Beyond Bread…New Class Offering!

If you’ve checked out My Story with Bread then you know that while tending my mother through her journey with dementia, kneading became a mindful practice that in many ways helped to save my life.

mom

Mom

Treading uncharted territory those last few years together caused me to reexamine my priorities and allow those things that no longer seemed important to gently fall away.  In the process of her dying, she was teaching me about how to live a full and compassionate life one moment at a time. With the 2nd anniversary of her passing just around the corner, I am still unraveling some of those lessons.

Bread making remains a mindful practice in my life which has grown roots and led to other mindful practices in our lives here at the farmette.  Darrell and I attend closely to the seasonal changes in order to harvest for our winter stores from the garden.  What we can’t grow we try to forage locally.  As I write this eight pints of freshly canned apricots are cooling on the kitchen counter and three trays of fruit leather (aka Fruit Roll Ups minus anything other than the fruit!) are in the dehydrator.  Tomorrow I’ll make jam.

apricotssMindful practices aren’t limited to the food we eat though.  Since my mother’s death I’ve begun to practice mindfulness with my students in the classroom.  (Read more about my classroom in Community Health magazine.)  I figure if it’s good for me, it’s got to be good for them!

….and I’m expanding again.  This fall, in addition to planning some classes around the bread bowl, I have a special guest coming from the Berkshire mountains in Massachusetts to share her expertise around soap making.  She’s got a wealth of knowledge to share with us! While I’m a big fan of Cindy’s Whimsies products, I’m also thinking about how nice will it be to lather up in something I made myself!

Please consider joining Nancy Babcock here at the farmette for a fun and informative day together.  You may remember Nancy from my post: In Memory of Svea Ulricka Setreus Boehme!

Hope to see you soon!  Please share this post if you know someone who might love to be a part of this!

Mary

soap final correct date

 

gcmPS:  Here’s another great class you might be interested in that’s taking place at the Genesee Country Museum later this month!  If you’ve ever dreamed about having a backyard or patio bake oven this will spark your interest and give you the know how!  Find out more here!!

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2 thoughts on “Beyond Bread…New Class Offering!

  1. Mary is this soap making class on a Tues? I would love to join ….just need to know if I need to request the day off! You have inspired me to make flavored vinegars after reading your blog! I have raspberry balsamic , cherry balsamic and herb vinegars curing/brewing as we speak….will let you know how they turned out! Been wanting to do this for some time and you sparked the fire in me….thank u! Sue

    • YIKES! Doesn’t matter how many times we double check things. I’ve fixed the flyer. It’s Saturday, September 26! Glad you’re making vinegars. We’re loving them! Let me know if the new date works for you to be able to attend! :)

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