Three weeks ago I stepped back into the kitchen at ICIMB for the first time since March. I walked in thinking I would perfect the craft of baking artisan breads, but truth be told, I learned so much more.
Learning the craft of bread making has been nothing short of amazing. Many days everything went as planned… and even more days we made mistakes and learned from them. Having relatively little experience with artisan breads prior to this class, I knew there was going to be a wealth of information to process. What I did not expect were the relationships built, the laughs shared, and the encouragement from my instructor and peers. Kitchen lessons translate to life lessons 99% of the time and it always comes unexpectedly.
Many instances were frustrating because the process and I didn’t see eye to eye. I had made many of the breads before while working in Layers last fall and admittedly, I felt I should have been better at it than I was. Luckily for me, I was surrounded by a community of learners and a teacher who quickly reassured me that it was okay. I was also fortunate to have a teammate who wasn’t scared to bring me back down to earth and remind me that I am just a student and the extra pressure I put on myself isn’t necessary. As a perfectionist, that is a hard pill to swallow, but as the three weeks progressed I found myself truly believing that it’s okay to not shape the perfect baguette or make the perfect croissants…..it’ll come with time. As I’ve talked with my classmates in and outside of the kitchen, they have shown me that we are all on this journey together and the struggles we have are often shared and we will continue improving….together!
Over the past three week we’ve made so much bread that my family has permanently given up on counting carbs. We’ve made sweet breads, savory breads, and baguettes pretty much every day. My personal favorite item we made were croissants because of their challenging yet satisfying nature when you see the finished product! Oddly enough, it’s super relaxing and a great stress reliever for this year we call 2020!