A Lesson in Bread Baking

Hello all - 

Last night I had the first opportunity to teach someone how to make bread. Let me explain - we have a kitchen worker here, named Jack. Eighteen years old, and just graduated high school, back in Eagan, Minnesota. He's a well-meaning kid, but a bit rambunctious, always really loud, and never stops talking. He's going to Moorhead State in Minnesota, to study psychology. I've had him on a few of my shifts before when I was his lead, and he'd always want to help, but never really quite knew what to do. 

He told me one day that he'd never baked bread before. Not at home ever, nor here, because he'd never been assigned to bread. He told me that he wanted me to teach him how to bake bread. 

I'm always up for a good bread baking session. Always. We planned to meet last night after Vespers back in the kitchen. He wanted to make "Chocolate Chip Bread", which I thought a bit odd, but I thought to humor him, I'd go with it. 

We met back at the kitchen after Holden Evening Prayer (Saturday Vespers), and I thought I could convince him otherwise - I thought it would be good to do the standard Holden loaf, because that loaf recipe is the very basics for any other bread you could ever want to bake. However, Jack was adamant. He wanted chocolate chips in his bread. 

So, I told him to go get yeast and milk. He came back with half & half, which I threw in to the mixer along with a cup of water. He couldn't find the yeast, so after another few minutes of explaining where it was, I sent him back into the walk-in (our big kitchen refrigerator). Finally finding the "Yeasty-Beasties" as they're called here, he came back to the bakery area. 

He proceeded to ask questions as I was explaining the process of bread baking, yeast and it's relationship to water, sugar, etc, such as, "So yeasts are tiny animals?", "Do I get the chocolate chips now?", and on and on. Like I said, Jack never stops talking. 

I told him to go get the flour. Holden uses half white, half wheat in their loaves, which creates for a nice airiness in each slice. He got the flour, came back, threw it in the mixer, and soon we had a nice dough forming. I asked him, "Okay, do you still want to add chocolate chips?" I tried to deter him, because I thought chocolate chips would be a really odd, and not necessarily pleasant, addition to a white/wheat loaf, but Jack again was persistent. Jack went, got the chocolate chips, and rushed back, pouring them into the dough. It was a sad moment for me! 

The dough was then covered for an hour, where we then came back, punched it down, kneaded it, and formed it into two loaves. We let it rise a little bit more while I explained the process of rising and shaping and forming. Soon, (because it was late and I had been up since 5:00 am!) the dough was in the oven. It came out a nice golden brown half an hour later, and then Jack proudly grabbed and cutting board, and, surrounded by a crowd of friends and family, cut his first slice of bread he made all by himself. 

Jack is another person that I'm glad I got to know during my time here - a good kid with a good heart who finally knows how to make bread, haha! :) 

In other news, today is my Saturday! I went to breakfast early this morning and tried the pumpkin bread that I slaved over all day yesterday. Pretty good! :) It's raining here, so it'll be a good reading day. 

Hope this finds all my readers well! 

From the Village - 

Dean 

Week in Review

Hello all - 


I just realized it's been a while since I've updated - a whole week! Hahaha. I've been really busy - swamped with work. I only led the kitchen twice this week, which was nice, because the other days I could follow the lead's directions and relax a bit. The first shift I led this week was Wednesday - chicken and eggplant parmesan night. Everyone worked so hard! We were finished with work before Vespers, which normally never happens. Thursday morning I led again, which was an easy breakfast shift - scrambled eggs and spinach.


Today I made Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread, my favorite fall sweetbread, for 300 people. That took up the majority of my morning - making both that, and the gluten-free version. It's tradition here at Holden to have a sweetbread every Sunday morning, so I decided to whip it up. 


In other news, Chalet 5's final housemate arrived today! Her name's Sally, a long-term, year-long Garbology head, in charge of the whole garbology program here at Holden. I haven't met her yet, as I was out when she arrived, but I'm looking forward to meeting her later today! From what I've heard, she's a fun person, and I'm sure she'll add a great deal of hilarity to our already great group of Chal. 5'ers! 


