Why Every Kid Needs a Recipe for Redemption

It was the phone call, then the pink slip and finally meeting in person with Kendrick, my 4th child’s teacher and bus driver that forced me to deal with his fun but disruptive behavior in class and on the bus. Not being there when all the action happened made it even harder for me to understand the nature of his misbehavior. But it was obvious something had to be done if he was going to stay in class or on the bus.

Years earlier my brother had finished his sports season and had more energy than my mother could handle, he needed something constructive to do with his time. My father worked shift work and was seldom there leaving my mother to handle the day to day discipline. It was my father’s suggestion that Steven learn to make bread for the ever growing family of 10 children.

I was in college when he had come to spend the weekend bringing with him his bread making skills that wooed all my girlfriends as they gathered around his tall and handsome frame kneading dough in the kitchen of our small apartment.

Rather than punish Kendrick for getting in trouble at school, what if he learned to make bread and what if he took his loaves to the teachers he had offended? It could be a two for one deal: rectify his behavior and make recompense.  It was worth a try.

Initially Kendrick resisted when I proposed the idea to him.  Making bread was for girls and how embarrassing would that be to carry a loaf of bread to school? But I held firm. With the amount of resistance he gave it was obvious…it was the perfect punishment!

The recipe stood on the counter along with the ingredients the day Kendrick made his first batch of bread. From grinding the wheat to adding the water, yeast, salt, sugar and oil Kendrick manhandled the project and watched the dough become soft and pliable. Letting it rise, he’d go play basketball on the driveway or ride his bike, come back and shape it into loaves and then go play again while it was raised. When the first loaves came out of the oven golden brown and steaming with goodness he was a little proud of what he’d created. After they cooled he bagged them and the next day he was off to make his deliveries.

He carried each loaf to school in his backpack, into the classroom and then set it down on the teacher's desk. The teachers were a little skeptical about what he was up to but when he explained it was a peace offering the atmosphere changed between them. He soon became a favorite. It took a little longer for the bus driver to warm up to him.

Kenrick’s ability to make bread increased and he began making sandwiches for himself and his friends for school lunch. Never mind that raw onions were piled high on them. He made them his way. From there he learned to make pizza dough and create pizzas at gatherings with his friends.

Kendrick changed and so did the opinion of the teachers and bus driver’s towards him. His disruptive behavior stopped and there was peace at last.

The ultimate compliment came at one of his last parent teacher conferences when Mr. Kidd, his football coach said, “At faculty meetings the teachers now think up ways to get Kendrick in trouble so he can make bread for them.”

After Kendrick graduated from high school he took his bread making skills to Jamaica where he made pizza for his companions and the Jamaican people. At college he shared his skills of making bread and pizza with roommates and after marriage he took his love for culinary art to the next level with artisan breads, Indian curry, jerk chicken and pozole for his wife and children. He continues to experiment with new recipes using fresh ingredients and spices.

What started out as a way to circumvent Kendrick’s mischievous behavior has turned into a lifelong love of artisan baking and international cuisine.

Written by: Paula Dawn Webb

Paula is our mom. She is a professional writer, baker, and life-long promoter of a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. She writes weekly for our blog at plaingrains.com where she shares her experiences and love of mindful nutrition.  

Paula earned an Associates of Food-Science Nutrition, Bachelors of English/Professional Writing and a Master's of Communications.