Blogging From A to Z Challenge: B is for Baking

In case you missed it, yesterday kicked off the annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge, one of my favourite times of the year. 

This isn't my first challenge, of course—scroll through my past April blogs and you'll see I've covered everything from writing tips to things that grow in Alberta. But let's face it, it's a strange year—which means I had to improvise. Or as Mom says, "get creative." I can do that! And you can too! (If you're blogging along with the challenge, put your link in the comments below so I can follow you...)

I decided that my theme this year will be 26 Super Fun Learning Activities You Can Do From Home. That's right, I'm conjuring up 26 "educational" ideas to keep you busy while you're safe at home. I started with A is for Art. Scroll down for B!

B is for Baking 

Mom says that it's natural for us to want to eat comfort foods when things in our world are a bit upside down—no doubt about it, these are "upside down" times. When *I* think about comfort foods, I think of Grandma's baking—her pies and cakes and fresh breads and cookies. <drool> 

But of course, we're not able to see Grandma right now, and Mom is an okay baker (sorry, Mom), but she's not Grandma. The good news is, my sister and I will be doing some of our own baking—and you know what? It's educational! 

Don't believe me? Check out this list of 10 things you can learn when you're baking:

1. What's in your food. I don't know about you, but I am always fascinated by the ingredients that go into making muffins, for instance. Why do you need baking powder? What kind of flour is best? Can you substitute blueberries for raspberries? Are carrot muffins really made with carrots? 

2. Math. It's not just about counting how many teaspoons of sugar go into cookies—though counting is part of math. But you can also learn about fractions. Like, how to divide a cup into fourths, or even what it means to "halve" a recipe. 

3. Science. What happens when you combine ingredients? How come Grandma always adds the wet ingredients first, and then the dry? What happens if you don't do that? One time, Mom made bread and she put the mix on top of the fridge to rise and forgot about it—bread dough spilled all down the sink. Why did that happen? 

4. Reading. I'm a good reader, but my sister is still learning. So, when we bake, we read the directions aloud. It really helps her with vocabulary—and it's good practice for me too. 

5. Following directions. Remember that story above about my mom putting the bread dough on top of the fridge? Well, she wasn't following directions. Amelia and I go through the directions in order. 

6. Patience. There's nothing more agonizing than waiting for cookies to finish baking. The smell of them hits me faster than anything else. But you can't eat raw cookies—so I wait for them to finish. Patiently. (Most times.) 

7. It's okay to make a mess. Mom sometimes struggles with this—she likes her kitchen neat and tidy. But my sister and I aren't the best at keeping things clean when we cook. Mom says she's learning to accept that. So maybe us baking is teaching her something, right? 

8. Cleaning up after the mess. We've been doing a lot of chores the past few weeks. Dad says it's important that we all pitch in, to keep the house organized and clean so it's a better environment for all of us. After baking, that's even more important. Because even though Mom says she's okay with us making a mess, she means, "As long as you clean it up after." 

9. Problem solving. If we make a mistake—like, add an extra ¼ cup of flour, Mom says there are ways we can fix it. We just have to be creative. I'm good at creativity, but I admit, my problem solving isn't always the best. But I do remember this one time I was making chocolate chip cookies, and realized that we were out of chocolate chips. It was just after Valentine's Day, and Dad had some Hershey's kisses. Amelia and I chopped them up and they worked! 

10. The joy of giving. While my family is just self-isolating, we live in a neighbourhood where some of our friends are under quarantine—that means they can't go out at all. Mom says we can bake cookies for them, and deliver packages on their doorstep. The world really needs kindness right now. Is there someone you can bake for? 

Okay, so now that you're all fired up to bake, what will you make? Of course, you probably have some family recipes you want to try. But in case you don't, you should check out the Superman Duffy graphic novel, TASTING MY STORY. It's part recipe book, part mystery (featuring cartoon me, of course) and there's a recipe for the best treat in the world—MONSTER COOKIES. You can download it or have it mailed to you for free from the Alberta Canola Producers' Commission. 

Gotta jet! Good luck baking. I'll "C" you tomorrow!

~ Chase Superman Duffy