BAKERY WORKSHOP

I have been working with the ladies in teaching them how to bake bread and cakes, for them to eat and to sell, to supplement their eager income. Usually between 20 and 30 women show up, but there was a mix-up on the date of this workshop, and so only about 7 arrived, which actually worked a little nicer. It was a bit more relaxed and the women could see what I was doing. Here, we are preparing the vegetables for the soup for lunch. A picture of the outside of Doña Julia’s house. Doña just means Missus. Her house is actually one of the nicer ones in the area; it is made of wood and is quite large, with 2 stoves in her kitchen (made with bricks and mud). Here is a picture of her outside clay ovencan see what I mean about the lack of temperature controls! She begins by putting wood inside the oven and setting them on fire. After an hour or so, she sweeps out the ashes and whatever is left of the wood, and then puts a piece of rusted steel over the doors to keep the heat in. When the cakes and bread are ready, we slide them in with a large, flat piece of wood, like the pizza workers in the States. Generally, the baking time is quite a bit shorter than called for in the recipe, but it usually turns out pretty good. Here, I am showing the women how to knead the coconut bread, and the women here are frying sweet bread twists. I plan to teach a few more workshops and am writing a small book of recipes, but then hope to turn it completely over to the ladies to organize and manage.