It's The Yeast I can Do: A Project on Bread Baking

For the longest time I've wanted to learn how to bake bread, and I can attribute that to my grandparents. My grandparents are the heart of our family, and their house is a meeting place, where we spend all the holidays and birthdays; it is home away from home. Like my grandmother, I hope that my home is a core part of people's lives where they can come and relax and get good food. Because it is such a part of my core memories, I wanted to learn it, to carry it with me throughout my life. I started learning how to bake bread as part of my senior project. My goal coming into this project was to master several bread recipes and learn about the science of bread. Baking bread is a love language to your friends and family to show that you care to take the time and effort to make something warm and that you put your heart and soul into.. Like me, a lot of bakers have recently decided that making bread would be fun or interesting and they started looking at how to bake the perfect loaf. Practically all my working knowledge on sourdoughs and the recipes for breads that I know I can attribute to my mentor Shannon Knowles teaching me. Shannon is a skilled baker who specializes in sourdough food items from scones to bread. When I asked Shannon why she started baking this is what she said: “I started baking bread because I’m a firm believer that local food, ‘slow food’ that you grow or source and cook from scratch is the most nutritious and healthy option there is. I enjoy knowing that I can always bake a loaf of bread and serve my family something fresh, delicious, and made with love and intention.” I find that I share all of the sentiments and reasons that she made. Bread is well and truly soul food, and I've never felt prouder of something that I've baked and taken home a loaf of bread from that first session with Shannon.