In even more news! It finally rained last night. And stormed. And thundered. And there was even some lightening, for the first time since I've been in-Village. It was nice - I sat outside and watched as the mountains became clouded over and rain poured down on the tin roofs and buildings. 


Anyway. Just thought I'd fill you all in on how my week went! Crazy hectic! But good; always good. Holden has been nothing but great, and I'm not even 2 months in yet! :) 


From the Village - 


Dean 

Garbology

Hello all - 


So, this week, on top of all my other work shifts and crazy antics going on here at Holden, I had an extra staff duty this week called "garbo". 


You may be saying, "huh? What's garbo?". Let me explain. 


We don't have any wastebaskets here at Holden. None. Instead, when someone goes to throw something away, their leftovers or waste is sorted into three categories: burnable, landfill, and compost. 


"Garbo" is simply gathering all of the garbage bins on the grounds of Holden and organizing them. It starts with a trip to the garbage dock, where a team of 4 or 5 people sort through landfill and burnable bins. Papery material is burnable (obviously), while more tough plastic materials are landfill. It's our responsibility to sort them. 


From there, the team heads up the hill to Copper Mountain Level 2, where we have a compost set up known as "Compost Lane". This is where we dump all of our food leftovers, scraps, and scrubbings, chop it up with shovels into little bite-sized pieces, and pile it on to other compost. Layers are separated by sawdust and already decomposing compost, to help the decomposing process along. 


The final product of our composting is incredibly useful - basically an earthy dirt, it is used in our gardens here as fertilizer, among other things. 


This is one of the things that I've learned at Holden that I definitely hope to take back home with me to Minnesota, and especially when I move on my own. I think it's awesome how Holden commits to upholding the highest standards of environmental sustainability and we can see the results of our work. 


Anyway. Just something interesting I thought I'd share with you all! 


Hope this finds all my readers well!


From the Village - 


Dean 

Saying Goodbye

Hello all - 

It's a beautiful day here at the Village, tucked in between Buckskin and Copper Mountains. It's sunny, warm, and the people are happy. However, despite all that, there is an air of sadness, at least to my day, that is noticeable as well. 

One thing that has been difficult to get used to living in the Village is having to constantly say "goodbye". 

This past month, I've gotten to be good friends with a guy I wrote about in an earlier post, Gus (John) Olson, a chef who works in a soup kitchen in Spokane. He was here for a month in the kitchen, teaching me tips about cooking and baking that I probably never would have learned otherwise. We had some great chats on the Ark about life and religion and Holden and he was a great person to get to know, especially in my first month here. 

Today, on the 10:45am bus, John left the Village, to go back to Spokane and his kitchen. He and I had worked many of the same shifts in the kitchen, so we'd gotten to know a bit about each other, and it's going to be different not having him in the kitchen, his culinary expertise, or his constant uplifting words - "you're doing a great job!", or "you've got this" to all of us kitchen colleagues. 

Saying "goodbye" is something that happens daily here. A few days ago we said goodbye to the Holden Village high school teacher, his wife, and kids. Before that were numerous kitchen staff, as well as a human resource manager. It's weird, because you get to know them just a little bit, have good conversations with them, and then they are gone, either momentarily, or for a long time, or possibly never to be seen again. It's definitely made me realize that God puts each one of these people who come into the Village into our lives for a reason, and it makes me appreciate our connections even more. 

Anyway. Enough about that. Today's my Sunday, and I'm going to get a good book and sit on my porch swing and read. It's beautiful out. :) 

From the Village,

Dean 

Cooking without Power - Kitchen Adventures

Hello all - 


So, this post is going to seem really lame because it doesn't have a picture. But, I wanted to tell you all the exciting adventures we had this morning in our Holden kitchen! 


The power went out, for about 3 hours. This was really awesome, because we all got to put on really cool head lamps (it gets pitch black in the kitchen without any light), and I even got to go down into the basement cellars and get stuff. It was awesome! 


