A few years ago, I took a class from a woman at our church on how to make bread. It was just a 15 or 20 of us sitting in the back corner of the gym on a Saturday morning, but it really was a turning point for me and my outlook on much of how I run my home.
Janette was in her late 60’s, her family had been member of our church since before anyone could remember. Her and her husband raised 5 sons who were all happily married with children of their own and all living within 30 miles of home. I first meet her early in my college career, she hosted a Sunday lunch after church that was open to anyone. There were usually 3-4 of her son’s and their families, anywhere from 2-20 college kids and anyone else who looked lost and hungry after church. Because of these lunches, which I should point out is one of the only ways I survived college, her cooking skills were known far and wide. Especially her homemade rolls and homemade jelly that was served with every meal.
It. Was. Amazing.
So when I heard that she was teaching how to make those amazing rolls I had to go, even if I never got it right I had to at least try. As we were getting set up a few of the woman were laughingly doubting their potential bread making skills. (I was one of them for sure) She stopped us and said that making bread really was easy, but that for some reason the skill had been elevated to almost celebrity status. She added that lots of woman who know how to do it, want to keep it that way, like they have skill that makes them superior to the rest of us. That they have a domestic magic. It was after that day that I started to wonder if all the mothers around me, who’s lives looks so perfect and put together, were just faking it. Maybe they did not all possess some magic that was out of my reach, maybe it really was just smoke and mirrors.
She is right it really is pretty easy to make your own bread or rolls, I’ll show you sometime.
Because for real, it’s not magic.
