot of dreams and ambitions what they will do when the grow up.....I agree ....You have reasons to be proud of.... As you niece has multiple interests! But from what you describe he is lover of the arts......and literature. Poetry is good outlet for venting emotions......I remember.....I had something similar......during my teens I used to write love letters to my first love in poetry. The lady was pretty delighted and she had kept that notes until now in his precious memories box. She loves the rhythm and rime and how it evokes my deepest feelings for her..

Ahh,,,, that reminds me of a lady baking student many years back......I was one of the part time tutors in baking school and one of my colleagues( fellow teachers) in the baking class had a good sense of humor. Right at the start the girl seems to have some difficulty in getting bread out of the oven satisfactorily. Say specifically, the loaf bread comes out with slightly caved sides,; buns and oven bottom loaves had shrunk sides. Anybody who understand breadbaking understand that bread fault. In order for her to improve her skill but not hurt her feelings... That particular teacher in the bread class told her..... I think you will become rich and famous......The girl was astonished, .....how? You can be a fashion model or fashion designer.....The girl asked further....How can that be? You had an eye for curves.....your bread looks pretty sexy to me......I know you ....will be a loss to the baking world but a gain to the women's fashion....Think about it... The lady student was surprised.....and bit puzzled.... whether to get angry at the comment, or pleased at the complement. What happened after that .... She still persisted in baking and she was doing well with her products and was employed in a retail bakery. She eventually married a baker co worker and had their own bakery....but surprisingly the bakery teacher prediction did come true.... This woman had a knack for clothes design as she sewed most of her own clothes as a hobby and people took notice of her attire and was asked by a number of women (who learned that she made it herself),...that if she could possibly do for them as well. Gradually she was putting more time on designing and creating women's clothing than in the bakery and established her won boutique and left the baking to his husband.

Now taking this anecdote into consideration better watch your niece(were she able to make a good bread and was she able to maintain it repetitively ? Happy baking ...!. Roy