“I wish we could do this every weekend!”, said one participant at the end of our class. I believe this pretty much sums up the day! There is something about dough, especially dough cooked in a Cobb Oven fire. Dough seems to have its own life force that is gently awakened by the hands of a baker. It is malleable yet has its own ideas about the way it wants to be handled. Nav, our community baker, shared some of the secrets it holds. We learned about slap and fold techniques, the nuances of gluten and the water/flour ratio.

We made dough, roasted a wide variety of vegetables for toppings, made fresh ricotta cheese, salad dressing and then created all sorts of pizzas- some so gooey with cheese one had to look hard to find the dough, others delicately brushed with a white sauce with roasted onions and bacon. We all ate and ate and ate, slice after slice. Nav spoiled us with a homemade rhubarb & strawberry crumble topped with cream that we all took turns whipping by hand!

Like our last Family Cooking Class, we came together as a community to cook and eat together, cherishing our land and the beautiful day we were gifted. Thank you Sharing Farm, and Richmond Community Foundation and everyone who came out to enjoy this special day. Special thanks to Leslie our fire keeper, and our amazing volunteers, Erin, Claire and Taylor.

With gratitude,

Emily