Today was what we call "Hunger Awareness Day", where for lunch all we serve is rice. Thankfully it was easy enough - we prepped nine hotel pans and shoved them in the oven. The ovens we have are big enough that they'll stay hot for at least a day. If it would have been a more complicated meal, then we probably would have had a problem - because our warmer runs on electricity, among other kitchen essentials. 


All in all, an exciting day. My housemate, Mike, took a picture of me working by head lamp. I'll post it on Facebook soon, I promise. 


Oh! And tonight, we had Holden Evening Prayer, with 330 people, with Marty Haugen at the piano. Marty Haugen is pretty much revered in the Lutheran world, and we're all really excited to have him here! Also today, Professor David Behling (my Shakespeare professor in college!) and his wife and son arrived. They're here for three weeks, so it'll be good to catch up with him as well! 


Hope this finds all my readers well - 


From the Village,


Dean 

A Series on Profound People: Mike & Mary Chiles

Hello all - 


Continuing my series on the people of Holden Village, I thought it would be time to introduce my housemates, Mike and Mary Chiles, from Missouri. We live together in Chalet 5 on the Hill, together with a kitchen coordinator named Chris Tau. Mike and Mary here at the Village fill the positions of, respectively, projects manager and snack bar coordinator, and they are going to be in those positions until November when they return to Missouri. Outside of Holden, Mike works (I think?) for a housing firm, while Mary is a teacher at a community college. 

Mike and Mary Chiles, housemates of mine!

These two have taught me a great deal in only my three weeks here. How to be more soft-spoken and considerate. To think before doing, and to not be afraid to be more open and that it's okay to laugh every once and awhile. I'm learning by being here that it's okay to not be so deadly serious all the time, and it's a nice feeling! :)


Mike told me one evening as we were reading in the living room that "you know, Dean, you aren't an 'official' lead cook until you have five burns.", and he laughed. Just a few days ago, I got my fifth burn (and today yet another knife cut), so I guess that makes it official. 


Mary, too, is really great - her motherly manners remind me a great deal of my own mother, (who I love and miss dearly!) and she's been a blessing to get to know only in these first few weeks. 


Anyway - that's all for now. I will write more when the opportunity arises - work abounds these next few days. 


From the Village 


Dean 

Brownies on a Rainy Day

Hello all - 


It's been a busy week - I started solo leading this past week, and now I'm on my second day off. It's back to work tomorrow, but I thought I'd update and share a bit about my weekend baking adventure - brownies! 


It's a really awesome recipe from the Holden cookbook "Lavish Simplicity". The recipe goes as follows: 


*unsalted butter - 1 1/4 cups
*cocoa powder - 1 1/2 cups
*baking soda - 1 teaspoon
*salt - 1 teaspoon
*boiling water - 1 cup
*eggs - 4 
* sugar - 4 cups 
*flour - 2 2/3 cups 
*vanilla - 2 teaspoons
*chocolate chips - 3 cups 


Melt butter. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and half of the melted butter. Add the boiling water and mix until it thickens. Mix in eggs, sugar, and remaining butter until smooth. Add flour and vanilla. When completely blended, add chocolate chips. Pour into a well-greased 9" x 13" cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Cool and dust with powdered sugar. Makes about 2 dozen brownies. 

Brownies in progress. :)

These are seriously some of the best brownies ever - you should try them! 


I'm setting up an account with the Chelan Red Apple Market, so I can order more baking ingredients - next Sunday will bring pecan pie. :) 

Cooling on the windowsill. 

In other news, it's officially the beginning of summer here at the Village, as the first round of teaching staff have arrived. Marty Haugen, well-known and revered in Lutheran circles, is here teaching a program called "Living Liturgy" and directing the Village Liturgical Choir. Other classes are going on as well - a Bible study on Exodus took place this morning, as well as "Blessings and the 21st Century". There is some really neat stuff planned for this week, and I'm hoping to get to a few classes. 


Hope this finds all my readers well - 


From the Village - 


Dean